We hold these Truths to be self-evident

By: Lisa Van Houten

To hear Bill Johnson’s recording of one of our Decency Minutes on the topic below, click here.

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Increasingly, the Left is striving to intimidate Christians from being politically-engaged by labeling them “Christian nationalists.”  Any Christian who embraces and voices a Biblical worldview, who votes and lives according to his or her faith, will be demonized in an attempt to silence and thwart their influence.

The Left uses the term “Christian nationalist” as a boogeyman without actually defining it.  They purposefully throw out this ambiguous term so that anytime a conservative Christian speaks out on an issue that doesn’t align with their agenda, they can label them with this pejorative.  For decades, leftists have manipulated language, implementing name-calling as an effective tool to intimidate conservatives – using stigmatizing labels such as homophobes, bigots, fascists, and sexists.   They have two purposes in weaponizing the term “Christian nationalist.”  First, to bully Christians to retreat from political involvement and, second, to send a message to secular Americans that Christianity is something to fear and those scary Christians are a “threat to democracy.”

Recently, a Politico reporter used this form of fearmongering, implying Christians are dangerous because they actually believe that their rights come from God, not government.

Heidi Przybyla, a Pulitzer finalist for journalism in 2023, warned her readers in a piece entitled: “Trump allies prepare to infuse ‘Christian nationalism’ in second administration,” that “Christian nationalists,” pose a threat because they believe that the United States “was founded as a Christian nation and that Christian values should be prioritized throughout government and public life.”

 Oh, the horrors if values such as honesty; integrity; truth-telling; protection of innocent life and the vulnerable; and good stewardship of resources were prioritized by our government and by Americans.  It harkens back to John Adams’ warning: “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

 Przybyla then went on MSNBC to continue raising the alarm, derogatorily stating: “The thing that unites them as Christian nationalists—not Christians, by the way, because Christian nationalism’s very different—is that they believe that our rights as Americans, as all human beings, don’t come from any earthly authority, they don’t come from Congress, they don’t come from the Supreme Court, they come from God.”

Funny, that idea sounds awfully familiar.  Our Founding Fathers established that same belief in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” I guess Thomas Jefferson and the other 55 signers of the Declaration of Independence were “Christian nationalists,” too.

This principle, that our rights come from God and are inherent to all mankind – also referred to as natural law – is the foundational premise of our constitutional republic.  The Constitution isn’t the source of those rights and they aren’t granted by government; rather, the government has a duty to defend those rights, which are enumerated in the Constitution.

However, Przybyla reveals her disdain, shared by many on the left, for an Authority higher than man when she refers to this fundamental precept as “so-called natural law.”  It’s a denial of their Creator, suppressing the truth of God and His authority, which is revealed to all mankind. (Romans 1: 18-21)  And as Romans 2:15 makes clear, God’s law is “written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness …”

They don’t want to acknowledge God as the Author of liberty; for if they can convince people to believe that our rights come from government, then government can also take away those rights at will.  Government can decide who can and cannot have the freedom of speech; when and how we can worship (i.e. using Covid as an excuse to shutdown churches and ban hymn singing); when a protest is a petition for the redress of grievances and when it’s an “insurrection.”

The reason for this attack upon natural law is made clear when Przybyla warns of “an extremist element of conservative Christians who say that this applies specifically to issues including abortion, gay marriage” as well as “sex education in schools.”  This isn’t so much a philosophical debate as much as it is a fear that their ideology could potentially be undermined.

It’s not a matter of “legislating morality,” but rather whose morality will prevail.  Every law is the establishment of someone’s morality or worldview.  In a free nation, we all have the right to advocate for the values we think are best for our society. However, those on the left want their beliefs to be instituted as the law of the land, while silencing the voices of conservatives in the marketplace of ideas.

“Christian nationalism isn’t the real threat to the free exercise of religion in America today,” writes Tyler O”Neil at the Daily Signal. “The real threat is the ideology of the sexual revolution imposed on the people by government force, and Przybyla can’t stand the idea of that establishment being challenged.”

Przybyla claims to make a distinction between run-of-the-mill Christians and “Christian nationalists.”  However, by her definition any Christian who is pro-life; who believes the biological fact that sex is immutable; who’s against the normalization of homosexuality and defends traditional marriage; who believes the most basic Christian teachings, including the origins of life and liberty, is a “Christian nationalist.”  That should encompass every true, Bible-believing Christian.

As Christians, we should strive to see justice and righteousness prevail in our nation – that’s not “Christian nationalism,” that’s being salt and light.  Salt preserves and light shines in the darkness of our world.  We are too easily cowed by the attacks of the Left to withdraw our light.  Don’t let their smears intimidate you from engaging for Truth in the public square and the political realm.  If we truly love our neighbor, we’ll oppose that which brings harm and stand for what’s good and true.

“Those hurling the ‘Christian nationalist’ insult aim … to make you think twice before you protest pornography in your library, run for school board, post about border security on Facebook, or vote for Republicans. The amount of embarrassment you feel about your religious beliefs shares an inverse relationship with your ability to convert those beliefs into political realities,” writes Kylee Griswold at the Federalist.

Do some Christians make politics and politicians an idol?  Certainly, and we must guard against the false notion that our hope is in government or a particular candidate.  That’s where those who deny their Creator place their hope.

Yes, we most definitely should pray for and seek to elect candidates who we believe will best establish just and righteous laws that align with God’s created order, leaders who will suppress evil and promote good; however, our ultimate hope is in – as the Declaration of Independence also states – “the Supreme Judge of the world,” with “a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence.”  As Christians, our citizenship is in Heaven and that should always take precedence over our American citizenship.  America is not the Chosen Land and Americans are not God’s chosen people.

As believers, we have become a minority in the United States and are in a very real sense exiles in a foreign land where godless ideology seems to be winning the day.  However, as God’s chosen people who He has planted within America, God gives us this charge: “Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” ~ Jeremiah 29:7

 

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