From the Editor's Desk

Beware 'Christian nationalism'

Some years ago a relative sent me a longish paper on Christian Reconstructionists and their ideology of dominionism. I can’t remember if I ever finished reading it, and I have no idea what I did with it. I must admit, though, that at the time I thought the theology and the ideology so bizarre and fringy that I couldn’t imagine it taking hold in any significant way.

Nor could I have imagined that many people would have taken seriously the exegetical silliness of the now famous and incredibly successful Left Behind series. Shows what I know.

The question, of course, is how deeply these violent and separatist visions of a “Christian” reality permeate the culture today. Should we be paying attention to them?

It could be an increasingly important question. When the theology and biblical interpretations of Texas businessmen’s prayer groups can not only rise to the White House but influence the language and direction of foreign policy, I think it’s time to ask serious questions. Of course, this is not the first time in U.S. history that thinly informed, if sincere, religiosity has helped shape decisions of the chief executive. It’s just that today the stakes are so much higher, the weapons more dangerous, the global footprint that accompanies our projection of power so much bigger than in earlier eras.

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Read Ed Conroy’s interview on Page 12 with Michelle Goldberg, author of Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism. “Ms. Goldberg wants her readers to realize Christian nationalists are interested in nothing less than total political ‘dominion’ over liberals and what they characterize as their ‘Satanic and humanist’ culture,” Conroy writes. ( See story)

Goldberg makes the point that while Christian nationalists do not constitute the largest religious group, nor a majority of Americans or even evangelicals, it is “the most highly organized political group in America until now.”

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Religious fervor and deep religious conviction always engage in dalliances with the extremes. Whether for good or ill is not always easy to discern in the moment. And religious language can provide a cover for bizarre and destructive behavior. Many of us would regard as beneficial and prophetic behavior the kinds of protests, for instance, about weapons or militarism that drag the rest of the community, often grudgingly, to new truths and ideas. But so do distortions of the truth work to soften the ground. Spoken often enough and popularized in fiction and spun in language made acceptable for general consumption, many can be persuaded to believe that Jesus, for instance, blesses wars and looks with beneficence and blessing upon the economic and military ambitions of the United States. People can be made to believe in a violent and condemnatory Jesus, a Jesus of hatred and intolerance who presides over a world in which humanity is reduced to a collection of good and bad widgets, with those values assigned on the basis of a narrow moral calculus.

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One of the dangers, of course, is that the most bizarre notions begin to filter into the mainstream. Karl Rove was said to be the genius of recent elections because he tapped into the concerns of the rural and evangelical electorate. I would suggest he was merely harvesting the genius of TV preacher Pat Robertson and his former political mastermind Ralph Reed. It was Reed’s brilliance that put together the conservative religious takeover of the Republican Party. Reed has done far better as a political strategist than as politician, but that’s beside the point. He laid the groundwork for one of the most stunning political party renovations in history. Lots of people have bought into the idea that it’s time to put an end to pluralism and “reclaim” the United States for Christ.

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My optimism that we will come out from under this blanket of false and contorted Christianity lies in two realities. First, people like Goldberg are doing good reporting and shedding light on the phenomenon and its origins. I am halfway through Chris Hedges’ new book, American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America and will have more on that later. We’ve also published reviews of other works that have taken on what many see as a distortion of Christianity and the degree to which it has been compromised as it has been placed at the service of political parties and ideologies.

The second reality was the last election. Yes, Democrats won, but they were for the most part the only option, and they have their own problems. The greater point that was made, I think, was a move away from the extremes to voices of moderation and voices that intentionally either drew distinctions between religious and political motivations or allowed that religion informed their decisions in ways other than demanding they work for a “Christian” country.

God, we have to keep reminding ourselves, is not Republican, Democrat or American.

-- Tom Roberts

National Catholic Reporter, January 26, 2007