The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American

by Andrew L. Seidel

Sacrificing your daughters to an angry mob hardly qualifies as moral, but Lot is “righteous” in the sense that he believes in the “right” god. In this god’s

Lot2

Abraham, a human, knew it was wrong to kill innocent people and the omniscient deity did not.

“People will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin.”

Mortal sin

Punishing crimes against the regime more harshly than crimes against other people is typical in totalitarian systems.

Totalitarianism

Then again, vague laws that permit many interpretations are also typical in totalitarian regimes.

James Madison pointed out in Federalist number 37 that even “when the Almighty himself condescends to address mankind in their own language, his meaning, luminous as it must be, is rendered dim and doubtful, by the cloudy medium through which it is communicated.”

“Jesus” is the English translation of a Latin translation of a Greek translation of a Hebrew name. If Jesus did exist, he would have had a Hebrew name: Yeshua.

Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain? Thou canst not use the name of God in any other way.13

John Adams wrote to Thomas Jefferson questioning the American commitment to liberty because of blasphemy laws:

Adams on blasphemy

great obstructions to the improvement of the human mind.

Raif Badawi

Raif bandawli

Criticizing the system that claims to punish you for your thoughts is the first step against totalitarianism.

and blasphemy against religion to suppose it cannot stand the test of truth and reason.19

it protects will stand with Adams, Jefferson, and Madison, and, as Ingersoll stated, “deny the right of any man, of any number of men, of any church, of any State, to put a padlock on the lips—to make the tongue a convict [and] passionately deny the right of the Herod of authority to kill the children of the brain.”30

Tongue a convict

Extensive religious combinations to effect a political object are, in the opinion of the [congressional] committee, always dangerous…. All religious despotism commences by combination and influence; and when that influence begins to operate upon the political institutions of a country, the civil power soon bends under it; and the catastrophe of other nations furnishes an awful warning of the consequence.

Hebrew girls were eligible to be sold as ebed—sold into sexual slavery—and were never to go free, so long as their father sold them and they “pleased” their new master:

The fifth commandment requires respect simply because of a family connection. Intellectual honesty requires that only those worthy of respect receive

Evangelicals believe in virgins giving birth, talking snakes, and all manner of obvious falsehoods. The religious mind is primed to accept lies.

Fertile minds

it is monstrously arrogant to claim that a universal human principle belongs to one religion, especially a relatively young religion. This belief marries that arrogance to ignorance—ignorance of other cultures, countries, religions, and ideas. Second, America’s statutory versions of these universal principles apply to everyone; the biblical god’s commandments do not. Judeo-Christianity limits the application of these principles to other believers, destroying their universality. George Carlin’s quip on page 208

Depends on who is doing the killing

The books of both Matthew and Mark tell of a woman, a non-Israelite, with a sick daughter. She asks Jesus to cure the child. Jesus ignores her and his disciples urge him to send her away, but she persists. Finally, Jesus chides the woman, saying, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” In other words, miracles are for my people, my neighbors, my children—not for dogs who worship other gods. It is not until after she has professed her faith in him, until after she calls Jesus “master” and “Lord” for the third time, that he relents, noting, “Woman, great is your faith!” Jesus deigns to save the innocent, sick child only because the mother converts and declares her obedience to and belief in him.31

Jesus and the dogs

“Do not give what is holy to dogs; and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under foot and turn and maul you.”

Jesus the elitist

have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek,

Clothe yourself in Christ

instrument that would destroy segregation. He argued that “we are become government-fearing people…not God-fearing people. We find we have replaced faith with fear…and though we may give lip service to the Almighty…in reality, government has become our god…. The politician is to change their status from servant of the people