Let us imagine, for a moment, that the claims of the Christian Nationalists are true. For the sake of discussion, let us suppose that the United States of America is in fact a Christian nation, both because its colonial founders and the colonies they established were avowedly Christian—indeed, Protestant—seeking the freedom to maintain their beliefs and enact their religion in a social order conducive to its practice, and because the nation’s founders in the late eighteenth century embraced that brand of religion—or sympathized with it—and instituted its morality and values in the new system of government.
Following this nationalist line, the idea that the United States emerged historically as a Christian country would mean that its essential qualities were decisively shaped and influenced by Christianity; adherents of Christian Nationalism hold that American social and cultural identity is inseparable from the core belief system and practice of the Christian religion. Consequently, it should therefore be possible on examination to discern the presence and influence of this two thousand year old religious tradition in our social order and system of government.
Just as importantly, Christian Nationalists believe that, as this nation was and is, so it must continue to be explicitly, notably and discernably Christian. The fact that it has been so is the reason for its success and its dominance in the world. At present, however, the nation is afflicted with extraordinary social and moral decline, they say, which can only be corrected by the reembrace and renewal of its Christian values and principles. For most Christian Nationalists, this entails a repudiation of the separation of church and state and the establishment of Christianity. For others of this nationalist ilk, this does not necessarily mean that Christianity in any of its particular denominational traditions is or should be the established religion. It just means that the Christian religion ought to be suffused throughout our sociocultural environment—literally and symbolically—and given special privileges and treatment as the singular historic religion at the heart of the country’s identity, especially in the public sphere where matters of social, civil, and moral policy are formed.
The logical outcome of this sentiment is that government in all its forms and at all its levels ought to enact policy to assure that it remains that way. So the government should actively promote Christian values, discard the notion of separation of church and state, and reinstate such vital religious beliefs and practices as prayer and religious observances in public institutions (like schools, courtrooms and football games), exclusively heterosexual marriage and the patriarchal family, and respect for authority. Such a melding of Christianity and democracy seems to suggest that one must be a Christian to live and thrive in, as well as contribute to, the strength of this democratic republic, its institutions and its civil society.
If, as Christian Nationalists argue, our democratic government was founded on Christian values and principles, then it follows that the practice—the behaviors and institutions—of democracy must enact or operationalize those very principles. Very well, then, what are those Christian values and principles, and how are they manifest in our democratic institutions?
Let’s start with what they are not! They are not creeds or confessions of faith, even though such statements had been written and published by various traditions of Christianity for centuries prior to this nation’s founding. Creeds and confessions serve three purposes. First, as compendiums of what is taken to be the central message of the tradition’s sacred writings, they summarize the beliefs adhered to by the subscribers and provide the basis for consensus and uniformity among members of a religious tradition and community. But second, precisely as authoritative statements of faith, they constitute the criteria by which uniformity in the group is maintained and enforced, thus making it possible to exercise discipline and remove any whose belief varies from the confessional norm or whose consent is withdrawn. And third, as codification of the teachings of scripture, they function as the authoritative principle and rule on how scripture is to be interpreted; discerning the meaning of scriptural texts is guided by the beliefs articulated in the creed or confession.
There is not now, nor has there ever been, a Christian creed or confessional statement that functions as the foundation or basis of our democracy or its institutions, and none of the founders of our system of government appealed to such a document in the debates and adoption of the Declaration of Independence or the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Nevertheless, some will argue, the basic beliefs, values and principles—the ideals—of Christianity can be found and extracted from scripture itself, without the aid of a creed or confession. Indeed, they say, a careful reading of both the Old Testament and the New Testament will reveal and highlight the convictions and models of human community that are germane to the implementation of our democratic system. Examples are God as Lawgiver (divine sanction for law), humanity as fallen into sin (prone by nature to immorality and misdeeds), obedience to law and punishment for disobedience (lex talionis, or retributive justice), binary gender essentialism (there are only two clearly biological sexes), submission to familial headship and governing authorities (male dominance and civil authority), etc.
This sounds like the making of a creed to me. I’m not suggesting that these examples are the full extent of the scriptural values and principles enumerated by Christian Nationalists. But if advocates for America as a Christian nation are to extract values and principles, beliefs and norms, from the biblical texts in order to warrant their religious nationalism, they are immediately confronted with two questions. First, why do you choose those particular ideals and not many or all of the others that can be found in scripture? Is there to be found, somewhere in scripture, a complete list of all the values and principles suitable for the governmental system of a democratic republic? Should we review the historical documents and records of our nation’s founding and extract those that are particularly enumerated? The problem is that in either case—exhaustive list or historically indicated list—one must still demonstrate why those peculiar values and principles to our nation’s founding are selected and others are not included, as well as how they evoke or are evoked by a democracy.
The second question to be answered by Christian Nationalist advocates is: How do you get from those values or principles (or practices), embedded as they are in a variety of historical periods, cultural contexts, and social environments, to the here and now? What interpretive frames of reference do you bring to the scriptures to identify and extract these ideals as authoritative and applicable to our political democracy? What are the interpretive movements you are making in your correlations that justify the conclusions and applications of these so-called biblical values and principles to our national life and its system of government? In short, how do you get from that situation there/then with its structures to this situation here/now? How is it demonstrated that that sociocultural and religious environment applies to this? What’s the bridge that connects the two, and for what reason(s) is there a normative, authoritative determination of this by that? And the answer to these questions is not “for the Bible tells me so!” The fact that particular religious beliefs and practices were enculturated into social and governmental systems then is, in itself, no warrant, authorization, edict, or rationale to enculturate the same in a historically different time and place.
For example, how do you get from God’s choice of and covenant with Abraham and the descendant nation of Israel as the Chosen Nation to the United States as God’s new chosen nation? What is the evidence that this country is “chosen” like the Israel of the Hebrew Scriptures?
Or, how do you get from the hereditary monarchy of the Davidic line in the nation of Israel/Judah, or the fractured and violent succession of the Northern Kingdom, or the elective monarchy of the Roman Empire, to an elected representative government? What evidence is there to show that the system of government in the United States is divinely sanctioned?
Or, consider a stratified social and economic order in an agrarian society where the ruler and the ruling class made up barely two percent of the population but owned two-thirds of the national wealth, while seventy percent of the population were peasants who struggled daily with subsistence living by working the land that generated the wealth for the monarch and the ruling class. Are we to suppose that this order is the one intended by God? If that is the case, how do you get from that social order to ours? Should we not be ruled by wealthy kings and their minions and priests? Should we not also have masses of our population who simply survive, including some who are considered to be degraded and expendable? If not, how is it that you remove that social, political and economic system from the list of divinely approved and applicable structures for the United States?
Or, if you favor the biblical pattern of family structure, how do you get to nuclear family with married husband and wife and their children from the Old Testament structure of polygamy, patriarchy, male dominance and women as property? Polygamy was not forbidden in ancient Israel until the 4th century of the common era. If polygamy and patriarchy were God’s purpose for human familial relationships, why do we not practice it now?
The fact is that there is no evidence that our democratic system of government is based or modeled on biblical prototypes. If the founders of this nation did not enculturate the Christian religion in our socioeconomic life and the system of government, it’s not because they could not do so, but because they chose not to do so. The record of this nation’s founding is replete with intent to maximize personal freedom and at the same time avoid interreligious warfare and the tyranny of a monarch who was also head of a national church.
Liberty in Christ (Gal 5) is not the foundation of our freedom in our civil polity in the U.S. Killing someone or robbing someone in our country are not crimes because the 6th and 8th of the Ten Commandments have been broken (Ex 20), and murderers and thieves are not punished because they broke these commandments (Ex 22 and 21). If it was in fact the case that American state and federal law was based on these texts of Hebrew Scriptures, then the interesting question is: Why isn’t the 6th Commandment also enshrined in our jurisprudence? That commandment forbids committing adultery, for which the punishment is death (Lev 20 and Deut 22). And if all governing authorities are instituted by God and resistance renders one liable for divine judgment (Rom 13:1-2), why do Christian Nationalists support and encourage resistance to the governing authorities?
The notion that Christian beliefs, values, principles, practices, whatever are intentionally embedded in and expressed through our “culture” and society is patently absurd.
Oh, no! Wait a minute … I may have to rethink that. In fact, now that I think again, I’m thinking there are several Christian values and principles that are worth noting as embedded in our governmental system, to wit:
Belief in and love for freedom, to fulfill one’s hopes and dreams, choosing the good for oneself and the common good for others, claiming this for oneself and axiomatically acknowledging it for others (Lk 6:31; Gal 5:13; Rom 12:10);
Embrace the inherent worth, dignity and equality of every human being, for all are created in the divine image and each the recipient of the gift of life (Gen 1:27; Phil 2:3-4);
Participate in community life, recognizing the importance to live responsibly and cooperatively with others in mutuality and interdependence in a social and economic order (Col 3:13; Rom 12:16; Gal 6:2);
Establish justice and peace, so that any and all forms of injustice, oppression and violence may be confronted and dismantled, speaking on behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves, and defending the rights and opportunities of those who, for whatever reason, are unable to advocate for themselves (Deut 32:4; Psa 82:3; Mic 6:8);
Love the neighbor and the enemy alike as well as the stranger and the foreigner, both those who are similar and dissimilar to you, respecting their humanity, seeking their wellbeing, and helping them find honorable ways to attend to their needs in order that they too may flourish (Mt 5:43, 22:39; Gal 5:14; Deut 10:18-19; Lev 19:33-34);
Tell the truth, seeking and finding it in earnest, tolerating no substitute and withstanding all false claims to it as a matter of personal and social integrity (Jn 8:32; Eph 4:25; Prov 13:5); and
Cultivate and raise up leaders whose interest is not to be served, but to serve, with humility and integrity, the whole populace in all its social, cultural, ethnic, racial and gender diversity (Mt 20:24-28; Gal 6:9-10; Prov 16:18-19).
But as I now think about these values and principles, it occurs to me that these are precisely the social-cultural conditions required for a democracy to function in either its direct or representative form. And while these conditions may be seen in some nascent and rudimentary forms in the literary epochs of the scriptural narratives, poetry, chronicles and epistles, that does not signify that the Christian scriptures are either the source or the warrant for their enculturation in our democratic republic. Neither does it signify that such values and principles can be found only in Judaism and Christianity.
There is room and resources enough in the social and political life of our democratic republic to make it possible for all to flourish. Our governmental system is not a theocracy, monarchy, aristocracy or oligarchy. It is, rather, a constitutional and representative democracy that values freedom and equality and privileges self-governance. Reasonable people can disagree and yet still find compromise on those matters that enhance the wellbeing of others; democracy is not “my way or the highway,” but rather “your way crisscrossing my way,” and the traffic needs rules and regulations lest an unbroken series of fatal accidents occur. Our system is majority rule guaranteeing minority rights in the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness because human freedom, equality and dignity are nonnegotiable … but not yet fully realized in our social order.
Christian Nationalists may be right about the influence of Christianity in our democracy, but they are wrong about the values and principles on which they focus.