My on-and-off again Christian blog, Under the Rubble, might as well be named Under the Radar. Few people read or follow it – but that’s not my point. The point is, what I write stays written. It’s a record of disruptive thought, sometimes even prophetic. And it is there on the ‘Net forever.
In the back of my mind, I wonder if all the negative things I’ve written about Christian Nationalism will someday come back on me. An old evangelical meme says, “if you were accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” In an authoritarian court, my writings would be more than enough to convict me.
Should I be packing my toothbrush? Its very possible; many true believers could be apprehended and incarcerated under another Trump regime. The charge? For not being the right kind of Christian: a fervent Christian Nationalist. Trump – who never steps into a church – speaks of “our religion”. His pardoned flunky, Michael Flynn, claims America has to have “one religion”. As long-time evangelical, Tim Alberta points out, Christian Nationalism has spread deeply into churches. This is not yet a Bonhoeffer moment, but way too many parishioners have pledged undying loyalty to Donald J. Trump.
It seems the loudest evangelical voices crying “persecution” can’t wait to return the favor. Based on the multi-millionaire tele-grifters and spiritual phonies Trump previously surrounded himself with, its not hard to imagine the religious flotsam a re-empowered Trump would appoint to oversee and purify American religion. Churches, already riven by sectarianism and political intolerance, will be divided among perpetrators, bystanders, and resisters. And its not looking good for resisters. “They all have to be purged”, Steve Bannon says about those not Christian nationalists.
Looks like I’ll have to be purged then as an enemy of the State – not to mention God. I’m not a flamin’ librul. I don’t have a martyr complex. I’m just a believer clinging to the words of Jesus, no agenda except His, with no creed other than Nicaea. Considering how evangelical Christianity is circling the political drain, I’m just wondering out loud, “where is it headed?”
First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me
From Under The Rubble 