Submitted by Brian L. Trotier
Attorney Mike Giorgino claims the documentary “God and Country” is a propaganda film intended to serve as “red meat for blue voters.” This is an incredibly shallow and misleading view of what this film represents and what threat Christian Nationalism presents for our democracy. Christian Nationalism is not a religion; it is a radical political movement cloaked in religious terminology to mislead both its followers and the general public. The goal of Christian Nationalism is to replace our democratic form of government with a theocracy where their Bible and their God will replace the U S Constitution and Bill of Rights. He also asserts the film uses “guilt by association” to link his hero, convicted felon Donald Trump, to other fascist leaders like Hitler. In reality the film explains how Hitler used a Christian theologian to take power in Germany and we all know how that ended.
In short, we hunt witches [Where Does the Witch Hunt End?] because we keep finding them. We believe strongly in freedom of religion. In fact, we think diverse theological views are indicative of a healthy society. On the other hand, the Awaken “Church” which is part of the Christian Nationalist movement rejects other religions and different Biblical interpretations. In essence, it’s their way or the highway. The author then goes on to quote Karl Popper who said this of tolerating the intolerant: “as long as we can counter them by rational argument and keep them in check by public opinion, suppression would certainly be unwise”. Well, that’s exactly what the film does. It uses facts, history, and rational arguments to educate the public about the risk posed to both Christianity and democracy by Christian Nationalism. The question Giorgino does not answer is what we do when rational arguments and public opinion aren’t enough to stop the intolerant “religions” like Awaken from infecting a community like Coronado.
In conclusion, if a “church” is really just a front for a radical political movement called Christian Nationalism and is seeking to destroy democracy and install theocratic rule in America, then we feel the need to speak up and speak out to protect our community. If you feel like this makes us witch hunters, then so be it.
Brian L. Trotier
