Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what HE commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger.
– Zephaniah 2:3

Let’s start with some clarity. Nationalism is a morally bankrupt, perverse political philosophy, overflowing with vile internal contradictions, each of which deserves to be revealed in detail one at a time, but that would require volumes.

Instead, we must focus on the worst Trumpist conceit of them all, festering at the bedrock of Trumpism itself. In the same breath these people declare their nation “great“, they dare also to claim that the United States is a “Christian nation“.

Unfortunately for them, the obsession with making America “great” violates the premise of America as a “Christian nation.” A Christian nation can not, must not, be “great.” It must be humble, so they must choose between “greatness” and “goodness“.

How exactly do the nationalists, whether they align themselves with Trump or not, resolve the philosophy of “America First” with “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth.” or “The last shall be first and the first last.“? Can it be done?

How does the Son of God wrapped in swaddling cloths in a animal trough fit with the context of American “greatness“? How does the Son of God stripped naked, bloody, and dying on a Roman crucifix plug into “America First” chauvinism?

How does the obsession of American superiority fit in with the doctrine of “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.“? Thus the Trumpist must choose, “greatness” or “goodness“?

If the Trumpists truly want the United States to be “great“, then they must abandon Christ’s commands. If a “great” nation is what matters to them, then they must instead raise their “great” New Babylon so that it stands above all other nations.

But if they want to be a “Christian nation“, then they must instead pursue a very different politics that begins with “goodness“. The left has perverted “goodness” to mean a lot of things it does not, but where is the alternative to their misguided vision?

Not so long ago, it was conservatism, not nationalism, that represented an alternative virtuous “goodness“. To save America, the right must abandon the poisonous “greatness” of nationalism and rediscover the virtuous “goodness” of conservatism.

That depends, however, on what they really want.

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Liberty is For The Win!