USA - Half Believe US a ‘Christian Nation’
Forty-five percent of American adults believe the United States should be a “Christian nation,” according to the results of a new survey published by the Pew Research Center—the latest data point finding modern support for Christian nationalist sentiment that could threaten Jewish life in a pluralistic nation.
Pew found that most people who support the idea of a “Christian nation” also reject specific ideas behind Christian nationalism, such as that of the federal government declaring Christianity the country’s official religion or advocating Christian religious values. A majority of all respondents also wanted to keep churches out of politics and believed Supreme Court Justices should not allow their religious beliefs to influence their decision-making.
The country’s most prominent antisemites and white supremacists are also Christian nationalists. Nick Fuentes, the founder of a white nationalist political group … has declared that “we need a government of Christians” and said “Jewish people can be here, but they can’t make laws.”
Most respondents who supported the idea of the United States being a “Christian nation” themselves identified as Christian … according to Pew. One in six Jewish respondents supported the idea of the United States being a “Christian nation.”
-www.jpost.com, 28 October 2022
Arno's Commentary
While the overwhelming majority of evangelical Christians are supportive of the Jewish State of Israel, Jews seem to detect danger from the camp of Christian nationalists.
Lately, we have seen the emergence of Hindu nationalism in India and Islamic nationalism, mostly in Arab nations. After Iran (Persian, not Arab) overthrew the dictatorial regime of the Shah in February 1979, it was declared the Islamic Republic of Iran. The population by religion, notes the CIA Factbook, is 99.6% Muslim.
What About “Christian Nation”?
We unilaterally declare there never was, is, nor ever will be a Christian nation on planet earth. Why not? Because the Bible makes no provision for such a nation to exist. Really, the Church of born-again believers constitute a holy nation. We are in the world but not of the world. We reside on all continents and in every country on planet earth.
The apostle Peter identifies the Church: “ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people” (1 Peter 2:9a). What is our task? Are we to establish a geopolitical identity? Not at all. Peter continues: “that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” Our permanent address is heaven.
We are distinctly different from the earthly people of God. They too, according to Deuteronomy 14:2, are a “holy people unto the Lord thy God.” They too are “a peculiar people,” but the purpose of their existence is distinctly different: “above all the nations that are upon the earth.”
One should carefully read the book of Acts to realize the behavior of the early Church. Often, they were in danger and persecuted, but the Lord never permitted them to defend themselves. The apostle Paul testifies in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9: “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.” In the last two verses, he gives us the reason: “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
Arno Froese is the executive director of Midnight Call Ministries and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed prophetic magazines Midnight Call and News From Israel. He has authored a number of well-received books, and has sponsored many prophecy conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. His extensive travels have contributed to his keen insight into Bible prophecy, as he sees it from an international perspective.
