As a Christian for 10 plus years now I have a strong understanding of what it means to be a Christ follower. I am by no means perfect and I will never claim to be, I sin like every man, women and child in this world even if you think you don’t you do. Christianity is extremely sensitive topic to talk about and for some it turns off people lumping Christianity into a bigoted religion whose only intention is to limit people, spreading hate and fear. First and foremost that is NOT Christianity but those who profess to say they are why they hate, be bigoted and only wish to hurt others and churches are filled with those people.
We Are a Christian Nation
I will say this I do believe as a nation we were built of Judeo-Christian Principles and to this day those ideals are still part of our culture and our government, but what I am going to discuss here is something so much more than that. I respect others ideals, beliefs alike and although I am believer in Christ, I believe in treating everyone with dignity and respect. For those who read the bible we are follow what Jesus says and Jesus was about LOVE and his message.
We are all taught as Christians we are all apart of the body of Christ and whose who profess to love Jesus need to live a certain way. The way in NOT perfection but in Love, respect and honor to Jesus and to treat those around us with Love. The bible is filled with beautiful scripture which I consider to be GOD’s love letter to us as he truly does love us all even when we as people don’t always love him.
One would think that we should all have unity in the church and be one big happy family but unfortunately that is not true. Yes we are a family and like any family we are all different, even having the weird uncle and for the most part whose who truly profess to love Jesus do and I spend my time with those.
But where I have truly seen a shift is the moment the Trump became president as he pushed hard to get evangelicals on his side make promises to gain their vote. Now I am not saying its necessary wrong to vote for a president who appeals to our needs as a person and country in most cases that is why we vote for a specific candidate whose ideals align with ours.
A Shift To Christian Nationalism Under Trump
In Trumps case he has NO ideals, he in my opinion is a cheating, lying , womanizing rapist who has a long history of abusing those around him. For many who hear this I would be called an anti-Trumper and I am ok with that, because deep down I see his game who completely baffles me in how he game evangelicals but I believe I see how and its NOT just him appealing to that base. As a believer we are taught abortion is wrong, be prolife, love Israel, fight for religious freedom which seem to be the biggest issues and I will add the sanctity of marriage between a man and women.
All of these beliefs are not just tied to Christianity, other religions believe similarity but Christianity is by far one of the largest groups with this belief. I am not saying I don’t believe that Life is important, of course it is or marriage or having religious freedom and of course we must support Isreal because as a Christian you Can not Say oh I love Jesus and Hate Jews and the Country we Must want and pray for those things.
The problem lies in our culture, our world that unfortunately we are not going to change, although we can try. We can try to set laws to limit abortion or even eliminate it, we could make marriage between a man and women ONLY, we could even create laws to limit the rights of the LGBT community and bring the Bible back to schools. But lets remember we live in a nation of Not just Christians, so we CAN not force other to believe in what we believe and that is why many times whose who fight for Christians and their right lose battles because our courts and laws are geared for all of society not just one sect.
Trump since in office has tried to change that but attempting to put conservatives in the supreme court and federal courts in a way to tip the scales in his favor so when certain cases go to court there is a most likely chance he can win, but NOT always. He is NOT a Christian and it is my belief he could care less about Christians and their beliefs they are just ponds for his re-election.
What is Christian Nationalism ?
He plays on the platform of Christian nationalism. Some of you may or may not be familiar with that term but you are probably more familiar with Nationalism. Nationalism is simply identification with ones own nation and support for its interests, especially the exclusion or detriment of interest of other nations. If you would like more information on nationalism please visit Wikipedia here : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationalism
So nationalism is in line with Christian Nationalism which is similar in the sense of the following:
Christian nationalism is Christianity-affiliated religious nationalism. Christian nationalists primarily focus on internal politics, such as passing laws that reflect their view of Christianity and its role in political and social life. In countries with a state Church, Christian nationalists, in seeking to preserve the status of a Christian state, uphold an antidisestablishmentarian position.[1][2][3] Christian nationalists have emphasized a recovery of territory in which Christianity formerly flourished, historically to establish a Pan-Christian state out of the countries within Christendom.[4][5]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_nationalism
Some of you reading this are probably asking so what does this mean and for every country its different, but for the US it primarily focuses on the following:
Christian nationalism in the United States manifests itself through the promotion of religious art and symbolism in the public square, such as the displaying of the Ten Commandments and the national motto “In God We Trust“,[28] which came into force in order to distinguish the United States from the state atheism of the former Soviet Union.[16] The Foundation for Moral Law, for example, was founded for this purpose.[29] The ideology also advocates for public policy to be supported by religious beliefs, such as enshrining the sanctity of life in law through the buttressing of the pro-life movement.[28] Christian nationalists support Sunday blue laws in keeping with traditional first-day Sabbatarian principles; the Lord’s Day Alliance (LDA) was organized by representatives of various Christian denominations to this end.[30] In 2018, the Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation began Project Blitz to achieve these goals.[28]
Basically what Christian nationalism is the promotion of Policy which as mentioned deals directly with changing laws, adding conservative judges to the federal courts and in the supreme court. Trump has been systemically picking apart our courts for this reason to make evangelicals happy so they will once again vote for him despite his racism, his narcissism and hate for people of color and women I might add. For many who follow him they will deny he is racist, that he loves this country, that he even loves GOD, but he only loves himself and has only wish to enrich his life through the US government.
I implore others to learn who Trump is but many times Christians are blind to who he is and frankly they do not care as long as their agenda is done.
Why should you care you ask? Well because we are republic of people that’s why, we are a nation of immigrants, people in all walks of life, rich, poor, you name it and what I see is he could care less about those who truly need help. I understand that as a nation and a state we have leaders who are supposed to fight for the small guy or gal when people vote them in office and they usually don’t and haven’t. Trump is the president which makes him the leader of our nation and he has failed us ALL. He has failed especially in this pandemic placing blame on China, on Obama and willing to blame anyone unwilling to be accountable yet Christian Nationalist vote for him.
The Issues Are Important
Do I believe Christians should care about the issues, of course I do. Do I believe we should all VOTE and be apart of the political process, of course. Do I believe in choosing leaders that align with our values of course, but this where I don’t agree.
I believe for anyone in office, the person requires a moral compass for a nation to lead, a person who doesn’t necessarily need to be in politics but someone who LOVES people and wants to make a difference in the lives of all man, women and children for the betterment of humanity.
We don’t have that unfortunately; we have a fear mongering president with fascist tendencies who loves the attention of dictators like Putin and Kim Jung Ung among others. WE have someone who allows other countries to hack our systems and I believe allow bounties on our US soldiers abroad, in addition to the final nail in the coffin he was Impeached.
Many Christians choose to look the other way all in the name of progress for Christians, when ultimately GOD has the power the shift the powers of man for good or bad. This has all been a lesson for true Christians in who you choose to lead a country. Someone who does NOT lead with love and compassion can NEVER been a true leader. I am not saying Biden, Kanye, Warren or anyone else would be better they are all different but one common factor I saw in all of those Except Kayne is they LOVE people and want to better society. We may not always agree with everything they say or do but at the end of the day they are moral people with a conscience and a moral compass something we need in our lives and the lives of our leader.
Where Should We Stand
Sorry I get off topic but my point is Christian nationalism is NOT the answer, because I will say this policies and laws do NOT lead with compassion and Love in many cases they are used to help only certain parts of society. Now I love people, I love Christ and only wish to follow him and lead with a love heart for others whether your straight , gay , transgender, Black, white, brown, white whatever you are deserve respect and compassion not to be put down further.
With Christian nationalism is really about our values being placed at the top of the pile and putting everyone’s else’s ideals and beliefs at the bottom. Our beliefs are NOT more important than yours. Yes I want others to come to Christ, go the heaven, live in eternity. But at what cost. Am I will be vote for some who is willing to toss others aside like a piece of garbage, NO! The only prime example is what has happened in our borders, Detention centers, abuse of children and adults all in the name of building a damn useless wall and living in fear and using hate and racism against who are less fortunate and poor. Yes I get we have laws and yes to a certain degree those who came here illegally broke laws, but does that deserve someone to be abused, have their kids taken away, NO!
Lets lastly go back to WHO Christ is, would he condone or accept what is going on today, I say he would surely hate it and does. We have failed even as Christians to do what is right and unfortunately this is what happens when Christians choose to stop following the bible and choose to follow a man, instead of allow GOD to have control.
I am sick over this, I am tired of turning on the news, seeing in social media and see the destruction that has taken place waiting for Christians to stand up and say ENOUGH! But none, I hear only silence especially in the border issue. What so infuriating is kids at the border who are innocent being locked up and abused by those in government.
Christian nationalism Does NOT work, believer in Christ, following your bible does, praying works and leading with love and compassion as Jesus commanded. This was placed on my heart in what I see today, I am filled with both anger and sadness over what I see each day in the body of Christ. Only GOD knows what the plan is, will our country recover, get worse, only GOD knows.
Praying for everyone affected in this world, COVID-19 and who struggle with what I do each day. Thank you for reading.
Joseph’s Adventures in Writing 