What’s Right about the Religious Right?

When one speaks about American Christianity, one must recognize that there are two contrasting yet related ideas involved. On the one hand, this term denotes a nation, a totality of citizens presumably united up to a point against an “other” or “others.” On the other hand, it assumes a religion, something uniting people across lines: national, international, and perhaps planetary. As St. Augustine said, “The earthly city glories in itself, the Heavenly City glories in the Lord.” That is, any classification of a “national” Christianity indicates an inherent tension.

Given this understanding, the recent decisions of some on the American Religious Right are troubling. For those unfamiliar with recent events surrounding the organization “In Defense of Christians,” Ted Cruz took the stage at an event of theirs, facing boos and general disfavor for statements about Middle Eastern policy. His remarks, however, were not disapproved of because they supported Israel, but because they marginalized the experiences of those at the conference; the bishops, patriarchs, and others gathered at this summit sought to unite in solidarity, not to quibble over issues of policy. In short, these people were not expressing anti-Semitism, anti-Americanism, or any other “ism,” but were merely upset to see their coming together turned into a falling apart.

While some contend that this defense is not to be believed, such responses misread the situation. Assertions that to support Christianity means to support Israel abound. Such affirmations, unfortunately, miss the point; they conflate the American and the Christian, the worldly and the godly. While there may be politically expedient reasons for American Christians to support Israel, or any number of other countries, this does not mean that Christians in general must acquiesce to these demands. Witnessing to the faith despite rampant persecution and possible extinction is what drives these ancient communities. Put otherwise, Christianity need not be (and perhaps inherently is not) a political enterprise; it calls us to look beyond the chiefly political to the heart of our own humanity.

And so I am disappointed by this strain of “American Christianity”; I am grieved to see people turn against the oppressed and persecuted because of a simple political gaffe. Senator Cruz can be forgiven his mistake, but I fear that its consequences may point to deeper problems on the American Right. Just as Slavoj Žižek has speculated that the failure of the contemporary Middle East has been the failure of its Secular Left, so I grow apprehensive that the political failure of America is the failure of our Religious Right. Such a group once had the potential to bring warm life back into the realm of cold-hearted politics, but has instead, I fear, hardened its heart against its own brethren.