You write: “Christian nationalism is in no way Christian - except in name alone.”
I have been thinking about this a fair bit lately, and I am not sure it is true. If you take “Christianity” to mean the collective beliefs and actions of people who use that name throughout history, the current encarnation in the US is part of a long and popular tradition. Christians have been a destructive, violent, and self-enriching force since Christianity was made the state religion of Rome in 380 AD.
Of course, those who interpret theology differently, who focus on social justice and liberation, have been there all along! But, I wonder if positioning ourselves as outside of this bloody tradition doesn’t prevent us from seeing the ways that we might be contributing to and benefiting from Christian Nationalism—even in the smallest ways.
I’m not totally sure about this. What do you think?
Still figuring out how to use the Substack app, but my comment below was intended to be a reply to yours (even though it looks like I somehow forgot to hit the reply button, lol). 😄
You've raised some really good points. I personally read the statement as meaning "Christian" = of Christ, and CN is a movement that is not at all based on Christ's teaching or example. Unfortunately, as you said, it is far from the first time professing Christians have done horrible things in the name of Christ.
You're right, it's important for us to be aware of the historical ways Christianity has been used as a weapon or tool for self-serving purposes, because we could start to use it the same way if we're not careful. I think stating that CN is not Christian can be a way to call out not only CN, but also past abuses of power, as being not of Christ. Our dismantling of racist and bigoted assumptions that are core to CN can also involve dismantling the false or downplayed, whitewashed histories we've been taught and acknowledging that what went on was actually wrong and a big deal.
Thanks, Kristina! I am really enjoying thinking about this with you. I'm thinking a lot about how to acknowledge that the current church is doing harm while still drawing a line in the sand about CN--it's complicated.
I agree that a good measuring stick is whether religion is being used as a tool to gain power. CN is definitely in that camp! There's no consistent theology driving the movement, though theology certainly gets twisted to support it post-hoc often enough (all the new books about how empathy is actually not Christian, for example).
But things get muddy fast . . . what about theology that is harmful but is consistently promoted by many churches (anti-LGBTQ for example, which I would call bigoted but is accepted by enough churches that you can't really say it's "not Christian")?
I want to avoid sanitizing the current church, I guess?
You write: “Christian nationalism is in no way Christian - except in name alone.”
I have been thinking about this a fair bit lately, and I am not sure it is true. If you take “Christianity” to mean the collective beliefs and actions of people who use that name throughout history, the current encarnation in the US is part of a long and popular tradition. Christians have been a destructive, violent, and self-enriching force since Christianity was made the state religion of Rome in 380 AD.
Of course, those who interpret theology differently, who focus on social justice and liberation, have been there all along! But, I wonder if positioning ourselves as outside of this bloody tradition doesn’t prevent us from seeing the ways that we might be contributing to and benefiting from Christian Nationalism—even in the smallest ways.
I’m not totally sure about this. What do you think?
Still figuring out how to use the Substack app, but my comment below was intended to be a reply to yours (even though it looks like I somehow forgot to hit the reply button, lol). 😄
You've raised some really good points. I personally read the statement as meaning "Christian" = of Christ, and CN is a movement that is not at all based on Christ's teaching or example. Unfortunately, as you said, it is far from the first time professing Christians have done horrible things in the name of Christ.
You're right, it's important for us to be aware of the historical ways Christianity has been used as a weapon or tool for self-serving purposes, because we could start to use it the same way if we're not careful. I think stating that CN is not Christian can be a way to call out not only CN, but also past abuses of power, as being not of Christ. Our dismantling of racist and bigoted assumptions that are core to CN can also involve dismantling the false or downplayed, whitewashed histories we've been taught and acknowledging that what went on was actually wrong and a big deal.
Thanks, Kristina! I am really enjoying thinking about this with you. I'm thinking a lot about how to acknowledge that the current church is doing harm while still drawing a line in the sand about CN--it's complicated.
I agree that a good measuring stick is whether religion is being used as a tool to gain power. CN is definitely in that camp! There's no consistent theology driving the movement, though theology certainly gets twisted to support it post-hoc often enough (all the new books about how empathy is actually not Christian, for example).
But things get muddy fast . . . what about theology that is harmful but is consistently promoted by many churches (anti-LGBTQ for example, which I would call bigoted but is accepted by enough churches that you can't really say it's "not Christian")?
I want to avoid sanitizing the current church, I guess?
Here's an interesting piece on this question
https://sojo.net/articles/interview/christianity-without-boundaries-still-christian