The\u200b other day, Politico writer Heidi Przybyla appeared on MSNBC\u2019s \u200d\u201cAll In with Chris Hayes\u201d to\u200d discuss<\/a> \u200d the current buzzword,\u2064 \u201cChristian nationalism.\u201d \u2064According to Przybyla, Donald Trump has\u2062 surrounded himself\u2063 with an \u201cextremist element of \u2064conservative Christians\u201d who are misrepresenting the concept of “natural law” in their efforts to challenge abortion \u2062rights and\u200c other \u2064leftist policies.\u200c What\u200c sets these “Christian nationalists” apart, she claims,\u2062 is their belief that our rights as\u200c Americans and human beings do not come from\u200b any earthly authority.<\/p>\n

However, critics have pointed out that “Christian nationalism” is essentially the same as the\u200b argument for American\u200b liberty found in the Declaration of Independence. In\u200b fact, the idea\u2062 of inalienable, universal rights \u2062can\u200d be traced back to ancient \u2064Greece. The entire American project is built on the\u200b principle that \u200bthe state cannot grant or take away \u2063the freedoms bestowed\u200b upon us by\u200d God. It\u200c is the kind of “extremism” that forms the foundation of \u200dour nation.<\/p>\n

That being said, there \u200bare Christians who blur the lines between politics and faith or hold theocratic\u200c ideas.\u2062 However, the definition of “Christian \u200dnationalism” put forth by Politico and\u200d MSNBC aligns \u2063perfectly with \u2062the mindset that makes the United\u2062 States possible.<\/p>\n

Conservatives often\u200b attribute this lack\u2062 of understanding about civics to a failing education \u200bsystem. But it’s\u200c not \u200ba coincidence. Przybyla, a long-time leftist propagandist, followed\u2063 up her MSNBC appearance with \u2062an embarrassing clarification. Even if she \u2062were well-versed in the philosophy \u200cof natural rights, \u200cit’s likely that she, like most progressives, would \u2062be\u200c uninterested. \u2064It’s a\u2064 political necessity to\u200d be\u2062 uninterested.<\/p>\n

If our natural rights\u200c are truly inalienable, how can the \u2062government create new positive “rights” like housing, \u200cabortion,\u2064 healthcare, or free birth control<\/a>? And how \u200bcan we restrict those\u200d who abuse \u200bfree \u200cexpression, self-defense, and \u2064due process? As Joe Biden\u200b often\u200b says, no\u200c right “is absolute,” except \u2062when it comes to the Second Amendment, not abortion.<\/p>\n

One of \u200dthe\u200b most revealing aspects of Przybyla’s explanation\u2063 is \u2062her admission that “natural\u2063 law” has been \u2064used\u2064 for good in some\u2062 instances. When natural law is\u200c used to promote “social justice,” it is considered legitimate. However, when \u200dit is applied to\u200c ideas that the left opposes, such\u200c as protecting\u200c unborn life<\/a>, \u2064it\u200c is labeled as “Christian nationalism.”\u200c It’s as if\u200d she fails to grasp the concept\u2064 of a\u200d neutral principle. This kind of thinking leads\u2062 the media to put \u2063skeptical quotation marks around terms\u2063 like “religious liberty,” but never around \u2064”LGBT \u200brights”\u2064 or “social justice.”<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

The fear \u200dof “Christian \u200dnationalism” is a manufactured partisan \u2062effort \u200cto scare non-Christian\u200c voters. To\u2062 some secular Americans, the idea that rights can come from a non-earthly authority may seem absurd. As a nonbeliever \u200dmyself, I have been\u2064 asked how I reconcile my skepticism with \u2063a belief in natural rights.<\/p>\n

My answer is simple: I choose to.<\/p>\n

Historian Tom Holland tweeted, “This is \u200bthe bind\u2064 post-Christian America finds itself in. \u200cIt can no longer appeal to a Creator as the\u200b author of its citizens’ rights, \u2063so it has to pretend that \u2062these rights\u200b somehow\u200d have\u2062 an inherent existence: a notion requiring no less of a\u2064 leap of faith than does belief\u200d in God.”<\/p>\n

No less, but no\u2064 more. Just as\u200c an\u200b atheist\u2064 or agnostic accepts that it’s \u200cwrong to\u2064 steal \u200bor murder, \u200cthey can also accept that humans have an inherent \u200dright to\u200d free speech and self-defense. History,\u2064 experience, and \u2064our\u2063 innate sense of \u2064the world tell\u200d us that these rights \u2062benefit individuals and humanity\u2064 as a \u2064whole. It is a rational belief.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

To me, it is morally and rationally \u2062clear that the liberties rooted\u200c in thousands of years of tradition are far more important than the whims of the modern electorate or the dictates of the \u200bstate. While\u2062 the\u200c extent of rights is still\u200d debated, I \u200bdon’t\u200d need a\u200b Ph.D. in\u200c philosophy to understand that preserving\u2062 life \u200band \u200bprotecting freedom of\u200b expression \u200bare self-evident universal rights, unlike forcing\u200d taxpayers to fund \u2063someone’s “reproductive justice.”<\/p>\n

John Locke, \u2064as far as I understand, argued along similar lines, although\u2063 he believed that these\u200b rights were bestowed\u2062 by God. Even though\u200d I don’t\u200c believe my rights were \u2064granted by\u2063 a\u2063 higher power, I still act \u200cas\u200c if \u200cthey were.\u2064 It’s the only way for the Constitution \u2062to function.<\/p>\n

However, can a \u200ccontemporary\u2062 leftist, who views the\u200d state as the source of \u2062decency and a tool of compulsion, accept \u200bthat mankind has been given\u2064 a set \u2063of liberties by God, regardless of race, class,\u200b or political beliefs? I’m not so sure they\u2064 can anymore.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

\u2063rnrn <\/p>\n

How does the belief \u2063in\u2064 the inherent dignity and value of every human being intersect with the concept of\u200d human rights being rooted in something \u2062greater than ourselves<\/h2>\n
Divine foundation for its rights and yet\u200c it clings\u200d to a \u200bbelief in those rights. It must now \u200dconstruct an earthly \u2063foundation, but it cannot \u200cescape that the \u200bconcept \u200bof\u200c human\u2062 rights\u200b seems\u200d to have been beamed to Earth from some \u2062other galaxy entirely, and beamed\u2063 it was by a religious faith.”<\/p>\n
In other\u200d words, \u200deven\u200b if \u2063one does not believe in a \u2063higher power, the idea \u2062of fundamental human rights<\/a> \u200bis\u2064 deeply\u2062 rooted in our society and cannot be dismissed. Whether\u2064 it is called “Christian nationalism” or simply the recognition that\u2064 our rights come from a \u2063source beyond the government, it is a\u2064 principle that has shaped our nation since its inception.<\/p>\n
Instead of dismissing “Christian nationalism” as extreme or dangerous, perhaps we \u200cshould recognize its importance in protecting\u200b the freedoms we hold\u2062 dear. \u200bIt is not an attempt to force any particular religious belief upon others, \u200cbut \u200drather an acknowledgement that our individual rights \u2062are inherent\u200d and\u200b cannot be taken\u200d away by any earthly authority.<\/p>\n
So \u2063next \u200dtime you hear the term “Christian\u200c nationalism” being used\u2064 in a negative light, remember that it is not\u200d a\u200c threat to our democracy, but rather a reminder of the\u200c principles that have made our \u2063country what it is today. And whether we are \u200cbelievers \u200cor nonbelievers, let us all uphold the belief\u200b in the inherent dignity and \u200bvalue of every human being and the recognition that our \u200crights\u2063 are rooted in something greater than ourselves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Politico’s Heidi Przybyla recently discussed “Christian nationalism” on MSNBC’s “All In with Chris Hayes.” She highlighted how Donald Trump has aligned with a group of conservative Christians who distort “so-called natural law” to undermine abortion rights and leftist causes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":831,"featured_media":2187343,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Screenshot-2024-02-26-at-3.48.11%E2%80%AFPM-1024x690.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2187342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Screenshot-2024-02-26-at-3.48.11%E2%80%AFPM-1024x690.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2187342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/831"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2187342"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2187342\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2187343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2187342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2187342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2187342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}