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Christianity and Country: Will the Christian Taliban Prevail in ‘24?
America’s Christian nationalists are no less sick and extremist than the 9/11 hijackers
Over the July 4th weekend in 2001, I was at a Philly’s game in Philadelphia with my family. When the game ended, fans were invited onto the field and permitted to watch the fireworks show. Lying on the cushy artificial turf and staring up at the dark sky, the lights were dimmed; we watched for 20 minutes as burst after burst commemorated our nation’s commitment to freedom.
My father looked over and said to my girlfriend from Russia, “It is stuff like this that makes America so great. Regardless of who you are, that flag unifies us to love this amazing country.” She smiled and agreed.
“In Russia, it is always so much more official. This is just families and baseball. Wow!” Her child-like enthusiasm stole my heart. At that moment, America was indeed unified despite all of our problems. Many will challenge our nation’s commitment to freedom, and I, too, would be one of the first to argue that we struggle to always be “about freedom.”
However, there is a small, hidden gem in our society that few recognize as having a significant democratizing power unless they have lived abroad. It is the local community college…
