In conjunction with The Associated Press, PBS tonight premiers a documentary titled "Michael Flynn's Holy War" – which is billed as an "examination" of how Flynn, a retired three-star Army general, has emerged as a leader in "a far-right movement that puts its brand of Christianity at the center of American civic life and institutions." That movement, says PBS, is "attracting election deniers, conspiracists, and extremists" from around the U.S.
Laying the groundwork for the documentary, an Associated Press story on Monday carried the headline: "How Michael Flynn Goes Local to Spread Christian Nationalism."
Indeed, Flynn – Donald Trump's former national security advisor – is making the rounds telling Christians if they don't vote their values in November, the Left is going to "shove critical race theory and transgender nonsense down their throats." He made that statement in early August as he weighed in on local school board elections in Sarasota County, Florida. (Editor's note: In that county, the school board flipped from a 3-2 liberal majority to a 4-1 conservative majority.)
As for the label "Christian nationalist," Dr. Robert Jeffress – senior pastor of First Baptist-Dallas and a former Trump spiritual advisor – says when the Left trots out the phrase meant as a dig, he takes it as a compliment.
"What they're really afraid of is that Christians will use their political influence, their vote, to push our nation back to its original Christian foundation," Jeffress tells AFN. "And if that's what being a Christian nationalist is, I'm one."
Democrats, says the Southern Baptist pastor, want their base to think that government influenced by a worldview is somehow dangerous, forgetting that they too have a worldview.
"Every government, every nation is based on somebody's values," Jeffress observes. "It's just a question of whose values are they going to be based on? Their values – they're pro-abortion, pro-transgenderism, [and] pro-open borders – [have] no foundation in the Bible. It's the doctrine of the Left."
According to Jeffress, the Left doesn't only want to scare their base, they want to cow conservative Christians and "shame them" so they're hesitant to advocate individuals from voting their values.
"They want to accuse any Christian who votes in a way consistent with their values as a 'Christian nationalist' – but don't let them do that," he urges. "We have not only the right, but the duty to vote our Christian values."
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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in March signed into law the Parental Rights in Education bill reinforcing parents' fundamental rights to make decisions regarding the upbringing of their children. (AP) |
Involvement imperative at local levels
As voters in several Florida county school board elections discovered in Augusts, voting one's values at the local level can have an impact in stymying the Left's push for liberal indoctrination in the classroom. Gary Bauer with Campaign for Working Families says while federal and state races typically garner the most media attention, school board seats and city council positions are also important.
"Any elected office or any place where power presides can be used by the Left to take us in a direction we do not want to go," he says.
After things are decided and candidates have been put into office, Bauer says, citizens should not just stay home – especially when it comes to school policies.
"Parents ought to be partners with the school in the job of educating our children to be able to compete in the years ahead in a very competitive world," says the longtime conservative activist. "The schools should not be places where children are indoctrinated with the latest neo-socialist, neo-Marxist, radical, secular philosophy that came out of some university someplace."
Bauer made his comments Friday on American Family Radio.
