American Idolatry Quotes

“Perhaps we should take Jesus’s prayer seriously and participate in the ongoing work of reflecting God’s kingdom—a racially and economically just kingdom—here on earth.”
― Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church

“Jesus calls us to be a light, not a wildfire.”
― Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church

“White American Christians can begin to look to and learn from the expressions of Christianity among the marginalized throughout history to find a new way forward, one that does not rely on violence in order to protect power over others and assuage the fear of losing what we consider ours.”
― Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church

“Our ability to love, serve, and act as salt and light in our communities is not dependent on various symbols of Christianity dominating the civic landscape.”
― Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church

“This vision of power is the central idol of white Christian nationalism. This idol tempts us because we believe that only through gaining privileged access to power over others can we ensure our own protection. But is this the way of Christ? What was his relationship to power? I have been asking myself these questions for the past twenty-plus years.”
― Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church

“What you choose to do today to confront white Christian nationalism—in your own life, in the lives of those around you, or the systems of which we are all a part—matters. We can commit now to consistently making these choices, hoping that the seeds planted, however small, will someday grow and provide shade to the entire garden—where we all can flourish.”
― Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church

“In my own journey—much of which is reflected in this book—I’ve come to believe that in order to faithfully follow the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, I must work to disentangle Christianity from Christian nationalism. The two cannot coexist. I must serve one or the other.”
― Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church

“Christian nationalism is not interested in a government for the people, by the people,
but rather for a particular people, by a particular people.”
― Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church

“When it comes down to democracy or power, white Christian nationalism will choose power every time.”
― Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church

“Sometimes, the bravest thing we have is hope.”
― Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church

“I am told hope is a spiritual discipline. When facing a chasm of the unknown, a darkness, it is so easy to let fear grip us and allow despair to take hold. It is important we face the darkness, feel the despair, and clearly declare all is not as it should be. Only then can we begin to imagine something new. Only then can we begin to hope, to commit to living as though a different future is truly possible. For hope is “a radical act of faith and courage, an embodiment of the Kingdom, and vital to our work for justice.”
― Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church

“The Christian story is one of a God empathizing with the plight of humanity and identifying with us. Seeking relationship with us and with the outcast despite fear. Sacrificing himself at the hands of the violent rather than employing violence. Jesus, the perfect representation of God (Heb. 1:3), the author and perfecter of our faith (12:2), scorned fear, violence, and the self-interested employment of power that would benefit only him or his followers. I believe we must too.”
― Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church

“White Christian nationalism produces Christians who bear little resemblance to a Savior who, being in the very nature God, humbled himself, made himself nothing, becoming a servant to all. A Savior who humbled himself to the point of giving up his life for his enemies rather than overpowering them. A Savior who chose faithfulness to the point of death (Phil. 2:6–11).”
― Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church

“White Christian nationalism produces Christians who see the “other” lying broken and bloodied on the side of the road and cross to the other side—Christians who seek to justify themselves, asking Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” while ignoring the cries of pain and injustice rising all around them.”
― Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church

“Through idolizing power, fear, and violence, white Christian nationalism betrays the gospel, in which Jesus’s sacrifice liberates us from our enslavement to sin as well as the destruction it causes through systems of oppression. It betrays the gospel that realigned the power structures of society.”
― Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church

“Fear, hatred, and a lack of empathy toward immigrants and refugees are not faithful representations of the love of God.”
― Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church

“While love might move us toward acts of charity, sometimes they are short-sighted or insufficient for addressing the roots of poverty, inequality, and, in this case, an unfair immigration and refugee asylum system.”
― Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church

“God taught his people that caring for immigrants is ethical and just. It had the added effect of serving as a reminder that the people of God were once in that same situation.”
― Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church

“We seem to be much less willing to act on a literal reading of the Great Commandment as we are our literal reading of the Great Commission. The greatness of our Christian nation, it seems, is only for us. Not for them.”
― Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church

“Many white Christians, like me growing up, seem to forget that Jesus taught his followers to pray for God’s kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven.”
― Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church

“I hope for the day when American Christians advocate just as vehemently for racial reforms to the housing, education, poverty, health care, and criminal justice systems as we have for the sanctity of life for the unborn.”
― Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church

“As Danté Stewart points out, Christians must “dismantle a world where we believe God wants black people to enjoy the best things in heaven while white people enjoy the best things on earth.”
― Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church

“Every single person is an image-bearer, displaying particular characteristics of and similarities with God. All are created to exercise dominion and stewardship.47 Because all humans equally share this character, they therefore “possess incalculable and inviolable value.”
― Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church

“Speaking specifically about the horrors of lynching, but applicable beyond, he shares that while the cross allowed him to make sense of the brutal history of lynching in the United States, the lynching tree also helped him understand much more deeply the “tragic meaning” of the cross.”
― Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church

“White Americans have long used Christian theology to perpetuate racism in service of hoarding power and fomenting fear.”
― Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church

“This language about “law and order” finds its roots in the horrific practices of racial terrorism and lynching.”
― Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church

“In all, white Americans murdered more than forty-four hundred Black Americans on the lynching tree.”
― Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church

“I find it hard to reconcile my Christian belief that all humans equally bear the image of the living God with a desire for the United States to privilege Christianity, when Christian nationalism is so strongly associated with racially insensitive—and in some cases repugnant—beliefs.”
― Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church

“Studies show that embracing Christian nationalism predicts opposition toward both interracial marriage and transracial adoption.”
― Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church

“The evidence from social scientists examining racism and Americans’ embrace of Christian nationalism shows that desires for a “Christian” nation are closely linked to comfort with or outright advocation of racially discriminatory policies and values.”
― Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church