Illustration by Robert Hunt<\/p>\n
Love of country or harmful nationalism? National pride or idolatry? <\/p>\n
Amid all the political acrimony of recent years, no concept has been the target of more debate and fury than \u201cChristian nationalism.\u201d <\/p>\n
A steady stream of books and articles have blamed Christian nationalists for all manner of ills in America, ills that culminated in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of then-President Trump. Some of the rioters were conspicuously carrying Bibles or Christian-themed signs. But for observers troubled by the Christian nationalist phenomenon, there remains an inescapable truth: all people, including Christians, live in nations. Humans have occasionally created transnational or supra\u00adnational entities, too, such as empires, or the European Union, or the United Nations. But for everyday people around the world, living in a nation is the default mode of political existence. This doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that a nation composed mostly of Christians is a \u201cChristian nation,\u201d but it does mean that Christians have no option but to reckon with their national identity. At least in a geographic sense, we\u2019re all nationalists.<\/p>\n
A Necessary Gift <\/strong><\/p>\n If national identity is inescapable, what does healthy Christian nationalism or patriotism entail? This is not the place to unpack an entire theology of nationalism. But the Bible assumes that nations exist and that God granted people national identities after sin entered the world. If Adam and Eve had not sinned, they and their children would presumably have lived in a God-ruled earthly kingdom, not in particular nations. But in Genesis 10 we see the peoples of the earth dividing into \u201cnations\u201d after Noah\u2019s flood. In Genesis 11 God \u201cconfounded\u201d people\u2019s languages as a response to their prideful sin in building the Tower of Babel. Divided languages further differentiated the nations of the earth, as a common language is a typical feature of a nation. (The French speak French, the English speak English, and so on.) Biblically, nations are the result of human sin, but they are also part of God\u2019s common grace to all humans. Nations, and the governments that rule over them, are God\u2019s gifts to rebellious humans who have made a mess of God\u2019s creation. Nations are contingent creations, but given their divine origins, they can<\/i> be good things. <\/p>\n Nations are not inherently bad, yet they are a divine accommodation to human frailty. This tension provides a helpful perspective on a Christian view of a nation. Nations can aid human flourishing if they embrace the common good and do not become objects of undue reverence. America\u2019s tradition of religious liberty, for example, suggests a way that healthy nationalism or patriotism works. Americans are rightly proud of their heritage of religious liberty, as exemplified in the First Amendment. But we should remember that in our imperfect national history, religious freedom has often been denied and\/or contested. Religious liberty must serve the common good of all faiths and people of no faith, or it is not real freedom. For Christians and people of other faiths, the ultimate purpose of religious liberty is to worship God (or not) in spirit and truth. Doing this transcends the ephemeral priorities of a nation. A proper view of religious liberty reminds us that our commitment to God far exceeds our commitment to the nation.<\/p>\n Religious nationalism goes wrong when one\u2019s religion and spiritual allegiance becomes inextricably tied to the nation. In other words, we err when we conflate the kingdom of God with a transitory nation. In our frailty and shortsightedness, however, this is a tempting thing to do. We see the trappings of the temporal nation all around us, and it is easy to forget that our ultimate citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20). Citizens of any nation could potentially fall into undue or idolatrous forms of nationalism. But undue nationalism is a special temptation for citizens of powerful nations. Since World War II, America has been the most powerful nation on earth. We should not be surprised that some American citizens\u2019 patriotism has at times turned into a wrongheaded form of Christian, or at least religious, nationalism.<\/p>\n Divine Appointment?<\/strong><\/p>\n The temptations of Christian nationalism are most acute in times of war. Indeed, war is the great historic engine of civil religion, or the blending of devotion to God and the state. War demands national unity. The immense sacrifices of war, especially the deaths of soldiers, sometimes turn citizens\u2019 thoughts to reverential thoughts about the nation itself. America has obviously had its share of wars. The nation was born in war (the American Revolution), it had a \u201cnew birth of freedom\u201d in the Civil War, and it has spent the past two decades engaged in the amorphous but costly \u201cwar on terror,\u201d galvanized by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Other countries have also embraced versions of Christian nationalism, especially Protestant or Catholic countries that once possessed far-reaching empires, such as Spain or Britain. From the time of Columbus\u2019s explorations in the New World in 1492, a number of European nations saw their empire\u2019s growth and victories in war as a fulfillment of God\u2019s purposes in the world. Colonists in America had a deep providential attachment to the British nation in the early 1700s, before they ever conceived of America as a separate, non-British \u201cnation.\u201d <\/p>\n When America improbably won its war against the powerful British military and secured independence as a nation in the Treaty of Paris in 1783, even the more skeptically minded Founders turned to providential rhetoric to explain what was happening. Many recalled the prophetic questions in Isaiah 66:8: \u201cWho hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once?\u201d Yes, it seemed that a new nation had been \u201cborn at once,\u201d according to God\u2019s plan. Advocating for the new Constitution in The Federalist<\/i>, the normally reticent James Madison stated baldly that it was impossible \u201cfor the man of pious reflection not to perceive in [the founding] a finger of that Almighty Hand which has been so frequently and signally extended to our relief in the critical stages of the revolution.\u201d1<\/sup> For traditional Christians, there could be no question whether God had sovereignly permitted the creation of the American nation. But did this new nation somehow play a special role in God\u2019s plans for humanity, the way that biblical Israel once had? The answer to this question was less clear.<\/p>\n From the American Revolution forward, war and other national trials have always drawn out discussions regarding God\u2019s plans for America, and America\u2019s allegedly redemptive role in the world. Even lesser-known conflicts such as the Mexican War of the 1840s raised such questions. It was the looming U.S. war with Mexico that prompted the New York journalist John O\u2019Sullivan in 1845 to coin the phrase \u201cmanifest destiny,\u201d2<\/sup> referring to the idea that God planned for Americans to \u201coverspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions.\u201d O\u2019Sullivan was speaking specifically about the annexation of Texas, much of which had been part of northern Mexico as of the mid-1830s. Critics of the Mexican War saw it as craven territorial aggression in order to expand the \u201cCotton Kingdom\u201d of Southern slave masters. But defenders of the war typically saw it as an unfolding of the providential plan of God for the nation and for North America. Such beliefs have always made the nation more willing to sacrifice lives and treasure in times of war and have added to the sacred aura of the nation itself. <\/p>\n This interpretation may sound cynical, and certain politicians have always been willing to exploit Christian nationalist rhetoric for political advantage. But there are also times in which religious nationalist language truly has been unifying, and it has seemed entirely appropriate to the needs of the national moment. One such moment was the civil religious rhetoric during World War II, rhetoric that crested in 1944 during the D-Day invasion. Christian pacifists, of course, would view no war as a good thing. But few would disagree about the abominable nature of the Nazi regime that the Allies defeated in World War II. Again, American and Allied leaders framed the invasion of Europe in 1944 as a cause blessed by God. General Dwight Eisenhower told the Allied Expeditionary Force on D-Day that they were about \u201cto embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months.\u201d Echoing John Winthrop\u2019s \u201cModel of Christian Charity\u201d oration to Massachusetts colonists in 1630, and Christ\u2019s words in the Gospels about the city on a hill, Eisenhower assured the troops that \u201cthe eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. . . . Let us all beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.\u201d3<\/sup> These were civil religious sentiments that united a wide range of Americans to support\u2014and pray for\u2014the Allied campaign to liberate Europe from Nazi tyranny<\/p>\n Seeking Wisdom <\/strong><\/p>\n Most causes do not feature such moral clarity as the campaign to defeat the Nazis. Were the American wars in Vietnam, or in Iraq in 2003, morally justified? Historians and theologians will continue to debate such matters, but the use of Christian or religious nationalist rhetoric during these wars could not paper over the serious political and ethical dilemmas raised by the wars themselves. Who could forget George W. Bush\u2019s assurances to the nation in his address to Congress after the September 11 attacks? \u201cFreedom and fear, justice and cruelty, have always been at war, and we know that God is not neutral between them,\u201d Bush declared. \u201cWe\u2019ll meet violence with patient justice\u2014assured of the rightness of our cause, and confident of the victories to come. In all that lies before us, may God grant us wisdom, and may He watch over the United States of America.\u201d4<\/sup> Few grieving Americans, including me, objected in that moment to Bush\u2019s nationalist sentiments. Yet after enduring two decades of wars with highly equivocal outcomes\u2014including the war in Afghanistan, which had provided a haven for Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden\u2014Bush\u2019s confidence about God\u2019s intentions and plans seems more questionable.<\/p>\n In light of this history, Christians must find a wise balance in their view of the nation. First, we do in fact live in nations. Even Christian groups such as the Amish, who largely avoid entanglement with the nation, are profoundly shaped by their withdrawal from its affairs. Reckoning with our national identity is an experience common to humankind. Second, it is fitting for Christians to appreciate and express gratitude for good things in their nation\u2019s tradition. American Christians can readily admire aspects of their national history, such as our heritage of religious liberty, and our founding doctrine of all people\u2019s equality before God. But we should not causally assume that God has a unique providential role for America above all other nations of the earth. Our nation may be powerful, and we may love it, but that does not necessarily mean it is God\u2019s redemptive vessel in providential history.<\/p>\n 1 James Madison, \u201cConcerning the Difficulties of the Convention in Devising a Proper Form of Government,\u201d Daily Advertiser<\/i>, January 11, 1788, retrieved May 5, 2022, from The Avalon Project, The Federalist Papers<\/i>, No. 37, https:\/\/bit.ly\/3kJ1bnu.<\/p>\n 2 John O\u2019Sullivan, \u201cAnnexation,\u201d The United States Magazine and Democratic Review<\/i> (New York: 1845), vol. 17, pp. 5, 6, 9, 10, retrieved May 5, 2022, from The American Yawp Reader, https:\/\/bit.ly\/3ykAjC2.<\/p>\n 3 Dwight D. Eisenhower, \u201cOrder of the Day,\u201d delivered June 6, 1944, retrieved May 5, 2022, from American Rhetoric Online Speech Bank, https:\/\/bit.ly\/3MTPLci.<\/p>\n 4 George W. Bush, \u201cAddress to a Joint Session of Congress and the American People,\u201d delivered September 20, 2001, retrieved May 5, 2022, from George W. Bush White House Archives, https:\/\/bit.ly\/3LST6Z9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Illustration by Robert Hunt Love of country or harmful nationalism? National pride or idolatry? Amid all the political acrimony of recent years, no concept has been the target of more debate and fury than \u201cChristian nationalism.\u201d A steady stream of books and articles have blamed Christian nationalists for all manner of ills in America, ills<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[348],"tags":[180],"class_list":["post-6627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-july-august-2022","tag-july-august-2022"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6627\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}