“Jesus 2020,” that was one of the banners waved by insurrectionists as they stormed the capital. America now faces “called white supremacists” a dangerous mixture of white nationalism and white Evangelical theology that threatens the very bedrock of American democracy. As the events at the capitol force us to reconsider American identity at a critical juncture in American history, the role that white conservative Evangelical Christians in the storming of the capitol is a stark warning about how removed from democratic ideals some in this minority have become. There is a place for all kinds of Christianity in America, but when people arm themselves in the name of any God people must step up and make it clear that that is not acceptable.
I am not surprised that white Evangelical Christinity is morphing into forms of nationalism. There has always been a dangerous element of this group that thinks in ways incompatible with democracy. Fundamentally, America is not a Christian nation. It is the most religiously diverse nation that has ever existed. As a Jew by choice I have long felt that some Christians are seeking to exclude me, even as I am a person of faith. Some claim America for their religion alone; they have demonstrated that they are unwilling to live within a democracy that belongs to all of America and not anyone’s God or gods.
I live in a small Iowa town, not exactly a bastion of American diversity. Yet in my community there is a strong Conservative and Reform Jewish presence. There is enough of an Islamic presence that there is a hallal section in the local Wal-Mart. There are Sikhs and Unitarians and a small but important group of modern wiccans. Not to mention a whole variety of legitimately Christian congregations unwilling to exclude me because of my religion or sexual orientation. It is wrong for any group to stand up and say that their God should lead the entirity of the country. Especially a God that, according to them, is ready to send me to hell no matter how good a person I am. Is this kind of thinking really American?
Now is the moment for those of us who really do believe in diversity to say why Jesus will never be a candidate. No one who thinks this way is really in touch with the nature of diverse multi-ethnic democracy. There needs to be space for more than just one minority with exclusionary beliefs. The reality is that the confusion between one group’s deity and democratic governance has always been dangerous. As we reflect on this assault on democracy, it should be clear to us just how dangerous blurring that line really is, and why those ideas must be countered more strongly.
Progressive Without Apology 