Patriotism

For God and Country, Part 2: Not Necessarily the Nation-State
For God and Country, Part 2: Not Necessarily the Nation-State

Should Christians promote nation-states in all places at all times? No.

For God and Country, Part 1: Christian Patriotism
For God and Country, Part 1: Christian Patriotism

Works by C.S. Lewis and Tim Keller can help us understand the outlines of a healthy Christian patriotism—a righteous love of one’s imperfect country and home, including the people there and much more.

Imagine Nations Were Selfless—It’s No Paradise

Imagine, if you will, a world full of completely unselfish people, of people who always thought of others first and not themselves; people who always sacrificed their own interests and looked for someone else to help. Paradise, right? Wrong.

Millennial Christians Are Often Wrong about Patriotism
Millennial Christians Are Often Wrong about Patriotism

Many millennial American Christians hold apathetic views toward patriotism, and even worse, they advocate for a perspective that sees the US as an empire.

Catholic Church - Integralism and International Order
Integralism and International Order

Would those Catholics promoting integralism instead of liberalism support a nationalist-isolationist foreign policy, or empire?

The American Condition: A Reflection on Cosmopolitanism and Community
The American Condition: A Reflection on Cosmopolitanism and Community

Cosmopolitanism can be a particularly pernicious temptation because it invites us to love the idealized reality of humanity above our actual flesh and blood neighbors who live next door.

A Theology of Anti-Nationalism: Review of Cavanaugh’s Migrations of the Holy
A Theology of Anti-Nationalism: Review of Cavanaugh’s Migrations of the Holy

Despite his errors and overstatements, Cavanaugh is helpful for thinking through the perils of nations and nationalism in an era when both seem to be enjoying a renaissance. He is best read as a theologian, not a historian, and a polemical theologian whose strident claims are best met with a healthy dose of skepticism.

Love and Defend America: Reflections from Rebeccah Heinrichs
Love and Defend America: Reflections from Rebeccah Heinrichs

Serious praise of America by prominent Christian thinkers was hard to find this Independence Day, but we should be willing to appreciate and defend her.

Lourdes Church ruins during World War II
The Church and the War

This provocative article written by Donald H. Stewart in the heat of World War II calls on the American Church to guide America toward a responsible patriotism which jettisons hatred and self-righteous aggrandizement while remembering “judgment belongeth unto God.”