CONFESSIONS SERIES

Confessions of a Recovering Christian Nationalist (Part 2)

The United States flag is not sacred to all individuals in our country.

“You don’t need food. Go back to your country and eat the food there.”

An older white man said to Kathy Kang and her sons as he barged in front of them in the food line and began giving the man behind the counter his order. The employee shares with the man that there is a line and he’ll need to move to the back and wait his turn.

Sometimes just not being white seems to be an issue with others. Kathy Kang (an Asian American) shares this story of her and her kids at a KFC/Pizza Hut truck stop.

I have to admit that there have been times when I’ve gotten annoyed by someone who didn’t look like me and thought, “They should go back to their own country.”

Most of these individuals were born and raised in this country. So, they are ALREADY in their own country.

This is the second installment of my road to recovery from being a Christian Nationalist. You can read the first installment where I discuss the first two realizations of my recovery here.

Here’s a reminder of the two words I clarified in Part 1 — Christian and Nationalist.

Christian — one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Nationalism — loyalty and devotion to a nation especially: a sense of national consciousness exalting one nation above all others and placing primary emphasis on promotion of its culture and interests as opposed to those of other nations.

Here are the concluding four realizations of my recovery.

3. God is against promoting one nation’s culture and interests over those of people from other countries.

Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt. Exodus 22:21 NIV

If we apply this Bible verse to our lives (as the church or as Christians) like we do other verses in Scripture that God wrote to the Jews, then we should not mistreat or do anything to cause harm or oppress foreigners in the land we call home.

Let’s remember that we do not own the United States. The United States does not “own the land” of the United States. The United States is where we live. Ultimately, a human being with a worldview that originates from the teachings of Christ would believe that everything belongs to God.

If the world is His, then one nation’s culture and interests are no better than any other nation’s culture and interests, regardless of where human beings live.

There is much debate over how the U.S. should deal with immigrants. I don’t have all the answers, but I would still suggest, as mentioned above in the Exodus passage, they should not be mistreated or oppressed.

4. The United States flag is not sacred to all individuals in our country.

Let’s discuss two definitions of the word sacred.

1a: dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity. b: devoted exclusively to one service or use (as of a person or purpose).

Christians would consider the cross a sacred reminder that Jesus died on the cross as our substitute so that we need not spend eternity in hell separated from God. We don’t worship the cross (or we shouldn’t). We worship the One Who died on the cross.

I do not consider the U.S. Flag sacred in this way. It doesn’t represent God nor a symbol of worship toward Him. It symbolizes our country, and unfortunately, many people worship the flag because they worship our country.

In using the second definition of sacred, one could say that the flag is sacred because it represents those who gave their lives in service to our country.

It can represent what America stands for and the many men and women worldwide who have served or are currently serving in our Armed Forces.

I’ve seen players on national television not paying attention during the National Anthem. That bothered me. I thought, “If they live in America, they should respect our country and flag!”

If you do not feel treated fairly in America for whatever reason, you may disagree with what America stands for. If you live in what you believe to be a systemic racist country, you would disagree with what America stands for.

You might respect a country’s flag when you visit another place, but would you consider it sacred? Most likely, you would not.

Why do we pledge our allegiance to the flag? Why do we have American flags in most U.S. churches? When the “colors” are presented, why do we “need” to stand at attention?

The American ideology is built upon the individual liberties and freedoms that its citizens live by and create laws upon. The national anthem is one of the main proponents that signifies this way of life and embodies it into a poem. Americans can sing this piece with joy, promoting freedom forever. — American Flag Supply

A segment of the U.S. population would not agree that ALL people have the same liberties and freedoms. Some of the people who have become my good friends identify with this population segment.

5. I can recognize and stand against the problems I see in the U.S., even protest if I choose, and still love and appreciate America.

You can tell me to move somewhere else if I’m unhappy with the USA. I’m thankful for the freedom we have in this country for you to tell me that. I’m grateful that I can do that if I so choose. Yet, I am also grateful for my freedom of speech in this country.

I have a right to peacefully protest the things I do not like about our country. I have a right to speak out against the problems I see in the U.S. I also acknowledge that others, even when they think differently, have the same right to protest.

They are free to kneel during the playing of the Star Spangled Banner. Because I want to see other human beings' lives improve AND Americans not mistreat or oppress other Americans or foreigners, I will choose to peacefully and legally share my opinions.

6. Is “freedom” or “allegiance” the most crucial thing in the United States?

According to the Department of Defense, approximately 1,217,656 individuals have given their lives to acquire and keep the United States free (1775–2015).

I am grateful for every one of these individuals. As I understand it, these brave individuals fought for our freedom, not our allegiance. Google defines freedom as:

The power or right to act, speak or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.

The following line under the above definition states it as the “absence of subjection to foreign domination or despotic government.”

I have pledged “allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands.” However, I now understand why others would not want to do this.

After carefully considering these six realizations, I have chosen to remain a Christian but forego my “Nationalism.” What has been your experience? Would you consider joining me on this journey?