Christian nationalism

Christian nationalism is Christianity-affiliated religious nationalism. Christian nationalists focus primarily on internal politics, such as passing laws that reflect their view of Christianity and its role in political and social life. They are actively promoting religious (Christian) and nationalistic discourses in various fields of social life, from Politics and History, to Culture and Science. In Europe and the United States, Christian nationalism tends to be conservative.

Christian nationalistic movements often have complex leadership structure, depending on the nature of their relationship with local Church institutions. Some movements are more lay oriented, with symbolic clerical participation and indirect support of the local Church structures, and others are actually led or strongly influenced by local clergy. Involvement of clergy in various Christian nationalistic movements since the 19th century led to the development of particular form of Christian nationalism known as clerical nationalism (also known as clero-nationalism or clerico-nationalism). Some distinctive radicalized forms of clerical nationalism even led to the rise of clerical fascism on the far-right of the political spectrum in various European countries specially during the interwar period in the first half of 20th century.^[1]

Canada

Croatia

Germany

In the background of World War I, German Christian nationalism was reflected by Lutheranism, romanticism, idealism, and Immanence.^[2]

Great Britain

In the background of World War I, British Christian nationalism was reflected by empiricism, realism, and individualism.^[2]

Lebanon

The Lebanese Front was a coalition of mainly Christian parties in the Lebanese Civil War. In the 1980s, Christian nationalism was pursued by the Maronite community. The Maronites sought to create a Christian mini-state.^[3] Christian nationalist Michel Aoun revolted against the Syrian Lebanese regime in 1990, but was defeated with Syrian Army support; all militias except pro-Syrian Hezbollah were disarmed by 1991.^[4]

Poland

In Poland, nationalism was always characterized by loyalty to the Roman Catholic Church. Groups like the National Revival of Poland use slogans like Wielka Polska Katolicka (Great Catholic Poland) and protest vigorously against legalization of gay marriage and abortion.^[5] Conservative religious groups connected with Radio Maryja are often accused of harboring nationalist and antisemitic attitudes.^[6]

Romania

Russia

Religious nationalism characterized by communal adherence to Eastern Orthodoxy and national Orthodox Churches is found in many states of Eastern Europe and in the Russian Federation. Many Russian Neo-Fascist and Neo-Nazi groups, such as the Russian National Unity, call for an increased role for the Russian Orthodox Church.

Spain

United States

Yugoslavia

The Yugoslav National Movement (1935–45) has been described as Christian nationalist.^[7][8]

See also

• Political religion
• Political science of religion
• Political Catholicism
• Clerical fascism
• Dominion Theology
• Theocracy

References

1. Matthew Feldman; Marius Turda; Tudor Georgescu (31 October 2013). Clerical Fascism in Interwar Europe. Routledge. pp. 227–. ISBN 978-1-317-96899-3.
2. Arlie J. Hoover (1989). God, Germany, and Britain in the Great War: A Study in Clerical Nationalism. Praeger. ISBN 978-0-275-93169-8.
3. Kirsten E. Schulze (27 October 1997). Israel's Covert Diplomacy in Lebanon. Palgrave Macmillan UK. pp. 153–. ISBN 978-0-230-37247-4.
4. Barry Rubin (29 May 2007). The Truth about Syria. St. Martin's Press. pp. 121–. ISBN 978-0-230-60520-6.
5. http://www.nop.org.pl/2013/05/28/malopolska-za-zyciem/
6. http://www.tau.ac.il/Anti-Semitism/asw2004/poland.htm
7. Rebecca Haynes; Martyn Rady (30 November 2013). In the Shadow of Hitler: Personalities of the Right in Central and Eastern Europe. I.B.Tauris. p. 300. ISBN 978-1-78076-808-3.
8. Jovan Byford (2008). Denial and Repression of Antisemitism: Post-communist Remembrance of the Serbian Bishop Nikolaj Velimirović. Central European University Press. p. 52. ISBN 978-963-9776-15-9.

Further reading

• Stephen Backhouse (7 July 2011). Kierkegaard's Critique of Christian Nationalism. OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-960472-2.
• Marci McDonald (11 May 2010). The Armageddon Factor: The Rise of Christian Nationalism in Canada. Random House of Canada. ISBN 978-0-307-36788-4.
• Adele Oltman (1 January 2012). Sacred Mission, Worldly Ambition: Black Christian Nationalism in the Age of Jim Crow. University of Georgia Press. ISBN 978-0-8203-4126-2.
• Charles Bloomberg (1989). Christian Nationalism and the Rise of the Afrikaner Broederbond in South Africa, 1918-48. Palgrave Macmillan UK. ISBN 978-1-349-10694-3.
• Matthew McCullough (20 August 2014). The Cross of War: Christian Nationalism and U.S. Expansion in the Spanish-American War. University of Wisconsin Pres. ISBN 978-0-299-30034-0.
• Michelle Goldberg (2007). Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism. W. W. Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-32976-6.
• Paul A. Hanebrink (2006). In Defense of Christian Hungary: Religion, Nationalism, and Antisemitism, 1890-1944. Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-4485-3.
• Gerald Lyman Kenneth Smith (1958*). This is Christian Nationalism. Christian Nationalist Crusade. Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Walid Phares (January 1995). Lebanese Christian Nationalism: The Rise and Fall of an Ethnic Resistance. L. Rienner. ISBN 978-1-55587-535-0.