…And He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.” (Mt 22:37-40)

But in today’s world, these two commandments have been thrown out all in the name of Christian Nationalism. Christian Nationalism as Russell Vought (current Office of Management & Budget director) defines Christianity and Nationalism in these terms:

My own definition of ‘Christian nationalism’ would be this: An orientation for engaging in the public square that recognizes America as a Christian nation, where our rights and duties are understood to come from God and where our primary responsibilities as citizens are for building and preserving the strength, prosperity and health of our own country. It is a commitment to an institutional separation between church and state, but not the separation of Christianity from its influence on government and society. (Newsweek, Op. Ed. 3/22/21)

Vought, a divorced Evangelical Christian, would have us all fall in line with his premise that the USA is a Christian nation.  It may have been founded by persecuted Christian groups but that was never the Founding Fathers’ intention:

Both Jefferson and fellow Virginian James Madison felt that state support for a particular religion or for any religion was improper. They argued that compelling citizens to support through taxation a faith they did not follow violated their natural right to religious liberty. The two were aided in their right for disestablishment by the Baptists, Presbyterians, Quakers, and other “dissenting” faiths of Anglican Virginia. (Establishment Clause: Separation of Church and State. Free Speech Center. Middle Tennessee State University.)  

Vought’s entire purpose for a Christian nation is to save America from a Marxist way of life so that we can follow an Evangelical Protestant ideal that is a watered down version of the “One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic” Church—the Orthodox Christian Church. The US is not a Marxist nation and we don’t live a Marxist way of life. (“…save America from the “corrupt Marxist vanguard” that has taken over the country, Vought believes.” [Baptist News. Russell Vought: The gung-ho Christian nationalist who helps Trump be Trump]). However, his mission raises the question: Whose Christian faith do we follow if America is a Christian nation? Do we, as Orthodox Christians, suddenly convert to White Evangelical Protestantism? Or do we become a Catholic nation? Which religion rules? This is what Vought is proposing. He doesn’t believe in a government’s intervention to protect the health and welfare of its citizens. Therefore, no social security, Medicaid, food stamps, etc.,would be allowed. Mr. Vought doesn’t take into consideration the he and his ilk will not need these services when they retire. The rest of us will. Without these programs, how will a retired elderly person live from day to day?

Lately, we’ve seen the destruction of USAID and several other US government agencies. Next will be welfare programs such as SNAP.  Already free school lunches are a thing of the past. As for the World Food Program,  they report that many millions will die of starvation. (Please refer to Time Magazine’s article dated April 8, 2025 titled “The U.N. World Food Program Calls Aid Cuts a Death Sentence.”)  All of these destructive policies are anti-Christian. But Vought would have us believe that this is for the best. If Vought knew of St. Basil and St. John Chrysostom, he would (maybe?) reconsider.

“Anyone who fails to share his money with the hungry is guilty not merely of a dereliction of a general responsibility, but of murder.” (St. Basil, Homily in Times of Famine and Drought 7. PG 31.321CD). St. John Chrysostom spoke of those “…who gain their wealth from unjust practices that subject the poor to greater poverty.” (St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Matthew 5.5. PG 57.60-61).  St. John Chrysostom also said, “…for all creation’s plenty comes from God and is the common birthright of all persons.” (St. John Chrysostom, Homily to the People of Antioch 2.6. PG 49.43.).

One of the most chilling aspects of Vought’s plans is HR 22 which Indivisible calls the “silencing of Americans act.” This would require proof of citizenship with a birth certificate and/or a passport before voting.  We would need to prove who we are. Many married women that I know have changed their names to their husband’s last name. How does Mary Jones (nee Smith) prove who she is if her current legal documents are different from her birth certificate? This would disenfranchise the majority of women in the US and this seems like a first step to repeal the 19^th Amendment. What’s next? Women won’t be allowed to apply for a credit card anymore? Will women still be allowed to own property? Or will women become chattel? And yet, a more chilling aspect of this current government led by Trump but planned by Vought is the disappearing of illegal and legal immigrants. Green cards are no longer considered a protection against deportation. Soon citizens born in the US will disappear (Slate, April 7, 2025, “Trump Administration Debuts Legal Blueprint for Disappearing Anyone It Wants”). So many migrants have been deported from Florida that Florida is considering changing its labor laws to allow children as young as 14 to work.

How do these actions make a Christian nation? And how do these actions make any person out to be an actual Christian? Why does God care about skin color? He created us in His image. (If God is an old white man, please send a Polaroid shot.) If a person was assigned a gender at birth and they choose to transition, how is that Vought’s concern? Will he stand in front of God’s judgment or the transperson? If a man marries another man, again won’t the couple have to answer to God? Wouldn’t it be easier to give our love to those who choose to be different rather than try and annihilate them? Who are we to judge? And doesn’t a person’s character and actions matter more than what they look like and wear?

If America becomes a White Evangelical Protestant Christian nation, will we be forced to convert? Isn’t this what the Ottomans did to the Orthodox in 1453? Weren’t Orthodox Christians singled out and segregated? Is this what’s going to happen in the US? Will we force Muslims and Jews to become Christians? How is that Christian?

In Vought’s world, we would follow the Bible word for word. That’s not how Orthodox Christianity is. We have systematic theology and Holy Tradition. We have thousands of years of doctrine and documentation that guides our faith. Sadly, many Evangelical Christians such as Russell Vought do not understand what being a Christian entails. It’s very easy to label Vought and his ilk as evil. We should see them as misguided and not well-informed. It’s God’s will that we spread His Word to such people. But, if Jesus Christ found Mr. Vought crying in a doorway, He would stop and ask why he despairs because Russell Vought is also a child of God (albeit one who doesn’t understand the Word of God).  It’s because God is our creator and He loves us unconditionally no matter what we believe, how we dress, or who we marry. All that matters is that we live in God and God lives in us. This is true Christianity. 

The more Vought takes us down this dark path, we need to “rage, rage against the dying of the light.” (Dylan Thomas)

Lia Lewis, MDiv is a graduate of Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology. She lives and works in New Jersey.

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