Christian Nationalism has been the new scare term used within elite evangelical circles these days. Primarily it has been used to describe Christians who supported President Trump in the 2020 election cycle. It paints a picture of Christians who ascribe to an extreme view of right-wing political conservatism.
The problem with this term is, like many scare terms, it is utterly flexible and lacking in any concrete definition. Nationalism, the idea that one loves and desires to promote one’s own nation over others, can have both good and bad impacts.
It can be a good thing to want one’s nation defended from foreign aggressors, to have the rule of law upheld, and to see freedom promoted and defended for its citizens. These desires can promote the prosperity and general welfare of the people of a nation while not neglecting the need to remain a face in the world at large, aiding other nations as need and ability arises.
However, nationalism can be a negative as well. Adolf Hitler demonstrated in the 1930s how one can manipulate the love of one’s nation to a fever pitch. That love of nation didn’t just simply mean promotion of the general welfare of the nation first, but a superiority to the point that a nation should dominate over others. So nationalism can indeed have a negative ditch into which a people may fall.
Evangelical elites like to use the most negative connotation of nationalism when throwing around the term “Christian Nationalism.” It seems they wish to paint Christians who love America and desire to protect its freedoms as those who uphold dangerous right-wing views (and yes, it is possible to take right-wings views to dangerous extremes, another point for another time).
This centered quite heavily during the 2020 election when evangelical elites wanted to be seen as opposing Donald Trump’s efforts at reelection. Media and political opponents have tried to create an image of Trump for four years as a racist, misogynist, and dangerous dictator. Evangelical elites were more than happy to aid in that cause in order to maintain credibility with popular culture.
Therefore, it was necessary to describe any Christian who intended to vote for Trump as being a “Christian Nationalist.” If Donald Trump was Hitler reincarnated, a wannabe dictator who was using conservatives to establish an American “Reich,” then any Christian who voted for him was a nationalist who needed to be exposed for extremist right-wing views.
Sadly, what many of these elites purposely ignored was that many Christians looked at the policies of Trump and the four years of his administration where he fought for religious protections, promoting freedom, and sought to protect the lives of the unborn. Christians were not ignorant of Trump’s serious character flaws, nor were they unaware of his arrogant and troublesome statements on Twitter.
Yet, when his policies were compared with the promises of unchecked Marxism made by the Biden campaign, many Christians knew that American freedom and exceptionalism were on the line. Whether they were die-hard supporters or people who reluctantly chose a lesser evil, Christians sought to re-elect a man who they felt would do the most to maintain the unique experiment that is the United States.
The term “Christian Nationalism” is a distraction. It is meant to invoke fear in the Christian electorate. That, if you voted for a man such as Trump, you may as well admit to being a modern day Nazi supporting a new Hitler. It is meant to cause fear and doubt. That Christians shouldn’t care about freedom or prosperity in a nation that still has racism, sexism, etc (as defined by Critical Theory, another anti-biblical compromise embraced by the elites). That if you do care more about freedom than supposed systemic-injustices, then you really aren’t a Christian at all.
Christians ought not fear demonization by evangelical elites. Those who seek to cozy up to the whims of culture in order to receive a crust of bread have long since abandoned any true submission to biblical fidelity. As such, their efforts to scare Christians into towing their line of leftist leaning reasoning should be ignored without a second thought.
This does not free us from being biblical when it comes to how we should cast our votes, however. There is a danger in taking nationalism too far. We should look to the proposals and policies of any candidate and seek to support only those whose promises most closely align with Scripture. Our desire to protect our freedoms should never allow us to choose a lesser evil that would put us in contradiction with Scripture.
So, Christian, don’t let the elitists in Big Eva frighten you. They have no power in your life. Furthermore, they need to repent of their own lack of biblical fidelity. You focus on being faithful to God, which often times means using your vote to promote freedom and prosperity in the unique nation God has placed you.
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