Focus on 'Christian nationalism' is 'smokescreen,' real threat is 'neo-Marxism,' Christian scholars say

By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter Saturday, October 29, 2022

A Threat to Democracy?

Georgetown University in Washington hosted a panel discussion Wednesday titled "How Christian Nationalism is a Threat to Democracy," moderated by longtime progressive Evangelical leader Jim Wallis. That event featured Rev. Michael Curry, the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, a denomination known for holding theologically liberal beliefs.

"What we are describing is White Christian nationalism," Curry said. "It is not conservative Christianity. Obviously, it is not liberal Christianity, either. What we are actually describing is an ideology that is not really a religion, but it looks like religion and uses and invokes languages and symbols that have religious traffic."

Curry said it is essential to "distinguish between genuine Evangelicals — conservative Christians who are conservative."

"Believe it or not, when you get Jesus in your heart, you could turn out to be a Republican as well as a Democrat," Curry said. "There are values that come with that, but how you apply those in your life can vary. What we are describing ... is something that has been around for a long time. I think some innocent people have been fooled by it."

Curry added that slavery in America "was justified by pro-slavery Christian-sounding voices."

"When you take those arguments and lay them alongside Jesus of Nazareth, ... let's take all four of the gospels, lay the image of Jesus that you see there and lay it alongside the arguments that were used to maintain slavery, you will see a wide gap that cannot be closed," he added. "The same is true if you look at the complex of white Christian nationalism as an ideology. You lay it alongside Jesus of Nazareth, and we are not even talking about the same thing."

'Smokescreen'

Voddie Baucham, the dean of the School of Divinity at African Christian University in Lusaka, Zambia, who also serves as a board member of the conservative Founders Ministries, discussed Christian nationalism in an appearance on Allie Beth Stuckey's "Relatable" podcast Monday.

He described the idea of Christian nationalism as a "smokescreen" designed to distract from what he viewed as the unattractive alternative ideologies promoted by those sounding the alarms about the threat of Christian nationalism.

"If you don't want Christian nationalism, what other kind of nationalism do you want?" Baucham, the author of Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism's Looming Catastrophe, asked. He listed "secular nationalism" and "Muslim nationalism" as potential alternatives to Christian nationalism in addition to "globalism."

Stuckey expressed similar concerns about what she believes to be the dominant worldview in American society, "secular progressivism," as opposed to "neo-Marxism." Stuckey contends, "secular progressivism is not neutral."

"It has its own theological claims, its pseudo-religious claims," she said.

Stuckey added that proponents of the idea that "scary Christian nationalism" constitutes a major threat to American society use the alarmist phrase to dissuade conservative Christians from sharing their worldview in the public square.

"Christians are the only ones who are told to check their worldview at the door before they vote [and] before they teach," Stuckey said.

She encouraged Christians to openly admit that their policy positions "are informed in [their] belief that God created the heavens and the Earth, and He says what is and what isn't."

"Christians shouldn't try to shy away from that because they're scared of being called Christian nationalists," she said.