Building Castles on Lies
Christian Nationalism in Oklahoma and Louisiana and the idiocy behind it.
I tend to have mixed feelings when it comes to the issue of Christian Nationalism. On one hand I genuinely fear for the future and am saddened by the lives that will inevitably be ruined by it. On the other hand as a theologian, I’m thankful that long running undercurrents of American Evangelicalism are finally being brought out into the light. Things that 30 years ago were “fringe” and only found in places like Gothard’s “Advanced Seminar” or Vision Forum like David Barton’s books are finally getting the scrutiny of the wider world. We’re seeing this play out particularly in Oklahoma with State Superintendent Ryan Walters. His recent decrees that Public Schools in Oklahoma would “teach the Bible” and his forming of a group to review Oklahoman Social Studies reveal both the radicalization of Christian Nationalism and its idiocy.
Let me be clear, I think Walters is an idiot. Nothing I’ve seen in any interview or speech I’ve seen him give convinces me otherwise. He is a walking propaganda spewing puppet. What is so apparent as he has made these moves and tried to defend them is he is either so indoctrinated in David Barton’s lies and other Christian Nationalism dogma that he doesn’t know how dumb his “arguments” are, or people have told him what he’s doing is a bad idea and he’s decided to ignore them. Either way Walters’ ignorance has been on full display.
I’m not going to argue against the various “arguments” he has given for his attempt at establishing religion in Oklahoma. If you want a great refutation of David Barton and his many lies I recommend listening to Warren Throckmorton’s excellent podcast “Telling Jefferson Lies”. Instead, I want to consider the theological ramifications of what Walters and ultimately many like him are hellbent (pun intended) on doing.
Building Sandcastles on Lies
There is something that has always been perplexing about David Barton and his brand of pseudo history and it is that it isn’t just “bad”, it’s laughably bad. I’ve had multiple history professors from Christian colleges that I’ve studied under while getting my BA in History speak against him. Some have even confronted him personally. The consensus among almost all historians is the same as this recent panel of Jamar Tisby, Diana Butler Bass, and Kristen DuMetz where they noted that Barton’s errors are not just egregious they are almost proved wrong by a Google search. Yet this same man who isn’t just wrong but ridiculously so has been able to make multi-millions of dollars peddling his idolatry to a waiting Evangelical audience.
This is where I find the preference of Barton’s lies and the reliance on false history by many Christian Nationalists to be a theological issue. I oppose the false narrative Christian Nationalists have chosen about America because I believe in a God of truth. I believe in a God who sees false weights and measurements as an abomination (Prov. 11:1). A God who considers lying lips detestable (Prov. 12:22). It is a matter of false witness to present anything, but especially history as Barton and other Christian Nationalists do.
The first problem is the appeal to an “authority” that quite simply doesn’t exist. A good recent example is Louisiana’s new law requiring the Ten Commandments be displayed in every classroom. The law, passed by the Louisiana State Legislature and signed into law, quotes James Madison as proof the “Founding Fathers” built America “on the principles of the Ten Commandments”. The problem? Madison never said that. No one, including the editors for the James Madison collection, has ever found any place where he said that and what’s more they stated, “In addition, the idea is inconsistent with everything we know about Madison’s views on religion and government.” So the appeal that there is some sort of historical precedent for the reverence of the Ten Commandments by the Founding Fathers is false (there are MANY other examples of Barton and others falsely attempting to make this connection this whole paper is worth a read).
The second problem with building an entire narrative about America’s “Christian past” is that people have been primed to trade in true religion for a false one. What will be the legacy of Barton and those who have enabled him eventually is the shipwrecked faith of many when what they have put their hope in fails. This is where the issue of what many in Evangelicalism have done over the past 50 years, I believe gets very dark. Out of a desire to involve Christians in politics, and give them a motivation for assuming grievance (i.e., the only reason “conservative values” are not being expressed is because “liberals” have “stolen” the spaces Christians supposedly occupied) there effectively has been an alternative religion offered in churches. Instead of “belonging to Christ” the “People of God” are Americans. Instead of personal growth in Godliness there’s affirming ideological talking points. Instead of working to grow the Kingdom of God the way Jesus said it would grow, there is first grievance than dominance. So many churches have effectively invited false priests into their sanctuary, let them set up a different altar, and began to lead people in a liturgy of false belief and practice. And we must acknowledge that this has happened because too many pastors themselves wanted to trade the truth for a lie.
The 7 Mountains Heresy
Speaking of false religions it must be said that much of what is animating the push for “dominion” when it comes to putting “Christianity” in schools or else ware is itself not “Christian”. Consider the fact that the “Ten Commandments” used in the Louisiana bill are not from a Hebrew, Protestant, or Catholic translation of the Bible but rather a version that was used by Paramount Pictures to promote the movie The Ten Commandments. This ironically is a great example of the double edged sword government promoted “religion” is, make something supposedly palatable enough for mass consumption and it loses any Evangelical (or Jewish, or Catholic, etc) flavor.
But what is more disconcerting with characters like Walters and House Speaker Johnson and now Vice President nominee Vance is the entertainment of those promoting the “7 Mountain Mandate”. Let’s be clear- the “7 Mountain Mandate” does not appear in the Bible. At all. There is an extremely tenuous connection to the 7 Mountains in Revelation 17:8-10. However most scholars will say that passage is mainly speaking about Rome at the time. Even so the “dominion” the “”7 Mountain” proponents promote simply doesn’t exist in the Bible. They will try to say that Christians are called to have “dominion” from mostly Genesis 1:28, but the way they define “dominion” is quite frankly “dominance”. It must be said that the call for the “7 Mountains” people isn’t that Christians should enter various spheres, get accreditation and degrees, do excellent work and honor God. Rather, it is that Christians through “spiritual warfare” should simply “take over” and “claim dominion’ (dominance). This claim for dominance undercuts a simple fact of our created nature: we cannot fully control or “dominate” anything. We have neither the omniscience, omnipresence, nor omnipotence to be that in control. In short, we are not God. Thus I greatly fear who those are listening to when they say Christians are “called” to “dominate” in a way only God can. It smacks of the original lie (“You will be like God”).
Ironically Choosing to Build on Sand
Where the “Christian Nation” false narrative of a chosen narrative of history dips into false religion is it gives people a false religion by looking into the past, the “7 Mountains” false promise looks towards the future. Yet there is a false identity in both as a Christian- you are “God’s chosen” because you are an American. There is a false salvation- either continuing or enacting the “right” laws and public practices will gain God’s favor and protection. There is a false promise of power- either Christian’s always had it (false) or God intends us to have it (false).
What I fear looking down the road is a disillusionment that does not bode well for both those who are pushing these false narratives and for Christians simply existing in America. At some point I honestly believe the majority of the population will get tired of the fundamentalist fringe trying to take power like Walters and the New Apostolic Reformation. Sooner or later organizations like Heritage and the Family Research Council will lose their ability to operate (as churches at least, if not at all). The reality I fear is we may eventually experience a backlash and even persecution of Christians because of these false narratives and false prophets. If and when it happens, I honestly think the judgement on the Church in America will be righteous. We in the Evangelical church allowed a false religion to become one of the biggest driving factors in our political life and witness. We let the parasite grow because too many (including pastors, elders, and Evangelical leaders) exchanged the truth for a convenient lie. And too many of us allowed them to do it.
As Jesus said, “a foolish man who built his house on sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
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