It is the newest boogeyman of the Left: The haunting rise of "Christian Nationalism."
Like most rhetorical straw men they erect, their definition of the phrase is nebulous, giving them maximum liberty to apply the label to virtually any conduct of faithful people.
Senators posting a Bible verse to their social media feed? Christian nationalism.
Rural preachers lamenting the tragic violence of abortion? Christian nationalism.
Mike Pence not being alone with a woman who isn't his wife? Christian nationalism.
The Ten Commandments being posted inside a public school? Christian nationalism.
Holding to Martin Luther King's belief that just laws are those that square with the Moral Law of God? Christian nationalism.
Think biological men shouldn't access women's locker rooms? Christian nationalism.
And as Not the Bee reported on Saturday, from the editor-in-chief of the far-left conspiracy site Mother Jones, we have found another. She may have deleted it, but the internet is forever:
If Christian nationalism is actually a thing (and for the record, I do believe that there could be a rational, logical definition to the phrase), this kind of pearl-clutching panic over being "blessed" by a stranger makes a mockery of it. The Left has done to the phrase what they have sadly done to legitimate terms like "racist" and "sexist." Undisciplined, they have used them as a pejorative attack against anyone that disagrees with them on matters of public policy.
Don't believe universities should favor less qualified black students over more qualified Asian students? Racist.
Don't believe an equal rights amendment serves women well because it would necessarily repeal all workplace protections women have gained (like maternity leave)? Sexist.
Don't think there's anything wrong with kindly wishing another person a "blessed evening?" Christian nationalist.
It's absurd. And if the Left actually possessed serious, legitimate concerns about racism, sexism, or Christian nationalism in our culture, rather than suffer this kind of foolishness, they would isolate and ostracize the lunacy. But they don't. Because the concern isn't about race, sex, gender, or the separation of church and state.
The singular priority is power.
Ironically, their willingness to look the other way when people like Ms. Jeffery drop bombs of idiocy on the public dialogue like this, actually jeopardizes their pursuit of power. Why? Because normal people read this kind of thing and conclude that, "If this Christian nationalism thing is just being pleasant to other people like that, I don't think I really want to be against it."
They make a joke out of the very cause they claim to care so much about - a point commentator Allie Beth Stuckey drove home with this reply:
Remember when former President Donald Trump made an entire plank of his campaign platform in 2016 to "bring back Merry Christmas?" The Left ridiculed the notion that anyone was preventing people from saying "Merry Christmas."
They did this even as major corporations and companies from Starbucks to Target, at the behest of left-wing pressure groups began scrubbing the phrase from their holiday decoration choices, the Obama White House omitted any reference to "Merry Christmas" on their annual holiday cards and reversed the George W. Bush White House tradition of sharing Bible verses on them, and countless other left-wing organizations decried the offensive, politically incorrect practice of imposing the majority's religious preference on others in the public square.
In short, mainstream leftists permitted the lunacy of their fringe left wing to become the public narrative, and then got their knickers in a bunch when people noticed and recoiled.
The same principle is occurring right now with the Christian nationalism claptrap. It's proof again why we are a much poorer civilization when fringe extremists, like those who run lunatic websites like Mother Jones, are permitted to dictate the national conversation.
People who wish you a "blessed day" aren't theocrats. They're nice, polite people. That's more than can be said for the ones who complain about it.
Speaking of which:
