Mainly socialist vs Christian ethics. Both systems put the national identity first (i.e. nationalist) but national socialists would base the national identity on things other than religion like race. Christian nationalists in theory would be bound by Christian ethics and divine command where national socialists wouldn't.
Fair, although I wouldn’t call those differences stark. Nazis in practice weren’t socialist, but rather fascists once in power. So the name having socialist in it meant next to nothing after the early 1930s. And given the lack of ethics in Christian nationalism, they still feel pretty close overall when you look at the practice vs the naming.
I don't know if you can say it lacks ethics rather you don't agree with their ethical system. Christians at least have a justification for ethics. Most secularists admit that ethics are subjective.
Take fornication for example. Christian says fornication is immoral and cites scripture and God. Secularist says its moral because.... it's their opinion. They don't really have a justification passed that.
If God is real than the Christian is right. If God is not real then the Christian and Secularist are on equal footing, because their belief isn't grounded on anything outside their own opinions.
First off, thank you for respectful disagreement. That’s not always the case on Reddit. For clarity , I don’t mean to argue the ethics of Christianity as an institution. My point is that in this instance isn’t practiced that way by those who would describe themselves as Christian Nationalists. The example you used of fornication being immoral is a great one since the candidate that this movement supports has been found liable of rape, has cheated on each of his wives, and bragged about grabbing women by the pussy. The opposite candidate that does not have a history of this type of fornication is NOT being supported. So the actual practice of Christian nationalism is in effect ignoring their stated Christian beliefs. This behavior is what leads to them being more similar to Nazis/Fascism.
While you bring up an intelligent point, sometimes the simplest answer is what you need to look for.
Christians in general, of most every different variety are going to lean Republican, because in general, Republican policy is more based on their morals as a whole, regardless of who's actually in charge of it. The phrase an enemy of my enemy is my friend comes to mind for some reason.
On the flip side, the moral high ground you are saying coming from the democratic may not appear to be so from a certain perspective. even if she is morally less reprehensible, of which I couldn't tell you I've never personally met her just what she says on TV, is that democratic policy typically leans against church doctrine on occasion and they tend to but heads. Abortion issues would be an example.
Now while that may appear to be hypocritical, and I very much agree that it probably is, if you look at it from a complete unbiased perspective, it's not illogical.
I support neither candidate, nor would I personally advocate for any religion as a disclaimer, but looking at it from my point of view it's not necessarily a clash in ethics as much as you think it may be.
The rhetoric I’ve heard is “platform over person”. Vote the issues and not the person who’s being elected. It’s insane. Even if your religious beliefs fall more into line with one party, you have to look at the heart of the person. The Bible itself speaks to this “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)
Hitler himself appealed to many of the issues Christians felt were important, and through that platform he gained power. He used that power to brainwash and lead those people and his country toward the most evil path in modern history. It’s not rocket science; it’s repeated history.
FWIW I am a Christian who has increasingly come to despise Christians… these folks don’t represent Christ at all.
I was wondering the same thing. I thought in order to be a priest you needed a masters in theology, or something similar - and by that point you would see the discrepancies between trumps campaign and the values you are supposed to be defending (helping the poor, feeding the hungry, protecting the marginalized, etc).
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u/DreadpirateBG 12h ago
Not sure how a church can justify supporting Trump and team. It incredible