Will Christian nationalism, as it exists in the United States, ever cross the Atlantic? In the country of Donald Trump, the doctrine which confuses the values arising from faith and the strengthening of the national community is now well established. As our investigation shows, this ideology is sometimes accompanied by racism, especially when it results in theorizing a country where power would be exclusively held by white Christians, archetypes of “good Americans”. Good Americans against others, those of another skin color or another faith.
In France, and without reaching these extremes, the temptation of identity, among those who want to reduce faith to a flag, is indeed there. We are not talking here about the proponents of a form of conservatism, particularly on the societal level, or about loving one’s country, but about all those who would be tempted to forget Christian universalism and confine it within borders. So many nationalist ideologies which hinder “the unity of the human family”, says the Catholic Church, and therefore the equal dignity of all humans. Christianity cannot be the foil for any war of civilization. Nor can it be invoked to justify a battle of all against all, whether they are “real Americans” or “real Frenchmen”, against the “fake ones”, or supposed as such.
The United States is often a source of inspiration, particularly in the scientific and cultural fields. This time they must help us see the excesses that we want to avoid. It is up to us, Christians, to put in place the necessary antibodies to take into account the fact that nationalism and Christianity will always be incompatible.
