Faith as War

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The mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 of 2021, “included a large cohort that hoisted Confederate battle flags and Trump banners. But mixed among those standards were other signs, ones bearing crosses and references to Christ,” according to the online Church & State Magazine.

“It’s clear that for some of the insurrectionists, the attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election was a holy crusade.”

Sadly, for many contemporary Christians, faith is not so much a matter of loving God and neighbor as it is to forcefully oppose people who disagree. I have no quarrel with expressing disagreement, much less with voting one’s conscience, but I agree with Pope Francis, who sees the church not as a powerful Christian fighting force but as a field hospital that cares for the outcast, the marginalized, the “useless,” and yes, the unbelievers.

Form of Surrender?

But many Christians seem to believe that failing to engage in the culture wars is a form of surrender, leaving the country to the “unbelievers and pagans.” I believe these people have not been paying attention to the gospel or, in most cases, their church’s teachings.

My own Catholic church has in the past referred to itself as a “church militant,” which, according to Wikipedia, refers to “Christians on earth who struggle as soldiers of Christ against sin, the devil, and ‘the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places.’"

Opposing evil is, of course, a hallmark of Jesus’ teaching, but he made it clear that it’s not his followers’ job to decide who is evil or to use force to oppose them. “Turning the other cheek” has never been easily accepted by his followers or many others who view it as unrealistic and unlikely to achieve the desired results. Many scratch their heads, and close their hearts, when hearing it.

Harrison Warren
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Several times in these blogs, I’ve referenced Tish Harrison Warren, an Episcopalian priest who writes columns for the New York Times (which itself is evidently viewed by many warring Christians as a demonic den). Recently, Harrison Warren interviewed Russell Moore, editor-in-chief of the influential magazine, Christianity Today, who describes himself as an evangelical.

“Christian nationalism” he said, “is the use of Christian symbols or teachings in order to prop up a nation-state or an ethnic identity. It’s dangerous for the nation because it’s fundamentally anti-democratic. …It says: ‘If a person disagrees with me, that person is disagreeing with God.’ No democratic nation can survive that, which is why the founders of this country built in all kinds of protections from it."

"Get Real"

He told Harrison Warren that he received a castigating email from “a sweet Christian lady who had taught me Sunday school when I was a kid. And none of it argued: “You’re wrong about Trump’s moral character.” The argument was: “Get real. This is what we have to have in order to fight the enemy.

“The figure of Jesus in the New Testament Gospels is not a frantic, angry culture warrior. He is remarkably tranquil about the situation around him. I think we need more of that. If our neighbors saw us loving one another and forgiving one another, even if they find our theological beliefs to be strange or even dangerous, that would be a good start.”

That’s the Jesus I believe in and the one I believe should be embraced by people searching for God in the Christian tradition. I want no part of a “holy crusade.” That was tried hundreds of years ago, and how did that work out?