October 27, 2023 • 14 mins
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We embark to give a historical perspective on the complexities of religious nationalism and how similar tactics are alive today to seek to establish religious/Christian nationalism in various pockets around the world including the United States of America. We'll travel back to the colonial era, exposing how religion was weaponized as a tool of control and exploitation. Our exploration will reveal the detrimental effects of religious nationalism when it descends into intolerance and exclusivity causing societal upheaval.
We dissect the manipulation of religious nationalism to stoke fear, isolationism, and a sense of superiority. We shine a light on the tragic outcomes, including racism, ethnic intolerance, and an opposition to diversity. Despite these challenging realities, there is a silver lining. We delve into the transformative power of faith and the potential for individuals and communities to foster positive change. Listen in as we discuss the role people of faith can play in advancing social justice, education, medical equity, and more.
#religiousnationalism; #christiannationalism
#abovethenoise24
# faith
#reconciliation
#race
#racialreconciliation
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Grantley (00:09):
Welcome to Above the Noise, a podcast at the
intersection of faith, race andreconciliation, and I'm your
host, grant Lee Martelli.
Welcome back to Above the Noise.
I want to address today thistopic of religious and Christian
(00:34):
nationalism.
Christian nationalism didn'tbegin in the United States of
America.
It didn't begin with DonaldTrump or the Ayatollah.
It has been embedded beforecolonialists landed on many
shores.
The pilgrims, as they werecalled, did not seek out a new
land from Great Britain to bebenevolent explorers of the New
(00:56):
World.
They left to seek a place topractice their religion freely.
That religion had nothing to dowith the inhabitants of the new
lands.
It only had to do with thepilgrims' selfish desires to
practice their religion withoutgovernment intervention or
oversight.
Because of the narrow andparochial and culturally
(01:16):
modified views of what it meantto be followers of Christ, the
pilgrims had little tolerance orintent to include the native
inhabitants of those lands intotheir faiths, unless the natives
were willing to abandon theirnational identity and emulate
Europeanism.
It must be remembered that theBritish were not the only
purveyors of this taught andpractice.
(01:38):
The French, the Spanish, thePortuguese, the Belgians and the
Dutch all approached theirpeople and others in foreign
lands through these lenses ofreligious nationalism, classism,
racism and brutality.
So when they branched out tothe New World in pursuit of
either religious freedom or thedesire to acquire new lands and
(02:01):
resources in the name of thecrown, their intent and their
actions were guided not by truebiblical brotherhood, but by
cultural and religiousnationalism that they brought
with them.
One of the main differencesthat occurred in the New World
was that now the lower classesof Europeans, who were seen as
(02:23):
second or third class citizensin their homelands, had the
opportunity to see other groupsof people as Lorden themselves
and began to act as the higherclass countrymen had, treated
them with this din andharassment.
The same applied to the Dutchand British settlers who
occupied South Africa and otherpeoples who occupied other parts
(02:46):
of Africa, the Pacific and theCaribbean.
Why begin with this underlyinghistorical perspective?
Within each of these systems,national structures and global
expansion, religion was used asa tool to mask the ungodly and
unholy intent of its proponents.
The terms in the name of thechurch, in honor of the pope, in
(03:09):
the name of the king, in thename of the king of England, who
is the head of the church,portraying large crucifixes
mounted on poles and hangingaround the necks of religious
leaders.
Religious nationalism becamethe standard of power and world
domination.
On the other side of the globe,the rise of Islam, hinduism and
(03:29):
other religions also foundfodder in establishing a
religious nationalism thatpromised peace, serenity,
control of classism and blissfulutopianism.
Not to mention that vision cameup, the cause of elevated
masculinity, diminishing womenand girls, poverty for the
(03:50):
working classes and extremewealth for religious superiors
who ruled with iron fists, openbrutality, proliferation of
illiteracy and law and order bypublic beatings and executions.
Religious nationalism meant tobe like us, act like us, believe
like us or die.
(04:10):
Religious nationalism is alwaysdangerous when it is built on
principles of intolerance andexclusivity.
These two ingredients, whencombined in large proportions,
always react with explosivedysfunction and chaos.
That's why the biblical writersremind us not to think of
ourselves more highly than weought to or than we should, and
(04:33):
to treat others like we wouldlike to be treated, and to love
our neighbors as ourselves.
Religious nationalism holds tonone of these principles.
Colonialists and Christianscombined to become distinctly
non-Christ-like in their actionswhen their national, social,
cultural and political viewsbecome more important than
(04:56):
biblical teaching.
Within the heart of humankind,it seems that there's a natural
desire to see ourselves asbetter than.
We have media and tabloids thatare built on highlighting the
failures of others, as ifgloating in someone else's
troubles will make our livesbetter, safer or richer.
Another flaw of this kind ofthinking is that our religion,
(05:20):
being superior to all others,hence, must always rule.
We must be in power, we musthave laws that govern our
religious values and govern byour religious values.
Our schools and our communitiesmust reflect our flawed
religious philosophies, and ourchildren must be protected at
all costs so that they cannot beexposed to these hedonistic
(05:45):
ideas, and they must only betaught our stuff.
Religious nationalism,Christian nationalism or
whatever package it is wrappedin, must always live at the
extremes.
In order to thrive and in orderto gain followers, it must have
an enemy, even if that enemydoes not exist in reality.
(06:05):
Therefore, we see groups andtheir leaders spreading fear,
isolationism, and superiority,because the boogeyman is outside
the gates, lurking to come in.
Who is the boogeyman, itdoesn't matter, just give them
enough time and they'll make oneup.
The only way for religiousnationalism to thrive is for
(06:27):
there to be someone or somephilosophy to fear that
threatens to destroy aparticular way of life, a way of
life that may indeed be a needof change, especially if it
needs to bend towards justiceand equality and equity.
Another characteristic of thispractice is rage.
(06:47):
Proponents may call itrighteous indignation.
In fact, it is simply rage thatmanifests itself in anger and
in fits of violence where peoplewho, outside of having been
brought up within the cesspoolof lies and half-truths, would
be rational human beings, nowthey find themselves either
(07:09):
doing or having to defendactions, expressions and
philosophies that, prior to this, would have been considered
absurd and dehumanizing.
But once they're bought intothese philosophies become the
norm and become something thatneeds to be defended, regardless
of the country or the religiousaffiliation.
We see flags, we see weapons,we see angry demonstrations
(07:33):
seeking out opponents to attackand to destroy, whether verbally
or physically, Leaders who,while proclaiming to defend
their country, identity,lifestyle, heritage and
traditions, are gainingexorbitant wealth at the expense
of the otherwise ordinarypeople who are propping up their
fallen houses.
Take the January 6thinsurrection in the United
(07:56):
States after the elections, andit's a perfect example.
As we look at the world, we seeplaces where religious
nationalism has taken root.
We see the carnage that isbeing left in its wake.
One question that has plagued mymind is why does religious
nationalism seem to eventuallyturn to become racist,
(08:18):
ethnically intolerant andstaunch opponents of diversity?
Why does it seem to land on theside of monoculturalism,
isolationism, ethnic and racialpriority?
Why do women, girls andmarginalized people usually seem
to suffer and be treated asinferior?
(08:39):
Take Malala, the young lady whohad acid throat in her face and
was left to die on the side ofthe street simply because she
wanted to learn, simply becauseshe wanted to be educated.
And the gang rapes and killingsthat we read about in India
over and over again?
The biggest challenge we havetoday is to be human, human
(09:03):
beings.
We want morality, integrity,social strong values, financial
security, national pride,sanctity of life and religious
freedom.
There's nothing wrong with anyof these universal values, but
can we remain human and act inkindness, humility and
(09:25):
inclusivity to give value toeach person as a uniquely
created creature created by aCreator?
Or do we have to degrade intohuman depravity because we do
not trust our creator to knowhow to relate to and how to
manage his creation?
Whenever human beings try toassist deity or become deity in
(09:49):
regulating human behavior,greater humanity always seems to
suffer.
We are simply not good at beingself-exalted human beings.
Now, does this mean thatChristians or people of faith
should not be involved in thepublic square, in the political
arena or community activism?
No, it doesn't.
We should be involved.
(10:11):
However, christianity is notabout Christian nationalism.
It is about the person of JesusChrist.
It is about introducing peopleto Jesus Christ as the Savior of
the world and his work, hislove for them and how he can
transform individuals and, bytransforming individuals,
(10:32):
transform communities andnations.
Christianity is inclusive.
It is united people acrossnations, across races, across
ethnicities under the banner ofJesus Christ.
People of faith should beinvolved in the political arena.
There are many things that weneed to be working on things
like legal and justice reform sothat all people, regardless of
(10:56):
race or color or creed, haveaccess to justice and are not
discriminated against because ofwhere they're from or their
social or ethnic upbringing ortheir social class.
We should be working on thingsfor educational access for all
so that, whether you're from apoor community or from a rich
(11:18):
community, you have the abilityto have access to education and
to preschool and to learn thethings that we need to thrive
and become the people Godcreated us to be.
We should be concerned aboutmedical disparities, where some
communities have better outcomesthan others because of access
to medical care, and in thismodern day and age, people
(11:42):
should be able to get the carethat they need at affordable
prices.
We should be concerned aboutfeeding the hungry, eliminating
homelessness, livable wages forpeople who work hard every day
and still cannot make it out ofpoverty.
We should be concerned abouthuman trafficking and how we can
use political systems andinternational rules and policies
(12:07):
to try to prevent modern dayslavery.
We should be concerned aboutcorruption, whether it be
political or financialcorruption that destroys the
fabric of our societies.
We should stand for justice.
We should stand for equalityfor all, regardless of race or
ethnicity, religion or language.
(12:27):
We should be concerned abouteliminating poverty.
There is enough resources inthis world that everyone should
have access to food and shelterand clean water and clothing and
a place to live in peace,without fear.
This world is not our final home.
We are here temporarily.
We're here on a mission, andpart of that is to make the
(12:50):
world a better place.
We're called to be salt andwe're called to be light.
We're called to speak for thosewho cannot speak for themselves
.
We're called to represent thekingdom of God and His kingdom.
Jesus said many times, it's notof this world, it is bigger.
But while we're here, we engagewith those around us and we
(13:11):
engage in order to create acommunity that is inclusive and
uniting and where neighbors canlive in peace with each other.
We can have unity, we can seepatience and kindness and
gentleness All these things thatmake our community a better
place.
Remember to subscribe and leaveus a rating.
(13:34):
Ratings are very important tohelping our podcast succeed in
the podcast universe and helpingit become known to other people
.
Email us your comments atabovethenoise24 at gmailcom.
Abovethenoise24 at gmail.
com, and follow us on Instagramand Facebook at abovethenoise24.
(13:57):
Thank you for listening.
Please share this episode witha friend.
Welcome to Above the Noise, a podcast at the
intersection of faith, race andreconciliation, and I'm your
host, grant Lee Martelli.
Welcome back to Above the Noise.
I want to address today thistopic of religious and Christian
(00:34):
nationalism.
Christian nationalism didn'tbegin in the United States of
America.
It didn't begin with DonaldTrump or the Ayatollah.
It has been embedded beforecolonialists landed on many
shores.
The pilgrims, as they werecalled, did not seek out a new
land from Great Britain to bebenevolent explorers of the New
(00:56):
World.
They left to seek a place topractice their religion freely.
That religion had nothing to dowith the inhabitants of the new
lands.
It only had to do with thepilgrims' selfish desires to
practice their religion withoutgovernment intervention or
oversight.
Because of the narrow andparochial and culturally
(01:16):
modified views of what it meantto be followers of Christ, the
pilgrims had little tolerance orintent to include the native
inhabitants of those lands intotheir faiths, unless the natives
were willing to abandon theirnational identity and emulate
Europeanism.
It must be remembered that theBritish were not the only
purveyors of this taught andpractice.
(01:38):
The French, the Spanish, thePortuguese, the Belgians and the
Dutch all approached theirpeople and others in foreign
lands through these lenses ofreligious nationalism, classism,
racism and brutality.
So when they branched out tothe New World in pursuit of
either religious freedom or thedesire to acquire new lands and
(02:01):
resources in the name of thecrown, their intent and their
actions were guided not by truebiblical brotherhood, but by
cultural and religiousnationalism that they brought
with them.
One of the main differencesthat occurred in the New World
was that now the lower classesof Europeans, who were seen as
(02:23):
second or third class citizensin their homelands, had the
opportunity to see other groupsof people as Lorden themselves
and began to act as the higherclass countrymen had, treated
them with this din andharassment.
The same applied to the Dutchand British settlers who
occupied South Africa and otherpeoples who occupied other parts
(02:46):
of Africa, the Pacific and theCaribbean.
Why begin with this underlyinghistorical perspective?
Within each of these systems,national structures and global
expansion, religion was used asa tool to mask the ungodly and
unholy intent of its proponents.
The terms in the name of thechurch, in honor of the pope, in
(03:09):
the name of the king, in thename of the king of England, who
is the head of the church,portraying large crucifixes
mounted on poles and hangingaround the necks of religious
leaders.
Religious nationalism becamethe standard of power and world
domination.
On the other side of the globe,the rise of Islam, hinduism and
(03:29):
other religions also foundfodder in establishing a
religious nationalism thatpromised peace, serenity,
control of classism and blissfulutopianism.
Not to mention that vision cameup, the cause of elevated
masculinity, diminishing womenand girls, poverty for the
(03:50):
working classes and extremewealth for religious superiors
who ruled with iron fists, openbrutality, proliferation of
illiteracy and law and order bypublic beatings and executions.
Religious nationalism meant tobe like us, act like us, believe
like us or die.
(04:10):
Religious nationalism is alwaysdangerous when it is built on
principles of intolerance andexclusivity.
These two ingredients, whencombined in large proportions,
always react with explosivedysfunction and chaos.
That's why the biblical writersremind us not to think of
ourselves more highly than weought to or than we should, and
(04:33):
to treat others like we wouldlike to be treated, and to love
our neighbors as ourselves.
Religious nationalism holds tonone of these principles.
Colonialists and Christianscombined to become distinctly
non-Christ-like in their actionswhen their national, social,
cultural and political viewsbecome more important than
(04:56):
biblical teaching.
Within the heart of humankind,it seems that there's a natural
desire to see ourselves asbetter than.
We have media and tabloids thatare built on highlighting the
failures of others, as ifgloating in someone else's
troubles will make our livesbetter, safer or richer.
Another flaw of this kind ofthinking is that our religion,
(05:20):
being superior to all others,hence, must always rule.
We must be in power, we musthave laws that govern our
religious values and govern byour religious values.
Our schools and our communitiesmust reflect our flawed
religious philosophies, and ourchildren must be protected at
all costs so that they cannot beexposed to these hedonistic
(05:45):
ideas, and they must only betaught our stuff.
Religious nationalism,Christian nationalism or
whatever package it is wrappedin, must always live at the
extremes.
In order to thrive and in orderto gain followers, it must have
an enemy, even if that enemydoes not exist in reality.
(06:05):
Therefore, we see groups andtheir leaders spreading fear,
isolationism, and superiority,because the boogeyman is outside
the gates, lurking to come in.
Who is the boogeyman, itdoesn't matter, just give them
enough time and they'll make oneup.
The only way for religiousnationalism to thrive is for
(06:27):
there to be someone or somephilosophy to fear that
threatens to destroy aparticular way of life, a way of
life that may indeed be a needof change, especially if it
needs to bend towards justiceand equality and equity.
Another characteristic of thispractice is rage.
(06:47):
Proponents may call itrighteous indignation.
In fact, it is simply rage thatmanifests itself in anger and
in fits of violence where peoplewho, outside of having been
brought up within the cesspoolof lies and half-truths, would
be rational human beings, nowthey find themselves either
(07:09):
doing or having to defendactions, expressions and
philosophies that, prior to this, would have been considered
absurd and dehumanizing.
But once they're bought intothese philosophies become the
norm and become something thatneeds to be defended, regardless
of the country or the religiousaffiliation.
We see flags, we see weapons,we see angry demonstrations
(07:33):
seeking out opponents to attackand to destroy, whether verbally
or physically, Leaders who,while proclaiming to defend
their country, identity,lifestyle, heritage and
traditions, are gainingexorbitant wealth at the expense
of the otherwise ordinarypeople who are propping up their
fallen houses.
Take the January 6thinsurrection in the United
(07:56):
States after the elections, andit's a perfect example.
As we look at the world, we seeplaces where religious
nationalism has taken root.
We see the carnage that isbeing left in its wake.
One question that has plagued mymind is why does religious
nationalism seem to eventuallyturn to become racist,
(08:18):
ethnically intolerant andstaunch opponents of diversity?
Why does it seem to land on theside of monoculturalism,
isolationism, ethnic and racialpriority?
Why do women, girls andmarginalized people usually seem
to suffer and be treated asinferior?
(08:39):
Take Malala, the young lady whohad acid throat in her face and
was left to die on the side ofthe street simply because she
wanted to learn, simply becauseshe wanted to be educated.
And the gang rapes and killingsthat we read about in India
over and over again?
The biggest challenge we havetoday is to be human, human
(09:03):
beings.
We want morality, integrity,social strong values, financial
security, national pride,sanctity of life and religious
freedom.
There's nothing wrong with anyof these universal values, but
can we remain human and act inkindness, humility and
(09:25):
inclusivity to give value toeach person as a uniquely
created creature created by aCreator?
Or do we have to degrade intohuman depravity because we do
not trust our creator to knowhow to relate to and how to
manage his creation?
Whenever human beings try toassist deity or become deity in
(09:49):
regulating human behavior,greater humanity always seems to
suffer.
We are simply not good at beingself-exalted human beings.
Now, does this mean thatChristians or people of faith
should not be involved in thepublic square, in the political
arena or community activism?
No, it doesn't.
We should be involved.
(10:11):
However, christianity is notabout Christian nationalism.
It is about the person of JesusChrist.
It is about introducing peopleto Jesus Christ as the Savior of
the world and his work, hislove for them and how he can
transform individuals and, bytransforming individuals,
(10:32):
transform communities andnations.
Christianity is inclusive.
It is united people acrossnations, across races, across
ethnicities under the banner ofJesus Christ.
People of faith should beinvolved in the political arena.
There are many things that weneed to be working on things
like legal and justice reform sothat all people, regardless of
(10:56):
race or color or creed, haveaccess to justice and are not
discriminated against because ofwhere they're from or their
social or ethnic upbringing ortheir social class.
We should be working on thingsfor educational access for all
so that, whether you're from apoor community or from a rich
(11:18):
community, you have the abilityto have access to education and
to preschool and to learn thethings that we need to thrive
and become the people Godcreated us to be.
We should be concerned aboutmedical disparities, where some
communities have better outcomesthan others because of access
to medical care, and in thismodern day and age, people
(11:42):
should be able to get the carethat they need at affordable
prices.
We should be concerned aboutfeeding the hungry, eliminating
homelessness, livable wages forpeople who work hard every day
and still cannot make it out ofpoverty.
We should be concerned abouthuman trafficking and how we can
use political systems andinternational rules and policies
(12:07):
to try to prevent modern dayslavery.
We should be concerned aboutcorruption, whether it be
political or financialcorruption that destroys the
fabric of our societies.
We should stand for justice.
We should stand for equalityfor all, regardless of race or
ethnicity, religion or language.
(12:27):
We should be concerned abouteliminating poverty.
There is enough resources inthis world that everyone should
have access to food and shelterand clean water and clothing and
a place to live in peace,without fear.
This world is not our final home.
We are here temporarily.
We're here on a mission, andpart of that is to make the
(12:50):
world a better place.
We're called to be salt andwe're called to be light.
We're called to speak for thosewho cannot speak for themselves
.
We're called to represent thekingdom of God and His kingdom.
Jesus said many times, it's notof this world, it is bigger.
But while we're here, we engagewith those around us and we
(13:11):
engage in order to create acommunity that is inclusive and
uniting and where neighbors canlive in peace with each other.
We can have unity, we can seepatience and kindness and
gentleness All these things thatmake our community a better
place.
Remember to subscribe and leaveus a rating.
(13:34):
Ratings are very important tohelping our podcast succeed in
the podcast universe and helpingit become known to other people
.
Email us your comments atabovethenoise24 at gmailcom.
Abovethenoise24 at gmail.
com, and follow us on Instagramand Facebook at abovethenoise24.
(13:57):
Thank you for listening.
Please share this episode witha friend.
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