In the gospel of John 10:10 it says that “…the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy…” We have a section of the American public who calls themselves “Christian Nationalists.” These are people who claim to be Christians yet who hold conservative political views that they want to impose upon all people in America.
It is instructive to know that the phrase “In God We Trust,” did not appear on the currency of this nation until 1956, during the Red Scare.
The push to make people believe that America is a Christian Nation therefore all the laws should reflect its version of Christianity come through fear mongering.
It is also instructive and enlightening that Christian Nationalists do not repent of the sins of America that subjugated native people, marching them along the trail of tears to the death; they do not offer repentance for stealing African people from their homeland and subjecting them to inhuman treatment on plantations and defining them as 3/5ths of human all while raping Black women with impunity.
When Peter preached at Pentecost to people who were either responsible for the murder of Jesus or sanctioned it, they were convicted and asked “what must we do to be saved?” and Peter response was “Repent.” Christian Nationalists refuse to repent to the point they will ban the truth being told and is covered over with their myth of America as a Christian nation.
Author Andrew L. Seidel in his book “The Founding Myth, why Christian Nationalism is Un-American,” writes “the sad irony of the myth of the Christian nation, biblical America, and Judeo-Christian principles is that they are born out of a misplaced zeal to revive or extend American exceptionalism…but religion did not make the United States, let alone make it great. We the people make America exceptional.”
The so-called Christian Nationalist leadership, the Heritage Foundation have developed a platform called “Project 2025,” which if Donald Trump gets into office they intend to implement on day one.
Jesus said “the thief comes to steal kill and destroy.”
The plan of project 2025 is to eliminate the Department of Education in America to go along with several states that are banning books that they disagree with and that challenges the false narratives of a fictious “land of the free and home of the brave.”
The so-called Christian Nationalist manifesto Project 2025 will eliminate the office of the EPA, so that corporations can pollute the land, water and air without being held accountable.
The so-called Christian Nationalist project 2025 would raise the cost of prescription drugs and restrict access to contraception; make civil servants political appointees; weaken the rule of law by taking away the independence of the FBI and Department of Justice; Gut personal freedoms by enacting a national ban on abortion, and a women’s right to choose what happens to her body and curtail the rights of LGBTQ citizens.
Finally, project 2025 would concentrate power in the hands of the President creating a dictatorship of a fascist regime.
Jesus said that “the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
Christian Nationalism is antithetical to the social justice teachings of Jesus and therefore Unchristian, according to the constitution, the bill of rights, and the founders of America as Seidel’s book factually brings out is Un-American.
It is evident when many so-called Christian nationalists prefer the readings of the Old Testament and the Ten Commandments rather than the words of Jesus who is the central focus and authority over the church.
As Dr. Obery Hendricks writes in his important work “Christians against Christianity, how the right-wing evangelicals are destroying our nation and our faith,” one of the central tenants of the ministry of Jesus was his “recapitulation of Leviticus 19:18 love your neighbor as yourself, because [as Dr. Hendricks says calls for the same rights, opportunities, and access to the good things in life for others in society as we seek for ourselves…”
Jesus said “…I came that you would have life and have it abundantly.” This is for all people, atheist, and non-Christian.
In the gospel of Luke 4:18-19, Jesus states his ministry objectives when he quotes from Isaiah 61 saying “the spirit of the lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Jesus words, actions and teachings are all designed to address the needs of the most vulnerable in society against what the late Walter Wink calls the “domination system.” The same domination system that is updated in the so-called Christian Nationalist advocating for in their manifesto Project 2025.
Jesus even gave a litmus test for those who would seek to occupy heaven in the afterlife in the gospel of Matthew 25:41-46 where “the sheep” on the right who fed the hungry, clothed the naked, welcomed the stranger, visited the sick and those in prison. The sheep were allowed to enter eternal life.
But the goats on the left who did not feed the hungry, did not clothed the naked, did not welcome strangers, did not visit the sick or those in prison, were told to depart to eternal punishment because they did not as Dr. Hendricks states “treat the people’s needs as holy.”
This nation is not perfect and certainly not united but the threat from so-called Christian Nationalists and their fascist manifesto Project 2025 will never bring the teachings of Jesus closer to a reality but will push this nation further away from people experiencing wholeness and hope and will ultimately accelerate this nation to spiral into chaos and destruction.
We can change that horrible trajectory with our participation in the democratic process and voting, organizing and advocating for candidates to reject Christian Nationalism to continue to create what Dr. King envisioned as a Beloved Community, and embody the welcoming teachings of Jesus. Uhuru Sassa!
Rev. Dr. John E. Jackson, Sr. is the Senior Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ-Gary, 1276 W. 20th Ave. in Gary. “We are not just another church but we are a culturally conscious, Christ-centered church, committed to the community; we are unashamedly Black and unapologetically Christian.” Contact the church by email at [email protected] or by phone at 219-944-0500.
Rev. John E. Jackson
Rev. Dr. John E. Jackson, Sr. is the Senior Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ-Gary, 1276 W. 20th Ave. in Gary. “We are not just another church but we are a culturally conscious, Christ-centered church, committed to the community; we are unashamedly Black and unapologetically Christian.”