What does Trump mean by "nationalism"?
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Editor's note:
Amanda Tyler is the executive director of BJC (Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty) and the main organizer of the Christians Against Christian Nationalism campaign.
Follow her on Twitter.
The opinions expressed here belong exclusively to the author of it.
(CNN) --
Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene explicitly described herself as a Christian nationalist on Saturday.
This shocking statement from a sitting congresswoman should serve as a wake-up call to everyone, and in particular, I think, to Christians.
"We have to be the party of nationalism and I'm a Christian, and I say this proudly, we should be Christian nationalists," Greene said in an interview while attending the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit in Florida on Saturday.
His designation as a Christian nationalist follows his claim last month that Christian nationalism is "nothing to fear" and that the "movement" will solve school shootings and "sexual immorality" in America.
For years, I have closely followed Christian nationalism and raised the alarm about it.
Greene's recent comments mark an alarming shift in the public conversation about Christian nationalism.
ANALYSIS |
An "Imposter Christianity" Threatens American Democracy
Until recently, the public figures who most embrace Christian nationalism in their rhetoric and policies have denied its existence or have claimed that those of us who denounce it are insulting.
But it's clear Greene is now reading a different script, explicitly embracing the identity as her own and urging others to join her.
She's not the only one who does.
Greene's embrace of Christian nationalism closely follows Colorado Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert's worrying remarks: "The church is supposed to run the government, the government is not supposed to run the church," she told a church two days before his primary election (and victory) at the end of June.
"I'm tired of this separation of church and state crap."
And as CNN has reported, public opinion polls show that support for Christian nationalism is growing among Christians.
Christian nationalism is a political ideology and cultural framework that conflates Christian and American identities, distorting both the Christian faith and America's promise of religious freedom.
It is largely based on a false narrative of America as a "Christian nation," founded by Christians to privilege this religion.
This mythical story betrays the founders' work to create a federal government that was neutral on religion, neither promoting nor denigrating it, a deliberate break with state-established religions in the colonies.
This is how Donald Trump's nationalism has already changed the world
Though not new, Christian nationalism has been exploited in recent years by politicians like former President Donald Trump to promote an "us versus them" mentality and send a message that only Christians can be "real" Americans.
The growing support for Christian nationalism comes at a time when the political ideology that underpins it poses increasingly urgent threats to American democracy and religious freedom.
Perhaps the most chilling example of Christian nationalism occurred on the most public of world stages, at the hands of some Trump supporters during the January 6 insurrection.
Earlier this year, the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty (BJC), the organization I lead, co-published the only comprehensive report documenting the role of Christian nationalism in coalescing and intensifying support for those who violently attacked the Capitol.
I am concerned with dismantling Christian nationalism both because I am a practicing Christian and because I am a patriotic American, and no, those identities are not the same.
As Christians, we cannot allow Greene, Boebert, or Trump to distort our faith without a fight.
We must speak out when our faith is used as a political tool, we must uproot it from our own churches and communities, and we must form alliances with religious minorities and the non-religious -- who bear the brunt of the impact of Christian nationalism.
Religion, and Christianity in particular, has flourished in America not because of government aid or favoritism, but for the opposite reason: the freedom of religion from government control.
Government involvement in religious affairs does not help the free exercise of religion.
And as Christians, we are called to love our neighbor instead of making him feel that he is not welcome in his own country.
As historian Jemar Tisby wrote, "To follow Christ is to reject Christian nationalist ideology. Marjorie Taylor Greene and her allies may follow either the teachings of Jesus or those of Christian nationalism, but not both."
Marjorie Taylor Greene, the controversial (but popular) Republican representative is under the microscope of justice.
This is your path
Christian nationalism, however pervasive and long-standing, cannot be normalized.
I believe that Christians, who remain the majority of Americans, have a special responsibility to step forward at this critical time to reject Christian nationalism.
Christian lawmakers should choose a different path than Greene and Boebert, denouncing Christian nationalism without ignoring their own faith and the religious pluralism that is an important part of our country's identity.
Christian nationalism runs rampant in a society where its vendors are the only ones who talk about the role of Christianity in public life.
Worse still is a situation where the only detractors of Christian nationalism are the non-religious, furthering the false narrative that the only options for our country are Christian nationalism or no religious expression at all.
Religious expression in the United States, from the time of its founding to the present, has been remarkably diverse, with a growing number of Americans with no religious affiliation.
It should not be difficult for Christian legislators who have very different political views to reject Christian nationalism.
Illinois Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger criticized Boebert's comments, clarifying "I say that as a Christian."
However, the Republican Party is increasingly accepting appeals from Christian nationalists, such as Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano.
The party of former President George W. Bush, which rightly claimed in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 that "we are not fighting Islam," has given way to a party dominated by Trump.
"As long as we are confident and united, the tyrants we fight don't stand a chance. Because we are Americans and Americans kneel before God, and God alone," Trump said Saturday at the same Turning Point Student Action Summit. USA in which Greene was also presented.
Christian legislators do not need to eradicate their faith from politics.
My Baptist colleague, the Democratic Senator from Georgia, the Reverend Raphael Warnock, has set the example of how a pastor can serve in Congress without insisting on a privileged place for Christianity in law and society.
Oklahoma Republican Senator James Lankford, a former Baptist youth pastor, and Delaware Democratic Senator Chris Coons, who was an ordained elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA), have found ways to work together from their common Christian concerns.
"It is easier for the European right to approach nationalism," said a political scientist
It's not just Christian political leaders who need improvement, it's all of us.
In 2019, I joined a group of prominent Christian leaders to launch the Christians Against Christian Nationalism campaign.
More than 25,000 Christians have joined the campaign as we seek to position an alternative Christian public witness.
We all have work to do because it's not just the relatively few self-proclaimed Christian nationalists we have to worry about;
it is the way that ideology infects much of American politics and American Christianity, often without our realizing it.
American Christians can and should be self-critical about the ways in which our faith and our country have been influenced by Christian nationalism, and we need to unite in loudly rejecting those who embrace it as their identity and as a political direction for the country.
ChristianityMarjorie Taylor GreeneNationalism
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