Tag Archives: religious wars

Christian Nationalism? Which Christianity?

Recently, we’ve seen discussions about saving “Christian America.”

What would it look like to “save Christian America”?

Which Christian America would we save?

A generally establishment Protestant Christian America? An evangelical Christian America? Would it allow citizenship for those practicing Roman Catholicism? What about Greek Orthodoxy?

Not atheists or Jews or Muslims, I suppose. That does, however, seem to suggest taking a lesson from some Middle Eastern countries which uphold Islam as the state religion. Is making some form of Christianity a test for holding office any better than Iranian mullahs dictating an Islamic government?

Unfortunately, saving Christian America might end up like saving Christian Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Religious wars devastated Europe. Christians who didn’t agree with other Christians killed their Christian enemies with sword and torture while presiding over mass devastation of the countryside.

Getting to practical considerations, what kind of litmus test would we require of seekers after public office? What must they swear to uphold in order to have a “Christian” America?

Maybe we could just require Christian office holders to “follow Jesus.”

Of course, one test for a “Jesus follower” might be a test Jesus mentioned, the “last judgement test.” The only ones accepted at the end of the age are those who followed Jesus in his concern for the “least” people—the poor, jailed, hungry, and so on. Possibly we could make this a criteria for leadership.

 

How Do I Fit My Faith Within My Nation?

The separation of religion and state, a bedrock of the U.S. Constitution, dawned in Europe after the devastating religious wars of the early modern age. This separation evolved as new nation-states tried to solve the problem of how to tie together differing faith communities.

Nations with Islamic majorities had their share of religious wars as well. Shadi Hamid (“Post-Liberalism, East and West,” Foreign Affairs; 11 April 2018) writes: “Islam, in its original form, assumed that one’s primary allegiance was to a religious community rather than a nation.” This might also be said of Europeans in times past.

Europe moved toward state churches but with toleration of dissenters. Later, the newly formed United States moved to disestablish religion from government altogether.

Well-established nation-states progressed in many areas: rule of law; public health advances; public education; transportation infrastructures; and hosts of others.

However, even within the centuries old American model of separation of church and state, conflicts have arisen between religious communities and government. Example: Should parents who believe blood transfusions are wrong be required to let their dying child be treated with them?

Protestors against the Vietnamese conflict included religious leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Joshua Heschel. A continuing protest against excessive militarism involves present day religious leaders.

The growth of secularism in both Western and Middle Eastern societies has led to new conflicts between communities within nation states. New areas include abortion and gender issues.

These inevitable differences can be eased if those in conflict pledge civility and respect for those who differ from them. They agree that protests must be non-violent.

They recognize that no perfect society is possible. They accept tension as inevitable.

The Rest of the Story

Critics of Christianity often criticize its followers for their failings: the Crusades, the Inquisition, the religious wars of the 1600’s and so on. What often is missed is the rest of the story, that is, what happens to the Christians when they fail so tragically to live the Christ way.

Before the spread of Islam, most Egyptians were Christians. Today, only about ten percent of the population call themselves Christians. Why did so many leave the Christian faith when Islam appeared? No doubt many reasons underlay the change. Some historians point to the Christian schisms that afflicted that part of the world before the Muslim conquest. Christianity lost its good name. The new religion may have struck many as more genuine than the old one.

The shoving aside of religion to the sidelines that began in the 1700’s was caused partly by the appalling religious conflicts of the century before. Pure reason seemed a better way, perhaps, than religious passion, than the killing and torturing of those who disagreed with you.

And for those of us today who call ourselves Christians? If we fail to live up to Christ’s teachings, should we expect any different judgement on us?