Christian Nationalism

The vast majority of self identified Christian’s aren’t actually Christian. They call themselves Christian, but realistically don’t follow even the basic tenets of the religion in their day to day lives. CINO’s, if you will.

A bonafide Christian American is almost as rare as a conservative Republican. But I guess they’ll find that out when they meet their maker (or not).

 

Here they are repeating ….. the christofascist creed?

 

It needs to be pointed out that this is an independent church started by that one guy. It represents a fringe minority of churches. I have never been in a church that preached sermons like that. A more realistic picture of churches in America and politics is shown in this Pew survey:

Many churchgoers in U.S. don't know the political leanings of their clergy

 

I could not finish the article. A clear cherry picking to create a narrative.

No argument there are churches that preach apostasy. This was a sad attempt to lump Christians as something they are not.

 

They “decree” that the executive branch will honor God AND the Constitution.

I thought for a minute there was a disconnect, but after another dozen decrees about how they have been empowered to “destroy” me, they all chanted “USA USA” and I realized that I am just simply not worthy.

 

My church is more moderate and they avoid politics like the plague. There are a mixture of Republican/Democrats in the congregation so why offend people?

 

You really don't understand Christianity apparently.

 

Understand it well enough to know that most people just go through the motions out of some notion of tradition or cultural duty

 

Its always hilarious when non-Christians feel empowered to determine and define who is and is not a "real" Christian.

 

That's funny, every Christian I've known feels sufficiently empowered to do that, especially when it comes to Mormons or other denominations. Are we treading on your turf? Does going to Church and calling yourself Christian make you an expert on Christianity or something? If so I have plenty of life experience there.

 

I grew up going to Catholic school bub. Religious indoctrination 5 days a week. Fortunately it didn’t stick.

Almost no Americans even attempt to live according to Christ’s teachings anyway. Not that it matters if they did. These militant Christian’s are so diametrically opposed it’s almost comical they call themselves Christian, but as I said, they can call themselves whatever they want. They are CINO’s. They aren’t any more or less Christian than the Taliban or MS-13.

 

I don’t think there is such a thing as a “real” Christian as I don’t believe in the entire construct. *All* organized religions are human inventions. Fantasy.

My point here isn’t that, it’s more or less that even according to their own concept of Jesus Christ, most Americans fail to even come close to living the sort of existence Christ envisioned. See for 1 example: every idiot with a “god, guns, country” bumper sticker, every “f your feelings”, every “Trump tells it like it is”. Think of all this as a sort of Christian Turing test indicating a very basic pass/fail.

 

Organized religion is a con game and a power grab by narcissistic people who feel the need to be adored. They desire an autocracy over a democratic form of government. They hold icons sacred and build giant cathedrals to themselves with heavy doors that are locked to prevent the entrance of those seeking shelter from the cold. Only paying customers allowed.

I have seen atheists, who have no church doctrine to guide them, show more Christian love to the least of us than any church. People attend church because it makes them feel superior to those who don’t, they send their kids to private parochial schools so they won’t be exposed to secular people, and donate to only that church thinking all that will get them to Heaven.

There are those, even in this forum, who will argue against those points, and in doing so prove those points. I think there are good Christian people out there that live a good Christian life, but they can’t be identified by church attendance or following a particular church doctrine. They can only be identified by their actions and that makes them a rare commodity. Further there are those who will say my church does this or that, but do they actually put their heart into it or just a token effort because feeding the starving children in Mississippi are second to the building fund?

 

I’m sorry to be so blunt, but you are painting with way too broad a brush dipped into a bucket of bigotry. As @tilly has pointed out numerous times, the overwhelming, vast majority of pastors in this country are not paid high salaries and only seek to promote the Good News of the Gospel.

You gave a “come on man” to my posting of the Pew Research survey, but the reality is most churches in this country are not political. You look at a few examples from the margin, a very small minority of churches, and you think that constitutes the reality for the whole. It does not.

Come and visit my church, and you will not see any of these things that you rail against.

 

I go to Grace Church. Pastor Tucker is the best Bible-based Pastor I have ever had in a lifetime of Church attendance. And Grace Church does more for the community of St. Louis (Black, White, Asian, etc.) than any church in St. Louis. We have the most diverse group of people of any church in St. Louis. If you haven't been to the church you may want to refrain from telling people (based on this biased article) what occurs at this church. Don't believe everything you read.

 

You’re entitled to that opinion but that’s all it is, an opinion, and you offer up nothing that would change my mind. While judging me you’re only proving my point about the perception of superiority. Further, why should I have to go to your church to see I’m wrong? Shouldn’t I be able to see the results of your church’s teaching in everyday life?

 

While I'm sure many Christians are faithful to the teachings of Christ, I'm also sure that many of the politically active, right-wing, nationalist Christians ignore his teachings altogether. Jesus would be thrown out of a Trump rally.

 

You could also visit his community and see the good his church's teachings are doing there in everyday life as well.

The point remains that your brush is overly broad. Yes, there are some churches who have put politics ahead of the gospel. But there are many more churches that are powerful forces for good in the lives of their members, and the communities they serve in, because they strive to follow the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

I don’t remember if this was posted here before, but this article was interesting on how some churches were dealing with radicalized congregations

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazin...urch-pastors-political-radicalization/629631/