How the Left Exploits 'Christian Nationalism'

posted by Warren Beatty at American Thinker 

Samuel Perry, a sociologist at the University of Oklahoma, in a New Yorker cover article by Eliza Griswold, said, "The greatest ethnic dog whistle the right has ever come up with is 'Christian' because it means 'people like us,' it means white." The quote appeared in a paragraph that began with: "The election of Donald Trump intensified certain strains of Christian nationalism."

However, the Reverend Franklin Graham, son of the late Reverend Billy Graham, maintains; "'Christian nationalism' -- that's a coin that the media has come up with. It is to divide our country; it's to polarize people. Christian nationalism doesn't exist, it's just another name to throw at Christians. The left is very good at calling people names."

The Moral Majority led the Christian Right into the political arena. The organization was credited with an important part in Ronald Reagan's election. Reagan's combination of Evangelicalism and vision of American exceptionalism helped further cement the union between Evangelicals and the Republican Party. The Left and MSM recognized that Christians entering politics posed a threat, they required a 'scare' phrase so they coined one: ' Christian nationalism'

Christian nationalism (as a cultural condition defined by the Left) reached new heights when Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election. He became an overt champion of Christian nationalism. Trumpism is, the MSM maintains, the latest version of Christian Nationalism. Trump says he will 'take back the country' from the outsiders and invaders who have taken control (whom the MSM says are immigrants, secularists, Muslims, and Mexicans). The Left views Christian Nationalism as a cultural threat because "Christian nationalistsbelieve, in general, that America is Christian, that the government should keep it that way, and that Trump was -- and is -- their best hope to accomplish that."

Trump's election forced the MSM into action. For example, NPR published this: "Christian nationalism has effectively spread so much disinformation that three in five white evangelicals say Biden was not legitimately elected." CNN presented this: "It's been called an 'imposter Christianity,' a heretical faith that 'sanctifies lies,' and 'the most serious threat' to democracy in America... White Christian nationalism is spreading a racist myth: that Whiteness is the default setting for evangelical Christianity." Newsweek magazine attacked the Republican party with this: "A new study released Wednesday offers unprecedented insight into the breadth of Christian nationalism in today's politics, helping bring clarity to a burgeoning -- but growing -- movement that has shaped the contemporary Republican Party and raised new questions about religion's role in today's politics."

"The term 'white Christian nationalism' has exploded in the social sciences and the MSM as a way of describing a view that has burst onto the public stage with Trumpism and the 'Make America Great Again' movement." The term is now used by the Left as a way to denigrate social conservatives who believe in inserting religion into everyday American life, and to paint a caricature of a dogmatic Republican voter focused on stripping rights from Americans. Liberal commentators equate Christian nationalism with white supremacy, argue that Christian nationalism means 'shooting migrants at the border, full immunity for police to kill at-will... terminating the Constitution, bombing Mexico,' and 'stripping women of all of their personal rights.'"

Here's a little of what the Left and the MSM have done with the term:

"The rising influence of Christian nationalism in some segments of American politics poses a major threat to the health of our democracy." That quote comes from a post by the Public Religion Research Institute (PPRI) based upon a PPRI/Brookings Institute survey of more than 6,000 Americans. Yep, that's the left-leaning Brookings Institute (Snopes calls it 'nonpartisan') that the New York Times calls 'a pillar of Washington's liberal establishment.'

The MSM, in this specific case the Washington Post, says in an article, "Christian nationalists also make up the base of the Republican Party." and that "They also are much more likely to hold authoritarian and racist views." The article also summarizes the PPRI survey.

A view of Christian Nationalism was offered by Politico' national investigative correspondent Heidi Przybyla who said, "The thing that unites them as Christian nationalists -- not Christians, by the way, because Christian nationalist is very different -- is that they believe that our rights as Americans, as all human beings, don't come from any earthly authority. They don't come from Congress, they don't come from the Supreme Court. They come from God." I guess Przybyla completely dismisses our U.S. Declaration of Independence. Przybyla, after sticking her foot firmly in her mouth, apologized for her remarks.

My favorite has to be this Time magazine article "3 Threats Christian Nationalism Poses to the United States." It begins with, "It [Christian nationalism] believes the founders of the U.S. were conservative, white Christian men intent on founding a country where they and others like them could lead and flourish." It rushes downhill from there. Included are three talking points:

1. Christian nationalism is anti-democratic

Christian nationalism is about power. Power in the 'right' hands to ensure the U.S. fulfills its covenant with God. However, democracy demands we share power. Christian nationalism want to ensure the country does not turn its back on God.

2. Christian nationalism perpetuates racism

White Christian nationalism serves as the ideological mortar that allows the walls of racial division and inequality to be built, brick by brick.

3. Christian nationalism approves of political violence

Embracing Christian nationalism is a leading predictor of which Americans believe the riots at the Capitol on January 6th were justified and that violence is acceptable in advancing political goals.

This preposterous article is what passes for journalism today.

There are literally hundreds of articles similar to those cited. Most conclude that Christian Nationalist members want to do away with the part of 1st Amendment which prohibits Congress making any law establishing any religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. It's the second part of the phrase that's pertinent to Christian Nationals: '…the free exercise thereof...' That's exactly what Christian Nationals are doing. The Left and MSM don't like what Christian Nationalists are doing, want to stop it.

The 1st Amendment doesn't prohibit freedom from religion. The Left and MSM doesn't (or won't) get it, thinks we on the right (and center) can be scared over to their way of thinking with the phrase they coined.

This is about as close to overriding part of the 1st Amendment as we'll ever get. As John Adams, one of this country's Founders and our second president, said, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." Adams was saying that any constitution, no matter how well-crafted, cannot secure national stability without active participation by virtuous citizens. His emphasis upon religion implies that spiritual beliefs cause a sense of accountability, integrity, and respect for the law.