Countering Christian Nationalism
Join Sojourners for an online conversation: Wednesday, October 16, 2024, 1 p.m. - 2 p.m. EDT Register Here Eroding civil rights. Undercutting democratic norms. Endorsing violence to maintain power. Upholding white supremacy. Distorting faith for political gain. Every day seems to bring a new example of the threat of rising Christian nationalism but how do we dismantle it? In this online panel from Sojourners magazine, Christian nationalism experts and faith leaders will explore the hopeful actions that can counter this deadly set of beliefs. Panelists will explain what Christian nationalism is (and isn’t), offer examples of actions to help end it, and articulate a path forward that neither stifles the participation of people of faith in public life nor threatens a vibrant, democratic, and just future for all. "Sojourners is an ecumenical Christian media and advocacy organization that works towards social and racial justice. Sojourners publishes an award-winning magazine, produces daily news and commentary on sojo.net." Sojourners is a promotional partner with The Christian Left. We have the highest respect for everything they do. -- The Christian Left
Important Update: In the recent Live Event for 'Christians For Kamala' Charles Toy mentioned 'one of our biggest concerns about the upcoming election.' He said it was the top blog post on our blog. Since this post is now the top blog post we're going to link the 'Top Concern' post here so it doesn't get lost if people are looking of for it. The topic is too important to get lost. Here is that link: "Our Biggest Concern for the 2024 Election."
We were recently asked to participate with "Christians For Kamala." We were honored to be asked and we agreed to do everything we can to help.
The first live event took place on August 12th, and it was a great success! The Youtube video of the entire event is above. The Christian Left was represented by the Founder Charles Toy, (2:59:45 in the video), Co-founder Mark Sandlin, (1:57:35 in the video), & official Action Partner Doug Pagitt, with Vote Common Good, (2:39:37 in the video). Two outside links were mentioned by Charles Toy in his segment. We're linking them here for your convenience. Here's the link to the outstanding documentary, 'God and Country,' (which is now steaming on Amazon Prime and most streaming outlets) and here's the link to the POLITICO article, 'The Real Origins of the Religious Right.' This article is the best summary out there of what really happened. Here's the website for "Christians For Kamala." You can still sign up to participate in all future activities and make a contribution if you're able. Our History We've spent the last 15 years serving Christian progressives and their allies. In 2009 we looked around and determined it was a very underserved community. We decided we wanted to dedicate our lives to 'being the change' we wanted to see in the world. Our core message has been centered on one concept, as Christians we need to get back to the words, teachings and life of that guy at the center of our faith, Jesus. Christianity in the US has gone off the rails in a big way. Lately, the notion of "Christian Nationalism," has become a serious problem. We can't say enough about the new documentary film, "God & Country!" It echoes sentiments we've expressed for 15 years! We've worked with most of the commentators featured in the film. It's available to stream now. Please check it out by following the link in this paragraph. We promise you'll be glad you did! Over 15 years we have built a community across multiple social media platforms: • The Christian Left Facebook Page (our main platform), 375K followers; • Progressive Christians & Friends Facebook Page (2nd Facebook Page), 139K followers; • The Christian Left X (Twitter) Page, 19K followers; • The Christian Left Instagram Page, 18K followers; • The Christian Left Threads Page, 8K followers; • The Christian Left Website; • The Christian Left Blog; • The Christian Left Email List; • The Christian Left & Sojourners Magazine. We'll be spending all the days leading up to the election doing everything we can to help Kamala Harris get elected. We will engage with our community members on all of the above platforms. The Christian Left Facebook Page is where most of the action happens. We can't say it enough. It's an honor to be working with "Christians For Kamala."
-- The Christian Left
Trump Loyalists Refusing To Certify The Election If He Loses No one explains it better than the great Rachel Maddow. Maddow: Pro-Trump administrators are already in place to subvert the 2024 election Maddow points out frightening truth about Trump's lack of concern about votes Additional information can be found in a recent, well-researched article in Rolling Stone. The article is linked directly below. This is information everyone needs to be aware of. People in positions where they can do something about this need to address this problem well before Election Day. After that, it will be too late. These Swing State Election Officials Are Pro-Trump Election Deniers "Nearly 70 pro-Trump conspiracists are election officials in key battleground counties — and they are poised to make a giant mess on Election Day" By Justin Glawe - Rolling Stone, July 29, 2024 Here's another article: Get Ready Now: Republicans Will Refuse to Certify a Harris Win Trumpist county election officials are preparing to throw the process into chaos. We've been asking as many people as we can what can be done about this. So far, one valuable bit of knowledge we've gained is the name and website of the person who probably knows more than anyone else in the country about this problem: Founder of Democracy Docket and Partner at Elias Law Group, Marc Elias. We strongly encourage you to visit his website and read over the articles he's written. Here's the direct like to Democracy Docket if the above link doesn't work for you. https://www.democracydocket.com/author/marc_elias/ Update August 14, 2024 Rachel has been talking about the following report and she announced it a couple days ago when it came out. She says it's important for everyone to read. "A legal roadmap to protect the 2024 election including from 35 officials who have refused to certify results." "In this report, CREW identifies 35 rogue election officials across the country who have already refused to certify election results and may be in a position to do so again. The report focuses on the eight states where county officials have unlawfully refused to certify elections since 2020: Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Michigan. The report also identifies the legal remedies available to state and federal authorities, as well as voters, to protect the certification of the 2024 election." Link to the website where you can download the report as a PDF is below. https://www.citizensforethics.org/reports-investigations/crew-investigations/election-certification-under-threat/ -- The Christian Left
WE'RE IN THE MAY ISSUE OF SOJOURNERS MAGAZINE! Sojourners is the oldest and largest magazine in the nation catering to Christian progressives. A few months ago they reached out to us with a proposal for a promotional partnership. The first result of the partnership is a full-page ad in their May, 2024 issue featuring The Christian Left! We couldn't be more excited about it! Here's the full-page ad from page 38 of the magazine. Stay tuned for more exciting news about our promotional partnership! -- The Christian Left
Don't take our word about Charlie Kirk. Read all about his litany of lies here. Charlie is a fake "Christian" of the most dangerous variety. He travels around to churches and brainwashes the members with lies that have absolutely nothing to do with anything Jesus said or did. Charlie says you can't be a Christian and vote for a Democrat. Here he is in action. Go to 51:47 in the video: Charlie is against most of what Jesus taught, therefore he is against Jesus. He is to be avoided like the disease he is. Pray for his soul, but avoid him. Like most fake "Christians" Charlie likes to harp, and harp, and harp about things Jesus either never talked about, or spoke about but Charlie and the gang don't get: Abortion and Homosexuality. Meanwhile Charlie ignores the bulk of the main topics Jesus spoke about.
Typical. Neither of Charlie's fav' topics are settled Theology, not even by a long shot. (See more on this here, and here). The main points Jesus made over and over ARE settled Theology. Charlie ignores them. A fundraiser was started on our behalf by our action partners at Vote Common Good in late 2022. We appreciate everyone who has contributed to the fund! Contributions to the goal amount passed the halfway mark in June.
Can you help us chip away at this goal so we can wrap up the fundraiser and resume our normal activities? We don't have outside funding other than you. We're not sponsored by any church or corporation. We've always been grassroots and we've always operated on a shoestring budget. The link just below will take you to the fund. You can also click on the graphic below. Thanks so much. Please help us dig out of this hole once and for all. The Christian Left and Vote Common Good firmly believe in the value of faith in action. That’s why we’re headed to Miami to join a counter-protest outside of Trump’s golf resort at Doral, the next stop on the Christian Nationalist “Reawaken America” tour. This tour is a series of rallies organized by a far right, Christian Nationalist “news” organization called Charisma News. These events feature all the most extreme right-wing media personalities: General Michael Flynn, Roger Stone, Eric Trump, the My Pillow Guy, and dozens more. Their goal is to spread Christian Nationalist propaganda to disillusioned voters whose communities have fallen into neglect. They stoke hate and division and use it to drive evangelical voters into the arms of an increasingly radical Republican party. We’re going to stop them. Here's a link to an NPR article about the activities of “Reawaken America.” Last Summer, with your support, we joined in an interfaith counter-protest at their event outside Batavia, NY. Now they’re headed to one of Trump’s resorts in Miami, and our team is going to be on the ground again to clearly counter their message of hate. The Christian Left and Vote Common Good are working with other groups in staging a counter-protest at this event to spread our message of unity, love, justice, and the greater good because this radicalized agenda has to be directly challenged by people of faith. It’s going to cost about $5,000 for our action team to make this trip. Can you pitch in now to help cover the cost of our travel expenses? We will also be livestreaming our counter-protest so you can follow along at home. But if you’re in the Miami area and want to join us, contact us at [email protected] ! As pastors, organizers, and faith leaders, we know it is crucial for faith-based voters to see people from their own faith community take a stand against the dangerous rhetoric of Christian Nationalism. This not only has an impact on the people who attend the rally in person, but on every person of faith who will see the coverage online and in the media. We know direct action is effective. That’s why it’s so important our team goes to Miami to counter the narrative of these dangerous radicals. Help us get to Miami to bear witness to the true values of our faith and challenge people to abandon Christian Nationalism. If we can raise $5,000 today, the entire trip’s expenses will be covered up front. Taking action requires financial sponsors. Please do what you can. If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your secure donation will go through immediately. Here's the link to donate: Thank you for making our work possible. We couldn’t do it without you. In this together, The Christian Left & Vote Common Good "I’m a proud Christian Nationalist" - Marjorie Taylor Greene Marjorie Taylor Greene has started peddling absurd garb online proclaiming her pride in idolatry (for $30 per shirt no less). "Christian Nationalism" isn't Christian by any stretch of the imagination. It's idolatry. In no uncertain terms it is the greatest threat to democracy in America today. Click Here To Leave A Comment On Her Embarrassing Post Update: Not long after we posted this blog article she took this post down on Facebook. Greene started peddling this garbage the same day an article appeared in Newsweek highlighting a Tweet made by our own Rev. Dr. Chuck Currie calling her out for asserting her "Christian" Nationalism. Rev. Currie has been a member of our admin team since 2010.
The sad fact is that modern Republican ideology as a whole is antithetical to everything Jesus taught. Party tenets mock everything Jesus ever said, especially about 'the least of these.' For a long time now we've been highlighting the fact that Christians cannot serve God and the Republican party. We've been sounding the alarm since 2009. Sometimes if feels hopeless. "Christian" Nationalists like Greene keep getting louder and more bold. They claim the opposite of the truth, that we are the ones attacking them! They assign labels to us like "the Godless Left." Isn't it strange that when you advocate for 'the least of these' as it relates to public policy all of the sudden you are "Godless" to people like Marjorie Taylor Greene? It's never made much sense to us. The only explanation is that evil parades itself as truth. The 'father of lies' calls the truth false and lies the truth. Thankfully, nothing is impossible for God. All we can do is speak the truth each day and give the outcome of our effort to God. The fact that our number of social media followers on this page alone has increased to 376K is a good sign. We just keep showing up each day and speaking out against the words and behavior of people like Marjorie Taylor Greene. Please read all the articles linked in this post. They are all very enlightening with regard to this topic. -- The Christian Left We have been sounding the alarm about this situation for 13 years. It is one of the main reasons we started this ministry. One of the other big reasons was to give people a place to gather who saw the same thing we did. As many of you know, if you bring this up just about anywhere you will likely be verbally attacked. We needed a haven in a big way. This situation didn't pop up out of nowhere. It's been brewing ever since Paul Weyrich and the boys cooked up The "Christian" Right back in the mid to late 70's. The boat we now find ourselves in was inevitable. A figure like Donald Trump was inevitable. Now we face a situation where it could be the demise of our nation. There's a very real chance America could fall over this and become something entirely different. These people don't care what it takes in order to force their will on the rest of us. They've proved that over and over. For all of the above reasons we decided this was an article we needed to preserve on our blog. We'll post the first couple of paragraphs here and link to the rest. This is knowledge everyone who follows The Christian Left needs to have. An 'Imposter Christianity' Is Threatening American Democracy (CNN, 07-25-2022) Three men, eyes closed and heads bowed, pray before a rough-hewn wooden cross. Another man wraps his arms around a massive Bible pressed against his chest like a shield. All throughout the crowd, people wave "Jesus Saves" banners and pump their fists toward the sky. At first glance, these snapshots look like scenes from an outdoor church rally. But this event wasn't a revival; it was what some call a Christian revolt. These were photos of people who stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, during an attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Link To The Rest Of The Article Final Note: Most of us realize we should have begun taking action to counter the activities of The "Christian" Right long ago. We should have taken more of a stand right from the beginning. That said there's nothing we can do about the past. All we do is 'be better' moving forward. We've been at it for 13 years. One thing has become painfully obvious. You can't do much of anything in the political world without a budget. We have to have your help with that. We're community supported. Make a contribution today. We'll put it to good use with direct action countering the toxic ideology spoken of in the above article. Link To Make Contribution -- The Christian Left That's right! Your eyes didn't deceive you! All of our popular bumper stickers (61 and counting) are now available as flexible magnets in the 11" X 3" traditional bumper sticker size!
Link to order at bottom of page. Many in the TCL community have been requesting this and we found a solution with Zazzle.com, a company that manufactures the magnets with our designs. We've worked with Zazzle before. The way they handle shipping is a little different but it has improved. Based on feedback from TCL members one has to create a username and password to order. This is not unlike many sites and makes it easier to track your order and interact with them if something goes wrong. Important Note On Shipping The Magnets From Zazzle Hands down the best way to do shipping with Zazzle is to sign up for 'Zazzle Black.' Otherwise the cost of shipping is fairly high per item. The good news is they've made it much less expensive than it used to be. Now Zazzle Black is just $9.95 per year for unlimited standard shipping. It sounds too good to be true. That's not $9.95 per month, but $9.95 for a full year of free standard shipping. We highly recommend it. Click Here To Go To Zazzle Black Page All our stickers are still available. If you like the look of bumper stickers, but you're not ready for a permanent solution, car magnets are the perfect product. All the personality, none of the commitment! - Dimensions: 11" x 3" - Vivid full-color digital printing - 30mm magnetic material - Easy to apply, remove, and re-apply - Coated for superior UV protection All the new Bumper Magnets are in our Zazzle store. As of today we have 61 designs. Click Here To Order Your Magnets From Our Zazzle Store -- The Christian Left |
About TCL BlogWe’re not about Dogma here. We’re just Christians who think the political and Christian right-wing have their priorities wrong. Featured BloggersCharles Toy is the founding member of The Christian Left. We're sure you will enjoy his passion as well as his wit. Guest bloggers featured often.
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