A month ahead of an important election, Union Presbyterian Seminary webinar explores the danger Christian nationalism poses

Panelists encourage both clergy and laity to show up and speak out

by Mike Ferguson | Presbyterian News Service

The Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Hinson-Hasty

LOUISVILLE — On Monday, less than a month before a pivotal presidential election, a panel convened by Union Presbyterian Seminary’s Center for Social Justice and Reconciliation took on the issue of Christian nationalism at home.

Panelists joining the webinar’s host, Dr. Rodney S. Sadler Jr., Associate Professor of Bible at the seminary and the director of CSJR, were:

• The Rev. Jimmie Hawkins, advocacy director for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) who leads both the Office of Public Witness and the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations
• The Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Hinson-Hasty, Professor of Theology and Ethics at Union Presbyterian Seminary
• Dr. Obery Hendricks, Professor of New Testament at Columbia University.

Christian nationalism “is not about faith — it’s about ideology,” Hendricks said. “It’s about political power and substantiating interests of a group of people over others.” It’s “about forcing everyone to bow at the altar of their interest and their distorted, twisted view of Christianity.”

The Rev. Jimmie Hawkins

“These are two terms that don’t go together,” said Hawkins, author of the 2022 book “Unbroken and Unbowed: A History of Black Protest in America.” “It’s less about Christianity and more about empire and individuals seeking to gain political influence and power.”

Hinson-Hasty noted the difference between patriotism and nationalism. “You can support your nation and have a strong interest in the common good,” she said. “Nationalism is quite different.” White Christian nationals are “working to take the nation back for God on the basis of race and nativity. That is different from patriotism.”

She called Christian nationalism “a distinct political agenda intended to maintain power and privilege.”

Asked by Sadler why Christians need to know more about Jesus and his culture and context, Hendricks said Jesus wasn’t a conservative. “He wasn’t looking to conserve the distribution of wealth and power. He came to challenge it,” Hendricks said. The good news to the poor recorded in Luke’s gospel is “structural change” to “laws, policies and attitudes that made people poor and kept them poor,” Hendricks said.

Dr. Obery Hendricks

Jesus’ greatest social commandment was to love your neighbor as yourself, “which is much more profound than it’s given credit for,” Hendricks said. “It’s about wanting the same rights and freedoms for your neighbor as for yourself.”

Sadler then asked Hawkins what Christian nationalism looks like in the public square.

“It is everywhere,” Hawkins said. “It’s become a fad for politicians to say they are Christian nationalists.” He said Christian nationalism is being used “as a tool to affirm American ways that are unchristian,” including the notion that God “has anointed the nation to control the world.”

“We’re at a dangerous point, because Christian nationalism is rising to the forefront in ways that are dangerous not only for the lifeblood of this nation, but for the world,” Hawkins said. A member of the U.S. House made the claim that the church is called to lead the government. “There has never been a more ludicrous statement from a person of faith in the government,” Hawkins said. “We have to push back against those politicians who proclaim they are Christian nationalists and want to lead America into a new day.” What they really want, Hawkins said, is “to exploit everything they can to increase their power and status.”

“It’s all about power,” Hendricks said. “Whatever doesn’t serve their purpose, they reject. Whatever can be weaponized to serve their purpose will be embraced.” It’s to the point where some Christians “reject the Beatitudes for being namby-pamby,” he said.

Hinson-Hasty said some Christian nationalists complain that Jesus has been feminized because he blessed people in poverty and embraced the outcast. “It’s a misinterpretation of power,” she said. “It has to do with how power is perceived and used.”

“The power of the gospel is it transforms us beyond ourselves,” Hawkins said. “We have lost our connection with the biblical Jesus, and that’s why it’s easy for us to denigrate people. People see enemies everywhere,” and so we must work harder to “overcome these ‘isms,’” Hawkins said. “The only way to do that is with a sincere faith that reconnects with the origin of our faith.”

Hendricks said it’s “evil to see people as less than,” calling Christian nationalism “a movement to destroy people’s distinctiveness.”

“If we don’t stand against it, shame on us. I am so disgusted with the church because we’re not doing a darn thing to stop this evil onslaught,” Hendricks said. “We aren’t standing up to say what we ought to say.”

A webinar participant asked if panelists had any wisdom for preachers in the coming weeks leading up to the Nov. 5 election.

Hinson-Hasty said her father, a church historian, used to say the best way to radicalize people’s thoughts is to teach them history. “In spite of all the critique of white Christian nationalism, all of us are formed in the same cultural ethos,” she said. “If we can get in a space of understanding how that affects us all, it can enable us to see an authentic vision of communities of belonging.”

Hendricks reminded viewers that Jesus’ test for his followers as recorded in Matthew 25:31-46 is that “we will be judged by how we do right by other people.”

“Jesus talks mostly about effort, not what to believe,” Hendricks said, urging those in attendance to “proclaim the radicality of what the gospel is and what it is not. People are hungry to hear about struggling for the common good.” Even during this hyper-partisan season, “anyone not standing up for justice is guilty of gospel malpractice,” Hendricks said. “Pastors, get off your rusty dusties and go fight evil!”

As pastors, “our ultimate and primary purpose is to teach hope and faith in God, that God’s justice will win out and that God will have the last word,” Hawkins said. “As part of teaching hope in God, justice has to be a fundamental element in our discipleship. Justice is not something outside the faith — it’s integral to the faith.”

Even after murdering his brother got Cain banished, God put a mark on Cain to protect him, despite this grievous sin, Hawkins noted. “Grace and justice go hand in hand,” he said. “Teach your people to have faith in God, and along the way we have to understand we have to follow Jesus wherever he leads us.”

“My catch phrase,” Hawkins said, “is, ‘advocacy is a spiritual discipline.’”

Dr. Rodney S. Sadler Jr.

“Imagine if we taught that in Sunday school class,” Sadler said.

To close the webinar, Sadler asked panelists how best to educate people on the differences between Christian nationalism “and a Christianity consonant with the Jesus movement.”

“The main thing we can do is engage in authentic dialogue in a deep way,” Hinson-Hasty said, which helps people understand “how God is active in you and in the community and the world.” She said religious leaders can “engage with that in a way that others don’t have the opportunity at the present moment.”

“I would take a lesson from where young people are today,” Hawkins said. “We assume they are not invested in spirituality, but they want to know more about their connection with the Divine.”

“We have to relax a little and breathe a little and understand God’s gifts to us,” Hawkins said, “which we are called to share with others.”