Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Putting the Protest in Protestant

Home
Evangelical
If the Separation of Church and State is Christian, Isn’t Support for Separation of Church and State Christian Nationalism?

If the Separation of Church and State is Christian, Isn’t Support for Separation of Church and State Christian Nationalism?

Last updated on: August 8, 2019 at 8:01 am by D. G. Hart

If the Separation of Church and State is Christian, Isn’t Support for Separation of Church and State Christian Nationalism? 2019-08-08T08:01:28-04:00 D. G. Hart

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Does Christian nationalism come in only one flavor? According to the signers of Christians Against Christian Nationalism, Christian nationalism happens when it reinforces “white supremacy” and “racial subjugation.” That is a detail, the basic flaw of Christian nationalism is merging Christian and American identities.

If that’s the case, if you want to distinguish national from religious identity, then why affirm American political norms through Christian identity? Try this:

As Christians, our faith teaches us everyone is created in God’s image and commands us to love one another. As Americans, we value our system of government and the good that can be accomplished in our constitutional democracy.

What is a Nigerian to do since the statement is written for Americans? And what about Jews? Can they sign the statement since it is written for Christians? Such overlap of American and Christian identities sure suggests the general problem of Christian nationalism.

The merging of Christian and American identities becomes even more prominent when these Christian list the principles of liberal society in the United States:

As Christians, we are bound to Christ, not by citizenship, but by faith. We believe that:

People of all faiths and none have the right and responsibility to engage constructively in the public square.

Patriotism does not require us to minimize our religious convictions.

One’s religious affiliation, or lack thereof, should be irrelevant to one’s standing in the civic community.

Government should not prefer one religion over another or religion over nonreligion.

Religious instruction is best left to our houses of worship, other religious institutions and families.

America’s historic commitment to religious pluralism enables faith communities to live in civic harmony with one another without sacrificing our theological convictions.

Conflating religious authority with political authority is idolatrous and often leads to oppression of minority and other marginalized groups as well as the spiritual impoverishment of religion.

We must stand up to and speak out against Christian nationalism, especially when it inspires acts of violence and intimidation—including vandalism, bomb threats, arson, hate crimes, and attacks on houses of worship—against religious communities at home and abroad.

Notice, these basic contentions about American polity, none of them exclusively Christian, come as Christian profession. I see nothing wrong with these convictions informing the American polity and have often defended them over against Christians who want to integrate faith and politics or faith and learning. What I don’t understand is an appeal to Christians as if I need to affirm them as a Christian the way that believers affirm the Nicene Creed or the way Presbyterian officers subscribe the Westminster Confession.

I also don’t see these political principles taught in the Bible. Old Testament Israel was hardly known for privatizing religion or welcoming all faiths (see the Ten Commandments, hello!). Meanwhile, the message of the New Testament is either that Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world (so not the U.S.) or that Jesus’ kingdom darn well better not be the Roman Empire. But what that kingdom is politically is a mystery. Christianity has the capacity to work around or with all sorts of political systems.

So how exactly is a Christian affirmation of America’s liberal political order and diversity, in the name of Christ, somehow a rejection of Christian nationalism? I see that it is a Christian stand against a President that arguably makes the least claims to Christian America of any POTUS since Thomas Jefferson. But it is an expression of nationalism that is just as colored by Christianity as anything Jerry Falwell the elder proposed.

When some explain their reasons for signing the statement, the distinction between Christianity and America does not become much clearer. Here‘s one example:

The most extreme Christian nationalists create political platforms focused on restoring, renewing, and reclaiming America in such a way that privileges evangelical Christianity. Many of these extreme Christian nationalists may also be described as “dominionists” because they want to take “dominion” over government, culture, economic life, religion, the family, education, and the family. Christian nationalists of all varieties are marked by their unwillingness or failure to articulate a vision of American life defined by pluralism.

Since the statement against Christian nationalism comes as the product of Christians, it also privileges Christianity.

As a political movement, Christian nationalism is defined by a fear that America’s Christian identity is eroding, a belief that the pursuit of political power is the way to “win back” America, and a nostalgia for a Christian nation that probably never existed in the first place.

The statement against Christian nationalism is also defined by a fear that America is departing from the right kind of Christianity.

It is Christian nationalism for progressively inclined Americans.

Here’s another example that traces the statement to its denominational origins — yes, not just general evangelicalism but a particular brand of Protestantism:

It’s telling that Christians Against Christian Nationalism not only started with the Baptist Joint Committee, but that almost half the statement’s original endorsers are Baptist. (And no small share of the thousands of subsequent signers.) “As a Baptist Christian,” Tyler explained early in the podcast, “I’ve been particularly troubled by the way that Christian nationalism distorts Christianity. I see it as a limitation of my faith, trying to put Christianity into a box labeled American patriotism.” Cooperative Baptist leader Paul Baxley warned of the negative impact of a Christian nationalist witness on the global mission efforts so central to Baptist identity, and quoted Catholic theologian Emmanuel Katongle’s warning against letting “the blood of tribalism [run] deeper than the water of baptism.”

I know that there are continuing tensions between the SBC/ERLC and BJC over abortion, same-sex marriage, and other issues. (Though I’d note that the Baptist Joint Committee continues to have the support of evangelical Baptist groups like Converge and the North American Baptists.) But it’s unfortunate that those organizations haven’t made this one of their rare moments of renewed partnership. It would have been a wonderful way for the leaders of the country’s largest Protestant denomination to join their Baptist cousins in reaffirming crucial elements of their shared history — in opposition to the Christian nationalism espoused by prominent Southern Baptist pastors like Trump apologist Robert Jeffress.

Oh great. A statement that is designed to promote Christian missions and evangelism. A statement of shared Baptist identity. As I asked, how is a Jewish or Muslim-American supposed to see this statement as an improvement over bad Christian nationalism? I know the answer — the way “Jesus” was the go to response in Sunday school — is Donald Trump. This is a way to be Christian, patriotic, and oppose Trump.

But it is hardly secular or proposing a common ground. It is not the ACLU or the platform of Democrats. It proposes, the way white American Protestants always have, a common ground on Protestant terms. That’s Christian nationalism.

Image

2016 Presidential Election

sacred/secular distinction

Shameless Self Promotion

Chris Gehrz

Christians against Christian Nationalism

John Fea

Previous Post

August 6, 2019

John Henry Newman Needs to Read Wendell Berry

Next Post

August 15, 2019 What Hath the Great Commission To Do with Renaissance Humanism?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 2016 Presidential Election 2020 Presidential Election Apocalypse Bible in American Life Biblical authority Books and culture Calvinism Church Life Civil Religion Culture Wars Doctrine evangelicalism Gullibility Heaven and Hell Intellectual life Jesus Ministry modernity moralism Nationalism New Testament Old Testament Otherworldiness Otherworldliness Paul Peter Piety Popular culture Protestantism Psalms Puritans Race Roman Catholicism sacred/secular distinction Sex Shameless Self Promotion Sports Ten Commandments U.S. politics Uncategorized vulgarity worship

Select a Month January 2022 October 2021 August 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz