Latest / Catholic Spirit Radio / Being Catholic #396: Christian Nationalism: A Catholic Case for National Renewal

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Being Catholic #396: Christian Nationalism: A Catholic Case for National Renewal · Catholic Spirit Radio

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This is Being Catholic with Bob Johnston on Catholic Spirit Radio.
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Hi, this is Bob Johnston, and you're listening to Being Catholic right here
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We're going to have a great show for you today.
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I'm here with my wife, Lynn. We remember always, we're brought to you by you.
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And any donations that you make are always welcome and always needed.
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So we hope you make a donation today.
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We've been sort of off and on the last two or three weeks, and sort of like
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the weather, it's been up and down like a yo-yo, first warm and then cold,
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or else first cold and then warm.
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But I guess we're working our way into spring.
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And I do also, before I go any further, want to ask for prayers for all of our
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servicemen who are in harm's way with the breakout of war in the Middle East
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and specifically in Iran.
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And before we start, I want to turn this over to my wife, Lynn,
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and see what she has to say.
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And then we will do a program and we'll talk about something that's been in
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the news recently, in the secular news, and that is a thing called Christian
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nationalism. And we're going to explore that a little bit. But first from Lynn.
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Hello. Good to be back with you. Yes, please keep the military in your prayers and the president.
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Got a big load to carry there, and so does our military.
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We had a grandson that was over in Iraq, and it was a strain.
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It's a strain on the family and everybody around.
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So keep their families, them and their families in your prayers.
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Because the war is such a, it leaves such a change in people. You can see it.
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It's devastating for some people.
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It's not good. It's not, it's just, we need to pray. Pray really hard.
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This comes in, they resolve the problems once and for all.
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Although, you know, if you look at it, it's been going on for centuries and
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centuries, 2,000, 5,000 years, who knows? But anyway...
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It can be very, very devastating. I am looking forward to this topic, Bob. Okay.
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Yeah, a lot of people probably don't, even though it's been in the news lately,
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don't know exactly what Christian nationalism is or what it means.
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It's something that upsets the woke left quite a bit.
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And we talked, I think the last time we had our show,
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we talked about the managerial society and how that leans toward left liberalism
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and how it's taking our society toward a materialistic type of society and a
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liberal type of society and what can be done about it.
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And what can be done is actually a return to or a replacement of the managerial
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society with a society based on Christian nationalism.
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And so there is a case for Christian nationalism.
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The theme of Christian nationalism mostly actually runs through Protestantism.
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But there's an article in First Things Magazine in the March issue,
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the March 2026 issue of First Things Magazine, by the editor of First Things Magazine, R.R. Reno.
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And, of course, he is Catholic, and he makes this from a Catholic point of view.
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And the title of that article is The Case for Christian Nationalism.
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And, of course, it will cause among the secular society a huge reaction.
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So we're going to read from that article, and you'll see as we go along why
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secularists would probably make a reaction to it.
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And he starts out, he says, recent polling paints a disturbing picture.
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Fewer than half of Gen Z Americans are extremely or very proud of their country.
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And I think this is a fact that most of us are becoming more and more aware of.
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There's little doubt that relentless indoctrination in anti-American ideologies
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at school and in the media contributes to their lukewarm patriotism.
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But there's another cause. They're not stupid.
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The country shows signs of disease. Each year, a shocking number of people die of drug overdose.
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Marriage rates have declined.
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The rate of mothers without husbands has risen.
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Homeless encampments dot the landscape.
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A storm surge of pornography and other internet sewage drowns many souls.
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Let's say you're an intelligent and reasonable observant young fellow.
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You would ask, how did things get so weird, empty, and pointless?
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Who let the country become so vulnerable and dysfunctional?
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The answers are many, but in the broadest terms, diagnosing the diseases that
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debilitate the body politic is not complicated.
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America in the 21st century was not engineered by evangelical pastors or Catholic
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bishops. On the contrary, the diseases have festered as Christian influence has receded.
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An intelligent person surveying today's unhappy landscape ought to come to a
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straightforward conclusion.
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America's best hope is Christian nationalism.
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Unfortunately, few draw this conclusion.
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They fail to see the benefits of Christian influence in the public square,
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and so it is necessary to survey anew the points in favor of Christian nationalism.
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Karl Popper was an influential exponent of anti-nationalism,
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which he adumbrated in his influential book, The Open Society and Its Enemies,
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and he criticized what he called a tribal and collectivist mentality.
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On its face, the criticism seems reasonable. The unity and well-being of the
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collective should not be the sole good we pursue.
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We honor God above any nation, and we rightly guard the freedom of individuals.
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But Popper went much further. In his view, an approach to governance that accords
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any moral weight to shared identity, whether a religion,
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culture, or ethnos invites totalitarianism.
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The Open Society and Its Enemies was published in 1945.
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At that time, Popper's exaggerated polemic against the slightest hint of collective
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purpose was not widely adopted.
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In the decades immediately after World War II, America's confrontation with
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the Soviet Union required social unity, which was encouraged by patriotic rhetoric and ritual.
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Nevertheless, Popper's anti-nationalism was insinuated deeply into the post-war consensus.
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His image of an open society acquired tremendous moral prestige,
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and its antithesis, the Clothes Society, became our paradoxically collective bugbearer.
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Our problems flow from the triumph of the open society, which has eroded our
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shared prosperity, fragmented our nation, and dispirited our fellow citizens.
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We are in a season of disintegration and polarization, not hyper-consolidation,
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and dedication to collective purposes.
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And I think also the younger people are seeing through this open society and
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seeing that in reality, the open society has become a lie.
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Left to the liberal forces, the open society has turned into a closed society in and of itself.
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And the so-called tolerance of the liberal left is not any tolerance at all.
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And more and more people are seeing that.
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Our historical moment calls for nationalism.
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In other words, what's going on right now, we need unity.
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We can and should debate how to serve the nation's needs, how to repair the
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nation's wounds, and how to renew the nation's confidence.
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But I think that only those who are atavistically wedded to the open society
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consensus can be blind to the need for nationalism.
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And again, the open society consensus
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in most people's eyes anymore is something that is simply not true.
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The open society is no longer an open society and hasn't been for a long, long time.
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It's been a left liberal closed society.
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Nationalism has many forms, which differ significantly in detail,
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but we can recognize underlying commonalities.
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As an ism, nationalism becomes the fitting and responsible approach at times of collective crisis.
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Nationalism is called for when the body politic is threatened by disintegration,
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either under blows from external enemies or because of internal conflicts and contradictions.
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The fiddiness stems from the fact that, as an ism,
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nationalism mandates political judgments and encourages popular sentiments that
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give priority to the interests, needs, and purposes of the collective.
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Nationalism aims to restore solidarity, which is what America needs as she celebrates
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the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
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And if people have been watching what's going on for the last 50 years,
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boy, do we need solidarity.
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Perhaps the reader concedes that yes, we need a bit of nationalism these days.
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But why Christian nationalism?
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Short answer, because it's the best kind.
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Christianity frames the nationalistic project, which can go wrong,
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as history reminds us, with timeless truths.
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There are advantages to an approach to national reconsolidation that is guided by capital T Truth.
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Let me count the ways. Christian nationalism is self-limiting.
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All political projects have extremist tendencies. In recent decades,
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American liberalism became unmoored,
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In the modern era, its central project has been to nurture and protect freedom.
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It was long limited by a Christian understanding of true freedom,
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which honors and obeys truths not of our making.
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As Christianity's influence over public life receded,
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liberalism evolved to warrant plenary freedom to do as one pleases,
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even to the point of insisting that everyone has a right to choose his or her own sex,
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when to end his or her own life, and whether to end the life of a child in the womb.
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Nationalism aims to promote the common good. It's a political project ordered
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to securing national sovereignty,
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encouraging greater collective unity, and promoting more equitable sharing of
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worldly burdens and blessings,
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just as the liberal endeavor can slide toward libertarian and individualistic extremes, which it has,
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nationalism's collective spirit can go too far.
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The defense of sovereignty may
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become a bellicose and limitless effort to destroy all foreign threats.
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Unity may become suffocating homogeneity.
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A dangerous utopian egalitarianism may supplant the reasonable pursuit of equitable
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economic and social conditions.
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What's needed is a breaking mechanism.
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This is what Christianity provides. When people cringe at the words Christian
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nationalism for the most part, they harbor an overriding worry.
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Are the Bible thumpers looking to establish a theocracy?
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Are Christian nationalists aiming to install Jesus by the way of his self-appointed
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surrogate as omnipotent legislator and commander-in-chief?
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Note well Jesus' response to Pontius Pilate after his arrest.
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He does not say that he is not a king.
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Rather, he reminds Pilate of an obvious truth, which is that he lacks an army
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of followers who will fight for him and prevent his arrest. It's a telling point.
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What kind of king goes around without palace guards?
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What kind of theocrat lacks secret service protection?
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If Jesus had been aiming to overthrow Herod, then he was comically ill-equipped.
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Having adverted to basic truths of real politic, Jesus makes his role clear to Pilate.
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My kingship is not of this world.
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Not of this world might reassure those who fear theocracy. But what about the
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threat of rampant nationalism?
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If it's not of this world and therefore not political,
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then how does the Christianity and Christian nationalism restrain the political
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excesses that have shipwrecked pagan nationalism, such as National Socialism?
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The answer is found in what Jesus goes on to say.
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At first glance, Jesus' words would seem to reassure those who wish for a purely
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secular politics, not of this world, and therefore politically irrelevant.
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However, I read Jesus' famous statement of his supra-political purpose as a warning,
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not just to Pontius Pilate, but to all who hold public office and exercise political authority.
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This meaning comes clear when Pilate, who is perhaps confused,
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repeats this question. So you are a king?
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Jesus replies with a succinct explanation of his lordship. For this I was born,
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and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.
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Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.
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So yes, Jesus is a revolutionary contesting for power, but the stakes are much
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higher than those imagined by Pilate or by critics of Christian nationalism.
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Jesus intends to lead a rebellion in our hearts, overthrowing the principalities
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and powers that the world and of this world and installing himself as our Lord and master.
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And we need to stop here and take a break. So stay with us. We'll be right back.
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Hi, this is Bob Johnston. You're listening to Being Catholic right here on Catholic Spirit Radio.
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We're talking about Christian nationalism, and I'm reading from an article by
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the editor of First Things magazine, R.R.
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Reno, and it's the March issue, the March 2026 issue of First Things,
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and it's talking about what Christian nationalism is and why R.R.
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Reno thinks that it is something the United States should, and maybe the world should adopt.
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And it's something that I also agree with, and I hope you do too.
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A few centuries later, Augustine explained Jesus' spiritual lordship in relation
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to politics by way of a conceptual distinction.
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Pontius Pilate is but an instance of the magistrates who govern the city of man.
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In this earthly city, they wield the power of the sword to encourage virtue
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and punish wrongdoers, aiming, if they are godly rulers, to attain a tranquility of order.
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In contrast to Karl Popper's Manichaean distinction between the open society
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and the closed society, Augustine established the decent society as the highest
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ambition of a worldly politics.
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This goal is quite different from that of the city of God.
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The heavenly city is ordered to the peace of God that passes all understanding,
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which is attained in and through the supreme and sole lordship of Christ.
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That city, inaugurated by the calling of Abraham, is most definitely a theocracy,
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but it is not of this world, which means that it should not be the aim of worldly politics.
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In other words, a theocracy should not be the aim of worldly politics.
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And Christian nationalism is not aimed at creating a theocracy.
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Like Popper, the political philosopher Erich Vogelin lived through the ideological
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brutalities of the early 20th century.
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A young professor at the University of Vienna, he fled Austria in 1938 after the Nazi takeover.
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This experience inspired Vogelin to reflect on the utopian temptations of modern
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political ideologies, which promise deliverance but instead deliver tyranny.
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Vogelin proposed that the grave flaw of the ideologies rests in their call for
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us to take responsibility for the final consummation and perfection of all things.
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He called this transfer of responsibilities from God to us, the immanentization
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of the eschaton, making what is properly a divine project into a political one.
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The immanentization of the eschaton, I guess that would mean the materialization
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of the end times here on earth, and that's not what Christian nationalism is calling for.
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Vogelin was surely right about the utopian perversion of modern politics.
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Secularization has not eliminated the religious impulse.
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Instead, the absence of God has
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led men to redirect their desire for transcendence into political dreams.
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Russian Communism gave rise to the ambition to create the new Soviet man,
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a secular version of St. Paul's teaching in 2 Corinthians.
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If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.
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The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come.
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As we know, when men try to make a new creation, they must rely on manipulation,
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deception, and coercion, dehumanizing citizens rather than ushering in the promised
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world of perfect justice.
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Christian nationalism tempers the native idealism of America,
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which has been immune to utopian aspirations.
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After the Revolution, some embraced the notion that American society,
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would inaugurate a new order for the ages, the Novus Ordo Secularum.
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At best, this sentiment reflects an exaggerated patriotism.
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At worst, it mandates an American-led global revolution.
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The Christianity and Christian nationalism disabuses its adherents of this disastrous fantasy.
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The self-limiting character of Christian nationalism rests in more than Augustine's
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distinction between the city of man and the city of God.
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Christianity promotes forms of life that by their very nature militate against
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overweening political projects.
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Christian faith is not an individualistic enterprise.
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Discipleship is corporate. Christ calls us to become members of His body,
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the Church, and a Christian loyalty to the Church transcends His loyalty to
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America or any other country.
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For this reason, in a society emanated by Christian nationalism,
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a vigorous and self-confident Church restrains the state from above.
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At the same time, Christ instills in His followers a respect for the natural
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order of life which is rooted in marriage and the family.
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Here again, bonds of loyalty engage the heart against the intrusion of the state.
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As we have seen in recent elections, parents are roused to resist the ideological
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capture of their children by progressive teachers and school administrators.
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And we have seen this recently when school administrators have tried to keep the,
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information from families about choices that their children have made,
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such as their gender and their sex and so forth, and the parents react against it.
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And a whole reaction against this is already rippling through our society because
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parents are exercising what they feel is their authority and not what they see
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as people trying to usurp that authority and take it for the state.
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And so it automatically has a built-in factor of keeping the state in place.
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As I know from experience, if you express support for Christian nationalism.
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Readers of the New York Times immediately warn that you're aiming to create a theocracy.
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This alarmism reflects an unfortunate ignorance.
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Christianity invented secular politics. And I'll say it again.
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Christianity invented secular politics.
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The doctrine of the two swords, the spiritual sword of the church and the secular
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sword of the magistrate, created room for a this-worldly concept of governance.
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God superintends all human affairs. The sword of the magistrate is ordained by God.
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Christ even told that to Pilate. He said, you would have no power if it weren't for my Father in heaven.
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In other words, the power on earth to order society in an orderly manner is given by God.
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But the purpose of government is not to make disciples of Christ.
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Political authority serves the gospel indirectly by promoting a decent society,
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a well-ordered but not sacralized realm in which the gospel can be proclaimed
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and God worshipped in a proper fashion,
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which happens in churches and not in statehouses.
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Christian nationalism encourages us to care for our nation and helps us to resist
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the pressures of a globalized economy,
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as well as the cosmopolitan universalism that arises from today's ersatz religion of humanity.
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But because Christian nationalism is Christian, it is self-limiting.
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It does not fall prey to the utopian dreams of progressivism,
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and it curbs the sometimes unrestrained zeal of patriotism.
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Christian nationalism subordinates our proper and natural ardor for our nation's
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sovereignty, prosperity, and civic health to the higher and supernatural love of God.
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Christian nationalism encourages political realism.
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Many people dismiss the doctrine of original sin as a depressing, pessimistic doctrine.
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They think this way because they are imbued with the modern illusion that man
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is by nature good, needing only to be freed from bad influences,
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whereupon he will shower others with his benevolence.
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The Christian view, by contrast, is realistic.
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Left to our own devices, we will serve ourselves, not others.
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For this reason, the doctrine of original sin is salutary for any approach to governance.
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A Christian nationalist recognizes that the first task of the magistrate is
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to restrain sin and punish wrongdoers.
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The doctrine of original sin clarifies a sad but undeniable fact.
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There will be people who cheat, steal, and murder.
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They must be punished and deterred. No society can function without a firm hand that restrains sin.
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The Christian nationalist also knows that those, including himself,
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who make and enforce laws have imperfect motives.
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The policeman may enjoy his power and use it in arbitrary ways.
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The judge may take improper pride in his Christian virtue and exercise mercy
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when he should impose justice.
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The prison warden may slide toward a sadistic pleasure in the wretchedness of his inmates.
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Sin worms its way into every heart.
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The Christian's awareness that none are exempt from God's judgment encourages constant vigilance.
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The Christian nationalist will never summarily dismiss criticisms of our present system.
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Every legal regime and cultural consensus is infected by sin.
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All require ceaseless efforts of reform.
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At the same time, the Christian nationalist is not susceptible to moralistic
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dismissal of our imperfect order.
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He will not rush to tear down statues.
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The doctrine of original sin leads us to anticipate warts. It warns us against
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the illusion that we are somehow purer and more just than our forebears.
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Indeed, the doctrine of original sin discourages belief in moral progress.
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No society or era diminishes the net total of evil done by men.
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Yes, contemporary America has reduced the injustices of racism,
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but school shootings were not regular occurrences before the Civil Rights Act of 1964,
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nor was there legal license for the killing of children in the womb.
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The proper balance of confident moral purpose and skeptical self-examination
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is difficult to attain in public life, and Christian leaders cannot claim a stellar record.
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Nonetheless, their faith encourages them to seek the right balance,
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which is very much needed today.
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The renewal of the country will require steady commitment and confident purpose,
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but history reminds us of the peril of unrestrained nationalism.
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Self-criticism is always needed. For this reason,
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Christian nationalism is the form of civic renewal, most likely to attain nationalist
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goals while at the same time avoiding the excesses of nationalism.
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Belief in divine providence also contributes to a political realism that not
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only is alive to the morally compromised nature of civic life,
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but also avoids the civic innervation that comes from despair.
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A belief that divine purpose guides the affairs of men takes some of the sting
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out of our inevitable failures and defeats.
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It allows us to maintain equanimity when those we believe are misguided gain the levers of power.
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The doctrine of divine providence reminds us that they are in some way serving
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God's purpose to which we are not privy.
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Disposition of man's worldly endeavors is in God's hands.
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He is the author of final justice, and this fact relieves us of the weight of
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ultimate responsibility,
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freeing us to attend to our duties, to bind up the nation's wounds,
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to restore solidarity, to attain what justice and peace God has ordained that
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we should achieve in the time He has given us.
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The doctrine of divine providence is not unique to Christianity.
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Most religions envision a greater power that guides and governs history,
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but the moral and political imagination of Western civilization has been shaped by Christianity.
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For this reason, Christian nationalism is the most likely source of political
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renewal that instills both humility and purpose.
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We need both in 21st century America. Christian nationalism renews the moral
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foundations of civic culture.
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Main problem facing America is not a lack of faith in Jesus Christ.
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It is a lack of belief in anything whatsoever.
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Our society tends toward a tacit and sometimes explicit nihilism.
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Today, progressive moralism would seem to contradict my claim that nihilism abounds.
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Aren't woke warriors animated by convictions, however misguided?
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Indeed, they are. But their devotion is to the future which does not yet exist.
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Hence the paradox of nihilistic idealism. We should be accepting of non-binary
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individuals, the progressives insist.
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Why, we ask? Because to do so will help us create a society in which all are welcome.
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But doesn't welcoming the non-binary person require excluding the Christian,
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or for that matter, the scientists who insist that male-female difference is fundamental?
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Yes, the patron of inclusion replies. We cannot build an inclusive future unless everyone is inclusive.
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The contradictions are of no moment. We will build a new world,
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a new truth, which is another way of saying that truth is relative.
35:11
And another way of building on something that is not yet in existence.
35:17
Christians often battle over dogmas
35:19
and doctrines, but we agree that God's creation includes a moral order.
35:26
Our reason is darkened by sin. In His wisdom, God addresses this defect by laying down clear rules.
35:35
The Ten commandments provide a handy summation of the moral order.
35:43
This revelation is telling us nothing we don't already know, however dimly.
35:47
It reinforces the innate capacity of each person to distinguish right from wrong.
35:53
As St. Paul teaches, when it comes to recognizing that we should honor our Heavenly
35:59
Father and our earthly parents, and that murder and theft are wrong,
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the Gentiles muddle through more or less.
36:07
In so doing, they show what the law requires is written on their hearts.
36:12
Like a driver falling asleep at the wheel, our nihilistic society needs to be jolted awake.
36:19
And we're going to stop here and take a break, so stay with us. We'll be right back.
36:25
Even though we're healthy, the wife's been asking me to sit with her and create
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our will. Mike, I just don't know where to begin.
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Marty, preparing a will is a loving and responsible thing to do.
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It's not as big of a task as you might think.
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Why do you say that? We finalized our will last month online using My Catholic Will.
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It was easy using the free gift found on Catholic Spirit Radio website.
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In about 30 minutes, My Catholic Will guided us in establishing guardians for
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our kids, ensuring a proper Catholic funeral, and making sure that our assets
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are directed at the people and organizations we care about.
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That sounds like a great idea. Did you say My Catholic Will is free?
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Yep, free. Plus, you complete it right at home. My wife's going to love that. Don't delay.
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Go to mycatholicwill.com right slash Catholic Spirit Radio. Thanks, Mike.
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Mycatholicwill.com right slash Catholic Spirit Radio.
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Did you know there's an app for Catholic Spirit Radio? Listeners with phones,
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37:41
Hi, this is Bob Johnston. You're listening to Being Catholic.
37:44
We're back from our break, and we're talking about Christian nationalism.
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We're reading from an article by R.R. Reno, the editor of First Things Magazine,
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the March 2026 issue, entitled Why I Am a Christian Nationalist.
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And he goes on to talk about the law written on our hearts of our fellow citizens
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has been obscured by propaganda, miseducation, and the broad accommodation and
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often encouragement of vice.
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Philosophical seminars are unlikely to overcome this deadening of the moral sense.
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What's needed is clear and firm teaching. Jordan Peterson gained a following
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by admonishing young men to make their beds.
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Christians have a much fuller tradition of moral instructions to offer.
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I do not wish to deny the positive contributions that secular voices can make to moral renewal.
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You don't need to be born again in Christ to recognize that unlimited internet
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pornography is destroying souls,
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or that legalized marijuana abandons our fellow citizens to their vices.
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Anyone who is genuinely concerned to combat today's debilitating nihilism and
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renew the moral foundations of the nation should support Christian nationalism,
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even if he is an atheist or an agnostic or subscribes to another religion.
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The greater the influence of Christianity over the future of American religion.
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Society, the more it is likely that we will see a restoration of decency to say nothing of virtue.
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Christian nationalism restores America's culture of freedom.
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In English translations of the New Testament, the Greek word eleutheria is rendered as freedom.
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A famous example comes from St. Paul's letter to the Galatians.
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It was for freedom that Christ has set us free.
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This kind of freedom does not entail and hinder choice.
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Instead, if we look to ancient Greek usage, we see that a free man differs from
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a slave in that he is a citizen of a city which imposes duties as well as the rights.
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Here is how Joseph Ratzinger glosses elitheria.
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It means possession of full rights, full membership, being at home.
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The free man is one who is at home, that is, one who really belongs to the household.
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Freedom has to do with being given a home. The notion of home is crucial.
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Freedom requires a firm and steady sense of self.
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Which comes from belonging to something, or belonging to someone,
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or belonging to some place.
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The martyrs are images of perfect freedom. They belong to Christ and have a home in his household.
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For this reason, they are free to remain strong in their faith,
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even against threats of torture and death.
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Contemporary Americans lack freedom, and not primarily because of government oppression.
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Rather, the progressive project has disintegrated our homes,
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one of the most important of which is marriage.
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In my experience, domestic life is a domain in which most Americans discover
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the full measure of their inner strength.
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Husbands and wives endure tough
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times together. Fathers and mothers make sacrifices for their children.
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As recent dust-ups over transgender ideology at school board meetings demonstrate,
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when you mess with children, parents will stand up to authority.
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Another home is our nation.
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Patriotism inspires loyalty. Men will rise to defend their nation and heritage.
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Here, as well, our inheritance has been severely damaged by progressive ideologies.
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I don't want to litigate the historical veracity of the 1619 Project.
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I have a larger point. Our schools and media are filled with messages that erode
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our sense of being at home in America.
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The effect is to demoralize. A dispirited individual lacks the ardor to live as a free man.
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Jesus reminds us that our true citizenship is in His kingdom,
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and He warns us that His followers may be required to hate their mothers and fathers.
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But in most circumstances, our earthly homes and temporal loyalties prepare
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our hearts for love of God.
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These loves nurture freedom.
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Another New Testament word for freedom clarifies the ways in which love's demands
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bring freedom. That word is the Greek parisia.
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It can be translated as frankness or candor, which means freely speaking one's
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mind rather than hedging or accommodating one's word to external pressure.
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In the New Testament, the most striking instance of parisia comes in fourth
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and fifth chapters of the Acts of the Apostles.
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Peter and his colleagues preach the truth of Christ crucified and risen.
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The temple authorities are outraged by their brashness. They issue a cease and desist order.
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But Peter and his little band ignore these powerful men.
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Threats of arrests and imprisonment will not silence them.
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When they are called before the equivalent of today's DEI commissars,
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These men who live under the lordship of Christ say, We must obey God rather than men.
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That short sentence expresses the world's most fundamental declaration of independence.
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Peter and others lack legal rights. They enjoy no constitutional protection.
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No court will grant them relief, but they are free, not just in their words, but in every respect.
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Many believe we can restore freedom by litigation for our rights,
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or that we must slay the woke bears, or drain the swamp and shrink the government.
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I'm in favor of these measures, but we need to allow Scripture to instruct us.
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Freedom comes from love's capacity to motivate indomitable devotion.
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As followers of Jesus, we are called to nurture love.
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Love of God first and foremost, but love of spouse, children, and flag as well.
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Christian nationalism holds out the greatest promise for restoring a civilization
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of love and with it a culture of freedom.
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More than a decade ago, I met Bobby Lopez. He was then a professor at Cal State, Northridge.
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In obedience to his Christian faith, and I should add, informed by his experience
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being raised by a lesbian couple, Lopez took a courageous public stand against same-sex marriage.
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He was attacked by student activists and harassed by university administrators.
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Yet, as he told me, his classes were always overflowing with students.
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This perplexed Lopez. He knew that these students did not share his faith or
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agree with him about sexual morality.
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Why, he asked, do they want me as their teacher? I remember telling him that the answer was obvious.
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The young people in his classes were in bondage to the principalities and powers
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that rule our morally deregulated society.
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They saw in Lopez a man who enjoyed Parisia, a man with the freedom to speak his convictions.
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Perhaps those young students disagreed with his convictions,
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but in Lopez they had a glimpse of freedom which they desired.
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Christians are blessed with loves for our Lord and Savior above all,
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but also for our spouses, children, communities, and nations.
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These loves own us, and in being owned, we know who we are. We know where we stand.
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Love stiffens our spines, giving us the strength and determination to honor,
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protect, and promote that which we love.
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This strength and determination make us free Christians in 21st century America
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are the advanced guard of those who refuse to kowtow, compromise, or be pushed around.
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Larger the ranks of the soldiers of Christ, the more likely that America will
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see a new birth of freedom.
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Any citizen of this great land who cares about freedom, whatever his beliefs,
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ought to welcome Christian nationalism.
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Christians can reject nationalism. It is not a gospel imperative.
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Nationalism is warranted by prudent discernment of the political and cultural needs of the moment.
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I and others endorse nationalism because we have made in all things considered judgment,
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that our present moral, social, and political problems are best addressed by
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defending and bustering national solidarity.
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When a Christian agrees with me about the pressing need for national restoration, I,
47:33
find it more than a little strange if he shrinks from the Christian element
47:38
in Christian nationalism.
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Wouldn't the nation be better off if Christianity exercised more influence in public life?
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Doesn't the prayer that all things will fall under the lordship of Christ include
47:51
the nation, however indirect that lordship can and must be until he returns in glory?
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What about those of other faiths. I allow that they might prefer some other
48:04
approach, but political wisdom counsels support for the possible rather than
48:09
a quest for the unlikely.
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Shouldn't all believers, whatever their faith, hope for a future in which American
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society is leavened by a strong commitment to honoring God and conforming to
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the moral order of creation?
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In view of our nation's history and present population, is this future possible
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without Christian leadership?
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Supporting Christian nationalism would seem the sensible and worthy approach
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for all religiously committed Americans.
48:40
Secular Americans concerned about restoring national solidarity may have reasons
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to reject Christian nationalism.
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They have a right to place their hopes in liberal nationalism or perhaps in
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one or another pagan nationalism, but they need not fear that Christian nationalism
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entails a theocracy or would compel their consciences.
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Christianity invented the secular realm, which is why Christianity is alone
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among religions in according a great deal of scope for secular leaders to govern
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in accordance with moral truths rather than with saving doctrines.
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I'll end with a final word of assurance to those frightened by talk of Christian nationalism.
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It's very unlikely to become the beating heart of the American right to say nothing of the left.
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I foresee a future in which nationalism will wax strong.
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As a Christian, I'll participate in that movement, as I hope other Christians also will.
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Our task will be to bring the wisdom of Christian nationalism to whatever coalition
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emerges that seeks to restore America.
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Not the least of that wisdom is a clear-minded recognition of the limits of
50:00
all political enterprises, including nationalism.
50:04
So it's quite an article.
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Wow, there's a lot to think about there.
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I mean, you could pick that apart and just go on for hours.
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Yes, you could. And I think it's a very, very good article.
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And I think we have to remember that the article is reminding us that we have a duty.
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That one of the things it reminds us of is that, you know, you see some of these
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signs in people's yards about, you know, home.
50:34
Hatred has no home here and so forth and everything. And I love everybody.
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Yeah, and I love everybody. The fact is, Christ said, you have to read it from
50:45
the Greek. Christ said, you.
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Love your enemies. He didn't say just love enemies. He didn't mean for a whole
50:52
society to love the enemies of that society.
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He didn't mean for you to love enemies of that society. Look what it says.
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It says you, meaning Joe or Bill or Mary or Susie, you, you in particular, love your enemies,
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meaning you love the enemies, the people that you know that bother and bother you. It's specific.
51:19
It doesn't say go out and love all the enemies of your country or go out and
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love all those enemies that you don't know anything about.
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And that's easy to do. In effect, when people have those signs from my point
51:30
of view, they're saying, look at me, I'm so good. I don't have to do my duty to enforce the law.
51:37
If somebody's here illegally and that somebody is dangerous to my neighbors,
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I don't have to do anything except say that I love them, even though I don't
51:46
know who they are and probably never will know and probably never will have
51:49
to do anything to help take care of them or anything else.
51:52
And my neighbor across the street, if he's somebody I don't like,
51:57
well, too bad for him because he's not on my side and he's not one of the good guys.
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In other words, he's my personal enemy and I don't have to bother liking him. And that's exactly.
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Christ said, you love your enemies, your particular ones.
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It didn't say, don't defend your state, don't defend your community,
52:19
don't defend your neighbors.
52:21
That's right. That's so very right. There's so many parts in that article that
52:27
could be taken apart and discussed for sure.
52:33
Especially now, with the war being started and everything, the nationalism, we need.
52:41
We need pride in our country. We need pride in our military and things.
52:50
Where do you begin, you know? Well, I think with the art of me,
52:54
you begin by understanding all those things are good if they are used right.
53:00
And the Christian principles are principles that can keep those things from
53:06
becoming extreme, like they did,
53:09
for example, in Germany when nationalism became so extreme that it became a
53:14
vice rather than a virtue.
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Yeah, I think that that's very true because we're so afraid of becoming like
53:21
Germany that we're going to the other extreme.
53:24
You go to other extremes. And I don't mean, you know, what happened during the
53:29
Second World War in Germany, it's hard to even describe it. It was awful.
53:37
And what happened, the people, you know, followed their leaders to the point
53:44
they didn't think, they didn't have to think.
53:46
They just did. Exactly. But you can do the opposite.
53:50
You can try to run away from that. And what you do is you circle back and you
53:53
back right up against the same exact thing from the other side.
53:57
You're not the opposite of it. You become almost the same exact thing.
54:01
Exactly. So you have to be very careful.
54:04
And the thing is you always remember that every virtue, the virtue of tolerance,
54:09
every virtue has to be balanced by other virtues.
54:12
It can never stand. A virtue standing by itself eventually becomes a vice.
54:17
So that's one thing that has to be remembered. And this idea to love everybody.
54:23
You can't. You can't. If you have enemies that are enemies of your country or
54:27
criminals and so forth and everything, you have to do your duty.
54:31
In fact, actually, that's a form of love in and of itself.
54:35
It's even loving the people that you put in jail because they can't be allowed
54:40
to make things even worse than they are already.
54:44
Yeah. I think it'd be good to pick this article apart sometime. Yes, it would.
54:50
There's so many things to cover in it. So many. Yes, there are.
54:55
At any rate, we're going to have to stop here. We'll say our prayer.
54:59
St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the
55:03
wickedness and snares of the devil.
55:05
May God rebuke and humbly pray.
55:08
And do thou, Prince of the Avalon, who is by the power of God,
55:12
Trust in the hell, Satan, and all evil spirits who wander into the world,
55:17
seeking the run of souls. Amen.
55:20
You've been listening to Being Catholic with Bob Johnston. On Catholic Spirit
55:23
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55:29
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