Beware of any Christian movement that acts as though the world is full of enemies to be destroyed rather than full of neighbours to be loved.
–Rev. Benjamin Cremer
Beware of any Christian movement that demands the government be an instrument of God’s wrath but never a source of God’s mercy, generosity, or compassion.
Years ago, as a constituent of the atheist movement, I remember with distaste how much time I squandered railing against the evils of religion. Thankfully, I reassessed my folly, realising that while this phase served a purpose at the time, it was more beneficial to be accommodating and kind, rather than hostile.
In the interim, I’ve made my peace with religion but not with its foul practices that cause harm to others. While it may appear that I’ve settled for tolerance, I remain cognisant of the paradox of tolerance. However, with the proliferation of fascism and authoritarianism, coupled with the alarming advance of Christian Nationalism, I’m experiencing a growing unease and am increasingly troubled by world events.
Recently, I was troubled by a response I received when criticising Donald Trump’s alleged involvement in paedophilia. It came from someone I knew to be kindhearted, generous, and intelligent. Yet, it was a clear and unambiguous defence of Trump’s deviant sexual behaviour.
He also openly declares Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior…
Of itself, declaring Christ as Lord and Saviour is not problematic, and for most Christians it is a routine undertaking. However, it is disturbing when used to justify a heinous, illicit act, particularly one this depraved. It’s the equivalent of someone proclaiming that a person who rapes a child can be excused because he “openly declared Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.” When did turning a blind eye to such an atrocious act become orthodox human behaviour?
To answer that question, it is necessary to understand how that kind of reasoning became acceptable in a religious society, or, in this case, the church. As I’ve alluded to earlier, I believe the root cause lies in the advent and proliferation of Christian Nationalism.
According to Rhys Long, a senior at Brown University, writing for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Christian Nationalism made its way into the U.S. around a century ago, but only began to shape American minds over the last decade or so. The person responsible for its inception was Gerald Lyman Kenneth Smith, a fascist, a rabid antisemite and anti-communist. In the early 1940s, he started the Christian Nationalist Crusade, the Christian Nationalist Party, and the America First Party, while promoting the racist idea that America belonged to White Christian people only.
After this, in the 60s, people began to question whether the church should be separated from the state, and thus religion became an unwelcome force in politics. Christian Nationalism appealed to right-wing extremists who needed an excuse to bolster their antisemitic hatred. In the 80s, this momentum was leveraged by Rev. Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority and TV preacher Pat Robertson’s Christian Coalition to gain prominence. Once Ronald Reagan jumped on the bandwagon, Christian Nationalism had found a home in the Republican Party.
Christian Nationalists began using religion as a weapon, whereafter the freedom to discriminate in the name of religion went mainstream. By a remarkable sleight of hand, racism, antisemitism, transphobia, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny, patriarchy, etc., could find justification in religious dogma. If religion could be used to defend these types of bigotry, it is only a short leap to use it to defend any other perversion or deviant human behaviour.
Naturally, that defence would extend to protecting any other members of the flock from attack or criticism. It then goes without saying that any opposition to bigoted political beliefs would bring one into conflict with “God and the Constitution’s promise of religious freedom.” Long concludes with what is increasingly apparent nowadays, especially in a deeply divided America.
While Christian Nationalists and their allies cloak themselves in the language of religious freedom, a look at the movement’s history paints a different, clearer picture – one of intolerance, fear, abuse and deception. As much as Christian Nationalists may try to obfuscate those origins, the movement will forever be colored by the hate they practice and the harm they continue to inflict.
This religious aberration spread its wings to South Africa as early as 1942. It was adopted by B.J. Vorster, who would later become the leader of the Apartheid-era National Party. He is recorded as proclaiming that:
We stand for Christian Nationalism which is an ally of National Socialism. You can call this anti-democratic principle dictatorship if you wish. In Italy, it is called fascism; in Germany, National Socialism and in South Africa, Christian Nationalism.
Christian Nationalism seemed a perfect fit for the Calvinist traditions which the Afrikaaner community identified with. It also found a cosy home in the Dutch Reformed Church, which by that time had already cobbled together a theological and moral justification for Apartheid and racial segregation.
A 2025 Pew Research Center survey found that 16% of the South African population identifies as religious Nationalists. Suppose you accept that the majority of White South Africans, who make up only 7.2% of the total population, are in the set of religious Nationalists. In that case, that still leaves a hefty percentage of Non-Whites also identifying as such. It is puzzling because Non-Whites were not raised on traditional Calvinist lines.
The only explanation I can think of to explain this anomaly is what I will term as religious Nationalist creep. It means that Christian Nationalism has been infiltrating other churches in South Africa, possibly under the guise of evangelism, and that significant cross-pollination is occurring. It would explain why these hateful Christian Nationalist attitudes and bigotry have permeated and poisoned the greater Christian community.
Returning to Donald Trump, John Pavlovitz, an author and former youth pastor, outlined five reasons why Christians wrongly support him in this YouTube video below. This may sound like a stretch, but although these reasons apply mainly to Evangelicals, you will notice that when they bump and grind with Christian Nationalists, there is an assimilation of hatreds and behaviours. The common denominator, though, is finding approval in scripture. It’s the reason why non-traditional Christian Nationalists can approve of the perversions of a monumental bigot like Donald Trump. It’s also why non-traditional Christian Nationalists can identify favourably with the brutal, murderous perversions of the State of Israel.
While researching this essay, I came across a biblical passage from Matthew 23 that I think people who indulge in these kinds of behaviours, but seek redemption, will either find comfort in or, at the very least, take as a warning, assuming their faith is beyond reproach.
The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
If openly declaring Jesus as your Lord and Saviour absolves you of crime, hate, and bigotry, why are governments around the world squandering time and resources on policing and building prisons? Why not just build churches where the criminals, haters, and bigots can whitewash their sins?
lenny unencumbered 