My Journal

Seems to be a popular topic lately, thanks to the late Charlie Kirk. So after mentioning it a few times in my journal, I'll gather all continuation of it here.

These are my recent two posts on Facebook:

Commented on Holy Post Media:

I wouldn't equate Christian Nationalism with White/European Christian Nationalism. Besides, Christianity is of Eastern origin (which resulted in the word "middle-EAST"), not Western, if we're really playing that game.

But Christian Nationalism = requiring everyone to be Christian/abiding Biblical laws (as interpreted by certain group) as if they are all Christians. With the inevitable belief that their country is also #1 in the world.

It actually despises the Gospel by using the Bible. Thus, it's anti-intellectual, anti-gospel and anti-biblical. And lots of self-righteousness with a sprinkle of having a god-complex.

Christian patriotism/patriot is just a Christian who loves his country. Which is alright.

On my FB Page (regarding the recent commission by PCA to do a study on the topic):

Take your time to do your study of it, but Christian Nationalism is anti-intellectual from a biblical sense, violating Gospel principle in Hebrews 11:6. Jesus never said to the gentiles "It is written...", J.G. Machen knew it well against public school Bible reading.

Therefore, those who like to begin politics in the public settings with "The Bible says so", they are not really saying "Thus saith the Lord", but rather, "You better listen to me, because you are wrong and I CAN NEVER be wrong, for I am a prophet of divine element" in disguise. In a way, they maybe blaspheming the Lord's name by secret implication of having god-complex toward any opponent, but hey, gotta be humble about it, so "Because the Bible says so" is more apt, right?

If you sense of community can only be spoken of through state/federal laws, then your community is on a self destructive path. The Pharisees did this, and Jesus called them out having no love for the poor, their neighbors, etc. Church fellowship is the true family and it should act like so. Not the reverse, not from a national level down to family unite.

Update 2/2/2026 Christian Nationalism definition by Allie Beth Stuckey:

Slightly different than Charlie Kirk's definition (America is the best country in the world) but ultimately not far in principal meaning, Stuckey: Christians who put the priorities of their nation first. I'll respect that she is finally willing to define it. And the definition is fair enough. Which does allow me to debunk the entire term Christian Nationalism as unbiblical, as the Bible only teaches putting the priorities of God's kingdom, which is obviously not limited to nor has to be my own country, first. It's also good that Allie clarifies that Christian Nationalism doesn't mean America as the chosen nation/new Israel of God. What she was wrong, was to assert that MOST Christians who are called Christian Nationalists derisively don't believe those things i.e. USA = new Israel, hence her double standards here. Again, she does not seem to know how to distinguish Nationalism and Patriotism, so while trying to justify herself, she could not call out the selfishness of Nationalism:

This was my comment on her Video:

Good that Allie finally defines her version of Christian Nationalism (which is slightly different and perhaps better than Charlie Kirk's USA #1 definition), so I can respect that. Nonetheless, You couldn't distinguish Patriotism & Nationalism, hence the problem where you fail from a Christian perspective. A Patriot loves his country and does things sacrificially for his own country; A Nationalist prioritizes his own country over other countries, which is not much different than a mother who puts her children first above other children who are not her own (i.e. A mother who support all acts of her own children over other kids unjustly, etc.), which is actually unbiblical as a generalizing principle.

We have responsibility to our children, our family, to prioritize raising them well, but not at the expense of absolute. As Jesus referred His brothers and mother to be not of blood in Matthew 12:46-50. God's family come first before our immediate family. Something most American Christians don't usually get in the Bible. Sorry to say that.

A Christian prioritizes not his own country, but God's kingdom first, which may call attention to other countries first sometimes (i.e. give credit to where credit is due). At least you have admitted that America is not the new chosen Israel, which is generally what Christian Nationalists basically want to be true. The "majority" of what Allie's referred to as those being called "Nationalists" derisively that aren't really Nationalists do not exist. At best, I can distinguish some Christians as patriots, which is a good thing, Christian Patriots, not nationalists.

My advice, maybe go visit Christians in other countries, especially ones who won't flatter you as an American. Have fellowship with them. You should have enough money and time to do this by now.

Update 03/14/2026: My comment for Jim Cassidy's critique on Christian Nationalism on Facebook:

Not sure whose Report this is. But it's still in the passive, reliance on historical statistics.

I suggest whoever interested in this topic to start with J. Machen's "The Necessity of the Christian School": Basically, a Christian State is unbiblical because it's an attack on the Gospel treatment by enforcing a lazy, perverse form of evangelism, which is the only kind of evangelism you will get from this setup.

https://www.pcahistory.org/documents/necessity.html

There's also a clear need to distinguish Christian Patriotism (good: I love my country) from Christian Nationalism (bad: God loves ONLY my country because..., typical American sports cheerleading culture. Not talking about professional cheerleaders.)

Calvin's Genevan Statehood would also be a bad defender for Christian Nationalism because all Genevan citizens came from the same idolatrous church (Rome) under reformation (i.e. Prince-Bishopric -> consistory -> public servanthood, Rome's ecclesiastical wealth -> civil magistrates -> Christian charity, etc.), so it was inevitable. Calvin's phase one experiment was never meant to be permanent and we are now far from that level now.

questions for conversations:

• Must we vote/buy only Christians?
• This is more serious than just denominational differences.

Update 4/11/2026: Presbycast talks about Christian Nationalism in a better light because of D. G. Hart's new book: Protestants and Patriots: Presbyterians in the age of Revolution. Here are some of my take with Gemini's help:

1788/89 American revision of the WCF [01:01:44] - While the original 1646 version gave the civil magistrate power to call synods and preserve church unity (Ch. 23), the American revision strictly limited the magistrate's role to protecting the church without interfering in its internal affairs. Basically removing the state-church concept by giving civil magistrate less power.

King George III famously referred to the American Revolution as a "Presbyterian Rebellion" [01:37:31]

I would question if Hart's comment was a joke, that the Christian Nationalists should go all the way for traditional Reformed Christian values:

1. Whole day (Morning & Evening services)
2. Singing the Psalter
3. No praise bands or sway babes (derogatory/slang term used in some conservative Reformed circles to describe the singers in contemporary worship bands (often young women) who sway back and forth to the music)

Unless Hart is that kind of fundamentalist, I would think this is just a joke, to turn these 3 relativistic practices into real policies as if they are objective requirements of an obedient believer. But Hart could be that kind of fundamentalist. No big deal, it's still a good point he raised against the hypocrisy of Christian Nationalists.

Finally, the host's comment is worth taking note, a new phrase I learn is Right Wing Social Gospel: You gotta (1:35:16) have twelve kids. You gotta do head covering...

Sky's categorization of Christian Activism from Christian Nationalism is an interesting take:

C. Activism - Promoting Christian values.
C. Nationalism - The country should exist for and be dominated by Christians. So it's not about ideas or values, but shared birth and background.

I saw a chance on Facebook to comment this:

I don't vote simply if someone claims (or some famous preacher's son's testimony of others) to be a Christian, because it's likely I don't know the person well enough to call him or her a Christian, and we live in a time and place where just saying it means jack especially in politics. As far as character goes, it matters chiefly only if that person is trust worthy of where we align, and where we align is for the good of the nation.

From an evangelist's standpoint, one needs to be able to call out against Right or Left and fear only God, not men, in public, in such a way that when the crowd hears it, it is as if God is speaking, rather than just some rant. The same goes with giving blessings for the leaders as well.

As for God's favoring of America, I do believe that is so for now, but not because of the rise of Trump. But because there are still many who are zealous for God in evangelism. Nevertheless, this is not a Christian nation, America has never been. By definition a Christian nation is either a State religion or majority Christian. It's obvious that America is not a State religion (enforced or otherwise), and since the nation's founding, America has been full of Christian heterodoxies and heresies (i.e. moralism, deism, etc. A Christian Heretic Nation). At best we can say is that American is a Christian INFLUENCED nation. The only way forward for Christians in USA is Evangelism. Study the Bible, study apologetics, spread the Good News. We can still do this and still be for the country.

Update 4/14/2026: I commented on one of Alex Tseng's Facebook post commenting on the Trump healing America image, and his mother (Iris Lin) liked it LOL: When cultural Christianity becomes Christian Nationalism. Image shown below:

Update 5/26/2026: Some would ask, if America is a Christian Nation. This is the question that was also asked by Crossroads Church's Men's Flag and Nation event on Saturday 4/25/2026, which was an interesting debate and I will expand here when I have time. But this is ESAU MCCAULLEY's take on it (basically, depend on the time in American History and what Christians do now in the present in this country):

As for Crossroads Community Church's little event on this, which was a group breakup "debate" with 1 minute on anyone in the group after a question was posted for each to vote AGREE or DISAGREE, the overall outcome was well praised in its methodology, "civil" as some called it. I certainly give high marks for any desire of a fellowship to engage in deeper relational discussions or debates. But for now, long story short: I listened to myself talking later, and man, I really need to learn to talk because half of the time I don't even know what I was trying to say. Be straight to the point, be clear! As for the others, it's not easy to get everyone's points when they have some diverge levels. But in my group, I think James was the smartest (and youngest too). The one who's not so bright was probably the older with the white hair who went from confusing Christian Nation with Christian influenced, to confusion of him asking why government cannot be in charge with spreading the Gospel because if not the government that someone else (i.e. Christians) has got to. The elder's reaction is the result of a serious lacking in evangelical ministry (or low understanding of church history or American political history, or simply bad English - conflating Christian vs. Christian-influenced). I can say more, but that will be all for now. Recording's there, AI summary's saved, Pastor Dan's PPT was graciously provided.

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Update 6/9/2026: Saying more, this is my summary, hopefully a final one:
How we use words in any language matters. Though some words can be allowed to be subjectively nuanced, we must still to our best intention use terms most apt for the context of our communication.

Christian Nation defined: A nation/country that officially declared Christianity as her official religion; Or, A nation/country with a majority population of Christians.

Therefore, I cannot call America (USA) a Christian Nation because she has not declared official religion federally; Nor can she be considered a majority Christian country if you included Roman Catholics and Protestants together, not to mention Mormons and other Christian cults. So America is a Christian Cult/Heretic Nation at best. Not a Christian Nation.

Although the term Christian Nation is often misunderstood to be more practical than it is, it is actually more innocent than the term Christian Nationalism. So it's important to distinguish the two as two very different topics with separate discussions between them.

Christian Nationalism defined: Self-proclaimed superiority over other nations using legalistic biases from Christian-like justification.

Christian Patriotism defined: The desire and actions of a Christian to extend of self-sacrifice for the betterment of all his/her neighbors in the context of the nation.

Therefore, Christian nationalism is ironically anti-gospel. What Scripture supports in current time, is a Christian influenced nation, not a Christian nation, which is God's heavenly kingdom, the one and only kind to be fulfilled by God alone in the future in the form of new heaven and new earth, not now and certainly not OUT of the form of America. The differential crux of these two kinds of nations is the Gospel, it is evangelism. A Christian nationalist uplifts extreme and heretical religious legalism over the Gospel; A Christian who influences his/her nation grounds everything in the Gospel. Christian patriots, not Christian nationalists, are among such Christians. Christians are to shine the light on the nations, not shine a nation to other nations.

Unfortunately, many devout and pious Christians have either confused or imprudently mixed these terminologies interchangeably. So I would caution that however we use these terminologies, we must leave ourselves the intellectual candor to call out and isolate bad actors wearing Christian title.

Update 7/1/2026, I like this quote from the Holy Post Media by Skye: Christian Nationalists claim to be returning to the founder's vision when in fact they try to reverse it. They want the old European model that the founders rejected. In America, it's trying to make America European again, not great again. They want to replace the founders' pluralism with religious tribalism. They don't want WE THE PEOPLE, but ONLY MY KIND OF PEOPLE.

Some Christians think they are using America's 250 anniversary to "rededicate America to God", But are they though? or asking Jesus to endorse our preferred vision of America? Real repentance vs. using God's name to seize power. ~ Holy Post Media. Also, their discussion on posting the 10 commandments in classrooms was a good take: Christian Marking territories vs. more charitable take on their motivation. I think Kaitlyn's charitable take is rather astute - that these Christian moms don't know anything better in the face of immorality.