{"id":45689,"date":"2021-03-31T10:27:03","date_gmt":"2021-03-31T13:27:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/?p=45689"},"modified":"2021-03-31T10:32:18","modified_gmt":"2021-03-31T13:32:18","slug":"being-a-christian-in-public-is-now-christian-nationalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/2021\/03\/31\/being-a-christian-in-public-is-now-christian-nationalism\/","title":{"rendered":"Being a Christian in Public is now \u201cChristian Nationalism\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"David Closson at The Family Research Council has an interesting<\/a> \u2013 and accurate \u2013 breakdown on the increasing popularity of the pejorative \u201cChristian nationalism\u201d being applied to any<\/em> Christian who chooses to engage in the public square [emphasis added]:<\/p>\n

Christian nationalism (defined as conflating one\u2019s Christian and American identity) is wrong and ought to be rejected\u2026 [but] the ideological Left has seized upon the \u201cChristian nationalism\u201d buzzword in an attempt to belittle all American Christians and drive them from the public square<\/strong>\u2026<\/p>\n

By equating Christians with fanatics and conspiracy theorists, secular progressives believe they can more easily \u201ccancel\u201d Christians and exclude them from society and the political process. By radicalizing the term \u201cChristian nationalism,\u201d many see an opportunity to further the narrative that Christian political engagement is dangerous for America and motivated by evil.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Closson is right: Those who dislike Christians are trying to stigmatize them by appropriating — and altering — terminology. Similarly, the terms homophobia<\/em> and transphobia<\/em> \u2013 which, by definition<\/em>, mean \u201cirrational fear of\u201d \u2013 have been appropriated by neo-sexual activists to label any who do not actively support their ideology. \u201cDiscrimination<\/a>\u201d has morphed from action<\/em> to mere thought<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In that same vein, \u201cChristian nationalism\u201d is now applied to any<\/em> Christian who lives their faith in their public life (\u201cauthentically,\u201d to borrow a phrase). The \u201cprogressive\u201d left is redefining words<\/a> to create labels that align with their ideals and portray their ideological opponents in a negative light \u2013 because they hope it will help them win the narrative war in a sound bite world.<\/p>\n

Is it working? How often do you hear the term \u201chomophobic<\/a>\u201d in the news, absent any evidence<\/em> there was an “irrational fear” of homosexuality?<\/p>\n

This is the same methodology that Michael \u201cMikey\u201d Weinstein and Chris Rodda have used for years, trying to claim that \u201cChristian dominionists<\/a>\u201d are trying to take over the world through their access to the US military\u2019s \u201claser-guided nuclear weapons<\/a>.\u201d The “dominionist<\/a>” attacks didn’t catch on, however, and Weinstein and Rodda have since tried “fundamentalist Christian supremacy” to work into the more popular “supremacist” theme. Weinstein\u2019s attacks have largely fallen flat because they were too academic<\/a>; his pithier appellations fare better, but even Weinstein has retreated to the term \u201cChristian nationalist\u201d or “supremacist” without actually proving any<\/em> Christian in the US military actually is<\/em> either a nationalist or a supremacist.<\/p>\n

And therein lies the strength of the attack based on a label: It doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s true<\/strong><\/span>. If they can coat tail on the basic understanding that an \u201cirrational fear\u201d or conflating religion and political identity is \u201cbad\u201d, all they have to do is make a loud enough argument that people they disagree with are \u201chomophobes\u201d or \u201cChristian nationalists.\u201d It doesn\u2019t matter if they actually are.<\/em><\/p>\n

Language can define a culture. If you can control the definition of a word \u2013 if you can control society’s language<\/em> \u2013 what else can you control?<\/p>\n

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