Monroe, NC and Christian Nationalism

I had opportunity last night to attend a Monroe, NC City Council meeting. I was not sure what to expect, but I have to say I was not prepared for the display of Christian Nationalism that was so blatantly presented.

I arrived with a group involved with planning for the Union County Pride events to occur next weekend. We had no specific agenda. We only knew that Union County Pride had been added to the council's agenda the day before. There had been no communication as to why the group was now on the agenda. There had been no communication referring to any concern the council had. There had only been a notice by the city attorney that we were on the council's agenda.

The meeting opened with a very sectarian prayer, led by a local pastor. It had every intention of being a Christian prayer, seeking discussion and outcomes aligned with his particular tradition of Christianity. The prayer assumed that all present were Christians, at least in its phrasing, counting one and all as belonging under and accepting the lordship of Jesus Christ. It made no effort to address the fact that it excluded several people present, or that it might have excluded anyone.

The first speaker to address the council had a couple of points to make. The first being a request that the council begin its meetings henceforth with the Pledge of Allegiance. While there is nothing necessarily wrong with that request, it was interesting to note that the rationale given was that such would be in support of our troops, as though the Pledge of Allegiance were in honor of our armed forces, and not about binding ourselves to the nation and state above other competing national and political loyalties.

Another three speakers rose to address the council, aware of the purposes behind Union County Pride being on the meeting's agenda, though members of Union County Pride board were still in the dark about it. They began railing about Drag Queen Story Hour as pedophilia and grooming children. They spoke of how a kickoff event that included drag at a different venue was limited to persons of 18 years and older. They stated that this was a perversion of children and that children needed to be protected. The arguments were laced with and based on half-truths an innuendo, but presented as uncontested fact.

Two persons related to Union County Pride spoke in an attempt to personalize the community being targeted by those opposed to Union County Pride. Without knowing what was really on the meeting's agenda, they had no way to address the issues at hand with any specificity.

Another individual spoke, asking the council to address other needs of the disabled community. Then the council moved on to its business, of which those present were no more than spectators. Some of us had hoped there would have been some opportunity for further discussion from the floor when Union County Pride came up on the agenda, but such was not the case.

At that point in the order of business, a council member brought forth a resolution she had prepared to ask Union County Pride not to hold Drag Queen Story Hour during its event at Belk Townawanda Park. This was prefaced with carefully worded comments about how the council had tried to find a way to force Union County Pride not to hold its festival at all. They had looked into complaints that UCPride was selling tickets, which is not allowed in government spaces. Recognizing that the tickets were free and simply a way to gauge numbers of participants expected threw out that avenue to block the events from happening. A question was referred for the city attorney to specifically address a question of legal limitations on what orders they could issue Union County Pride in regard to its use of the park. That clarified they had no legal standing to issue orders and that it would set them up for a lawsuit they would lose.

The council pointedly declared they were not against the LGBTQ+ community, but they were concerned about protecting children. The problem with this line of concern is that they not once sought dialogue with the Union County Pride Board or anyone actually involved in planning for the Drag Queen Story Hour. All their dialogue had been with groups opposed to the event, and they were working with limited and non-factual statements about what the event entails.

As such, on one level, the actions and words of the council last night were little more than political grandstanding. They passed a resolution calling on UCPride not to hold Drag Queen Story Hour at the park. That resolution bears no weight and has no legal authority whatsoever. On the other hand, the manner in which the resolution was prepared and passed was designed to placate very specifically a vocal religious minority with a very pointed view on questions of sexual orientation and gender identity. It was clear to most anyone paying attention that the voices who had been speaking in opposition to Union County Pride were using religious language and knew what the resolution in question was designed to address. At least one of them did not come away from the meeting happy with the results. They desired more decisive and punitive action that would support their religious views.

The whole exercise, however, was bathed in determined ignorance. There was no attempt to learn. There was no attempt to dialogue. There was no attempt to understand. There was no attempt to discern the truth behind accusations and rationale presented. It was designed to enable fear to continue to drive and motivate division through wielding political power regardless of any question of truth.

The first argument presented against Union County Pride was that a venue holding story hour was limiting participation to adults over 18, as improper for children. The event in question, however, was serving liquor in a rented space and was holding a drag show, not a story hour. The second argument raised was that story hour is designed to groom children in promotion of pedophilia. That has been a common theme I have been hearing in protest, but it is completely unfounded and untrue.

At heart, the objections raised were religious in nature, concerned with an understanding that the LGBTQ+ community stands against a particular reading of Scripture. This council meeting was simply an exercise in seeking to wield political power to advance a religious agenda of one slice of Christian tradition. It was an attempt to force those who do not subscribe to their interpretation of God's will to bow before their hold on the reigns of political power.

That is precisely what Christian Nationalism attempts to do. It seeks to wield political power in the name of God, all the while excluding any who do not follow along with their particular view of God's will.

That is not Christianity as Jesus taught us to live. Jesus did not force the rich young ruler's hand to give away all his resources and follow Jesus instead. Jesus let him walk away, even as it grieved Jesus for him to do so. Jesus refused the wilderness temptation to pick up the reins of political power. Jesus clarified for Pilate that his reign was not akin to the politics of this world.

It is not serving God, it is not faithful Christianity, when we attempt to wield political power to advance our understanding of God's will as an imposition on others. When we are willing to use any means necessary, including twisting the truth and being less than honest, we are not wielding political power to accomplish God's purposes. It is just an exercise in abusing God's name to advance our own ambitions.

— ©Copyright 2022, Christopher B. Harbin 

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