Clarion

On Christian Nationalism & ‘the Bride of Babylon’ – Bradley Jersak

Feb 25, 2022 |

Christian nationalism in any nation is what John the Revelator described as the bride of Babylon, 'the whore' in bed with the Beast (Rev. 17) … It's an unholy alliance of would-be strongmen and whatever church cares to be bedded by them.
 
Christian nationalism is often comprised of political powers that seduce the church with a promise of moral reforms, harnessing a populist revulsion against hedonism (e.g., frequently distilled to legalized repression of the queer community) and some hated ethnic-religious other (e.g., Jews or Muslims) in order to harness and co-opt the Christian lobby as a political crony for its authoritarian and militarist goals. 
 
Here's a sample from a classic speech:
The National Government will regard it as its first and supreme task to restore to the German people unity of mind and will. It will preserve and defend the foundations on which the strength of our nation rests. It will take under its firm protection Christianity as the basis of our morality, and the family as the nucleus of our nation and our state.
Adolf Hitler, 1933    
The need for authoritarian politicians to develop a religious base is especially true when they turn to expansionist aggression. It is very difficult to send one's children off to die in battle for nationalism or freedom or oil unless one can further sell such a sacrifice to the parents as a sacred religious endeavor (cf. Brian Zahnd, Farewell to Mars). It seems to me that whether Evangelical or Orthodox believers, Eastern or Western, we have in common this Achilles' heel for Christian nationalism, even in weaker states, wherever the Cross is wrapped in their flag.
 
It's rancid and, in fact, not truly Christian at all. It's a death-dealing cult of civil religion with a thin veneer of Jesus-talk, with ethics of moralism that have nothing to do with love for neighbor, especially the most vulnerable.  
 
The good news is found in a closer reading of Revelation indicates that, as in Ezekiel and Hosea, God's heart is to cleanse his adulterous spouse of every stain so that she becomes the spotless bride! This is doable, but apparently not until she experiences the grief of her lovers' fall (Rev. 18) and hears Christ's call to 'come out' of that Babylonian alliance. Until then, she's de facto disqualified herself as a representative and servant of the Prince of Peace. 
 
It remains for me to ask how I am complicit and how I might opt out of that system without simply flying headlong into the opposite ditch. It's always easier to point at the despicable 'them' than to see our own blindspots because we forget that we can feed any ugly tendency by signing on OR by opposing them in the same self-righteous spirit. On that note, I pray this line from Lent Prayer of St. Ephrem, "Lord, help me to see my own faults and not to judge my brother."
 
Lord, have mercy.   

John Donne on Mercy and Justice

Jul 21, 2006 |

"[I]n every work of God there is mercy and justice, so, as they presuppose one another. And as in his created Elements, so in these there is a condensing and rarifying, by which they become and grow into one another. For often that action which was principally...

The Myth of Proportional Violence by Brad Jersak

Jul 20, 2006 |

Just War Theory: “Just War” is a idea and tradition developed by philosophers (e.g. Aristotle and Cicero) and theologians (e.g. Augustine and Hugo Grotius) in an effort to establish a platform of ethics for war and peace. “Just War theory” seeks to define ethical...

“Honour” by Michelle Wiebe-Santschi

Jul 20, 2006 |

A while ago, I started getting frustrated with some of the things that I was hearing people saying about people with disabilities.  I didn’t like hearing people in my community referred to as “residents” or “the disabled”.  These are my friends.  These...

Excerpt: “WHEN THINGS FALL APART” by Pema Chodron

Jul 19, 2006 |

Pema Chodron, When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times (Shambala Classics, 1997). Things falling apart is a kind of testing and also a kind of healing.  We think that the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that...

Paschal Sermon of St. John Chrysostom

Jul 19, 2006 |

This past Easter, by the Orthodox calendar, I attended my first Eastern Orthodox Midnight Mass. It was a splendid celebration, adorned with many candles, icons, robes and multi-lingual shouts of "He is risen / Truly He is risen." The fifty-some pages of...

Andy’s Letter by Wayne Northey

Jul 19, 2006 |

Andy’s Letter An unpublished novel by me treats of violence and nonviolence as a major theme with hell a subtheme. It is entitled Chrysalis Crucible, and tells the story of a young evangelist’s coming of age on the short-term mission field in West Berlin.  The...

War and Hell by Wayne Northey

Jul 13, 2006 |

War and hell are inextricably interlinked in Christian history and theology.  Below are some thoughts about both, with relation to a movie and a book. I.  The Christian and War: Reflections on “Saving Private Ryan” “War is hell”, observed Civil War General...