A CALL TO ACTIVISM AGAINST CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM
America would be in worse shape than it is if religion journalists and scholars did not fulfill their basic journalistic and scholarly responsibilities in a season of general decline of print journalism. Those of us who value all forms of journalism and scholarship praise the resolve of journalists and scholars to research and expose sensitive truths about both politics and religion in the face of growing authoritarian efforts to suppress the independent press and public education about uncomfortable truths. It is right to say that Confronting Christian Nationalism would not exist in the absence of those efforts.

Up until these modern times of aggravated, right-wing political extremism perpetrated by Christian Nationalists, the responsibility of journalists has been to monitor and research current events in the world of religion and report on them in the context of the historical confluence of religion and politics. That is all well, good and necessary, but in the ominous season of Christian Nationalism, journalists and scholars are in a position where they need to reconsider the scope of their journalistic responsibilities.

Without diminishing the value of their historical efforts, there is a strong case to be made that these perilous times put demands on journalists to be more than reporters of events in the world of religion and politics. There is a need for them to dig deep into the roots of Christian Nationalism and expose its lies and hypocrisy because those lies and hypocrisy threaten American democracy. Someone needs to expose the truth about the beliefs and doctrines that inform and inspire Christian Nationalists. No group is better equipped to do this than journalists.. To better understand this argument, it is useful to review the history of clergy sex abuse.

There is no way to exaggerate the value of investigative reporting about sexual abuse in churches. It must be said, however, that reporting about abuse was deficient in the sense that it only reported factual evidence that the abuse occurred and efforts to cover it up. Reporting never went so far as to evaluate the origins of the religious beliefs and doctrines that created the religious environment that nurtured those policies and behaviors. To get to those origins would require deep dives into the bible and comparisons of actual scriptures with religious teachings. This has not been the domain of journalists — even those who report on religion — but America is now at the point where journalists must expand the scope of their work to investigate the back story of Christian Nationalism’s beliefs.

Because religious sexual abuse was not correlated with generations of religious abuses of all kinds, the religious belief system that nurtures Christian Nationalism was not reported. Therefore, we have our current situation where where the movement is poised to seriously damage America’s democratic integrity. The pressure is on for journalists to get out of their comfort zones and report on Christianity’s  faulty, abusive, belief systems. If they don’t, there is a very real risk that Christian Nationalists will achieve their goals to dominate all aspects of American culture.

Unfortunately, deep dives into the religious backstory of clergy sex abuse and Christian Nationalism is not on anyone’s radar. There is a powerful, invisible, cultural respect for religious leaders and religious diversity that precludes the very idea that anyone other than theologians should investigate underlying religious beliefs that enable religious wrongdoing of any kind. Doctrine is historically the domain of theologians –not journalists. We can’t expect religious leaders to expose these roots because they are not in the habit of critically evaluating their belief structures or the adverse influence of those structures on society.  This neglect creates a ripe opportunity for journalists to investigate religious beliefs — but there are very real obstacles to such reporting.

There is an unspoken, “hands off” “live and let live” policy regarding religious beliefs and practices that demands that religions respectfully avoid public criticism of other religions. Religions don’t want anyone poking into their business so they don’t poke into the business of other religions. This policy also applies to reporting  about religious beliefs. And whenever someone does poke into their religious practices, they loudly proclaim that their religious freedoms have been violated. In those cases where religions are found guilty of provable abuse and oppression, the focus is on individual bad apples rather than structural belief issues. Abuses will not stop until the errors in those beliefs are exposed. This calls for courageous journalism.

Notable exceptions to this “hands off” “live and let live” pattern can be found in Protestant/Catholics/Judaism/Muslim relationships, but tension typically focuses on religious behaviors — not on beliefs. Because Americans have historically adopted the “live and let live” approach to keeping peace with other religions, liberals and conservatives of all religious stripes, and even non-religious people, discreetly avoid challenging religions about the origins of belief. For most people, it is unseemly to criticize other religions — even if you think they are wrong.