As published by the Minnesota Reformer, May 2023
When an organization such as the Minnesota Reformer publishes an article full of misperceptions and lies, and the article is written by someone representing HumanistMN which promotes “ethical living, widespread human flourishing, and a healthy planet through its commitment to science, reason, compassion, and creativity,” it should be expected that a reasonable response to address and correct the lies and misperceptions promoted in the article would be forthcoming.
That is, of course, unless “ethical living, widespread human flourishing, and a healthy planet through its commitment to science, reason, compassion, and creativity” includes lying, deceiving and promoting misperceptions. Since silence is tacit agreement, it is time to be silent no longer.
Let’s take a look at your lies and misperceptions as we consider whether or not your premise, namely so-called Christian Nationalism, really is a threat to democracy.
Lie/Misperception #1 – “The frightening implication: Anyone who is not Christian is anti-American and unpatriotic.”
This misperception is based on the lie generated in your article by quoting a definition stating that Christian Nationalism is the “anti-democratic notion that America is a nation by and for Christians alone”. The operative word is the word “alone”. Is it true that our nation was founded by and for Christians alone? Absolutely not!
This nation was founded by Christians and non-Christians. But, the worldview to which they agreed in our Constitution, our Declaration of Independence, The Articles of Confederation, The Mayflower Compact, nearly every state charter, nearly every state constitution and the original 1607 landing in Virginia was a Biblical worldview promoting the propagation of the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the new world and beyond, as well as living in a nation that would be governed by principles which primarily come from the Bible. While I could provide a whole library of scholarly resources to support this truth, I’ll point you to one worthy of your investigation, “The Origins of American Constitutionalism” by Donald S. Lutz. And, for our friends at HumanistMN who seem to share the same bed with the Minnesota Reformer, and who proudly proclaim the phrase, “Good without a god,” may I remind you that God, Himself, is at the center of the Preamble of the Constitution for the State of Minnesota. Even our state’s founders knew there is no such thing as “good without a god”.
Does that, then, make your argument unconstitutional or merely an expression of your religious freedom as guaranteed by Christian Nationalists promoting a Biblical worldview?
No, America is not for Christians alone. But it was Christians who created the documents guaranteeing that no one particular Christian denomination would become the State religion and you who deny the existence of God would be free to live here, too, under the rule of Constitutional law.
As a side note, without a god, who or what determines goodness? Our founders defined goodness and virtue based on Biblical truth. They actually had an objective source for truth. Humanism has no such plumbline. In humanism, every individual gets to define his or her own truth, his or her own moral goodness. How is that working for us as a society today? Broken homes? More of them. Murder rates? Up. Violent crime? Up and rising. Loss of identity and sexual confusion? Rampant.
Yep. It’s a good thing we can all be “good without a god.”
Lie/Misperception #2 – Your statement “this is a fundamental affront to the constitutional separation of church and state that has guided our country from the start” is a blatant lie and an affront to anyone who has ever read or studied our nation’s Constitution.
This begs the question: Have any of you at the Minnesota Reformer or your bedmates at HumanistMN ever read the Constitution? If so, will you please publish in your next edition the exact location where we can find the words “separation of church and state” in our nation’s Constitution? In which of the seven articles will we find those words? Or, in which of our twenty-seven amendments?
Allow me to save you the trouble. The words “separation of church and state” do not exist in our Constitution. Those words were penned by then-President Thomas Jefferson (the same Thomas Jefferson who wrote The Declaration of Independence) to the Danbury Baptist Church in Danbury, Connecticut in response to their concern that Congress would create a state church similar to the state church structures in Europe. His letter was to assure them there would be no such institution in America.
The real question might be what was it that caused them to think that there was a movement to create such a state church? Could it be that they had heard of one of the nation’s largest churches, one that actually met in our nation’s Capitol building and was referred to as the Jefferson Gathering because Jefferson, himself, attended services there? And, oh, by the way, the worship band? It was the Marine Corp band. You can read about it on the Library of Congress’ website in the article, “Religion and the Founding of the American Republic, Part 2”.
The wall of separation, according to our government, was to keep government out of the church, not the church out of government. The church was to be the moral conscience and guide to raise up a virtuous populous ruled by people with good moral and religious character. Our founders taught that our nation’s success rested on the pillars of religion and morality. From where did the religion and morality come? It came from the Bible which tells of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior of the world, the One Who defined goodness and declared there is no goodness without God.
Humanists want no god because they want no Jesus. We who are Christian understand that. Jesus told us that would be the case.
Lie/Misperception #3 – “The influence of Christian nationalists can be seen in efforts across the country to inject religion and prayer in public schools; get taxpayers to foot the bill for religious schools; and restrict LGBTQ rights, access to abortion, and gender-affirming care.”
OK. Let’s peel back this onion one layer at a time.
Christian nationalists are not wanting to “inject” religion and prayer in public schools. We want to “reinsert” religion and prayer in the public schools.
Those two words, “inject” versus “reinsert” recognize very, very important distinctions.
To “inject” infers that religion and prayer were never a part of America’s public school system. That would be a tremendous surprise not only to all of our founders and our original American citizens, but perhaps especially to American Founder Dr. Benjamin Rush, a devout Christian, who is known as the “Father of the Public Schools”. Religion and prayer were always part of our school systems until 1962-1963 when the Supreme Court, with no legal precedent, decided to remove prayer and Bible reading from the public school systems.
But now, especially with the Coach Kennedy case, we can return and “reinsert” prayer and Bible reading in every school in America without repercussion and without your ability to stop us. That is how we were founded. We simply want our First Amendment rights restored in the public schools out of worship to our great God while recognizing your right not to participate as you contemplate the great Nothing.
With regards to getting taxpayers to foot the bill for religious schools, restricting the rights of the LGBTQ communities, giving access to abortion-on-demand and gender-affirming care your article states, “In our state, groups like Restore Minnesota and the Minnesota Legislative Prayer Caucus seek to insert Christianity into public policy”. So, let’s be clear. Just as our founding fathers strove to use Biblical principles in creating our laws and our country, Restore Minnesota and the Minnesota Legislative Prayer Caucus strives to do the same. It is precisely because we believe in the great God of the Universe, the God who created people and nations, that we strive to use His principles of government. It is from God that we get our great freedoms as well as our rights. That is not just a Christian Nationalist statement, that is a statement in line with the Declaration of Independence which clearly recognizes our Creator from Whom come rights, freedoms, liberties and responsibilities.
America is the greatest nation in the history of the world. We have done more for the betterment of the world than any nation in history. Do we really believe we’ve been so prosperous and so free because humanism, a world without a god, aka atheism, is at our core? Or, do we recognize that our freedoms and prosperity come from our acknowledgment and worship of the God of the universe Who graciously revealed Himself to us in the person of Jesus Christ? There is a reason why our nation’s motto is “In God We Trust”. In what world is it not reasonable to represent the principles of the God we serve to be in line with the principles He has given for government and nations? In what world is it not reasonable to put a nation’s motto in a nation’s schools? Your fight against posting our nation’s motto in our schools is both duplicitous and hypocritical.
While secular humanists believe that “people can be ethical without theism or other supernatural beliefs,” Christians ask, “Who, then, defines what is and what isn’t ethical?” If my ethics permit me to steal a car, shoot randomly into a home killing an innocent child in her room, date rape a coed after drinking at the bar and then go home to play video games or stream a movie, who is to say my ethics are not acceptable? The law? The law that our current judicial system is not upholding? The law that continues to let violent criminals back on the streets?
If I get to define my own ethics according to my own standards then there is no law outside of myself to which I am accountable and that makes me – and you – lawless. Lawlessness prevails in America today because there is no longer the proper fear, respect and reverence for God that we once held as a nation. And when lawlessness prevails, tyranny, not freedom, is right around the corner.
The bottom line then, is this: Not only is Christian Nationalism NOT a threat to democracy, it is the foundation upon which our Constitutional Republic rests. Your freedoms and ours depend upon it. Christian Nationalism is NOT what you at the Minnesota Reformer or HumanistMN claim it to be. Stop lying to the people.
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