An Audacious Invitation to Journalists
A proposal for a collaborative strategy to change hearts and minds.
………………………TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………
A CALL TO ACTIVISM AGAINST CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM
INVISIBLE LIMITS TO JOURNALISTIC RELIGIOUS ACTIVISM
THE ORIGINS OF RELIGIOUS INJUSTICE
WHY MAINSTREAM CHRISTIANS DON'T RISE UP TO CONFRONT CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM
AN AUDACIOUS PROPOSAL TO COLLABORATE
THE BIG PICTURE AND THE DETAILS
A CALL TO ACTIVISM AGAINST CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM
America would be in worse shape than it is if religion journalists and scholars did not fulfill their basic journalistic and scholarly responsibilities in a season of general decline of print journalism. Those of us who value all forms of journalism and scholarship praise the resolve of journalists to research and expose sensitive truths about both politics and religion in the face of growing authoritarian efforts to suppress the independent press and public education about uncomfortable truths. It is right to say that Make the World Better: Love Your Neighbor would not exist in the absence of those efforts.
Up until these modern times of aggravated, right-wing political extremism perpetrated by Christian Nationalists, the responsibility of journalists has been to monitor and research current events in the world of religion and report on them in the context of the historical confluence of religion and politics. That is all well, good and necessary, but in the ominous season of Christian Nationalism, journalists are in a position where they need to reconsider the scope of their journalistic responsibilities.
Without diminishing the value of their historical efforts, there is a strong case to be made that these perilous times put demands on journalists to be more than reporters of events in the world of religion and politics. There is a need for them to dig deep into the roots of Christian Nationalism and expose its lies and hypocrisy because those lies and hypocrisy threaten American democracy. Someone needs to expose the truth about the beliefs and doctrines that inform and inspire Christian Nationalists. No group is better equipped to do this than journalists.. To better understand this argument, it is useful to review the history of clergy sex abuse.
There is no way to exaggerate the value of investigative reporting about sexual abuse in churches. It must be said, however, that reporting about abuse was deficient in the sense that it only reported factual evidence that the abuse occurred and efforts to cover it up. Reporting never went so far as to evaluate the origins of the religious beliefs and doctrines that created the religious environment that nurtured those policies and behaviors. To get to those origins would require deep dives into the bible and comparisons of actual scriptures with religious teachings. This has not been the domain of journalists -- even those who report on religion -- but America is now at the point where journalists must expand the scope of their work to investigate the back story of Christian Nationalism's beliefs.
Because religious sexual abuse was not correlated with generations of religious abuses of all kinds, the religious belief system that nurtures Christian Nationalism was not reported. Therefore, we have our current situation where where the movement is poised to destroy American democracy. The pressure is on for journalists to get out of their comfort zones and report on those faulty, abusive, belief systems. If they don't, there is a very real risk that Christian Nationalists will achieve their goals to dominate all aspects of American culture.
Unfortunately, deep dives into the religious backstory of clergy sex abuse and Christian Nationalism is not on anyone's radar. There is a powerful, invisible, cultural respect for religious leaders and religious diversity that precludes the very idea that anyone other than theologians should investigate underlying religious beliefs that enable religious wrongdoing of any kind. Doctrine is historically the domain of theologians --not journalists. But we can't expect religious leaders to expose these roots because they are not in the habit of critically evaluating their belief structures or the adverse influence of those structures on society. This neglect creates a ripe opportunity for journalists to investigate religious beliefs -- but there are very real obstacles to such reporting.
There is an unspoken, "hands off" "live and let live" policy regarding religious beliefs and practices that demands that religions respectfully avoid public criticism of other religions. Religions don't want anyone poking into their business so they don't poke into the business of other religions. This policy also applies to reporting about religious beliefs. And whenever someone does poke into their religious practices, they loudly proclaim that their religious freedoms have been violated. In those cases where religions are found guilty of provable abuse and oppression, the focus is on individual bad apples rather than structural belief issues. Abuses will not stop until the errors in those beliefs are exposed. This calls for courageous journalism.
Notable exceptions to this "hands off" "live and let live" pattern can be found in Protestant/Catholics/Judaism/Muslim relationships, but tension typically focuses on religious behaviors -- not on beliefs. Because Americans have historically adopted the “live and let live” approach to keeping peace with other religions, liberals and conservatives of all religious stripes, and even non-religious people, discreetly avoid challenging religions about the origins of belief. For most people, it is unseemly to criticize other religions — even if you think they are wrong.
INVISIBLE LIMITS TO JOURNALISTIC RELIGIOUS ACTIVISM
The "live and let live" attitude about religious beliefs is also evident in religious journalism and scholarship. There is an attitude in journalism that says it is permissible to report on the good and bad things religious people do, but it is not OK to investigate and report the religious beliefs that explain why religious people do what they do. This attitude presents a glass ceiling on journalism that, if broken, has the potential to expose the truth about the origins of Christian Nationalism beliefs and behaviors. This truth would be the beginning of the end of Christian Nationalism. This backstory has never been told but it must be told before the Christian Nationalism movement can be be disarmed and destroyed.
Despite the abundance of stories about religious sexual abuse, religion journalists have never dug into the origins of religious beliefs that enabled all kinds of religious abuse -- not just sex. Giving credit where credit is due, it must be said that journalism gets all the credit for exposing the dirty little secret about sexual abuse in churches and for bringing abusers to justice. Even though the sexual abuse story has cooled off a bit, some journalists might be interested to know that the backstory of generic religious abuse has even more explosive journalistic potential than sex. Confronting Christian Nationalism might be the only hot tip on this backstory that journalists will ever get. Here is the tip:
Religious sex abuse and Christian Nationalism have the same religious antecedents.
Here are the basics of the story that must be told:
The bible is a book of Symbols, Signs, Types, Parables, Allegories, Copies, and Shadows that are impossible to interpret and understand with logic, reason and science.
Literal interpretations of the bible mislead people about truths hidden in bible Symbols, Signs, Types, Parables, Allegories, Copies, and Shadows.
Jews and Christians tend to interpret the bible according to the literal meanings of the words they read in the bible.
Literal interpretations of the bible lead people to create religion with abusive patriarchal leadership structures.
Literal interpretations of the bible inspire beliefs and practices that are totally contrary to the truth hidden in the Symbols, Signs, Types, Parables, Allegories, Copies, and Shadows.
If people could correctly interpret the Symbols, Signs, Types, Parables, Allegories, Copies, and Shadows found in the bible, religious sex abuse and Christian Nationalism would abate decisively.
Religions based on literal interpretations of the bible are incubators for all kinds of private and corporate abuse and oppression.
Some parts of the bible may be interpreted and understood both literally and symbolically. These parts include: God’s Commands About How to Relate to Him and to One Another, God's Commands About Doing Justice for Others, Doable, Common Sense Strategies for Achieving Political and Social Unity: Overview and What God Says About Evil, Deceptive Hearts.
If Jews and Christians obeyed God's Commands About How to Relate to Him and to One Another, God's Commands About Doing Justice for Others, Doable, Common Sense Strategies for Achieving Political and Social Unity and What God Says About Evil, Deceptive Hearts, religious sex abuse and Christian Nationalism would eventually disappear.
If all people globally understood and applied all the hidden meanings in bible Symbols, Signs, Types, Parables, Allegories, Copies, and Shadows, the world would be a better place.
See Dominionism Doctrines and Philosophy: Lies and Truth, Christian Nationalism Doctrines and Philosophy: Lies and Truth for truths that must be told before Christian Nationalists will abandon the movement and stop voting for its political leaders.
The veracity of these statements will not be immediately apparent to anyone -- including journalists and scholars. The veracity of these statements will emerge -- if they emerge at all -- only in the hearts and minds of people who make the effort to study God's Commands About How to Relate to Him and to One Another, God's Commands About Doing Justice for Others, Doable, Common Sense Strategies for Achieving Political and Social Unity and What God Says About Evil, Deceptive Hearts.
Like God himself, the intricacy and depth of the backstory to Christian Nationalism is unfathomable. But 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says the bible is useful, and one way it is useful is to tear down religious institutions like Christian Nationalism. Journalists and scholars will be relieved to know that much of the work about the origins and errors of Jewish and Christian religious beliefs has been done and is easily accessible in these resources:
Confronting Christian Nationalism (website)
Religion Detox Network (website)
These resources make reporting on religious beliefs relatively easy because they contain all the scriptures and much of the analysis needed to report deep theological issues with confidence — even for people who are not familiar with the bible. The missing factor is journalists who will insert biblical truths into the context of contemporary events related to Christian Nationalism as backstory that disproves their self-righteous claims of Godly authority to dominate the seven mountains of American culture.
While the actual reporting will be relatively easy, there are still very real obstacles to reporting this material. One is the inner conflict journalists will face when they confront the origins of their own beliefs. Another problem will be conflict with employees, colleagues and readers who are offended when their beliefs are challenged. These are not small matters. Those who struggle through, however, will be rewarded personally and professionally with knowledge that their work has made the world a kinder, gentler, better place to live.
THE ORIGINS OF RELIGIOUS INJUSTICE
Traditional Jewish and Christian religious beliefs are incubators for religious sex abuse, racism, sexism, misogyny, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, cults, bigamy, conspiracy theories, religious conflict, hate crime, Christian Nationalism, wokism and a multitude of other social ills. The injustices religious people do in churches, synagogues, on the streets, in businesses, in government, in businesses, in voting booths and in their homes, are all products of those beliefs. Bad behaviors by religious people will not change until their wrong beliefs are exposed and replaced by the correct interpretations of the bible. None of these abusive behaviors would be evident in a culture that obeys God’s Commands About How to Relate to Him and to One Another. There would be no need for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies if everyone routinely practiced the Doable, Common Sense Strategies for Achieving Political and Social Unity: Overview.
Sexual abuse is a crime and a sin -- not just bad behavior. Christian Nationalism is not just bad behavior. Many aspects of Christian Nationalism are flagrant crimes. More than violations of human civil laws, or breaches of cultural norms, however, clergy abuse and the many injustices perpetrated by Christian Nationalists are crimes against God's spiritual laws that include, but are not limited to God’s Commands About How to Relate to Him and to One Another and God's Commands About Doing Justice for Others. God has two words to describe violations of these his laws: sin and injustice.
God's way of dealing with sin and injustice is to inspire his people to share the truth about his laws with lawbreakers. That is what Old Testament prophets and Jesus did. When read carefully and with respect for biblical symbolism, most bible stories depict truthtellers confronting lawbreakers/sinners. Jesus' ministry can be described as confrontation with the religious nationalists (i.e. Pharisees and Scribes) of his day with the truth about the many ways their religious activities violated God's spiritual laws. This is what God wants today's truthtellers to do. But truthtellers don't need to be prophets or pastors or teachers or even be religious to tell the truth. Anyone can tell the truth -- even about religion and the bible. No special degrees or training is required. Truth can be shared from any public or private platform by anyone who knows truth and has courage to share it an a social, political and religious environment that too often rejects truth and punishes truthtellers.
While it is true that the benefits and power of truth telling expand greatly when everyone knows the truth and applies it consistently in their daily lives, the primary target for truthtellers today should be Christian Nationalists. There is an urgent need to confront Christian Nationalists because, as they aggressively and brutally violate God’s Commands About How to Relate to Him and to One Another and God's Commands About Doing Justice for Others, too many innocent Americans suffer in spirit, soul and body as victims of Christian Nationalist legislation. Failure to arrest the movement amounts to criminal complicity.
There are some exceptions, but most Americans see Christian Nationalism as a political/religious movement. Regardless of how it is seen in philosophical terms, the fruit of Christian Nationalism is legislation that oppresses marginalized communities with legalized injustice. The movement's destructive effectiveness is in the news daily, but the strategy to confront it -- if indeed there is a coherent strategy -- for arresting the movement has been political activism. This makes sense for people who see Christian Nationalism as a political movement, but it makes no sense at all for anyone who sees it as religious extremism. Political activism will not arrest, or even slow down, Christian Nationalism because the focus is on changing politics -- not on changing the hearts of Christian Nationalists who perpetrate unjust, oppressive governmental policies.
To be fair, it must be said that some religious people employ prayer as a strategy to deal with all kinds of social issues, but prayer does not work and cannot work because God does not and will not intervene in human affairs. The only kind of intervention God does is to change hearts. Meddling in politics and government is not something that God has ever done. If he was inclined to intervene in the affairs of men, we would not have the Christian Nationalism problem today and most wars and religious atrocities in human history would not have happened.
Christian Nationalism is, at root, a religious movement that is based on literal interpretations of select parts of the bible that Christian Nationalists believe to be true in their hearts and minds. These beliefs inform everything Christian Nationalists say and do. These beliefs cannot be altered by reason or logic because they are lodged in the hearts and minds of Christian Nationalists in the same way that affections religious people hold for their chosen religions are lodged in their hearts and minds.
Truthtellers who want to change hearts and minds don't think in terms of changing political ideologies because that is a losing battle. The only way to successfully confront Christian Nationalism is with the only spiritual weapon that has the power to destroy the movement's religious roots: Truth.
Since truth cannot be seen, truth is, by nature, a spiritual commodity. And since journalists trade in truth, it is up to them to expand the scope of their work to include truth about the antecedents of Christian Nationalism. They must see that their job is more than reflexive reporting truth about religious events. They must expand their vision of truth telling to include the truth about the religious roots of Christian Nationalism. If journalists don't research and report this truth, no one else will.
WHY MAINSTREAM CHRISTIANS DON'T RISE UP TO CONFRONT CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM
There are several reasons why more mainstream American Christians have not mobilized more to confront Christian Nationalism as a spiritual problem:
Ignorance about God’s Commands About How to Relate to Him and to One Another and God's Commands About Doing Justice for Others.
The "live and let live" respect for other religions.
Lack of understanding of how to wage spiritual warfare.
Longstanding habit of identifying cultural problems as political issues to be confronted with political strategies.
They can't imagine that Christianity in any form can be a problem.
Perhaps mainstream Christians will change their thinking when they learn that Christian Nationalists are very real threats to their religions. We see that threat clearly in the "dominionism" strategy but many mainstream Christians are ignorant of the threat that this strategy poses to American democracy and their personal religions. Since journalists have existing platforms that are accepted by mainstream Christians, journalists are uniquely positioned to alert mainstream Christians to those threats.
Whether mainstream Christians will listen or not remains to be seen. If journalists make spiritual truth the main themes of their truth telling efforts, mainstream Christians might respond well because these are issues that should resonate with their theologies. But, who knows, there could also be a backlash from religious leaders who resent intrusions by others to their teaching domains. Nevertheless, journalists are still the best, maybe the only candidates for reaching out to mainstream Christians with truth about Christian Nationalism.
Unless mainstream Christians see Christian Nationalist activities as violations of God's laws, those activities will be seen as just another political movement to be challenged with political activism and prayer. As was true in the case of clergy sex abuse, how those activities will be viewed by Christians and the general public depends on how journalists see them and report them.
Christian Nationalism is trending to be a religious scandal worthy of deep investigation as a criminal activity. That characterization is hard to imagine today, but, given their recent legislative successes, it is easy to anticipate that Christian Nationalists will continue to commit many more crimes on their way to achieving dominance over the Seven Mountains of American culture. The fruits of the scandal are evident for all to see, but public outrage for Christian Nationalism is not the same as the response to clergy abuse. Americans will not see Christian Nationalism as a scandal until journalists elevate it to scandal status.
With some notable exceptions (i.e., 1/6/21 Capitol insurrection) Christian Nationalist's bad behaviors are not crimes in the classical, legal sense. They are criminal, nonetheless, with respect to God's laws about how to love one another. Although journalists are not in the habit of exposing sin, they are in the habit of exposing injustice. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to expect that sins/injustices of Christian Nationalists on their radar.
While some might debate the criminality of Christian Nationalist activities, there can be no debate that Christian Nationalists break God's spiritual laws. When they wrongly misrepresent themselves as Godly people, they rob God as well as people who give them money and votes. That is what the Third Commandment is all about. Whether Americans become sensitized to these perspectives or not depends on the attitudes and reporting of journalists.
Changing attitudes about Christian Nationalism will not be easy. The "live and let live" tolerance for religious beliefs is a powerful force. Americans need to know, indeed deserve to know, that Christian Nationalism, like sexual abuse, is a symptom of abusive, oppressive religious beliefs that originate in the literal words of the bible. Careful reading of the bible confirms this fact.
Careful reading of the bible also reveals that God gave ample warnings about the kind of oppression, affliction and injustice that religion perpetrates on its own people. These are facts that Jews and Christians should know but do not know because religious leaders will never preach about such things. That is a gap in knowledge that only journalists can fill.
Careful study of the bible and world history reveal understanding that Judaism and Christianity have always been incubators for Christian Nationalism, sexual abuse, racism, sexism, misogyny, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, cults, bigamy, conspiracy theories, religious conflict, hate crime, and a multitude of other social ills. Some of these offenses are codified in human civil laws. God calls the beliefs birthed and incubated in religion injustice because they violate his spiritual laws.
Most people know the laws of their birth or adopted cultures and obey them so that they will be accepted by the culture. Similarly, most civilized people know cultural injustice when they see it and do what is necessary to enforce those laws through formal and informal means. In general, Christian Nationalists are not like most people. Best they can they avoid obeying government laws and/or they use money and legislation to change laws that impinge on their beliefs. It may not be true of all Christian Nationalists, but, if they could, many would prefer to live without government constraints of any kind. They call this philosophy "free market capitalism." In political terms, they call it conservatism.
Not all political conservatives are Christian Nationalists, but for those who do identify as Christian Nationalists, the root of their philosophy is the arrogant belief that God has given them the wisdom and authority to change America's cultural laws, civil laws, institutional laws and religious laws. And while they work to change these laws, they disrespect and break existing laws whenever and wherever they can. While covering their intentions with patriotic and religious rhetoric, Christian Nationalists conceal their intent to dominate the Seven Mountains of American culture. Everything they say and do constitutes injustice and anarchy with respect to the Constitution and God's spiritual laws. These are truths that journalists must investigate and report or all Americans will remain ignorant of the forces that are ruining their country and religions.
OBSTACLES TO TRUTHTELLING
Few people understand God's idea of injustice. God's spiritual laws are his standards for justice. These are the laws that must be reported to Christian Nationalists to convict them of spiritual injustice and civil anarchy. In their literal interpretations of the bible they believe they are righteous but they are not. Who knows? If they knew the truth, maybe some of them will change their politics and their religion. This is discussed in Right Attitudes Toward Government and People in Authority.
Little children are quick to point out unfairness. Christian Nationalists are so blinded by their vision of dominating American culture that they have lost the childlike ability to detect that their behaviors are injustice. Moreover, they don't see Injustice as God sees it. Christian Nationalists see injustice through the lens of their personal religious liberties -- not from a global, biblical, love your neighbor perspective. This is a truth that must be told.
Who knows, even though Christian Nationalists are oblivious to civil and cultural injustices that they perpetrate, maybe truth will convicted them of violating God's spiritual laws and abandon their affection for Christian Nationalism. A radical attitude adjustment like this will be evidence that God has changed their hearts and minds with truth.
Christian Nationalists will not easily abandon the movement for the same reasons religious people will not easily abandon their religions: religious beliefs are firmly lodged in their hearts and minds. Something radical must happen before their hearts and minds change. That radical event is the infusion of truth that exposes lies and injustice.
The only good news about exposing the Christian Nationalism scandal is that journalists have done an excellent job of reporting the political history and the current news of the movement. The bad news is that they have not yet reported the backstory on how faulty religious beliefs nurtured the movement.
Speaking truth to power about wrong beliefs is a job that will not appeal to many journalists.. Part of the reason is that some journalists who are personally invested in Christianity and/or Judaism may be conflicted and unwilling to recognize faults in their own personal beliefs and the beliefs of their friends, neighbors and colleagues. Their hearts and minds would need to be changed before they become truthtellers.
A few atheists and other non-Christians might be willing to investigate errors in basic Christian and Jewish beliefs just to prove them wrong, but that would probably require more effort than they are willing to make for a bogus premise about a god that does not exist. Furthermore, their audience is limited. Questioning the existence of God is on the table, but digging deep into the bible to expose wrong doctrines violates the "live and let live" principle for both religious and non-religious people. That tells us how embedded religion is in the culture.
These and other factors create a reporting gap that leaves America vulnerable to Christian Nationalism and the many forms of religious abuse it has perpetrated and continues to inflict on America. Conflicted or not, journalists are still the best agents suited for the task.
The big problem is that religious leaders will not correct themselves because, as far as they are concerned, their beliefs are absolutely correct and not subject to investigation or correction by anyone within, or outside, their religion. Their pride is so strong that it is able to resist hearing God's truth. Journalists are best equipped to break through that pride barrier.
JUST REPORT THE FACTS
Hesitancy to challenge religious beliefs is a real issue. The "live and let live" principle is still very much alive in America. Historically this principle has protected religion, but now, in this season of exploding Christian Nationalism, the "live and let live" principle is a handicap -- not a virtue.
While the "live and let live" principle regarding inter-religion and intra-religion relationships is still active in most denominations, it is not a feature of Christian Nationalism. In fact, one of the goals they work towards is conversion of all religions to the Christian Nationalism brand of Christianity. They say that America was founded as a Christian nation and should be restored to its former status. This means, simply, that everyone converts to an extreme form of evangelical Christianity -- or else. How this would happen remains to be seen, but it is sure to be a violent process that will affect all Americans -- including those who are not religious.
Even if Christian Nationalists didn't plan on taking over the other six of the seven mountains of American culture, their goal of religious elitism should be enough to arouse all other religious Americans to actively confront Christian Nationalism. Journalists have the skills, platforms and responsibility to arouse that activity.
Unfortunately, Christian Nationalism's threat to other religions is barely on the threat assessment chart. Much journalistic work needs to be done to elevate the threat to the red zone. Handfuls of niche religion media are leading the effort to raise awareness, but it has not yet become an issue worth reporting for mainstream media.
How to investigate religious beliefs with a mind to expose errors in belief is a daunting task that is sure to dissuade even the most zealous opponents of Christian Nationalism. There is so much going on in the world of Christian Nationalism that just keeping up with daily events is enough to keep most journalists occupied. The good news is that whoever wants to go down this new reporting track is not totally alone.
Confronting Christian Nationalism one source of news and perspectives about Christian Nationalism. Religion Detox Network and Make the World Better: Love Your Neighbor are other sources that compare religious beliefs found in the literal words of the bible with the spiritual meanings of bible Symbols, Signs, Types, Parables, Allegories, Copies, and Shadows. These comparisons expose the hypocrisy, lies and abuses of Christian Nationalism. This is where the investigation begins. It ends with analysis and reporting. There is enough material in these resources to keep journalists and scholars busy for many years.
The basic hypotheses that justify investigation are these:
Christian Nationalism is a scam.
Christian nationalism is injustice.
What Christian Nationalists say they believe does not agree with what the bible says about how people should relate to one another.
Christian Nationalists are hypocrites.
The incriminating details about Christian Nationalism and its many deceptions are revealed in these resources:
The facts about Christian Nationalism beliefs are fair game for investigation because Christian Nationalists claim to believe in and obey what the bible says. The facts are that they lie when they advertise their Christian beliefs to build trust with individuals and churches for purposes of exploiting money and votes from religious Americans. When the truth is exposed, the world will know that Christian Nationalism is the biggest scam ever designed.
The investigative proposition for Christian Nationalism is not unlike the clergy abuse scandals. First the facts and then the coverups were reported. Soon, Americans and the whole world knew the ugly truth. As the truth became widely known, abuses in many religions were similarly exposed. What followed was a general decline in affiliation with all brands of Christian churches. It all began with courageous journalistic investigation and reporting.
In the matter of Christian Nationalists, claims that they are bible-believing, Jesus-following Christians deserve to be exposed as lies, hypocrisy and idolatry. Even people who are not Jews or Christians will be interested in this scandal. Even people who do not believe in God can compare what Christian Nationalists do with God's commands and judge that Christian Nationalist claims about being a lover of God and follower of Jesus don't line up with what the bible says. Not only is the movement a scam, it is hypocrisy at its worst.
Because Christian Nationalism depends on money and votes to do its dirty work, this hypocrisy can also be labeled conspiracy with intent to defraud Americans of their money and votes. This scam is bad for individuals who have been duped into donating money and sacrificing their votes, and it is bad for the nation that has been victimized by this scam, but the truth is that Christian Nationalists are guilty of many other crimes. Prohibitions Against Giving and Receiving Bribes and Attitudes and Behaviors in Religion and Politics discuss these issues in detail.
Christian Nationalists use false reports about American history and the religious roots of their movement to justify myriad abuses of the American public and erosion of the rule of law. They call these abuses "preservation of family values." For Christian Nationalism, America's Christian heritage is preserved by putting righteous political leaders in office. They claim that they are God's chosen agents to correct these historical wrongs. These all seem to be plausible, virtuous goals, but they are not what they seem. They are deceptions that conceal hunger for political power and money, but this truth remains unknown for lack of reporting.
Christian Nationalists use the money they scam from gullible followers to fund politicians who enact abusive laws that affect millions of Americans and erode the rule of law. They don't just steal money, they hurt American with the money they steal by passing legislation that limits personal freedoms. Worse yet, they make it difficult for many Americans to vote and receive justice in courts. These crimes are difficult to discover and almost impossible to prosecute in courts that are stacked with Christian Nationalists.
What the bible actually says about God's instructions to his people about how they should relate to one another and the truth about American history are the smoking guns that convict Christian Nationalists of crimes against humanity and treason. The evidence exists, is irrefutable and is easily accessible. It just needs to be reported. With respect to God's commands about how to relate to one another, this evidence is the strength that Confronting Christian Nationalism brings to the effort. Examples of critical truths about God's commands and Christian Nationalist lies appear in Truth vs Lies.
It is a hard truth to embrace, but religious leaders and their unscrupulous, political, co-conspirators are the reason America is divided. They did this ignorant of God's commands about Not Judging with Favoritism and Partiality. Endless generations of religious leaders created the religious environment that spawned and nurtured the Christian Nationalism movement. Then they amped up their pursuit of personal glory by teaming up with power-hungry politicians to create and implement a long-range plan that would accomplish their mutual goals for political and religious control of America. Christian Nationalism is the name of their movement.
Formation of this conspiracy verifies that there is something insidious about religious and political power that attracts people of questionable character to it. This fact indicates that Americans cannot depend on politicians or religious leaders to strategically confront the Christian Nationalism movement. Judge Character When Choosing Friends, Making Alliances and Voting reports God's guidance about judging character in all kinds of relationships.
If liberal/progressive politicians knew how to deal with Christian Nationalism, they would have done it a long time ago. Furthermore, considering the partisan makeup of legislative bodies around the country, many politicians are immune to challenges of any kind from any sector because they benefit from the movement. Because many religious leaders are co-conspirators to the movement, they will actively resist efforts to reform their religious beliefs with truths that contradict their cherished religious doctrines. What remains as targets for truth telling are rank and file Christians. They are the ones who have been abused and scammed. They are the citizens who have the ability to vote Christian Nationalists out of office. They will not vote to remove Christian Nationalists out of office unless journalists alert them to the scam.
Rank and file Christians don't know it, but they have the most to gain by knowing the truth because they are the primary targets for Christian Nationalist propaganda that suckers them into sacrificing their money and votes for the sake of the movement. That means that rank and file Christians should also be the primary target when confronting Christian nationalism.
The fact that Christians are not a monolithic sector of the population complicates the task of reaching them with truth. Perhaps as much as one-third of all American Christians qualify as Christian Nationalists. They are spread across a broad spectrum of denominations, and some are religiously unaffiliated. These facts strongly suggest that outreach must be more of a shotgun strategy than focused. Thus, journalist truthtellers are needed to share the truth across all media platforms.
Getting the truth out is the easy part of outreach. The hard part it will be to convince Christians that they are victims of a conspiracy to defraud, abuse, and control them. That is where journalistic activism becomes critical. Logic, reason and gentle persuasion always complement truth.
To grasp the scale of the challenge, it is useful to imagine that one-third of American Christians -- and no one knows how many international Christians -- have been ensnared in a cult that rivals the Illuminati and New World Order conspiracies. The big difference is that Christian Nationalism is a very real and present threat.
It won't be easy to convince Christians that they have been ensnared in a conspiracy because it is in the nature of all Christians to trust human leaders. It will be very hard, therefore, to convince Christian Nationalists that they have made wrong choices of political and religious leaders because these choices are informed by deep-seated religious and political beliefs. Feeling under constant media attacks by liberals and progressive, Christian Nationalists are experienced in fending off challenges to the movement, its leaders, and its policies with polished rhetoric. This means that efforts to share truth about particular politicians and policies will be quickly rebuffed and discounted as liberal propaganda.
Christian Nationalists always have their antennae tuned to attacks from liberal politicians and media. And they always have party-line rhetoric on the tips of their tongues whenever they sense that they are under attack. That is why it is important follow the civility protocols identified in these links:
Here are the reasons for employing these subtle strategies:
Christian Nationalists expect in-your-face attacks from liberal/progressive media.
Christian Nationalists expect in-your-face attacks from liberal friends, neighbors and co-workers.
Christian Nationalists have willfully joined a cult and willfully support cult leaders with money, adoration and votes.
Christian Nationalists cannot be persuaded to abandon the cult, its leaders and cult relationships by logic, reason and facts.
Christian Nationalists will respond to attacks, logic and reason with greater resolve to remain true to the cult, its leaders and cult relationships.
The only reason Christian Nationalists will abandon the cult is if their hearts and minds are changed.
Hearts and minds are changed when people learn truth that exposes wrong beliefs.
The truth that Christian Nationalists must learn is that religious beliefs taught by religious leaders regarding Christian Nationalism do not agree with God's commands..
Christian Nationalists may accept these truths from people who do not condemn their politics and/or religion.
Christian Nationalists will not accept these truths from people who condemn them, slander them or criticize their politics and/or religion.
It is impossible to predict who will receive truth or when they will receive it.
Christian Nationalists may need to hear truth many times from many different sources before it becomes real and changes their hearts and minds.
When considering this strategy, it is useful to recall that Christian Nationalism's strategy for gaining adherents is to repeat lies over and over again. The idea is, of course, that repetition of a lie from many sources lends credibility to the lie and the lie-tellers. This principal is well-known and practiced in education, religion and politics. Christian Nationalism leaders understand the principal well and use it effectively. It can also be a winning strategy for journalist truthtellers.
The strategy to change hearts and minds through repetitive exposure to truth may work with some Christians and not with others. And it may work quicker with some Christians than it does with others. There is no way of predicting these outcomes. This speaks to the necessity of having many journalists telling the same truths in many platforms.
What we can reliably predict, however, is that hearts and minds will not change unless a large team of truth-tellers relentlessly shares truth often, in many venues, without condemnation. And we can also reliably predict that Christian Nationalism will remain a powerful, evil force in American politics and culture if hearts and minds do not change.
There are no guarantees about the speed or efficacy of the hearts and minds strategy. But we can be confident that as a strategy, it holds much more promise than attacking leaders and policies with logic and reason.
The subtle, wise, under-the-radar strategy to change hearts and minds also holds promise because Christians, in general, are not accustomed to having their beliefs challenged. They have their guards up to defend their politics, but not so much their religious beliefs because no one ever challenges political beliefs. That means that the venues for sharing truth must be outside common venues in which Christian Nationalists gain information. And that means that truth-tellers must be creative and discreet when choosing what to share, when to share it and where to share it.
Christianity in general, and Christian Nationalism in particular, would not exist without trust in religious leaders. It is hard, therefore, for Christians to admit that they have misplaced their trust and believed lies about their religion, their leaders, or the Christian Nationalism movement. Such is the power of religious pride and arrogance. Humility about religious beliefs does not come easily to Christians. Despite these obstacles, it is not fruitful to condemn Christian Nationalists as being so irredeemably stuck in their politics and beliefs that their hearts and minds cannot be changed when they do hear the truth.
Anyone who has tried to use logic, history and facts to reason with a Christian Nationalist knows that it can't be done. It is like arguing with a drunk. Biblical truth, however, has the potential to succeed where logic, facts and reason fail.
No one can predict who will, and who will not, accept biblical truth. That is between each person and God. What we can predict, and what we hope for, however, is that those who are humbled by truth about their beliefs will be highly motivated to share that truth with co-religionists who have also been caught up in the cult of Christian Nationalism. Wherever that happens, we have the spark for an outpouring of truth that organically multiplies the volume of truth that journalists generate.
Beyond sharing with others, here are several other possible good results that we would expect from this outpouring of truth:
Adherents stop supporting the Christian Nationalist movement with money.
Adherents stop supporting religious organizations that are attached to the movement.
Religious people stop supporting and listening to religious leaders who are attached to the movement.
Adherents stop associating with Christians who are attached to the movement.
Adherents stop consulting right-wing news and social media associated with the movement.
Adherents advocate against politicians who are associated with the movement.
Adherents vote for political candidates that are not associated with the movement.
Every time someone is dissuaded from trusting Christian Nationalist leaders, the potential exists for that same result with others. Sooner or later there will emerge a quiet countermovement to Christian Nationalism. Because the extent of that countermovement may not be known until the next election, it is necessary for all members of the team to keep laboring in faith that it is happening. But, even if the extent of the countermovement is not known in 2024, journalists must continue their effort because the potential for Christian Nationalism to raise its ugly head will always exist.
WAR WITHOUT END
Without diminishing the power of truth, it must be said that Christian Nationalism will never be completely eradicated. A proper reading of the bible tells us that religious conspiracy movements have always existed and will always exist. Every biblical example of warfare between nations is a parable of the evil of evolving political/religious conspiracies. This is not a reflection on God's power to change hearts and minds, but on the hardness of hearts to receive truth and on the power of religious pride and arrogance to obstruct humility..
Conspiracies come and go like the mole in the game of whak-a-mole. As soon as one conspiracy is dispatched, another one rises up. The best we can hope for, therefore, is that more than a few rank-and-file Christian Nationalists will see the truth about the movement and purposely choose to alter the outcome of the next election by withholding their money and votes from Christian Nationalist candidates. This response to truth does not eradicate the movement, but it has the potential to do serious damage to it — one candidate at a time. The time to do such damage has never been more urgent.
The goal of the countermovement is to flood all types of media with truth aimed at Christians of all denominational stripes throughout the country. Journalists are positioned to lead the charge because they have knowledge of politics and religion, and because they have existing platforms from which they can research truth, share truth and inspire activism.
Elsewhere in Confronting Christian Nationalism, arguments have been made that many journalists are already doing serious reporting about Christian Nationalism. They do this because they are worried about the harm it does to America's people and democracy. There is a burning in their bones to report injustice and there is a ready market for their work among some concerned Americans.
With these assets in place, journalists occupy the perfect position for launching truth into the multi-media universe. It will start as a trickle, but, as truth enters into the hearts of people of conscience, it will grow into streams and rivers when legacy media discovers that this truth is big news and as individuals share it through their personal social media platforms. It all begins with journalists.
AN AUDACIOUS PROPOSAL TO COLLABORATE
Confronting Christian Nationalism focuses on strategies designed to engage concerned Americans in a strategic, unified, under-the-radar, effort to share truths that have real potential to effect short-term mitigation of the plague of Christian Nationalism. If sustained, these strategies also have potential to build an invisible team of truth-tellers equipped for the long-term effort needed to stall any future Christian Nationalist uprisings. If they are willing, journalists can be the recruiters, trainers and leaders of that team. Without their leadership, however, Christian Nationalist movement may not be arrested.
While journalists have tools and platforms from which a truth offensive can be launched, many of them may not have the access to the ammunition (i.e. truth) necessary to disable Christian Nationalists. Being biblically literate may be an asset to reporting, but deep knowledge of the bible is probably not part of the skill set of most journalists. That is why they should team up with me (Paul Borene).
The resources I bring to a collaborative effort include Make the World Better: Love Your Neighbor, Religion Detox Network, and Make the World Better Substack blog. These are arsenals of truth able to supply battalions of journalists fighting on the front lines for decades. These truths have the potential to raise incontrovertible doubt in the hearts and minds of Christian Nationalist adherents about the movement's rhetoric and the character of its political candidates. Adherents with open mind and hearts who know the truth about what God says is equipped to choose to reject the false doctrines (i.e., lies) espoused by Christian Nationalism. Whether they choose to reject those false doctrines or not is impossible to predict. Nevertheless, each time they hear/read/accept the truth, two important things can happen.
Money stops flowing to the Christian Nationalism movement
A vote for a Christian Nationalist candidate is redirected to a candidate whose ideology does not include dominion over the Seven Mountains of American culture.
This is exactly what we hope will happen when Christian Nationalists learn the truth about what God says and what Christian Nationalists stand for. And, if hearts and minds don't change quickly, at least the seeds of doubt are planted.
Despite their contributions to truth, my resources lack one big shortcoming: They lack the strengths and resources that are unique to journalists. Here are a few of those strengths as I see them:
They know the history of religion and politics.
Most have a good understanding of American history.
Most have a good understanding of the US Constitution.
Many are Christians with knowledge of the bible and Christian traditions.
They have professional credibility because they write about religion.
They have professional credibility because they are not associated with particular denominations.
They have existing platforms from which they can reach audiences who are concerned about Christian Nationalism and who might be willing activists in the effort to confront the movement.
By nature, they are researchers and truth-tellers.
They are unafraid to expose sensitive, controversial truths.
They value education and the power of the written and spoken word.
By nature, they know hypocrisy when they see it and are willing to call it out.
Working as a team we can do serious damage to the movement. Here are some of the basic facts you need to know about me (Paul Borene) before teaming up with me:
The best way to learn about me is to see my posts in Substack, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
I have no legal or informal affiliations with any public, private, religious or secular organizations. I am totally independent.
All my website content is fully open source in the public domain.
None of my resources are copyrighted.
All of my website content and social media posts can be freely used, reproduced, republished, and modified by anyone without notice, permission or royalty payments.
No subscriptions are needed to access my websites.
No source credits for citations are necessary for anyone who wants to reprint my content.
I have no products or services to sell and I will never solicit donations to me or another organization.
I will never sell or share email addresses of people who subscribe to Substack.
You can learn more about me by reading About Make the World Better and studying my social media posts..
What individual team members contribute to the overall effort depends on the inclinations of individual journalists. They are independent actors free to do whatever they think necessary to fulfill their professional goals, protect the American people and preserve democracy. They will do what they have always done when they see a story worth reporting. When they are ready to write, my resources will be available. Collaboration will be at their will. Our relationship will be no more than an invisible handshake
THE BIG PICTURE AND THE DETAILS
The strategy for Confronting Christian Nationalism is to destroy its roots. As a movement it is too well established and too well funded to be destroyed at the leadership level. The more reasonable strategy is to destroy it from the bottom: one Christian Nationalist at a time. When the individuals drop out, they take their money and votes with them. Only then will the movement crumble into disarray and ineffectiveness. We don't know how long this process will take. We do know, however, that its strength is in its money and votes and that anything that can be done to chip away at these strengths works to disable the movement.
The hope that drives this fight is that individual Christian Nationalists will willingly abandon their personal involvement in the movement when they discover that it is based on lies. The hope is that they would admit to themselves, and others, that the movement has been directed by greedy, power-hungry politicians and religious leaders -- not by God as they have been led to believe..
The premise of this strategy is that lies based on the literal words of the bible are a foundation of sand on which Christian Nationalism is built. These lies are cloaked in religious self-righteousness, the flag, and Jesus' name. These lies have been taught in churches and synagogues where obedience to the literal words of the bible is always preached. The historical power of these lies has informed and energized religious extremists for thousands of years and continues to inform and energize Christian Nationalists today.
The power of these lies is enduring and formidable. The destructive influence of these lies can only be overcome by truth.
See the links below for understanding of the literal words of the bible and the truth hidden in the symbolism of those words:
Much of the deep study about religious injustice and bible interpretation has already been accomplished and published in Religion Detox Network. Religion journalists and scholars who don't want to do their own bible research may choose to use Religion Detox Network as a resource to support their own original work. There is no cost, no permissions, and no need to credit me for anything borrowed or plagiarized. Anyone can cite as much as they want from any resource, reword it anyway they want, and present it as original material. The journalism ethics police are not watching. Plagiarism is encouraged.
The takeaway message from Religion Detox Network is that, with only a few exceptions, (God’s Commands About Doing Justice for Others, God’s Commands About How to Relate to Him and to One Another, What God Says About Evil, Deceptive Hearts), God never intended that his people should obey the literal words of the bible. His intention was always that he -- not religious leaders, not bible editors -- would teach his people. The reasons why God does not want his people to depend on the literal words of the bible are found in Bible History, and they are found in the legislation and injustice perpetrated by Christian Nationalists.
While, as a general rule, the bible should not be interpreted literally, notable exceptions exist in scriptures about loving your neighbor. These exceptions are detailed in Make the World Better: Love Your Neighbor.
God speaks when he reveals truth hidden in the symbolism of the literal words of the bible. These truths are the only antidote for the cancerous lies that Christian Nationalists use to justify their unholy movement. God can and will reveal these truths through anyone who reports them.
But God also speaks directly to the intellectual mind in the bible without symbolism, so that his words can be understood and obeyed by anyone -- even those with limited intellectual capabilities. See links below for God's clear words about loving your neighbor:
God’s Commands About How to Relate to Him and to One Another
Do Not Seek Revenge Against Your Enemies (Substack blog version)
Do Not Seek Revenge Against Your Enemies (Page in Make the World Better)
Judge Character When Choosing Friends, Making Alliances and Voting
Do Not Judge with Favoritism and Partiality (Substack blog version)
Do Not Judge with Favoritism and Partiality (Page in Make the World Better)
What the Bible Says About Immigrants, Strangers, Aliens and Enemies (Substack version of How to Relate to Strangers, Aliens and Enemies.)
The way I see it, the literal words of scripture in these links must be published and distributed internationally before the world will become a better place. Moreover, especially in this 2024 election season, these words must be published and distributed in America. I am trying to enlist religious journalists and organizations to help with the distribution but I don’t have a lot of confidence that they will participate. That leaves secular journalists as the best distribution path.
Links in bold have been published and distributed as reader-friendly blog posts in Substack. Links in normal text are pages currently published in Make the World Better: Love Your Neighbor. On a weekly basis (more-or-less), Make the World Better pages will be republished in reader-friendly, Substack blog posts which I will distribute through my social media accounts and select religion journalists, religion organizations and legacy media. This is my shotgun approach to making the world better and I have some evidence that it is working. What I do is a drop in the bucket, however, compared to what journalists can do.
I propose that we collaborate to do that.
Paul Borene
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