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wnylib

(25,355 posts)
12. JBC in the following link stands for Baptist Joint Committee
Mon Dec 30, 2024, 04:53 PM
Dec 2024
https://bjconline.org/christian-nationalism/

Besides their website, they have speakers who participate in discussions at college campuses, at other churches, or other public forums on opposition to Christian Nationalism and white supremacy. Some of those forum discussions are available on You Tube.

Other Christians besides Baptists call out political misrepresentation of Christian values in their pulpits and in organized group discussions that go by various names depending on the church, i.e. Adult Ed, Adult Fellowship, or Bible Study.

People who don't go to a church, don't have any religious affiliations, who don't read religious publications, or follow religious news are not going to be aware of such opposition to false representations of Christian values.

There is an inherent problem in churches publicly opposing politicized religion and misrepresentation of Christian values.
Public criticism of other denominational beliefs and practices becomes political in itself -- the very thing that the critics are speaking out against. Groups being criticized would defensively attack the critics. People outside of religion would take sides.

Criticizing other denominations gets perceived as an attack on religious freedom.

What churches can do publicly, which the BJC does well, is focus on a specific teaching or theological view as being contrary to religious freedom, core Christian beliefs, and democracy, without naming any denomination, clergy person, political party, or specific politician. They speak against Christian Nationalism as a threat to religious freedom and as being anti American. They speak against white nationalism as unChristian and a violation of constitutional rights.

Other churches focus on taking actions to protect and assist people who become victims of religious politics. One example is missions at the southern border to provide food, clothing, medicine, and free legal aid to asylum seekers. I became involved with one of those groups in 2019, prior to covid. Besides planning volunteer trips to a Texas border mission, they organized people to contact their representatives to protest human rights violations. Many churches view that kind of activity as promoting moral values, not political ones, even though it require contacting political representatives to promote humane resolutions.









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