The South’s Christian Identity Challenge

The South is uniquely Christian.  Any serious movement seeking to advance Southern Nationalist causes must acknowledge that fundamental truth before anything else.  Whereas there may be a number of individuals who claim to be atheists, agnostics, or pagans, the fact is, any group that seeks to promote an ideological position that the South has a right to self-determination as a unique ethnicity on the North American continent must infuse Christianity with its messaging.  Denial of that fact is useless.  If you walk up to a home – literally or figuratively (e.g., via online promotion) – and knock on a Southerner’s door to discuss Southern Nationalism or secession, you will not get very far if you deny the sanctity of Jesus Christ.  The opened door will close quickly.

Understanding this reality is why discussions on Jesus Christ and Christianity are important -beyond the obvious faith-based reasons to speak of our Lord and Savior.  Whereas I love theological discussions, I prefer discussions on substantive revolutionary movements.  If you seek to lead, or even help guide the furtherance of pro-Southern strategic objectives, you must know the Christian South.  Currently, the Christian South is experiencing a Christian Identity Challenge and that needs to be addressed as part of any holistic approach toward advancing Southern Nationalism.  What do I mean by this?

The South can best be described as having two very strong Christian gravitational orbits from distinct theological frameworks: the Baptist faith and the Presbyterian faith.  There are various sub-orbits of growing or waning influence in the South.  For instance, Pentecostals and Baptists share many theological similarities – such as free will and the exclusivity of Christian salvation – but there are enough differences that the two may reasonably consider the other faith misguided.  Other mainstream religions seem to be experiencing phases of growth or decline.  Catholicism, which has been in the South since its early inception as a minor religious player, has grown as more transplants and Hispanics enter the South.  The Episcopalian and Methodist faiths seem to be waning in influence, although the Southern Methodist identity still plays a greater role culturally.  Regardless, it is hard to argue the importance of the Baptist and Presbyterian faiths in the religious and cultural constructs of the South.  

This is where the South’s Christian Identity gets muddled.  When I use the term “Christian Identity,” it is sometimes confused with the modern variant of British Israelism – an idea that Whites, especially those form the British Isles, share a blood lineage to Abraham.  There are reasons that I can get into this topic, but that is not the point of this piece.  By Christian Identity, in this context, I mean the struggle between one faith – the Baptist denomination writ large – that is generally dispensationalist – and the Presbyterian faith – that is generally covenantalist.  The former divides the Word in a series of chronological periods in which manifestations of salvation – while faith based – are distinct between the relationship of God, man, and Savior, Jesus Christ.  The latter breaks the Word into Covenant promises, the latest and most profound Covenant being that which is glorified by God through Jesus Christ as Savior.  

Here we see a theological tug-of-war for the South’s soul.  Whereas both Presbyterians and Baptists believe in the Salvation of Jesus Christ and the Bible as the definitive Word of God, they come to very different conclusions on the trajectory of Salvation and the sanctity of Israel.  These disagreements have consequences for the future of Southern Nationalism.  

One group, Presbyterians, define an elected people (Chosen) to enjoy Salvation and by extension, that immediately deprives the Jewish people of “Chosen” status.  God promised a new covenant (e.g., Jeremiah 31) because of Israel and Judah’s constant betrayal of God’s Word and laws.  As such, by rejecting God, the former covenant is broken and a new covenant emerged.  Christians, as such, are the new Chosen.  This concept obviously has geopolitical and cultural implications on the South.  If I extend the Presbyterian perspective logically – the South, with the greatest concentration of Christians, are a uniquely blessed composition of God’s Chosen.  They will reap the benefits of maintaining God’s Word.  It also means that geographic Israel – a place that is comprised and led by people who reject Jesus Christ – are no longer blessed and there are no conferred blessings for a Nation-State that supports the geography known as “Israel.”  They are, to put it bluntly, imposters.  

As you can see, the Presbyterian faith – at its core – divorces the South from any loyalty to geographic Israel and empowers the South to recognize its unique relationship with Christ as something special: the Southern Christian as a true Chosen people.  

Not all Baptists, but most Baptists, generally subscribe to the idea that Israel is a collection of the Chosen (Hebrew) people of God who have not yet accepted God’s Messiah – but they will.  How this defines the Jewish people’s relationship with God spans a spectrum of consequences, based on the independence of the Baptist church – some of which are very independent, whereas others, such as those of the formerly named Southern Baptist Convention, seem to subscribe to an idea of a parallel relationship of Christians and Jews enjoying Chosen status.  The former is “chosen,” not in the predestined, elect way that Presbyterians see chosen status; rather, a people with a unique relationship with God who enjoy blessings from God because they have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  The latter through Abraham.  However, the status of Jewish peoples is largely believed to be one that still has a special relationship with God dating back to the Abrahamic Covenant.

The other facet of the Baptist faith that differs from Presbyterianism is “free will.”  Whereas Presbyterians generally believe God has chosen his flock (predestination), Baptists believe that the Holy Spirit can guide one toward salvation, but ultimately, it is the decision of the engaged to accept or reject Jesus Christ (free will).  In the former circumstance, someone who is truly Chosen by God will have invited the Holy Spirit and Christ to guide them from sin – like shepherds with a flock – by God’s perfect design.  In the latter circumstance, salvation may present itself multiple times and as long as the sinner has not blasphemed the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit may repeatedly return in an attempt to save the sinner up to the final seconds of a dying breath.  

Note, these are obviously very simplistic summaries of more complex faiths, but again, we see the confluence of theological positions clashing.

The Baptist faith – again, not all, but in most cases – opens the South to a required alliance with the geographic Israel, or at least, the people – because it treats them as a parallel “Chosen.”  By extension, it logically strips the Christian South of its unique relationship with God, because it shares their Godly relationship with a Jewish people.  It also makes the Baptist South more susceptible to Jewish influences, because it is hard to reject a people whom you view as having an existing covenant with a shared Father.  Finally, the concept of free will invites abuses of the belief.  If one can reject Christ until their dying breath – both in actions and words – they can act in lascivious ways that harm the broader cohesion of believers in the South.

At this stage, it might be assumed that I am against Baptists.  I am not.  I have a great deal of respect for the Baptist faith.  I recognize that it is unique from Protestants, having its own distinct origin points.  Much of that which the Baptist faith professes is admirable – especially the sanctity of Christ Jesus and the Bible.  Some Baptist pastors are among the most important voices in the fight against Satan and modernity.  That said, the Baptist faith needs to reconcile important points or it will naturally hinder the growth of Southern Nationalism.  

Southern Nationalism cannot flourish among a Southern people who do not see themselves as uniquely imbued with God’s favor.  It cannot flourish if the Southern people still see the Jewish people – and more importantly, Israel – as deserving of their loyalty and protection as co-equals in God’s promise.  Finally, if the South is truly to rise again, it must take definitive stands on morality, which the Baptist faith admirably takes, but opens the door to allow questionable actors to exploit.  Note, it is not surprising, therefore, that black Baptists support outrageous social positions from female leadership roles to abortion to transgenderism to mass illegal immigration – using distorted Biblical passages to validate their ungodly positions with dispensationalist arguments.

To be fair, the Presbyterian faith has experienced its own problems, but it offers more concrete theological arguments for a South that divorces itself from the lascivious North.   

Presbyterianism’s Scottish roots are firmly entrenched in the Scots-Irish South.  Stonewall Jackson was a devout Presbyterian.  Presbyterian Pastor and theologian, Robert Lewis Dabney, authored works on faith that would literally crucify modernity – as well as a brilliant, Godly defense on the right of a state to secede.  But like many mainstream faiths, the fastest growing Christian faith in the Republic of Ireland is experiencing an internal division.  The predestined “Chosen” have a strong association with their Bibles and theological beliefs that should insulate it from greater external political influences, but unfortunately that is not true.  The Presbyterian Church of the United States (PCUSA) seems to have gone fully off the rails, while the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) remains loyal to Biblical truths and Calvinist theological sentiment.  Attempts to remain “conservative” through the introduction of competing denominations seems to be failing to modern political whims – thanks in large part to the influence of women.  Like Evangelicals in places like Communist China, I believe it is only a matter of time in which dedicated Presbyterians, be they actual members of the OPC or simply theological conservatives, find themselves hiding in basements to worship in the not-too-distant future.  They may be joined by Independent, Fundamental Baptists.

All of which brings this full circle: the South needs to quickly seize its unique role as a Christian Nation-State; any Christian faith that dovetails with Southern Identity as a unique American ethnicity must ensure it reinforces cultural, societal, and spiritual arguments for secession.  On the whole, the theological tenets of Presbyterianism work better for that goal.  However, that does not mean Southerners should simply run out to their nearest Presbyterian church to enter the faith without prejudice.  Not all Presbyterian churches are built the same.  The faithful need to address apostacies that have emerged within the leftist churches of the faith.

For my personal part, I have been exploring Celtic Christianity, which shares many similarities with the Presbyterian faith – but some differences.  Initiated by the renegade Saint Patrick, who was largely disowned by the Catholic Church until he was adopted for political purposes, the fundamentals of Celtic Christianity are codified by the Irish and Scottish Saints Ninian, Kentigern, and most importantly, Columba.  That subject is for a piece at a different time.  

Regardless, I envision a world in which true Christians are forced to hide in small group settings in order to express their commitment to Biblical truths.  Why?  Because my Bible tells me so.  I do not subscribe to the Rapture theory.  The Book of Revelation explains that the Christian will have to endure extraordinary pain in the final days prior to the return of Jesus Christ.  A commitment to Christ in the face of temporal depredations and possible martyrdom will be rewarded.  Nearly the entirety of Chapters Two and Three of Revelation warns the Christian that the variety of formerly Christian churches will gravitate away from the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ in the end times.

“As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.  Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.  To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” (Revelation 3: 16 – 22, KJV)

It is critical, at this time, that the South rectify the competing theological orbits that divide and expose it to further division.  I am not asking Baptists to stop being Baptists nor am I asking every Southerner to become Presbyterian.  However, a deep understanding of the influences of faith, addressing these matters of deep difference, and exploring faith within the context of Dixie Identity, must be addressed, soon.  The South cannot divorce itself from the yankee dominated, federal empire without divorcing itself from any notion that the Jewish people share Chosen status.  It will not happen.  

My final parting shot is this: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27).  The South is largely comprised of Christ’s Sheep.  I believe this is by Elected Design.  I believe they are His sheep because He chose them.  Shepherds choose their flocks.  God has a purpose for the South.  He has a purpose for His flock.   The South should know and embrace its Godly purpose.