What Place is Satan Allowed in Government?

The erection and subsequent destruction of a display set up by the Satanic Temple in the Iowa State Capital Building has been major news in the circles I follow. Particularly because it has come on the heels of Rob Reiner announcing a movie project he worked on with the creators of Pure Flix highlighting the dangers of Christian Nationalism. I have seen people on social media praising the man who destroyed the display as a Christian hero, comparing his actions to St. Boniface cutting down the Doran Oak, and Jesus driving the money changers from the Temple. Behind the defense of this action is the genuine desire of Christians for everyone to be Christian and the deep hurt they feel at what is seen as a public affront to God. The reality of our world is that our society includes a number of religions and that our government even provides protection for religious parodies like the Satanic Temple (it is an atheist group that uses Satan as a symbol to berate Christians), and so the question is how do we deal with that reality.

Some commentators, like the Daily Wire’s Megan Basham, attempt to defend Christian Nationalism as nothing more than Christians allowing their morals and ideals impact their political engagement. If that were all there was to Christian Nationalism I would not be writing this and would possibly take on the moniker myself. But either these commentators are completely ignorant of the beliefs and goals of most of those in the movement or they are liars trying to deceive Christians into supporting it. Christian Nationalists take Biblical ideas like Jesus’ words:

 Jesus came near and spoke to them, “I’ve received all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I’ve commanded you. Look, I myself will be with you every day until the end of this present age.” Matthew 28:18-20

Often the emphasis is on the word “nation” as if in that sentence Jesus is talking about a geopolitical state- the meaning we give to nation today- and combine it with the idea that Jesus has been given all authority on earth. The conclusion Christian Nationalists reach is that we have a mandate to control governments; after all, Jesus has supreme authority and we are called to transform the nations for him. Most Christian Nationalists want to see all clauses about religious tests removed from American law and replaced with laws which read that only Christians can serve in government (represented by people like Douglas Wilson). More extreme versions, like Stephen Wolfe- who uncritically adopts 16th-17th century Calvinist political thought- think the ideal form of government is one heading by a Christian prince. Given this presupposition, Christian nationalists think of government buildings as seats of Jesus’ authority and so a display that is meant to lampoon Christianity is an affront to Jesus’ power and must be destroyed. I do not fault either the desire recognize Jesus’ authority or to a Christlike ethic predominate society. I do however have problems with both the means they see as vital for achieving this goal as well as the tactics often used to combat opponents.

First the tactics, as I said above many commentators like to use the bait and switch [it is a motet and bailey fallacy] that all Christian nationalists want is to allow Christians to have a voice in the public square. This is false, Christians as individuals and organizations have rather prominent voices in the public square already. Instead they point to times when other voices are heard as oppression of their own, instead of representing a free exchange of ideas. What these individuals want is to be the lone voice in politics and will not be satisfied if there is any descent, unless perhaps as a token enemy to rally against. Second, Christian nationalists like to blow up specific hot-button topics to make themselves seem oppressed or to post fake outrage at a vice. Take this incident in Iowa, where an organization followed the law and petitioned to have a display in a state building. Christian nationalists are up in arms about this and championing the man who tore it down, all the while spouting how America is a Christian nation. But they never mention that they Presidential monuments in Washington D.C. are designed to resemble Greek and Roman temples, nor that the deities of these pantheons are depicted in our government buildings, nor the fact that there is literally a painting in the Capital titled “The Apotheosis [deification] of Washington”. This painting depicts Washington in the position of Jupiter and equates him with this god. What about any of this denotes a Christian nation? All of this to say that Christian nationalists cherry picking information to give people a false idea of their beliefs, current events, and history all to trigger sympathy if not outright support for their cause.

But even more troubling for me is that Christian nationalists appear to have a close affinity with racist ideologies. There are certainly Christian Nationalists who do not fall into this category but it is hard to escape the fact that for many the definition of “Christian nation”” usually revolves around a white protestant definition. Individuals like Wolfe define “nation” by ethnicity and hold the view that it is sinful for these nations to blend or integrate in any large scale way. So for Wolfe since the United States has been historically dominated by white protestants it should continue to be dominated by such. Others, like Wilson are self-described Neo-Confederates who have adopted a “Lost Cause” revisionist view of American history. While these two do not represent all Christian Nationalists they do represent a strong faction within the movement which is fond of saying, “no enemies to the right.” Meaning they will embrace anyone who is opposed to what they view as a liberal. This mentality means that characters like Wolfe and Wilson are given a platform within the Christian Nationalist movement and with them come even more radical and racist individuals.

Lastly, what bothers me the most about this movement is that it has the audacity to label itself Christian. One of the temptations Satan used against Jesus in the wilderness was to make him the head of state and place military might at his disposal.

Then the devil brought him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.  He said, “I’ll give you all these if you bow down and worship me.” Matthew 4:8-9

The temptation was that it was Satan offering Jesus the kingdoms and that Jesus had to earn them, the temptation was to use political and military force to put Jesus in authority. The idea of a Christian Nationalist is someone who wants to do by force what Jesus wants us to do by love and persuasion. The aim of the Christian nationalist is to dominate the government and use it as a tool to enforce their particular denomination on all of society. Ask any Christian nationalist how they intend to maintain a “Christian” government without harassing Christians with their blasphemy laws and they will be at a loss. They cannot answer because they do not care about the how Christians outside their own denomination think and would happily have them labeled heretics. Ask them why Paul did not destroy real idols on Mars Hill but instead chose to reason with pagans, they will not be able to answer. The reason is they are not committed to means that Jesus and the Early Church used. They want to use violence, force, and coercion without recognizing these are the true enemies of Christians. As I have said before, this does not mean that Christians should stay silent in the political arena, rather we must recognize that in a society where we share the public square we do not have the right to dictate to non-believers what their moral code must be. It means recognizing that if we do not want to see displays from the Satanic Temple in the public square at Christmas then we should do a better job of reflecting Jesus into the world, because we do not have the right to smash their property. It means we need to do a better job of discipleship in our own lives and churches and stop expecting the civil government to do it for us.