TWH – Almost half of Americans say that the United States should be a Christian nation according to a new poll by the Pew Research Center. Meanwhile, the term “Christian Nationalism” is becoming more accepted. Both trends could have serious implications for Pagans and other minority faiths.
Two months ago, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO.) asserted at a religious service in Colorado that, “the church should direct the government. The government is not supposed to direct the church. … I’m tired of this separation of church and state junk.” She correctly noted that the “separation of church and state” was not in the United States Constitution but rather in what she called “a stinking letter,” a reference to Thomas Jefferson’s 1802 letter to a group of Baptists in Danbury, Connecticut.
While the exact words, “separation of church and state” may not appear in the US Constitution, the reality of that separation is no less present. The Frist Amendment of the U.S. Constitution begins with, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” A former chairman of the Republican National Committee to the Congresswoman those very words. Condemnations of the Congresswoman’s statement came from most parts of the political spectrum and religious leaders.
Indeed, only a year ago, Al Mohler, the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, referred to Christian nationalism as “idolatrous” but 4 months ago to a different tack saying on YouTube, “We have the left routinely speaking of me and of others as Christian nationalists, as if we’re supposed to be running from that.” He added: “I’m not about to run from that.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga) wrote in a tweet this summer, “I am being attacked by the godless left because I said I’m a proud Christian nationalist.” She then offered some merchandise, “Proud Christian Nationalist” T-shirts for sale, adding, “I’m a God-fearing Christian. I love our country and its people. This is why I’m a proud Christian Nationalist.”
Doug Mastriano, the republican candidate for Pennsylvania Governor, has “become the epitome of a resurgent movement of Christian nationalism.” He notes that he will “bring God back” to Pennsylvania and that, “We have Jesus Christ that we’re serving here. He’s guiding and directing our steps.”
Meanwhile, the Republican nominee for Maryland’s attorney general, Michael Peroutka, believes he and other leaders must “take a biblical worldview and apply it to civil law and government.”
The polling website FiveThirtyEight gives Greene a near-certain victory in the upcoming Midterm election. The prospects are less clear for Boebert, Mastriano, and Peroutka. But the shift they are heralding is clearly underway and a dangerous normalization of the phrase according to Kristin Kobes Du Mez, the author of Jesus and John Wayne, a history of the past half-century of white evangelicalism in the United States.
The Pew research backs that up. Despite historical facts to the contrary, most adults in the U.S. believe the Founders wanted a Christian nation and many believe, like those adopting Christian nationalist commentary, that the U.S. should be a Christian nation now.
Sixty percent of Americans polled endorsed that the “founders of America originally intended for the U.S. to be a Christian nation” and forty-five percent believed the U.S. should be a Christian nation now.
Fortunately, a large majority – 83% – of Americans rejected that Supreme Court justices should bring their religious views into their decisions, and 77% of Americans rejected the idea that churches and other houses of worship should endorse political candidates with 67% noting that churches and other houses of worship should keep out of political matters.
But the somewhat mismatched results make the idea of a “Christian nation” somewhat opaque. Nevertheless, the current findings are consistent with prior Pew Center research that almost 30% of Americans endorsed the idea that, “the federal government should declare the U.S. a Christian nation.”
The National Council of Churches even issued a statement on the matter last year. They noted in a statement, “From the foundation of the United States, Christian nationalism has traditionally employed images that advocate an idealized view of the nation’s identity and mission, while deliberately ignoring those persons who have been excluded, exploited, and persecuted, such as Native Americans, enslaved African Americans and their descendants, and a cascading procession of others, including, e.g., the Irish in the 1840s-50s, Chinese in the 1880s, Italians in the early 1900s, Jews in the 1930s, and Muslims in the 2000s and following.”
They also noted that, “Christian nationalists have become increasingly partisan, divisive, ideological, and militant. Christian symbols have been misappropriated, emptied of their profound meaning, and invoked to support idolatrous loyalty to the nation.”
Indeed, the belief the U.S. should be a Christian nation can present a danger to minority faiths. Contemporary anti-Semitism is on the rise fueled by likes of ‘Ye’ (the rapper formerly known as Kanye West) and visible in posts at Jacksonville’s TIAA Bank Field that read, “Kanye was right about the jews.”
The Anti-Defamation League noted that hate crimes targeting U.S. Jews last year reached their highest levels since the organization started tracking antisemitism in 1979.
Last week, antisemitic and racist messages were spray-painted on and around a children’s play area in Weston, Florida. And just this afternoon the FBI issued an alert for synagogues in New Jersey.
The FBI has received credible information of a broad threat to synagogues in NJ. We ask at this time that you take all security precautions to protect your community and facility. We will share more information as soon as we can. Stay alert. In case of emergency call police. pic.twitter.com/e64XSmQvNc
— FBI Newark (@FBINewark) November 3, 2022
Unlike other minority faiths, anti-Pagans sentiment is harder to track. In the wake of Halloween, some Christians decry its dangers that lead to “eternal separation from God” and how Christ wants the community to hear a message against the holiday according to Jenn Nizza, a former psychic now on the Christian talk circuit.
“Halloween, I really believe, opens demonic doors,” Nizza told CBN’s Faithwire. “And the season itself promotes divination, it pushes out the Ouija board, witchcraft … you see it in stores, on social media, sweatshirts.” With witches, goblins, and horror movies dominating the culture this time of year, she offered a profound warning about why she believes Christians shouldn’t participate. She added, “It’s very spiritually dangerous.”
Recently a Texas mother Jamie Gooch warned parents about the new film Hocus Pocus 2. “A worst case scenario is: you unleash hell on your kids and in your home,” Gooch said. “The whole movie is based on witches harvesting children for blood sacrifices.”
“Do not watch this film,” she continued. “Everybody thinks it’s fake and innocent, but they could be casting any type of spell that they want to, anything could be coming through that TV screen into your home.”
Yesterday, 42-year-old Crystal Marie Wilson, a Minnesota woman from Deer River, pleaded guilty in Itasca County District Court to murder and arson charges. Wilson claimed she was “burning a witch” after setting fire to a camper with a man inside.
The National Council of Churches cautioned that, “Christian nationalism encourages its adherents to believe they are battling the forces of darkness on all fronts, but this combative outlook actually grows out of fealty to symbols and champions unaffiliated with historic Christianity. This mindset of embattled righteousness is applied to the perceived enemies of the state (e.g., liberals, humanists, pluralists, atheists, and various minoritized communities), and true believers are directed to employ any and all means, even undemocratic and violent ones, in order to win political contests. In this quest for political power, Christian humility is lost, as is the message of God’s love for all humanity.”
They added, “We stand ready to join with our colleagues in other religious communities and other settings to explore the impact of such religious nationalisms on societal resilience, religious minorities, domestic well-being, and international peace.”
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