“We are going to prepare for war. … We gotta stop the insanity going on in the United States.” — The Rev. Mark Murillo, speaking at the “Courage Tour” in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, July 31, as reported in The Atlantic.
The report from the Eugene Police Department said that the threat made against me was of “religious” nature and, in EPD’s opinion, was not an actual threat to my physical safety.
I had concluded the same, but reported it nonetheless just to be sure. It was the mid 1990s, and I was actively involved in efforts promoting the rights of the LGBTQ community. I don’t recall specifically what I was quoted as saying in the news, but this particular community member was certain that I would be condemned by God for it and likely would pay the price with my life. I greatly appreciated that EPD took it seriously enough to pay the gentleman a visit.
I can only wish that the religious threats I hear being made today concerning the upcoming election were equally as benign. There was a time not long ago that I would have so considered them. Such naïveté, however, was violently crushed on Jan. 6, 2021.
One of the most critical lessons I learned from my encounter with the Holocaust while living in Germany 35 years after it came to an end was the role of religion in its making.
Every single one of the infamous Nuremberg laws that severely curtailed the rights of Jews had precedents in decrees made by various Christian councils over the previous centuries. Indeed, without the deeply ingrained antisemitism of Christian tradition that blamed Jews for the death of Jesus, the Holocaust would not have occurred.
That is why I, as a Christian minister, have fought against antisemitism and sought to purge it from Christian faith. It is also why we must take the threatening statements made by many in the so-called “Christian nationalism” movement seriously today. For the tragedy of religion is its power to do great evil in the name of “God.”
Christian nationalism seeks to fuse a particular set of Christian beliefs (many that are not shared by other Christians) with American identity, claiming that we are a “Christian nation” and thereby do away with the separation of church and state. Christianity, as the official religion of the country, would receive certain preferences over other religions, including the use of Christian scripture and prayer in public schools. Same-sex marriages would no longer be recognized. Abortion would be illegal with few, if any, exceptions. The list goes on.
It is one thing to claim that our county was founded on “Biblical principles” or “Judeo-Christian values,” and not all who make such claims are Christian nationalists. But when politicians and preachers combine such belief with a call to return to our “Christian roots” by any means necessary in order to fulfill “God’s will” for our country, as do the Christian nationalists, pay close attention for such is not a benign threat of purely religious nature.
The more militant Christian nationalists, and there are many, believe God is on their side and that they will be justified in using violence to “take back” this country if the election does not go their way. The irony, of course, is not only are their views horribly unchristian, they are also deeply anti-American.
One thing in this country that is sacrosanct and that truly makes us great is this — we settle our differences, peacefully, at the ballot box. Respect for that process also means that you do not attack the integrity of elections without a shred of evidence that will stand up under the scrutiny of a court; otherwise, you are no better than those who would use violence to obtain their ends.
Equally sacrosanct are that “no religious Test ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States” (U.S. Constitution, Article VI) and that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” (First Amendment). To establish the U.S. as a “Christian nation” would be in direct conflict with our Constitution.
The use of religion to obtain political power is not only bad for democracy, it is destructive to religious faith. Christian nationalism is a serious threat to both.