THE PATRIOT POST ALEXANDER'S COLUMN 09/04/2019

The Left's Next Target: 'Christian Nationalists'

The Left's latest straw man to label patriotic Christians as "haters."

Mark Alexander

"And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever." —Thomas Jefferson (1781) Have you heard the term "Christian Nationalist"? Well, brace yourself — you may be one of these. A quick read of George Washington's official proclamations and writings reveals that he is the Founding Father of Christian nationalism. Currently, those words generally refer to faithful grassroots Americans who advocate for legislation that reflects Christian morals and ethics; who promote faith as a discussion point in national political dialogue (including the sanctity of human life); and who support such things as displaying the Ten Commandments on public property — as they are in the reliefs above the Supreme Court building. Christian Nationalists also support our national motto, "In God We Trust," and are defenders of the fundamental tenets of Liberty, especially religious Liberty, enshrined in our Constitution. In 2016, one of our analysts, Paul Albaugh, expressed his reservations about the rise of a particular sect of Christian nationalism — one that related to Christian leaders and organizations hitching their wagons to the presidential campaign of Donald Trump. Frankly, I too have had reservations about the way national evangelical Christian leaders have closed ranks around Trump. My concern was never so much about their motive — which was not a declaration that Americans are the new "chosen people" — but about their proximity to Trump and the company they keep. While there is much to applaud about Donald Trump's policy achievements, he is most assuredly not known for his Christian morals nor his devotion to Christ and the teachings of the Gospels. Thus, merging ministries with the Trump campaign is a potential Faustian bargain. That being said, like the majority of our nation's Founders, and most of its leaders since, I share a devotion to God and my country, in that order, and not as co-equals. I belong to the former and have sworn allegiance to the latter. I'm a pragmatist when it comes to electing government officials. I voted for Donald Trump because there was no question in my mind that he was a better candidate than his opponent, given that he was far more likely to appoint conservative judges, rebuild our military, strengthen our southern border, and protect our Constitution. Further, I believed he would do far more for all Americans than would Hillary Clintonand her Left-elite cadres. By "better candidate," I mean in every single respect, including his economic policies and his promise to "Make America Great Again." But in retrospect, considering Trump's record since taking office, I underestimated how much his presidency would comport with our Patriot Post core mission — "advocating for individual rights and responsibilities; supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary; and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values," as outlined in our Statement of Principles. To that end, mostly by way of executive orders but with some help from congressional Republicans, he's made enormous strides to promote and protect Liberty and Rule of Law — particularly religious Liberty, which is one reason why he's so utterly loathed by the Left. Consequently, the Democrat Party and its frontline socialists have identified a new target for their wrath: "Christian Nationalists." They are reframing those words to be used in a deprecating and pejorative context, and I can assure you that whatever reservations reasonable Christians have about the notion of Christian nationalism, the Left is setting up a straw man to bushwhack all Christians. There is an effort to redefine Christian nationalism by those who detest both Christians and Patriotism. This self-anointed group of "Christians Against Christian Nationalism" has an official statement defining "Christian Nationalism" that is being promoted and endorsed by leftist social-justice types. Those endorsers include the Most Rev. Michael Curry, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church (now considered apostate by the World Anglican Communion); Sister Simone Campbell, who heads the Catholic social-justice lobby NETWORK; Jim Winkler, who is president of the National Council of Churches; and Melissa Rogers, former director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships under Barack Obama, himself a disciple of afrocentric hate. The group's statement, which doesn't identify its author or authors, wastes no time in setting up a straw-man argument: "[Christian Nationalism] overlaps with and provides cover for white supremacy and racial subjugation. We reject this damaging political ideology and invite our Christian brothers and sisters to join us in opposing this threat to our faith and to our nation." Gosh, we're all against "white supremacy and racial subjugation," so we'd better get on board! Caveat emptor. No doubt the group's target list is a much broader roundup of those with whom it disagrees — and likely mirrors the disgraced Southern Poverty Law Center's radical definition of hate. The statement continues: "Christian nationalism seeks to merge Christian and American identities, distorting both the Christian faith and America's constitutional democracy. ... As Christians, we must speak in one voice condemning Christian nationalism as a distortion of the gospel of Jesus and a threat to American democracy." The great irony is that those endorsing this statement have made great strides to distort the gospel of Jesus and undermine our nation — which, by the way, is a Republic, not a "democracy." Finally, the statement notes that it seeks to defend the "separation of church and state." Ah, yes, that errant assertion of the "wall of separation" myth espoused by those who seek to undermine the unalienable rights of all people as "endowed by our Creator." Recently, Pastor Robert Jeffress, who leads First Baptist Church in Dallas and is an unapologetic supporter of Trump, summed up the proper contextual understanding for Christian nationalism: "God's no respecter of people or nations. But any nation that honors God will be blessed by God and any nation, including the United States of America, that rejects God will be rejected by God." Likewise, political observer Gary Bauer provides the historic context for Christian nationalism, observing that the Left "never misses an opportunity to bash Trump, and any form of nationalism must be a bad thing [but] the notion that God had a uniquely Christian purpose for our country pretty well sums up the views of our Founding Fathers." (For additional context on how the Left defines Christian Nationalism, listen to David Barton's remarks on this topic.) Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis Pro Deo et Libertate — 1776