Faith Leaders Speak Out Against Christian Nationalism

What is Christian Nationalism and Why it Raises Concerns

Faith Leaders Speak Out Against Christian Nationalism. As I just completed the first book of the New Testament, the Gospel according to Matthew, I couldn’t help but notice how far off Jesus’ teachings and messages are to what is going on in our country today.

Here in the states we have half of our citizens who actually practice Christianity and try to follow Jesus’ words, while the other half practices hate and division all under the guise of Christianity.

32 “And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world”

and to the goats on the left

45 “Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal”.

It’s pretty simple stuff. In His parable Jesus describes the final judgment, where He will separate people as a shepherd separates sheep from goats. The sheep (the righteous) are those who have shown kindness and compassion to others, especially the needy, and are rewarded with eternal life. The goats (the unrighteous) are those who have neglected to do so and are condemned to eternal punishment.

Now I’m not going to get all sanctimonious and pretend I’ve always been a perfect Christian. Trust me – I am weak and I am a sinner. But I do try my best to follow Christ’s teachings, abide to our Fathers 10 commandments, and practice the two greatest commandments of all “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”

I hope you all appreciate what James Talarico says in his sermon, as much as I appreciate it, because it really hits home. Peace to you all.

Faith Leaders Speak Out Against Christian Nationalism

What is Christian Nationalism and Why it Raises Concerns

Christian nationalism is a cancer on our religion. There is nothing Christian about Christian nationalism. It is the worship of power – social power, economic power, political power, in the name of Christ. And It is a betrayal of Jesus of Nazareth.

He told us we would know them by their fruits.
* Jesus includes – Christian nationalism excludes,
* Jesus liberates – Christian nationalism controls,
* Jesus saves – Christian nationalism kills.
* Jesus started a universal movement based on mutual love – Christian nationalism is a sectarianism movement based on mutual hate.
* Jesus came to transform the world, Christian nationalism is here to maintain the status quo.

They have co-opted the son of God, they’ve turned this humble rabbi into a gun toting, gay bashing, science, denying, money loving, fear mongering fascist. and it is incumbent upon all Christians to confront it and denounce it.

Christian National is on the rise. We are closer to a Christian theocracy than we think.
* A religion of sharing has become a religion of greed.
* A religion of peace became a religion of violence.
* A religion of forgiveness became a religion of judgement.
* A religion of ego transformation become a religion of ego affirmation.

The Bible doesn’t mention abortion or gay marriage, but it goes on and on about forgiving debt, liberating the poor, and healing the sick. Christian nationalist like to say this is a Christian nation.
* If this was truly a Christian nation we would forgive student loan debt.
* If this was truly a Christian nation we would guarantee health care to every single person.
* If this was truly a Christian nation we would love all our LGBTQ neighbors.
* If this was truly a Christian nation we would make sure every child in this country was housed, fed, clothed, educated, and insured.
* If this was truly a Christian nation we wouldn’t make it so because we know the table of fellowship is open to everyone, including our Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, and atheist neighbors.

Jesus could have started a Christian theocracy, but love would never do that. The closest thing we have to the kingdom of heaven is a multiracial, multicultural democracy, where power is truly shared among all people.

Christian Nationalism is a threat to the gospel of Jesus Christ. When Jesus was asked to name his most important commandment, he gives two. The first is to love God. The second he said is love they neighbor as thyself. As in the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus defines neighbor as someone different from us – racially, economically, politically, religiously. God loves diversity, God loves variety.

The Islamic mystic Rumi said “every religion has love, but love has no religion”. God Is love. The kingdom of God inverts the power dynamics of all the kingdoms in the world. True strength is vulnerability, true status is equality, true wealth is sharing. And we as Christian’s are called to realize that kingdom on earth “as it is in heaven”. Not by force, but by faith.

Jesus asked us to have the faith of a mustard seed, trusting that by living and dying for love, would give birth to a better world. That’s not easy to do. In a world full of fear, Jesus knew we would put our trust in something other than God, something other than love.

As a Jewish rabbi, he called those things idols; money status in the most dangerous idol of all – POWER. Christian nationalist are more committed to the love of power then to the power of love. And it exposes a lack of faith because the opposite of faith is not doubt. The opposite of faith is control. When we stop trusting God, when we stop, trusting love, we start taking control ourselves.

Christian nationalist want to control what we read, who we marry, where we travel, when we have children, they want to control our minds in our bodies. Christian nationalist trust domination because they think domination is what works. But Jesus said that a true power of the universe is not domination, but love. Dominance might win in the short run, but in the end love always wins.

We can cure the disease of Christian nationalism, we can protect against the virus of religious extremism with healthy religion.