Politics - News Analysis

Episcopal Priest Trashes Marjorie Taylor Greene and ‘Her Bastardization of the Christian Faith’

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene keeps boasting about being a proud Christian nationalist and of course, promotes this nasty load of b.s. because she wants all of us to think this way. Fortunately, one prominent religious leader has had it with her revisionist beliefs about the teaching of Jesus Christ.

So the Reverend Nathan Empsall, the executive director of Faithful America, took to The Daily Beast whereupon he shredded her. Calling conservatives who embrace this racist doctrine “wolves in sheep’s clothing, Empsall explained that the far-right is responsible for the “bastardization of the Christian faith,” Raw Story reports.

Greene was recently asked during an interview about her embrace of Christian nationalism. Her response?

“We need to be the party of nationalism. And I’m a Christian. I say proudly we should be Christian nationalists. And when Republicans learn to represent most of the people that vote for them, then we will be the party that continues to without having to chase down certain identities, or chase down, you know, certain segments of people.”

I guess I should be happy that Republicans are mainly happy to serve their corporate masters.

But Empsall’s words were powerful and he writes that her exclusionary acceptance of nationalism is un-Christian.

“It’s not the first time she has embraced the label. And it’s a dangerous turn of events that requires active, loud opposition from all of us, especially from American Christians, for whom Greene and her allies claim to speak,” he writes. “As a pastor, if there’s one thing I understand, it’s that Christian nationalism is unchristian and unpatriotic. Academic researchers define the authoritarian ideology as a political worldview — not a religion — that unconstitutionally and unbiblically merges Christian and American identities, declaring that does not matter because America is a ‘Christian nation’ where only conservative Christians count as true Americans.”

Empsall elaborated a bit more.

“The clear goal of Christian nationalism is to seize power only for its mostly white evangelical and conservative Catholic followers, no matter who else gets hurt or how many elections have to be overturned. This is the unholy force that incited the failed coup of Jan. 6, 2021, brought us the recent theocratic spate of Supreme Court opinions, and has inspired multiple wave upon wave of dangerous misinformation about elections, climate change, and COVID-19—all in direct contrast to Jesus’ teachings of love, truth, and the common good.”

Empsall found a small silver lining in all of this but he warns that Christian nationalism needs to be fought against on all fronts. Greene, he warns “would have you believe that all of her critics ‘hate America and hate God,’ but this ignores the fact that most Christians are appalled at the way she hijacks the Gospel to justify attending white nationalist rallies and spreading anti-Semitic conspiracies.”

“They don’t speak for American Christians. And it’s up to us to deflate their claims of a monopoly and thus their hold on power, reclaim our religion and its prophetic voice for the Gospel’s true values of love, dignity, equality, and social justice.”

And it looks like scores of Christians are following Empsall’s words. A petition posted by FaithfulAmerica has gained 20,000 signatures from Christians opposed to her hateful nationalism.

“Add your name,” the petition states, “and make it clear to the press, to voters, to other lawmakers, and to history that Christians will not ignore Greene’s constant and heretical hijacking of Jesus’ name for power and hatred!”

I’m not a religious person, but I’m so glad for these good people standing against this obnoxious racist, homophobic woman. I can’t think of it happening to a nicer person.

meet the author

Megan has lived in California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida and she currently lives in Central America. Living in these places has informed her writing on politics, science, and history. She is currently owned by 15 cats and 3 dogs and regularly owns Trump supporters when she has the opportunity. She can be found on Twitter at https://twitter.com/GaiaLibra and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/politicalsaurus

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