Michelle
Goldberg, Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism,
New York, W. W. Norton, 2007 (adding an Epilogue to the 2006 edition), 253 pp.
In
Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism,
investigative journalist Michelle Goldberg has two main purposes. The first is
to raise an alarm about the threat from Christian Nationalism. Much of the book
focuses on conservative political assaults and modern liberal responses, which
are subjects outside the scope of The Main Event. However,
Goldberg's description of Christian Nationalism exposes the movement's roots in
supernaturalism and mysticism, particularly the notions of God's revelations in
holy scripture as guides to personal and political action.
The Christian
Nationalism movement advocates mysticism—for example, when a preacher
encourages his flock to have faith—but its advocacy is only one element in a
stream of other, narrower activities such as campaigns to create or abolish
laws, organize efforts to raise funds for a new church building, and sermonize
about the need to follow God's commandments. The rule of inverse
interest applies: The more fundamental the concept, such as reason or mysticism, the less time is
spent talking about it. Though not intended by the author, part of the value of
Kingdom Coming is demonstrating that point.
Goldberg's
second purpose is to suggest, to her audience of "liberal" activists,
actions they could take to counteract the threat. Some of her suggestions could
be useful to activists for reason, egoism, and capitalism as well, but again
that subject is outside the scope of this review for The Main Event.
THREE
ISMS. What is Christian Nationalism? Goldberg's answer involves two
other, related isms. The best way to understand these three ideas is to move
from the general to the particular. The general doctrine that sets a context
for Christian Nationalism is Judeo-Christian dominionism,
the belief that Jews and Christians have a God-given right to rule this world.
(Dominionists cite Genesis 1:26-27 for justification.) Christian
Nationalism is an application of that world-wide principle to a
particular country, the USA. It is the political belief that the USA was
founded by Christians for Christians. One
element of Christian Nationalism is Christian reconstructionism,
which is the belief that Christians should replace “American civil law with Old
Testament biblical law,” says Goldberg. (p. 13)
By citing their
holy scripture—whose authors were mystically inspired to write a text which
contains ethical principles mystically revealed by God—Christian Nationalists
are demonstrating the fundamental role of supernaturalism and mysticism in
their worldview.
STRUCTURE
OF THE BOOK Chapter by chapter, the author shows that, by applying
their mystically acquired ethical principles, Christian Nationalists are:
- Intending to end
secularism (Ch. 1, “This is a Christian Nation”).
- Threatening
the rights of homosexuals (Ch. 2, “… The Political Uses of Homophobia”).
- Assaulting
science (Ch. 3, “… Intelligent Design and the War on the Enlightenment”).
- Hijacking the
welfare state (Ch. 4, “The Faith-Based Gravy Train”).
- Attacking
sexuality (Ch. 5, “… the Abstinence Industry”).
- Undermining
constitutional checks and balances that protect the separation of Church and
State (Ch. 6, “… The War on the Courts”).
As the table of
contents suggests, the author and the Christian Nationalists she examines are
focused on "social issues," not economic issues.
THE
AUTHOR'S APPROACH. Goldberg makes her descriptions of the ideas of
the Christian Nationalists vivid by describing a string of individuals who
advocate those ideas—their physical appearance, their clothing, their setting
(in a church, for example), and their careers as activists. Her descriptions include
explanations of the special terms that Christian Nationalists use in their thinking
and in speaking to others:
Michael
Farris, the founder and president of the evangelical Patrick Henry College
calls his campaign to turn Christian homeschooled students into political
cadres Generation Joshua. The name has a very specific biblical … meaning.
Joshua was Moses's successor as leader of the Israelites; … Joshua led them in
seizing the holy land. … Farris's Generation Joshua … [is] imbued with an Old
Testament dream of exile redeemed by conquest. The holy land is America as
Farris imagines it. The enemy is America as it exists right now. … As Farris wrote
in his book Generation Joshua, the homeschooling movement ‘will
succeed when our children, the Joshua generation, engage wholeheartedly in the
battle to take the land. … [Winning will be very difficult because this] is the
land of MTV, Internet porn, abortion, homosexuality, greed, and accomplished
selfishness‘ he observed. (pp. 1-2)
A
CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIAN SUBCULTURE. One of the benefits of a close
reading of Kingdom Coming is seeing in detail the breadth
and depth of an ever-growing conservative Christian sub-society and the
conservative Christian subculture it produces. Many conservative Christians, of
course, work as employees of religiously neutral companies, alongside atheists,
agnostics, pagans, Muslims, and "liberal" Christians. As Goldberg
demonstrates, however, a growing number of conservative Christians—especially
the activists—work for other conservative Christians in organizations that
advocate for conservative Christian ideals or produce Christian cultural
products such as videos and books. In their nonworking hours, these
conservative Christians can then socialize with other conservative Christians
in churches that have large congregations. Their children—often in large
families—meet mostly other conservative Christian children through their
Christian school networks
In effect, these
conservative Christians are slowly supplanting rather than converting the
"liberal" world around them. For serious students of history familiar
with the long, slow process of Christians supplanting pagan society in the Late
Roman Empire, the process of supplanting is more disturbing than any particular
ballot victory conservatives may enjoy.
RECOMMENDATION.
Kingdom Coming is entertaining and informative for anyone
who wants a closer look at a major—and still developing—stream of mysticism in
the USA today. Goldberg's documentation is not scholarly, but it is thorough
enough to allow serious readers—including specialized activists—to pursue narrower
interests such as the fight over evolution, the movement against gay marriage,
and the conservative Christian plans to remake the USA into a theocracy.
Especially
valuable for pro-reason activists would be reading Kingdom
Coming before reviewing the 4.5 hour series of lectures by Brook and
Ghate, "Cultural Movements: Creating Change" on the ARI website
(PARTICIPATE, ACTIVISM, right column):
Burgess Laughlin
Author of
The Power and the Glory: The Key Ideas and Crusading Lives of Eight
Debaters of Reason vs. Faith, described here.
