A Religious Civil War

A WINNABLE WAR
It is helpful to remember that religious extremism is not a new phenomenon in America’s history.  It is also useful to remember that Christian Nationalism is only the most recent manifestation of religious extremism based on ardent beliefs inspired by literal interpretations of the bible. Despite this history, America has survived and thrived at home and abroad.

Those who fret about Christian Nationalism while still identifying as  Christians may find it inconvenient to remember that their own firmly held religious beliefs are inspired by those same literal words of the bible that inspire Christian Nationalists. Americans may be sharply divided along religious, political, ethnic and social boundaries, but they are still  spiritual brothers and sisters.

Division between America’s mainstream religions and Christian Nationalists has been escalating for decades and is now at a critical inflection point. This situation puts mainstream Americans in a position where they must experiment with new strategies or risk absorption into the emerging Christian Nationalism movement. How to avoid losing their unique identities is the existential threat they face. Clearly, the the old political and social activism strategies aren’t working. Clearly, the old “live and let live” philosophy is no longer in play for Christian Nationalist. If they don’t find a new strategy that works, the outlook for democracy in America is bleak.

that use words of truth to change hearts and minds of Christian Nationalists, 

Christian Nationalists have recently gained political ground through successful use of lies, conspiracy theories and distortions of history and science, all thinly disguised as truth. They also use words as weapons to bully, shame, mock and humiliate people with whom they disagree and who are not like them. They shoot lies, distortions and verbal abuse indiscriminately into the media universe like a steady barrage of arrows on a distant enemy. The initial victims of those lies become Christian Nationalists. The rest of us become collateral damage. 

Politicians have always used words and lies as weapons with apparent impunity. Christian Nationalists, feeling insecure and powerless to alter cultural changes that threaten their privileged positions and values, have adopted the  strategy of using lies and fearmongering to create social/economic/political/religious kingdoms that will protect them from invasion by people who are not like them. 

One of their lies is that God has given them authority to take charge of all sectors of American culture. They gain followers by promising peace to people who give them money and votes. Those leaders become like gods/saviors who will fight the battles of followers who share their insecurities and fears. Their rewards for telling lies are honor, donations to political campaigns and votes. T

Truth telling has always been a virtue in American culture — except in the political arena. Christian Nationalists have pushed the boundaries of lies and deceptions to limits that could not have bee imagines a generation ago. Propagation of lies, distortions of scientific truths, and unbelievable conspiracies has become normal for one-third of Americans. Worse yet, the other two-thirds don’t know how to arrest this trend.

Because the only antidote for lies is truth, the conflict that divides Americans may be described as people who believe and report lies versus people who value truth.

That means that the only way to successfully confront Christian Nationalism is by changing the hearts and minds of people who believe lies propagated by Christian Nationalists.

Calling someone a liar is not easy. It is not something we do often — even when the evidence is clear. Even people who knowingly tell lies recoil and fight back when they are called out for their lies. Nevertheless, telling the truth to liars is what must be done to confront Christian Nationalism. How to do that with stealth and grace is the challenge. Failure to tell truth in the absence of stealth and grace will only cause more division. Failure to tell truth is evidence of either fear or lack of knowledge about what truth is, when to share it and how to share it. Confronting Christian Nationalism is a source of knowledge that will overcome fear.

Part of the problem is that truth is often not clearly black or white. What truth looks like may vary from person to person, but it is important to remember that God’s version of truth does not vary when he tells it. Moreover, truth that comes from God’s mouth is the only truth that has the power to change hearts and minds.  Examples of such truths are found in these links:

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Truthtellers who are motivated to confront Christian Nationalism will study these truths and then share them discreetly with others. What to share, when to share it, how to share it, and with whom they share is up to each individual. Each person operates covertly, like a guerilla soldier who chooses when and where to shoot an arrow of truth. 

It is important, however, that truthtellers operate independently to avoid any hint of collusion that Christian Nationalists can interpret as a liberal conspiracy against them. If they get any idea that such a conspiracy exists, they will use it as a weapon to arouse their collaborators to rise up against another liberal cabal that is out to get them.

These are the weapons and tactics and environment of a winnable war in which spiritual warfare is waged under the noses of Christian Nationalists.

The bloody images of swords, arrows and blood found in the Old Testament and in the Book of Revelation are all parables of an ongoing  war of words of lies and truth between true prophets and false prophets. True prophets interpret the bible symbolically and false prophets interpret it literally. Christian Nationalists always interpret the bible literally.  Lies (i.e., words) told Old/First Covenant religionists are symbolized as blood, arrows and swords. Truth (i.e., words) told by New Covenant disciples are also symbolized by blood, arrows and swords.

The only way to know if the words are truth or lies is to evaluate thier effect on people. The potential effect that truthtellers have is life-giving changes in hearts and minds. The effect of Christian Nationalists’ words is hurt, injustice, chaos and even death.

Because Christian Nationalists do not know the difference between true prophets and false prophets, they believe that their interpretations of the literal bible are correct. That is why they fight so religiously to project their false beliefs (i.e., lies) onto the American public without regard for God’s many commands about loving one another. 

Currently, Christian Nationalists are gaining ground by broadcasting their lying words in volumes and extremism that is typically observed in totalitarian governments. That is not good news. But the good news reported in the Book of Revelation is that the truthtellers (i.e., New Covenant disciples) win. The power that makes winning possible is truth.

God’s weapons in spiritual warfare are words. He does not employ strategies like political activism, protests, legislation, editorials, books, blogs, sermons, court rulings, prayer meetings, fasting and other human efforts to accomplish his works. He uses his words of truth spoken by his servants to overcome oppression, abuse and lies. 

The warfare in the Book of Revelation should not be interpreted as a final, worldwide, apocalyptic event such as is imagined in literature, art and sermons. It is a symbolic reference to the ongoing warfare between religious entities such as Christian Nationalists and everybody else.

To many people, Christian Nationalists appear to have the upper hand because they have been more successful in the use of words in their fight for political power.  They spread their words (i.e., lies) through political activism, protests, legislation, editorials, books, blogs, sermons, court rulings, prayer meetings and so on. The only way to subdue  Christian Nationalists is to use the one and only weapon that can defeat lies: Words of truth.

When we correctly interpret the symbolic meaning of the Bible, we see that God is on the side of people who speak words of truth with the power to give spiritual life to others. God is not on the side of people who use words to hurt, abuse and destroy the physical, emotional or financial life of others. If we interpret the bible correctly and speak truth to Christian Nationalists, we can restore the physical, emotional and financial lives of those they abuse, and make the way for everyone to gain spiritual life as well.

When we consider the current threat of Christian Nationalism we might think that there never was a time in history when it was more important than today for God to speak through his servants. Whether it is the most important time or not, we know that we mortals can either obstruct God’s work or we enable it. If our hearts and minds are not in agreement with his purposes, we inhibit God’s work. But, if our hearts and minds are aligned with his heart and mind, we enable his work. The choice is ours.

For convenience, we will call people who use words of truth to confront Christian Nationalism “truthtellers.”

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