In a recent MSNBC interview with Politico’s National Investigative Correspondent Heidi Przybyla, the American public became privy to the unvarnished truth of the Left’s latest dog-whistle “Christian Nationalist.”
According to Przybyla: “The thing that unites them as Christian nationalists – not Christians, by the way, because Christian nationalist is very different – is that they believe that our rights as Americans, as all human beings, don't come from any earthly authority. They don't come from Congress, they don't come from the Supreme Court. They come from God.”
These comments were quickly condemned in a letter by Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council and Brian Burch of CatholicVote to Politico, who made the point that Przybla was not just offering opinion but alleged objective investigative findings.
In response, Przybla claimed her comments were taken out of context and provided a clarification: “While there are different wings of Christian Nationalism, they are bound by their belief that our rights come from God. If you are Hindu, Jewish, etc., this might help you understand the next part of my point, which is they are using this for a man-made policy agenda.”
In both her initial definition of Christian Nationalism and then further clarification, this mainstream media journalist gave truth of whom the left views as Christian Nationalists: Conservative Christians who believe the Bible, that our rights come from God and are protected by government, and advocate for their values like all other groups.
First, the letter by Perkins and Burch requesting an apology and repudiation (Note: no response from Politico) did the job of illuminating the importance of the idea of God given rights to all Americans: “Setting aside the inaccuracy of her commentary, she [Przybyla] was manifestly trying to demonize the Christian community and sow fear through propaganda. Przybla's attacks on God as the source of our dignity and rights are also a direct attack on the unifying call of the civil rights movement, including Martin Luther King Jr., who reminded us of our common creed, which grounded human dignity and rights explicitly in a creator God, that no government has a right to take away."
Of course, the foundational American document, the Declaration of Independence, was clear that “we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights..” and that the government’s job was to protect those rights. The wording from the Bill of Rights bars the government from causing rights to be “infringed”, not of government as source of our rights. This should be considered the most basic orthodox American political belief and not some kind of stigmatizing term like Christian Nationalism.
Przybla’s “clarification” is far more telling, as it gives the true aim of the left’s agenda. Her warning to non-Christian Americans of the aims of the dreaded ‘they’ (Christian nationalists): “They are using this for a man-made policy agenda”. This is the real issue for the left, as a number have made clear in recent years. The horror that Bible believing Christians would bring their values into the public square to advocate for those values. Several Progressive leaders and influencers have hammered Christians for advocating a pro-life position based on the Biblical understanding of the beginning of life. Court decisions, like the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which hasn’t ended abortion in America, are decried by the left as the result of Christian Nationalism.
The stigmatizing of Christians goes beyond advocacy of positions based on Scriptural values to even personal Christian beliefs.
When atheist Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders questioned a Christian nominee for White House Deputy OMB director, Russell Vought, the following exchange showcased the pervasive progressive anti-Christian fervor.
Sanders asked Vought: “In your judgment, do you think that people who are not Christians are going to be condemned?”
Vought: “Thank you for probing on that question. As a Christian, I believe that all individuals are made in the image of God and are worthy of dignity and respect regardless of their religious beliefs. I believe that as a Christian that’s how I should treat all individuals.. “
Sanders: “You think your statement… they do not know God because they rejected Jesus Christ, His Son, and they stand condemned, do you think that’s respectful of other religions?”
Vought explained that as a Christian he was bound to centrality of Jesus to Salvation. Sanders ended by condemning Vought’s beliefs: “this nominee is really not someone who this country is supposed to be about.”
In the past couple of decades, the progressive left has steamrolled American society to recreate it in their image. Whether in marriage, genital mutilation of children, biological men in girls’ sports or bathrooms, the list goes on and on. In reaction to that which contradicts their most basic values, Christians have used legitimate political means (used by the left for radicalization) to fight back for their priorities. This brings the new dog whistle epithet “Christian Nationalism” as the means of stigmatizing, silencing, and marginalizing Christians. I will boldly state that in America our rights do come from God, and it is to Him that we place our personal and national faith. If that makes me a “Christian Nationalist”, I’ll proudly wear that label and fight for those beliefs by the means our founders gifted.
Bill Connor, received his Bachelor’s of Arts from The Citadel in 1990. After serving over ten years as an Infantry Officer in the U.S. Army he received his Juris Doctorate from University of South Carolina in 2005.
He is currently an attorney with Hamilton and Associates in Columbia, South Carolina.
In May 2008, he returned from a yearlong combat deployment in Southern Afghanistan. During that time, he served as Joint Operations Officer for the Southern Region of Afghanistan developing and implementing the US advisory effort for Afghan National Security Forces. This effort occurred during the 2007 Taliban spring/summer offensive.
Due to success in that position, he was promoted to take command of the US advisory effort in the volatile province of Helmand. Shortly after arrival in Helmand, he was promoted in rank from Major to Lt. Colonel. In addition to command of US advisory teams, he was the senior American working with the United Kingdom senior staff. Upon return from Afghanistan, he published the book “Articles from War,”a memoir of his experiences and thoughts in Afghanistan.
