Being a Christian Fundamentalist who politically leans toward Marx, I am interested in what other Christians write about Marx and Marxism. The most balanced view of Marx and Marxism came from Martin Luther King Jr in his book: Stride Toward Freedom.
In that book, written in the 1950s, King called Marxism evil and yet he agreed with the former Archbishop William Temple who called Marxism a 'Christian heresy.' By that, both Temple and King saw in Marx and Marxism concerns that every Christian should have but those concerns were joined with beliefs and practices that no Christian should ever accept.
Contrast that with religiously conservative Christianity's current reviews of Marx and Marxism and some of its derivatives today. For most of today's conservative Christian reviews of Marxism and some of its derivatives paint all negative portraits of Marx and Marxism in that they present it as something to totally reject. It's like those reviewing Marx and Marxism today always take a Jenga approach to interpreting both. That is they look to disprove the one presupposition or tenet that would cause the tower of Marx, Marxism, and its derivatives to totally collapse. The attitude that those religiously conservative Christian reviewers of Marx and Marxism have reminded me of a quote by Martin Luther King Jr when he spoke against the Vietnam War:
'The Western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn from them is not just.'
And so if we replaced the word 'Western' with a fill-in-the-blank, some religiously conservative Christians could have their names inserted into that sentence when they talk about Marx and Marxism.
However, a subset of these religiously conservative Christians are now seeking to respond to their current circumstances as Marx told the proletariat to respond to the bourgeoisie. And we can call that group of Christians 'Marxist Christians.' The group I am referring to here are Christian Nationalists.
Though Marx and Marxism cannot be reduced to a single tenet, its most foundational part, as stated in The Communist Manifesto, is the overthrow of the oppressor class, which was the bourgeoisie, by the oppressed, the proletariat. It is because Marx and Marxism taught that the only way to eradicate the oppression he witnessed was for the proletariat to overthrow the bourgeoisie and to take the bourgeoisie's place as rulers over society.
And so now we enter today's Post Christendom's, Post Modern world where secular liberalism holds sway over American society and past Christian "freedoms," like the right to discriminate against some who are different, are not only threatened, but might become a reason for American society to marginalize religiously conservative Christians. Here we should note that secular liberalism isn't concerned with how Christians live their private lives; it is concerned with when Christians show intolerance to others in society.
It is now time, according to the words of too many Christian leaders, influencers, and pew sitters, when we can expect to be oppressed by secular liberalism's influence on American society. For the talk by many of my fellow religiously conservative Christians is that if we are not being oppressed now, it won't be long when we will be. After all, that is what the New Testament says will happen to believers. And so what is an oppressed, religiously conservative Christian to do? According to Christian Nationalists, our "biblically mandated" duty is to overthrow secular liberalism with its democracy, equality, and pluralism and Make America Christian Again (or MACA).
The above provides the reason for why we can call Christian Nationalism a Marxist Christianity. By that I mean that Marxism, with its talk of the oppressed vs the oppressor and the proletariat dictatorship, is modifying how Christianity view itself and acts. BTW, Marxist Christianity stands in contrast to Christian Marxism because with Christian Marxism, Christianity would modify how Marxism would function. And the reason why we can call Christian Nationalism a Marxist Christianity because it relies on the same model of thought that Marx and Marxism used: overthrowing the oppression of one's enemy by gaining political control over them. Our oppressor, according to Christian Nationalism, is the reign and influence of secular liberalism. Therefore, the only way that the oppression of secular liberalism can be resolved is if we religiously conservative Christians replace secular liberalism as the ruler over our nation. And the only way we can fix the problems that have been caused by secular liberalism is if we, not me personally, religiously conservative Christian seize political control over the nation either by democratic processes or other means--the January 6th Insurrection was an example of the attempt to grab political control through other means. By seeking to seize near total, if not absolute, control, Christian Nationalists are proclaiming to the nation that only we 'can fix it,' whatever it is.
Today's Christian Nationalism is ironic in more than one way. First, by claiming to be law and order people and claiming to be the rightful interpreters of The Constitution, Christian Nationalists have rallied behind a convicted felon and a man who inspired an unconstitutional overthrow of a duly elected government.
The second irony is that by embracing the oppressed status, either because of present experience or anticipation of the future, and using that status as a main reason for seeking control, Christian Nationalism is practicing what it accuses ideologies such as CRT of employing: emulating Marx's oppressor vs oppressed worldview. It matters not if religiously conservative Christians are barely persecuted here in America. It is that anticipation of the future which is deeply shared by Christian Nationalists and even by others.
And yet another irony is that while proclaiming itself to be a present or future oppressed class, Christian Nationalists are seeking enough power so that they can return to oppressing select groups of people. Because I lived during part of the Jim Crow era, I grew up during a time when many, but not all, religiously conservative Christianity persecuted blacks. And they used the Bible to defend their actions. Now Christian Nationalism seems to be promising to send the LGBT community back to the margins of society should they gain control and they are using the Scriptures to defend their attempts.
Christian Nationalism is concerned about God's kingship over the earth. But it mistakenly believes that God's kingship can be politically thwarted by people. Such a belief either minimizes or denies God's plan and power. Because God is all powerful, He works out His plan regardless of our sins. In fact, He uses our sins to work out His will. That was the lesson taught by the deliverance of the Hebrews from Egypt. And it is the lesson that is taught in the crucifixion of Christ for the sins of those who believe in Him. In both cases, Pharaoh's initial refusals to let Moses's people go and Christ's crucifixion, it seemed like God was defeated. But He never was in danger of losing control. And that was shown when Pharaoh finally let the Hebrews go and when he and his army were killed in the Red Sea as well as when Christ rose from the dead. Those examples show that God doesn't need our political help to be king of the world. For He is already king over all that He created.
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