Christian Nationalism has turned the Jesus movement into a CrossFit gym for empire — all swords, merch, and cosplay masculinity. This satirical dive traces how a faith once hunted by empire now worships the very structures that killed its founder. From early Christian resistance to today’s Roman LARP culture, here’s why the Sermon on the Mount keeps getting skipped on leg day.
I don't believe that the structure upon which Christian patriarchy is built can withstand the fault lines developing from the stressors it is facing. The end should have been seen by the "wise" elders, but they have been drunk on power and ego for far too long to see what we, the deconstructing, can see. You can't say the Bible is infallible, never-changing, and inerrant then be surprised when the awakening demands that our literal indoctrination taught us to expect a Jesus who would flip tables for injustice and bless the poor. The very Jesus they now reject. We simply matured beyond the level they never saw, rejected their bigotry, and released Jesus from the cage they had placed in him. Your satirical pieces are spot on and thought-provoking.
The Christian Nationalists here in the US remind me of Hitler’s “Christians,” who ignored the teachings of Jesus & used the church to broadcast their own evil messages.
Thank you for this. I’m still reduced to disbelief (pun intended) by the antics of these folks. My brain gets sprained trying to follow the theology of it all.
Hey Beth, I am very connected to many MAGA folks through friends and family. So, I know their hearts. And I also really disagree with them at the same time. I was raised in a way that I should be MAGA. I was raised Republican and conservative Christian. But, when I was in my 20s when I was in the military, people from my fundamentalist church turned on me and really kicked me while I was down. That’s when I realized that we “eat our own” as a way of being and it’s very tribal and fear based. I know that many of the individuals mean well and are only doing what they’ve been taught. But in my experience, their loyalties are misguided. I wrote the song based off of what MAGA friends and family told me about their perspective—especially the ones who sincerely want to follow Christ but have been taught a fear based religion that I don’t believe Christ taught. The song is sincere and satire. I’ve changed since I wrote it. But, I still struggle with my conviction that Christ came to teach Universal love for all people and MAGA seems to want to be loved and special to the exclusion of others who aren’t in their tribe.
Blessed be the foot washers, nose wipers, care givers, truth teachers, the lovers and the givers (er, in no particular order 😃) and woe to those who store up treasures in hypocrisy, uniforms, weapons and power because they will lose their soul and humanity
The ones doing the quiet work are always the ones carrying the Kingdom forward. The empire builders keep mistaking uniforms and hardware for holiness, but that path only hollows a person out. The ones who bend low to serve are the only ones who rise with anything left of their soul.
Every time I hear the term "Christian Nationalist" I hear the record scratching noise in my head, followed by something-something separation of church and state... I can't quite make it out because the dissonance is deafening.
That record scratch is the Holy Spirit saying, “I did not authorize this remix.”
Christian Nationalism keeps trying to mash up Jesus of Nazareth with a DMV militia pamphlet, then wonders why the soundtrack turns into pure dissonance.
Some things were never meant to be blended, like church and state or scripture and cosplay empire.
Pedro - what a very touching & heart-felt note….I appreciate it so much. There are similarities to our stories & of course some differences. My father was a moderate Republican who was in the Navy & Korean War so he could go to college. My mother was raised in China till she was 12, as her father was a Lutheran minister/missionary & moderate Democrat. They agreed to disagree on political beliefs & just laffed & said they cancelled each other out. They’ve been gone for over a decade now. I’m the oldest & was the rebel child against my pretty strict upbringing. I went to church every Sunday until i left to go to college. I never stopped believing in God or Christ but church just didn’t fit me….until God saved my life, led me to Alcoholics Anonymous & I finally felt I’d found my “church”. Most of my friends happen to be liberal, some Christian, some Jewish, some agnostic - but even the 2 Republican friends (not close) I have are NOT MAGA. For me, that would be an extremely challenging & emotional situation to be in & i run away from confrontation (I’m Learning).
Personally, I love your conviction that Christ came to teach Universal love for all people. I also love you sharing your story & even tho you’ve changed since you wrote that song, it’s very beautiful - the melody, your voice. May you somehow keep sharing your talent, your love, & may the differences miraculously dissolve (I believe in miracles).
Call me a wimp, I didn’t think anything could trump - yes i used that purposely, otherwise i call him vulgar names that fit but aren’t appreciated, even tho he’s the one who bragged about it using those words - ) the horrors happening when i was growing up, with 3 assassinations in a decade, the
Vietnamese war, etc - and i was SO WRONG. So many wrongs were righted & then so many lies were perpetrated & hard-gained rights (and LIVES) tossed away like the reasons they had become law mattered nothing, just like the ones that suffered because of it. History repeating itself within the space of HALF of a human’s lifetime..
i in no way intend to diminish the importance of the rights of women, immigrants, blacks who not that long ago were slaves - in my whole seventy years itz always been a white man’s world - what astonishes me now is how itz narrowed - that white men in the name of Christian Nationalism will turn on any white man who doesnt buy into what they believe, which as VMB always so in-your-face points out is the ANTITHESIS of what Jesus & the early Christian’s lived,breathed, preached.
Yet itz not just God & Magdalene & Yeshua & Archangels that give me hope & faith that Christian Nationalism will not prevail, either here or anywhere else in the world. Itz that in THIS country, I believe they are outnumbered. They are NOT the majority. They are unfortunately the ones with the most power in many arenas of power.
There are more of us than there are of them — decent loving people the opposite of those so humorously, accurately & scathingly described in this post by VMB. If we can laff while reading truth that also makes you want to puke & give up, we have a chance. We are not alone. This shit is happening ALL OVER THE WORLD. My German heritage, even tho no one in my bloodline was a Nazi, they were all here long before Hitler was born) has still haunted me my whole life & with that example of the most horrific treatment of our own species involving so many countries globally, it blows my mind that so much of this is till raging on all over the planet.
I’ve raged enuf. Glad i started with some satirical laughter. I can’t give up hope & surrender to a dystopian future, no matter how bad this is (pretty fucking bad).
Again I remind myself they may have more “power” but they are way outnumbered. Globally not just nationally.
I live in a mostly liberal island in the state of conservative red for racist Georgia. I know of 2 Christian Nationaists & one has seen my Prayer Flag on my door. We agree to disagree. But I’ve got them instead of a gun to pass out & protect me. They carry strong energy & luminous love. And hope 💖❤️🔥
I don't believe that the structure upon which Christian patriarchy is built can withstand the fault lines developing from the stressors it is facing. The end should have been seen by the "wise" elders, but they have been drunk on power and ego for far too long to see what we, the deconstructing, can see. You can't say the Bible is infallible, never-changing, and inerrant then be surprised when the awakening demands that our literal indoctrination taught us to expect a Jesus who would flip tables for injustice and bless the poor. The very Jesus they now reject. We simply matured beyond the level they never saw, rejected their bigotry, and released Jesus from the cage they had placed in him. Your satirical pieces are spot on and thought-provoking.
The Christian Nationalists here in the US remind me of Hitler’s “Christians,” who ignored the teachings of Jesus & used the church to broadcast their own evil messages.
Thank you for this. I’m still reduced to disbelief (pun intended) by the antics of these folks. My brain gets sprained trying to follow the theology of it all.
And I wrote this hymn for them too. https://youtu.be/oP51rnEm4lE?si=iylInplWH1zTy7iO
That song is beautiful, the words had me questioning, “is this satire? Or truly a MAGA anthem?” Whoever’s singing has a beautiful voice
Hey Beth, I am very connected to many MAGA folks through friends and family. So, I know their hearts. And I also really disagree with them at the same time. I was raised in a way that I should be MAGA. I was raised Republican and conservative Christian. But, when I was in my 20s when I was in the military, people from my fundamentalist church turned on me and really kicked me while I was down. That’s when I realized that we “eat our own” as a way of being and it’s very tribal and fear based. I know that many of the individuals mean well and are only doing what they’ve been taught. But in my experience, their loyalties are misguided. I wrote the song based off of what MAGA friends and family told me about their perspective—especially the ones who sincerely want to follow Christ but have been taught a fear based religion that I don’t believe Christ taught. The song is sincere and satire. I’ve changed since I wrote it. But, I still struggle with my conviction that Christ came to teach Universal love for all people and MAGA seems to want to be loved and special to the exclusion of others who aren’t in their tribe.
❤️🔥
Blessed be the foot washers, nose wipers, care givers, truth teachers, the lovers and the givers (er, in no particular order 😃) and woe to those who store up treasures in hypocrisy, uniforms, weapons and power because they will lose their soul and humanity
The ones doing the quiet work are always the ones carrying the Kingdom forward. The empire builders keep mistaking uniforms and hardware for holiness, but that path only hollows a person out. The ones who bend low to serve are the only ones who rise with anything left of their soul.
Every time I hear the term "Christian Nationalist" I hear the record scratching noise in my head, followed by something-something separation of church and state... I can't quite make it out because the dissonance is deafening.
That record scratch is the Holy Spirit saying, “I did not authorize this remix.”
Christian Nationalism keeps trying to mash up Jesus of Nazareth with a DMV militia pamphlet, then wonders why the soundtrack turns into pure dissonance.
Some things were never meant to be blended, like church and state or scripture and cosplay empire.
I doubt that Christian Nationalists would take too kind to the Sermon on the Plain, which one finds in Luke.
How could they bear a sermon that holds up a mirror showing who they really are?
Pedro - what a very touching & heart-felt note….I appreciate it so much. There are similarities to our stories & of course some differences. My father was a moderate Republican who was in the Navy & Korean War so he could go to college. My mother was raised in China till she was 12, as her father was a Lutheran minister/missionary & moderate Democrat. They agreed to disagree on political beliefs & just laffed & said they cancelled each other out. They’ve been gone for over a decade now. I’m the oldest & was the rebel child against my pretty strict upbringing. I went to church every Sunday until i left to go to college. I never stopped believing in God or Christ but church just didn’t fit me….until God saved my life, led me to Alcoholics Anonymous & I finally felt I’d found my “church”. Most of my friends happen to be liberal, some Christian, some Jewish, some agnostic - but even the 2 Republican friends (not close) I have are NOT MAGA. For me, that would be an extremely challenging & emotional situation to be in & i run away from confrontation (I’m Learning).
Personally, I love your conviction that Christ came to teach Universal love for all people. I also love you sharing your story & even tho you’ve changed since you wrote that song, it’s very beautiful - the melody, your voice. May you somehow keep sharing your talent, your love, & may the differences miraculously dissolve (I believe in miracles).
Call me a wimp, I didn’t think anything could trump - yes i used that purposely, otherwise i call him vulgar names that fit but aren’t appreciated, even tho he’s the one who bragged about it using those words - ) the horrors happening when i was growing up, with 3 assassinations in a decade, the
Vietnamese war, etc - and i was SO WRONG. So many wrongs were righted & then so many lies were perpetrated & hard-gained rights (and LIVES) tossed away like the reasons they had become law mattered nothing, just like the ones that suffered because of it. History repeating itself within the space of HALF of a human’s lifetime..
i in no way intend to diminish the importance of the rights of women, immigrants, blacks who not that long ago were slaves - in my whole seventy years itz always been a white man’s world - what astonishes me now is how itz narrowed - that white men in the name of Christian Nationalism will turn on any white man who doesnt buy into what they believe, which as VMB always so in-your-face points out is the ANTITHESIS of what Jesus & the early Christian’s lived,breathed, preached.
Yet itz not just God & Magdalene & Yeshua & Archangels that give me hope & faith that Christian Nationalism will not prevail, either here or anywhere else in the world. Itz that in THIS country, I believe they are outnumbered. They are NOT the majority. They are unfortunately the ones with the most power in many arenas of power.
There are more of us than there are of them — decent loving people the opposite of those so humorously, accurately & scathingly described in this post by VMB. If we can laff while reading truth that also makes you want to puke & give up, we have a chance. We are not alone. This shit is happening ALL OVER THE WORLD. My German heritage, even tho no one in my bloodline was a Nazi, they were all here long before Hitler was born) has still haunted me my whole life & with that example of the most horrific treatment of our own species involving so many countries globally, it blows my mind that so much of this is till raging on all over the planet.
I’ve raged enuf. Glad i started with some satirical laughter. I can’t give up hope & surrender to a dystopian future, no matter how bad this is (pretty fucking bad).
Again I remind myself they may have more “power” but they are way outnumbered. Globally not just nationally.
I live in a mostly liberal island in the state of conservative red for racist Georgia. I know of 2 Christian Nationaists & one has seen my Prayer Flag on my door. We agree to disagree. But I’ve got them instead of a gun to pass out & protect me. They carry strong energy & luminous love. And hope 💖❤️🔥
I wrote this piece for the same reason. We should do a live together. https://open.substack.com/pub/pedrosenhorinhasilva/p/scredianity-a-new-religion-emerges?r=52fok8&utm_medium=ios