Why Christian Nationalists Don't Care About Shootings
Today's reader question is a complex two-parter. I promise to make it worth your time. (Scroll to the end to listen)
Late last week, I posted this note on Substack:
Let’s talk about what Republicans mean when they express regret over school shootings becoming a “fact of life” in the US.
From The Guardian:
“Meanwhile, America’s ideological split over gun control spilled over into the presidential campaign after JD Vance, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, voiced regret that school shootings had “become a fact of life” in the US. Vance’s comments – in the wake of the shooting in Georgia – ignited a political row after Democrats depicted them as evidence of a lack of empathy while Republicans claimed the remarks had been taken out of context.”
Christian Nationalist Republicans like JD Vance believe gun violence is a consequence of American rejection of the One True God (the Christian Nationalist God.)
Readers can see the full text of the note HERE.
Today’s two-part reader question came from a response to this note.
Question 1: Are Christian Nationalists oblivious to the fact that their argument makes them instruments of death?
We touched upon the Christian Nationalist concept of “the government as God’s avenger” in this newsletter:
Christian Nationalists like JD Vance don’t see themselves as instruments of death. To them, gun violence is caused by sin and perversion, by rejecting the One True God. That’s what JD Vance is really saying with “school shootings are a fact of life.” If he were with a bunch of fellow Christian Nationalists, he would tack on “when a nation rejects the One True God and chooses sin and perversion.”
They would argue that the rest of us are the real instruments of death, because we continue to reject the One True God. We continue to vote for politicians who aren’t Christians. We continue to condone things their Bibles oppose and condemn. Christian Nationalists aren’t causing gun violence; politicians like JD Vance insist non-Christian Nationalists are.
But if Christian Nationalists control the government, they will be God’s avengers. They see forcing Americans to live by their interpretation of God’s law as our salvation from gun violence. If we collectively turn back to the One True God, either by choice or by theocratic coercion, they believe God’s judgment will stop.
Question 2: Why the Christian Nationalist reliance on the Old Testament while ignoring the new covenant as well as the Sermon on the Mount?
In my Christian Nationalist upbringing, we learned that God gave us Old Testament law to show us how we could never be perfect. Until Jesus came to earth, Old Testament law was the path to heaven. I was taught that my acceptance of Jesus’ sacrifice did away with my need to rigidly follow Old Testament law to go to heaven, but because the Old Testament is a chunk of the Bible, it is part of God’s road map for living a Christian life.
Many people focus on The Beatitudes portion of the Sermon on the Mount without realizing the actual sermon runs for three Biblical chapters. (Readers can find the whole thing HERE.)
Christian Nationalists base their reliance on the Old Testament (the Law) on this verse from the Sermon on the Mount:
Matthew 5:17 ESV
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
Because Jesus said he didn’t abolish Old Testament Law, Christian Nationalists point to this verse to justify worshipping Old Testament God. Jesus also takes positions that are consistent with Christian Nationalist beliefs about sex, marriage, and godly living such as:
Looking at a woman and thinking lustful thoughts is the same as committing adultery or fornication with her (Matthew 5:28)
Divorce should only be allowed on the grounds of adultery (Matthew 5:32)
We can recognize true believers by their fruits (Matthew 7:20 - Christian Nationalists tie this to Matthew 5:17; they believe Jesus said following certain Old Testament directives makes up the fruit — or evidence — of a Christian life.)
More Americans could benefit from this understanding of Christian Nationalism, if only to stop being frustrated by their apparent disregard of many of Jesus’ teachings. The entire Sermon reminds every reader (including me) that Jesus wasn’t all about love and acceptance and tolerance. He says some things with which I profoundly disagree, but that’s part of faith. Arguing about Old Testament God versus Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount misses the greater point: OUR LAWS SHOULD DERIVE FROM NONE OF IT.
It's simple...
Christian Nationalists love
1. The Crusades
2. The Spanish Inquisition
3. The Pogroms
4. The Witch Trials
5. The Trail of Tears
6. The Holocaust
Non-Christians being tortured and killed. What could be better and funnier to them?
You know I’m part of unusual Church of Christ congregations when they have no problem with me saying that I am a “sinner and a tax collector” even when speaking at the pulpit. I am ex-IRS after all. I spent six years as a literal tax collector.
When you have bad bits of eisegesis where people are reading into the text things that aren’t there you wind up with our Christian Nationalist mess. My prof for New Testament survey back in undergrad would’ve given them a tongue lashing for reading that passage from Matthew in that context. The quickest executive summary is that the law in the Old Testament is a covenant between God and his people. Covenants are what we consider today to be just another form of contract. Rather than destroy the contract, Jesus fulfilled it so a new agreement could be made known as the new covenant. I am glossing over a ton but that’s what the more normal interpretation would be thinking about as to that passage.
This song from the Stamps-Baxter hymnals entitled “He Paid A Debt He Did Not Owe” covers it nicely: https://hymnary.org/hymn/SNP21979/21