Defending Faith: Atheism and Christian Nationalism

By Mike Smithgall, The Unelected Mayor of Atheistville

There is a specific reflex I see in almost every conversation I have with my religious friends. It happens the moment I bring up Christian Nationalism, or the push to mandate Bibles in public schools, or the rhetoric coming from televangelists calling for the execution of political rivals.

My friends, people I love, respect, and know to be kind, immediately recoil. Their hands go up in a defensive posture, and they say, “Oh, Mike, that’s not real Christianity. That’s not me. Those people are crazy.”

This is the “No True Scotsman” defense. It’s a logical fallacy where someone attempts to protect a generalization (e.g., “Christians are peaceful”) from a counterexample (e.g., “This Christian is calling for violence”) by arbitrarily changing the definition of the group.

They believe that by mentally distancing themselves from the extremists, they are absolved of the extremism. They view their faith like a glass-bottom boat. They are floating through the sewer of modern theocratic politics, looking down at the sludge beneath the glass, telling themselves, “Sure, I’m technically in this mess, but I am clearly above it.”

It is a comforting lie. But here is the hard truth I need to tell the “good” Christians today: The smell is getting on you. And if you don’t start paddling, you are going to go down with the rest of them.

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The Atheist Defending the Church

It is a strange timeline we are living in when I, an atheist who runs a channel called Atheistville, seem to be more concerned about the sanctity of the church than the people sitting in the pews.

I don’t believe in the divinity of Jesus or the inspiration of the Bible. But I believe in the First Amendment. And, perhaps surprisingly to some, I believe in the right of my neighbors to find comfort, charity, and guidance in their faith. The people I grew up with are not villains; they are decent people who view their religion as a call to service, not a call to conquest.

But right now, the label “Christian” is being hijacked. It is being trademarked by a political faction that isn’t interested in the “Fruit of the Spirit” (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, as listed in Galatians 5:22-23). They are interested in dominion.

I find myself in the position of Roger Williams, the Puritan theologian who founded Rhode Island in 1636. Williams was a devout believer, but he was the first major figure in American history to call for a “wall of separation” between church and state.

His reasoning wasn’t that he wanted to protect the state from the church; it was the opposite. He argued that the world was a “wilderness” and the church was a “garden.” If you knock down the wall, the wilderness overtakes the garden.

Today, the “good Christians” are watching the wilderness bulldoze the garden, and they are too polite to say stop.

The “Bad Apple” Fallacy

We see this dynamic play out in other institutions, most notably law enforcement. When an officer abuses power, the immediate defense is, “It’s just one bad apple. Don’t blame the whole force.”

But the full proverb is: “One bad apple spoils the bunch.”

If the “good cops” do not arrest the bad cops, the institution is corrupt. The same applies to the church. If you are a moderate Christian, and you see someone using your cross to justify hatred, exclusion, or the dismantling of democracy, your opposition should be louder than mine.

When I criticize Christian Nationalism, it is easy for the faithful to dismiss me. “Of course Mike hates it,” they say. “He’s a godless heathen.” My criticism is expected.

Your criticism, however, would be devastating.

You have the credibility. You have the theological standing. If the moderate majority stood up and said, “No. This is not what our faith stands for,” the political power of the extremists would evaporate. But right now, the silence from the moderate pews is deafening.

The Cost of Silence

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor who was executed for opposing the Nazis, wrote extensively about the failure of the German church to stand up against fascism in the 1930s. His warning echoes loudly today:

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”

By refusing to separate yourselves publicly, you are allowing the public to group you together. When the world turns on the news and sees “Christians” banning books or stripping rights away from women, they don’t see the nuance. They don’t see the glass bottom of your boat. They just see the sewer.

Power vs. Grace: A Theological Betrayal

I am not a theologian, but I have read the book. And it seems to me that there is a massive disconnect between the “Christianity” of the Nationalists and the text of the New Testament.

Christian Nationalism is a Theology of Power. It is insecure. It requires the validation of the state. It demands that the Ten Commandments be posted in classrooms because it fears that without government enforcement, the faith will wither.

The Christianity of the Gospels, the one my moderate friends claim to follow, is a Theology of Grace. It is voluntary. It operates independent of Caesar.

The Temptation of Power

In Matthew 4:8-10, there is a story about the Temptation of Christ. The devil takes Jesus to a high mountain, shows him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor, and says, “All this I will give you, if you will bow down and worship me.”

Jesus rejects the offer. He rejects political dominion over the kingdoms of the earth.

Contrast that with the modern Christian Nationalist movement, which seems to have looked at that same offer and said, “Deal.”

When you allow the Nationalists to speak for you, you are trading grace for legislative power. And historically speaking, whenever the church has grasped for the sword of the state, it has lost its moral authority.

John 18:36 quotes Jesus saying, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest.”

The modern movement is ready to fight. They are ready to arrest. They are ready to rule this world. If you believe the scripture, you have to admit: that isn’t the Kingdom of God. That is just a political action committee with a steeple.

Smashing the Glass

Many moderates feel that engaging with these extremists, getting down in the mud to argue with them, will dirty their testimony. They prefer the “high road.”

But the high road doesn’t exist in a sewer.

You think you are staying above the fray, but in reality, you are letting the extremists paint your house. And let me tell you, that stain doesn’t wash out. The “Nones” (those with no religious affiliation) are the fastest-growing religious demographic in America, not because people stopped believing in God, but because they stopped believing in you. They see the hypocrisy, the power grabs, and the hatred, and they see the “good” Christians standing by and watching it happen.

A Challenge to the Faithful

So, this is my challenge to the believers reading this blog:

Stop riding in the glass-bottom boat. Smash the glass.

You need to be the ones to say “No.”

• When a politician says they are running to “restore Christian values” by hurting immigrants, you need to quote Leviticus 19:34 (“The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself”).
• When a law is proposed to force prayer into schools, you need to be the ones to say, “Faith must be free, not forced.”
• When televangelists preach prosperity and exclusion, you need to remind them of the Sermon on the Mount.

It is not enough to be privately good while your institution is being publicly corrupted. You cannot claim the institution is sound if you refuse to take out the trash. And right now, the trash is piling up. It is blocking the exits. It is smelling up the whole place.

I can’t save your reputation for you. I’m just the unelected mayor of Atheistville. You have to do that yourselves. You have to decide if you want to be the captain of the boat, or just another piece of debris floating in the current.

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👇 I want to hear from you.
Are you a believer who feels “homeless” in the current political climate? Or are you a skeptic who thinks the institution is beyond saving? Leave a comment below. I read them all.