<TriceEdneyWire.com> — Several years ago, while I was speaking with one of my mentors, I showed him a church photo that was very disturbing to me. In the center of the picture was a person, whom I assumed to be the pastor, standing at the pulpit and shaking hands with another man. As members of the congregation sat and watched, Klansmen dressed in their typical hoods and robes sat in separate rows of the choir section. Another row of Klansmen stood, lined up in front of the pulpit while facing the congregation. Approximately 37 Ku Klux Klan members were prominently present among the church congregation.

All the while, a large sign that read ‘Jesus Saves’ hung on the wall above the choir section. I told my mentor, who is a retired White pastor, my thoughts about the disturbing picture. I told him it was impossible for them to be Christians despite being in church. I asked my mentor for his thoughts because he has always helped me understand controversial issues from a White pastor’s perspective. He said they were Christians, but they were not Christ-like Christians. He went on to explain that the Black church not only sees Jesus as a savior but also as a liberator. I told him that while this photo was taken in the 1920s, the same spirit is present in many White congregations today.

The picture presents two contrasting messages within a building considered a place of service and worship to God. On the one hand, the symbolic meaning of the ‘Jesus Saves’ sign is that it promotes the message of Christ as savior. On the other hand, the presence of the Ku Klux Klan in a house of worship exposes the unwillingness to accept the teachings of Jesus, which contradict their own culture of racial and religious intolerance. The Lord’s Prayer is a foundational Christian prayer taught by Jesus to his disciples as a model for how to pray.

The first two words of this powerful prayer are: “Our Father.” “Our Father” is an inclusive term that not only denotes the idea of family sharing a common spiritual father but also unifies all Christians, regardless of race, under one God, thereby making inclusion a biblically grounded doctrine. I agree with my mentor, they are not Christ-like disciples, but rather Judas-type disciples. Like Judas, they were, in some ways, close to Jesus but ultimately chose to betray him. In their case, betrayal came by rejecting Christ’s core message of love and compassion. By welcoming the presence of the Ku Klux Klan in a worship service, it confirms they are not Christ-like, but Christians in name only. Klansmen were established as defenders of White and Protestant superiority. The core belief behind White supremacy is that White Anglo-Saxon Protestants are a superior race, and Protestants are a superior religion, making the ideal American citizen both White and Protestant. Even though Klansmen considered themselves followers of Jesus Christ, they were violent enforcers of racial and religious intolerance against Catholics, Jews, immigrants, and Black people. 

When President Trump is joined by top administration officials and conservative Christian clergy in coming together on the National Mall in Washington for a prayer gathering, I have no problem with prayer. As a Christian, I have no problem calling on God to heal our land. I have a problem with Christian nationalism, whose supporters believe that the United States was founded as and should be a Christian nation. This belief is another example of how history has been reframed in ways to support conservative agendas and political ideology, which are actually exclusive of ‘others’ and un-American. To say America should be a Christian nation eliminates the constitutional protection against government-established religion.

While a Christian may not agree with those of the Muslim or Jewish faiths, we have a Constitutional First Amendment to abide by. The First Amendment addresses the rights associated with freedom of religion by prohibiting the Congressional establishment of one religion over another and protecting the right to the free exercise of their chosen religion. Christian nationalism attempts to redefine the definition of what makes a ‘true American.’ It is simply denying individuals their rights to be seen and accepted as equal Americans if they choose to practice any faith other than Christianity. It becomes an example of how Christian rhetoric does not automatically translate into sincere Christ-like actions.

“What should be a broadly unifying celebration has been politically hijacked and wrapped up in this MAGA narrative that tries to rewrite our history and promote the president’s agenda,” said U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, referring to Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ movement. This divisive MAGA narrative erases the religious diversity of America and threatens the constitutional separation of church and state, framing what could be a unifying national celebration with a divisive MAGA political agenda. The daylong Rededicate 250 program is Christian nationalism, and Christian nationalism is White supremacy. When I see the Rededicate 250 event, I am reminded of the photo with a church displaying a ‘Jesus Saves’ sign, and filled with people who embrace hatred and division. When I see the Rededicate 250 event, I don’t see true Americans, nor do I see true Christ-like Christians.

(David W. Marshall is the founder of the faith-based organization TRB: The Reconciled Body, and the author of the book God Bless Our Divided America.)