One of the most offensive lines peddled by Christian Nationalists is that the United States is God’s favorite nation. Providence, we’re told, guided the creation of the country and still rules over us today. Now they’ve created an entire movie peddling this nonsense.
It’s odd, though, how the same founders who were allegedly guided and protected by God failed to mention him in our Constitution and crafted a secular government. And it’s strange how this country that was supposedly created by divine power has hurt so many people over the years.
Truth be told, the “God-loves-us-better-than-everyone-else” line is the worst manifestation of white, male Christian privilege out there Yes, if you were a wealthy white male landowner strutting about in your powdered wig and stockings in the 18th century, life was pretty good. If you lived in the South, especially, you had a workforce of enslaved people on whose backs your comfortable lifestyle rested.
Non-believers and thoughtful believers alike might ask some pointed questions: Where was Providence for the people who were ripped from their homes and families and brought here in chains? How did divine forces watch over the Native population, which had its land stolen and its traditional way of life destroyed? Did God watch over women, who were voiceless and voteless in a male-dominated culture? What about the poor, who had to struggle every day for bare sustenance and often didn’t make it?
The fact is, since its founding, the United States has done a lot of good and a lot of bad. We’re like any other nation in that regard – nothing special. What’s offensive about the Christian Nationalist approach to history is that it isn’t history at all – it is a whitewash. We’re told that the most powerful force in the universe has been guiding us all along, and that becomes an excuse to never reflect on our misdeeds.
We could face our sins and use the past as a lesson for how to do better in the future. You know, not repeat our mistakes. Christian Nationalist leaders would rather pretend it’s just been one smooth joyride all along, because for them, it often has been. Historically, their leaders have been drawn from the white, male, Protestant, wealthy upper crust. (Although, ironically, this movie is based on a book by Michel Medved, a film critic who is Jewish.) They have done pretty well – often by putting policies into place that ensure the continuation of their privilege.
I can see why they’d like to think God is looking out for them. But at the end of the day, history shows not the hand of the Deity but other factors at play: chiefly mendacity and greed.
