“Christian Nationalism”—and Its Opposite: Join Me Saturday Morning

In yesterday’s DM, I shared the very disturbing news about young MAGA followers who declared “Christian nationalism as a good alternative” to American democracy.  Actually, there is nothing “Christian” in the authentic sense of that word about so-called “Christian nationalism.”  Selling hatred is not in any way what Jesus was about. 

It is true that Christian history has a lot to apologize for when empires (Spanish, Portuguese, English, American) ravaged indigenous cultures and religions around the globe often in the name of Christ and sometimes inspired to do so by the papal “Bulls of Discovery” (now rescinded and apologized for by Pope Francis).  Or the shameful church endorsement of slavery over the centuries.

“Christian nationalism” is an extension of such opprobrious and racist and hate-filled ideologies.  Many so-called Christian churches in Hitler’s time surrendered Christ’s teachings for his vision of a Third Reich.  This reality is what Lutheran theologian and pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer was standing up to after all and paid the ultimate price for resisting.

Just recently I discovered a talk by Rabbi Abraham Heschel given to a gathering of 2000 Roman Catholics at a national liturgy conference held in Milwaukee in 1969.*  In his talk, Heschel brought up a fact about the Auschwitz death camps.  He said: It is with shame and anguish that I recall that it was possible for a Roman catholic church adjoining the extermination camp in Auschwitz to offer communion to the officers of the camp, to people who day after day drove thousands of people to be killed in the gas-chambers.

Let there be an end to the separation of church and God, of sacrament and callousness, of religion and justice, of prayer and compassion….Prayer must never be a citadel for selfish concerns, but rather a place for deepening concerns over other people’s plight….Prayer is meaningless unless it…seeks to overthrow and to ruin the pyramids of callousness, hatred, opportunism, falsehoods. 

What he spoke about in 1969 at a large Roman Catholic gathering and which remembered the dark times of Nazis dominance and religion’s failures to resist, apply to our dark times as well.  Christian nationalism is not Christ, it is antichrist.

Speaking of a healthy Christianity and a Real Jesus, I am appearing in a dialog with Steve Dinan of the Shift Network on Saturday to discuss the mysticism of the Real Jesus and our own.  A mysticism and love of life that gives birth to the prophet (or spiritual warrior) in us all. 

What is this thing called “Christianity” that is the opposite of this thing called “Christian nationalism”?  What are the teachings of Jesus that support a deeper spiritual awakening and potential collective shift, reminding us of the value in saying “yes” to life as we embrace our inner mystic, prophet, and sacred calling to nurture and express the life-giving qualities of our humanity — compassion, wisdom, equality, and joy? 

Our understanding of Jesus has often been distorted by overemphasizing dogma and underemphasizing experience.  Mysticism is the experiential side of healthy religion that leads to a Yes for existence and love and truth and justice.  The conversation is free of charge and you can Register here to reserve your spot.

*Abraham Joshua Heschel, “On Prayer,” The Open Siddur Project, 1969.

See Matthew Fox, Prayer: A Radical Response to Life.

And Fox, Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ.

And Fox, “The God of Awe, Wonder, Radical Amazement, and Justice: Meister Eckhart Meets Rabbi Heschel,” in Fox, Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior for Our Times, pp. 1-14.

And Fox, Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society.

And Fox, A Spirituality Named Compassion.

And Fox, Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth.

And Fox, Christian Mystics.

Banner image: “US flag pattern painted on wooden cross: a clear expression of Christian Nationalism.” Photo by Gilbert Mercier on Flickr.

Queries for Contemplation

What are your feelings about “Christian Nationalism” in our country today?  And your understanding around the real and mystical and prophetic Jesus as teacher of compassion and justice?

Recommended Reading

Prayer: A Radical Response to Life
How do prayer and mysticism relate to the struggle for social and ecological justice? Fox defines prayer as a radical response to life that includes our “Yes” to life (mysticism) and our “No” to forces that combat life (prophecy). How do we define adult prayer? And how—if at all—do prayer and mysticism relate to the struggle for social and ecological justice? One of Matthew Fox’s earliest books, originally published under the title On Becoming a Musical, Mystical Bear: Spirituality American Style, Prayer introduces a mystical/prophetic spirituality and a mature conception of how to pray. Called a “classic” when it first appeared, it lays out the difference between the creation spirituality tradition and the fall/redemption tradition that has so dominated Western theology since Augustine. A practical and theoretical book, it lays the groundwork for Fox’s later works.
“One of the finest books I have read on contemporary spirituality.” – Rabbi Sholom A. Singer

Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election

Matthew Fox tells us that he had always shied away from using the term “Anti-Christ” because it was so often used to spread control and fear. However, given today’s rise of authoritarianism and forces of democracide, ecocide, and christofascism, he turns the tables in this book employing the archetype for the cause of justice, democracy, and a renewed Earth and humanity.
From the Foreword: If there was ever a time, a moment, for examining the archetype of the Antichrist, it is now…Read this book with an open mind. Good and evil are real forces in our world. ~~ Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit and Conversations with the Divine.
For immediate access to Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election, order the e-book with 10 full-color prints from Amazon HERE. 
To get a print-on-demand paperback copy with black & white images, order from Amazon HERE or IUniverse HERE. 
To receive a limited-edition, full-color paperback copy, order from MatthewFox.org HERE.
Order the audiobook HERE for immediate download.

Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior For Our Time

While Matthew Fox recognizes that Meister Eckhart has influenced thinkers throughout history, he also wants to introduce Eckhart to today’s activists addressing contemporary crises. Toward that end, Fox creates dialogues between Eckhart and Carl Jung, Thich Nhat Hanh, Rabbi Heschel, Black Elk, Karl Marx, Rumi, Adrienne Rich, Dorothee Soelle, David Korten, Anita Roddick, Lily Yeh, M.C. Richards, and many others.
“Matthew Fox is perhaps the greatest writer on Meister Eckhart that has ever existed. (He) has successfully bridged a gap between Eckhart as a shamanistic personality and Eckhart as a post-modern mentor to the Inter-faith movement, to reveal just how cosmic Eckhart really is, and how remarkably relevant to today’s religious crisis! ” — Steven Herrmann, Author of Spiritual Democracy: The Wisdom of Early American Visionaries for the Journey Forward

Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society

Visionary theologian and best-selling author Matthew Fox offers a new theology of evil that fundamentally changes the traditional perception of good and evil and points the way to a more enlightened treatment of ourselves, one another, and all of nature. In comparing the Eastern tradition of the 7 chakras to the Western tradition of the 7 capital sins, Fox allows us to think creatively about our capacity for personal and institutional evil and what we can do about them. 
“A scholarly masterpiece embodying a better vision and depth of perception far beyond the grasp of any one single science.  A breath-taking analysis.” — Diarmuid O’Murchu, author of Quantum Theology: Spiritual Implications of the New Physics

A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice

In A Spirituality Named Compassion, Matthew Fox delivers a profound exploration of the meaning and practice of compassion. Establishing a spirituality for the future that promises personal, social, and global healing, Fox marries mysticism with social justice, leading the way toward a gentler and more ecological spirituality and an acceptance of our interdependence which is the substratum of all compassionate activity.
“Well worth our deepest consideration…Puts compassion into its proper focus after centuries of neglect.” –The Catholic Register

Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth

Fox’s spirituality weds the healing and liberation found in North American Creation Spirituality and in South American Liberation Theology. Creation Spirituality challenges readers of every religious and political persuasion to unite in a new vision through which we learn to honor the earth and the people who inhabit it as the gift of a good and just Creator.
“A watershed theological work that offers a common ground for religious seekers and activists of all stripes.” — Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice.
“I am reading Liberating Gifts for the People of the Earth by Matt Fox.  He is one that fills my heart and mind for new life in spite of so much that is violent in our world.” ~ Sister Dorothy Stang.

Christian Mystics: 365 Readings & Meditations

As Matthew Fox notes, when an aging Albert Einstein was asked if he had any regrets, he replied, “I wish I had read more of the mystics earlier in my life.” The 365 writings in Christian Mystics represent a wide-ranging sampling of these readings for modern-day seekers of all faiths — or no faith. The visionaries quoted range from Julian of Norwich to Martin Luther King, Jr., from Thomas Merton to Dorothee Soelle and Thomas Berry.
“Our world is in crisis, and we need road maps that can ground us in wisdom, inspire us to action, and help us gather our talents in service of compassion and justice. This revolutionary book does just that. Matthew Fox takes some of the most profound spiritual teachings of the West and translates them into practical daily mediations. Study and practice these teachings. Take what’s in this book and teach it to the youth because the new generation cannot afford to suffer the spirit and ethical illiteracy of the past.” — Adam Bucko, spiritual activist and co-founder of the Reciprocity Foundation for Homeless Youth.