I’ve stated previously that what we are terming “ethno-cultural nationalism” is idolatry, that it presents us with a false god and a false gospel. This is perhaps where I’ve had most push back and where I think other Christians, even those criticising marches and demos have been reluctant to tread.
I’ve reflected in recent days, that I probably would not have the same problem if I were to use the term “fascism.” Maybe, I’ve shot myself in the foot by choosing a less catchy, less sinister sounding label. I’ve chosen the term though, not for rhetorical aims but to try and find a label that sums up exactly what the issues are. I’ve also noted that people have struggled with us referring to current movements and arguments as “fascist.” So, it is worth pausing and thinking about that term itself. Here’s the Wikipedia definition.
“Fascism (/ˈfæʃɪzəm/ FASH-iz-əm) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement that rose to prominence in early-20th-century Europe.[1][2][3] Fascism is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived interest of the nation or race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy.”
So, the challenges we’ve observed with the word stems partly from it’s specific historical associations but also partly from how people are perceiving what is going on right now. Yes, there may be a concern for the nation’s needs, however: weren’t those who protested on the 13th September specifically seeking greater freedom, more rights, specifically to defend freedom of expression and free speech? Further, if that runs contrary to authoritarianism, we also do not see this one strongman, dictator coming forward.
I think it is worth observing three crucial things. First, it was interesting that on the march, one speaker talked about banning mosques and indeed all public expressions of other religions. This hardly seems to go hand in hand with freedom of expression. One challenge we have when people talk about “free speech” is whether they really mean freedom for all or just the freedom to express their own views. Note, we can fall into this trap as Christians when using free-speech as the basis for our own arguments.
Secondly, in terms of authoritarianism, you can only truly see this at work when the authoritarian has power. Once again, the question is whether you are for freedom and against authoritarianism in general or actually you are just against a perceived rival for authority and power.
Thirdly, whilst they may not be someone who has emerged as the definite autocratic leader, we can see how people are in effect putting themselves forward to lead. Putting those things together, helps us to think about whether or not we are seeing might at least be showing the same kinds of trends as what has been historically referred to as fascism. However, it doesn’t matter what we call something because in the end, we want to look at how it functions.What is the nature of the beast.
Now, when we think about idolatry, we want to consider a few things. First, that when Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 forbid idols, there are two things in mind. First, we have idols that are attempts to make images of the one true God. When we do this, we so distort God’s character that we end up with a different god. The second is to do with making images of other gods like Baal.
Scripture is clear that such “gods” may have the appearance of eyes, mouths and ears but lack senses and so cannot speak, see or hear. This means that idols on the one hand are nothing. However, Paul in 1 Corinthians 1o tells us that there are demons behind idol worship. This doesn’t mean that there is a demon sat in your household god (though if its your car or computer it may sometime feel like that). It does mean though that the devil and his subordinates will use idol worship as a means to draw us away from trust in the true and living God. We will return to that shortly.
The other thing to pick up on is that as per Isaiah 6, we become like our idols. We reflect their characteristics and this reflects both individuals and whole societies. At this point it is worth observing that whilst idols are counterfeit gods, they are also as much about rivalling and counterfeiting our role as those made in the image of the true and living God. So that it is as much our image that is distorted by them.
What I’ve also observed is that it is the things both that we fear and that we put our trust in that become our idols. This links to the basic human desire for identity, comfort and security. Those are good things but we are meant to find them in God alone. Idolatry encourages us to seek them in the wrong way, place or time.
This helps us to see why ethno-cultural nationalism becomes a false god and offers a false gospel, how it becomes idolatrous. We seek our identity in our ethnicity and culture. We fear that if our ethno-nation loses its place, its status, its identity then that will remove its ability to provide for us, to offer comfort and to keep us safe. Consider how much of the recent debate around immigration has been about those things, loss of national identity, loss of comfort (whether that’s hospital care , benefits, housing or education) and loss of security through the fear of open borders. Consider too how this means that we demonise others because they are said to be undermining our culture, making us weak as a nation, jumping the queur and overwhelming our borders so that the language of invasion is used. We look to the flag and to strong leaders who speak for us to save us from this, that is the false gospel.
This also helps us to understand a bit about why sticking the label “Christian” onto nationalism doesn’t work. Idolatry tends to be syncretistic meaning that it is possible to add other gods into the pantheon. That’s what we do when we just add Christ onto nationalism.
It’s crucial that we don’t just offer Christ and Christianity as the fulfilment of Nationalist hopes and dreams. There needs to be a turning from the idol of ethno-cultural nationalism as well as a turning to Christ.
Faithroots 