NOT A LENTEN THEME, BUT IT SEEMS TIMELY [W, 3-4-26]

BEYOND WINTER: The Irrelevant Musings of A Christian Nationalist—NOT A LENTEN THEME, BUT IT SEEMS TIMELY [W, 3-4-26]

 

I am a Christian nationalist.

I think it is quite clear that this nation, The United States of America, was founded on Christian principles. That does not mean, though, that the writers of the Constitution intended to create a Christian nation.

When Moses Seixas wrote to George Washington and asked if the First Amendment meant Jews would be tolerated in the new nation, Washington replied, No. Jews would not be tolerated. Tolerance meant that a majority group would put up with a minority group. The First Amendment meant not that Jews would be tolerated, but that they would be free, in the same way any other citizen was free. Any citizen of any religion, or none, had the same rights as any other. [1]

That is a Christian principle. All people have total worth in the eyes of God, and each person is to be treated as a child of God. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

The fact that the US is founded on Christian principles does not mean that we are “a Christian nation.” It means the exact opposite. Being a Christian nation, as currently defined in political rhetoric, means either that all citizens must be Christian, or that Christians are the majority group and may, or may not, put up with non-Christians.

Proponents of current Christian Nationalism often use a false definition of equality to justify their exclusion of others. They say there can’t be equality because we don’t all have the same physical characteristics, mental acuity, etc. In other words, we can’t all play in WNBA.

That, of course, is not what American, democratic equality is. We are equal before the law. We have equal opportunities. One person, one vote. There is not a different law or different justice for rich and poor, black and white, male and female, gay and straight.

As a nationalist, I uphold our constitutional democracy, equality of law and opportunity, because as a Christian, I know that there is a final equality. We finally all stand before God as children of equal worth. So, I am a Christian nationalist.

Strangely, people who champion the Christian nation idea refer to themselves often as “strict Constitutional constructionists” who believe in “the original intent of the Constitution writers.” They seem to think that they know the intent of the Constitution writers better than George Washington did.

There are two kinds of Christian nationalism. One uses the Way of Jesus to include all citizens equally. One uses language about Jesus to include only the privileged.

I am a Christian nationalist. The original intent type. The original intent of Christian nationalists was to include everyone.

John Robert McFarland

1] From Sarah Vowell, LAFAYETTE N THE SOMEWHAT UNITED STATES, p. 266 in the LP edition.

And you might like to look at daughter Katie Kennedy’s new book, THE DECLARATION DECODED. [Workman Press]