The Right-Wing Radicalization of Christianity

If you think I am going to write a complete overview of this topic, forget it. It would take an encyclopedia (of which I have written two) to cover all the ways that right-wingers have kidnapped Christianity and forced it into their image, turning Jesus into their Weapon.

But there are many quiet ways in which they have radicalized Christianity. Just by chance, I noticed one of them. Back when I was a Boy Scout, when I was in junior high school, our troop was sponsored by the local Presbyterian church, whose pastor was our scoutmaster. Rev. Alfonso Luke Fritz was one of the finest people I have known. We all had to pledge allegiance to the American flag. And to the Christian flag as well. You’ve all seen it [photo], the white flag with the red cross in the dark blue canton. This was the short pledge: I pledge allegiance to the Christian flag, and to the savior for whose kingdom it stands, one brotherhood, uniting all mankind in service and love.” Isn’t that wonderful? I ran across it on an old scout-rules paper I found in a box.

In recent years, I have noticed the Christian flag being flown from houses, some of them virtual compounds, within which right-wingers hide their weapons. In particular, there is a house on a hill outside of a certain rural Oklahoma town where the American and Christian flags always fly, along with, on occasion, a Trump flag or a Don’t Tread on Me flag. I could not imagine how their attitude could possibly be concordant with “uniting all mankind in service and love.”

I looked up the modern version of the pledge to the Christian flag. It now reads, “…one Savior, crucified, risen, and coming again with life and liberty to all who believe.” The differences are frightening. Gone is the unity of mankind in service and love. In its place is, first, a doctrinal constraint; you have to believe in the Resurrection: service and love are no longer enough; second, life and liberty to all who believe. If you are not a believer in this doctrine, you do not deserve life and liberty. And we who fly this flag will take it away from you.

The Christian flag, once a sign of love and peace, has become a symbol of violence, flown by violent people.