Rob Reiner has produced a new documentary, “God and Country,” which is based upon a book, “The Power Worshipers” by Katherine Stewart. It is set to open in theatres February 16th. “The goal of the documentary is to wake up churchgoing American Christians — who number in the many tens of millions — to the threat of anti-democratic religious extremism in the United States.”1 In my opinion, it’s about time! In the spirit of full disclosure, I am an avowed atheist. However, I have always viewed myself as a live and let live type of person and if others choose to believe in whatever religion they are comfortable with, I am fine with that. I only have a problem with religion when adherents of a certain religion try to force their belief system on myself and others.
We have all had to deal with proselytizers at one time or another in our lives. The knock at the door with a Jehovah’s Witnesses trying to give you a copy of their publications and engage you in a conversation or a couple of young men in white shirts and ties trying to deliver a copy of the Book of Mormon. Or years ago, some of us were gently accosted in airports by various pamphleteers. In general, it was just accepted and in all but very rare cases, a simple ‘no thank you’ would suffice.
However, today with the rise of the Christian nationalists, a simple ‘no thank you’ will not do the trick. These zealots are hell bent on creating a ‘Christian nation’ based upon the beliefs they find consistent with their interpretation of the Bible and their warped interpretation of the founding of this country as a ‘Christian nation,’ even if that means undermining democracy. This explains why Viktor Orban is the darling of the extreme right because that is exactly what he has done and continues to do in Hungary. Hungary used to be a democracy, but it is now what Orban calls an ‘illiberal democracy’ based upon Christian beliefs. Another way to put that is to state the obvious, it is an authoritarian regime based upon Orban’s Christian beliefs.
Trying to fight against Christian nationalism is a tricky thing to do. It’s almost like trying to fight with one hand behind your back. The Christian nationalists will claim you are against religious liberty when the fact is you are not fighting against religious freedom, you are fighting for the preservation of democracy. The Christian nationalists on the other hand, are clearly trying to undermine democracy under the guise of religious freedom. They are trying to do away with democracy and replace it with a Biblical government.
Although much of what is taking place is being done under the cover of innocuous sounding organizations which are heavily funded by religious extremists, some say the quiet part out loud. “Phil Vischer, an animator who co-created the formerly Christian-themed children’s video series “VeggieTales,” says in the film that Christian Nationalism has exploded because many Christians have come to believe that the United States has a special God-ordained role. “Here’s the thing: If I have decided that America is irreplaceable in God’s story … and democracy gets in the way, well democracy has to go,” Vischer said, describing this way of thinking.”1
In my opinion, there is nothing more frightening than a group of people who believe they have a ‘mandate from God’ to do whatever it is they are trying to do. It’s equivalent to Agent 007 James Bond’s ‘license to kill.’ They basically have a license “mandated by God” to do whatever it takes to accomplish their ‘mission’ which is to convert or force everyone around them to believe as they do.
Some have speculated that religion, in its various forms, has been the primary catalyst for most wars throughout history resulting in the loss of millions of lives. Based upon what I’ve read, I don’t believe this to be true. Religion is certainly at the root of some wars but probably not ‘most.’ However, there are certainly instances where wars are fought for reasons other than religion, (e.g., territory, wealth, natural resources, etc.) but which have been given an aura of legitimacy by dressing them up in a religious cloak.
In the early history of our own country, as the settlers continued to drive the indigenous people from their land and fight various wars against the native Americans, the real reason was the desire to expand the territory but it was somewhat legitimized by convincing the ‘God fearing’ Americans that it was OK to sweep the non-Christian native ‘savages’ from the land.
This is exactly what is happening with the Christian nationalist movement. The real driver behind this movement is to gain power to enact the policies across the country that reflect their beliefs and impose those policies and beliefs on everyone. They dress it up in the robes of religious liberty and if anyone pushes back on them, they claim persecution and martyrdom. The fact is, however, the Christian nationalist movement is a major threat to American democracy and “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” that we are all guaranteed under the Constitution. Wake up America!
