Faust and Mephistopheles, 1827, oil on canvas, by Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863). In his epic work, “Faust,” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, portrays Faust’s ‘pact with the devil’.
At our Sunday church service following Ash Wednesday, during communion congregants could choose to have their foreheads marked with ashes in the form of a cross. The gesture was held over from Ash Wednesday when that service was cancelled due to weather.
My choice to forego the marking came from my usual reticence regarding public demonstrations, and also influenced by comments from Texas state Rep. James Talarico during his Feb. 16 interview with Stephen Colbert. Just under 15 minutes, it’s well worth watching.
Talarico, who is campaigning for Texas U.S. Senator, told of his grandfather, a minister, saying, ‘don’t tell me what you believe; show me what you do, and I will tell you what you believe’. That’s another way of saying that faith without works is dead, or actions speak louder than words. Talarico spoke forcefully and eloquently in reprimanding the rise of so-called Christian nationalism in U.S. government and politics.
In researching the topic, I stumbled upon the website of Christians Against Christian Nationalism, sponsored by the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty. According to its website, the BJC “is a 90-year-old religiously based organization working to defend faith freedom for all and protect the institutional separation of church and state in the historic Baptist tradition.” A Baptist in my youth, and now Lutheran, I am encouraged to see both denominations landing on the right side of secular history.
Religion in history
The one-third of Americans who support Christian nationalism seem to have forgotten lessons of the past that were fresher in the minds of the founders of our constitutional, democratic government 250 years ago. The founders understood that throughout the millennia, organized religion has been at least a part of or main cause of much conflict and warfare. Here I define religion as institutions created by humankind, not spiritual faith emanating from humans being created in the spiritual image of God.
Think of the Crusades (1095-1291), the Spanish Inquisition (1478-1834), or the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) mainly in Germany. Visiting a museum in Ronda in southern Spain years ago, I still can feel the revulsion of seeing implements of torture used against Muslims and Jews. Even that pales against the Crusades’ slaughter in Palestine, or the ravages of the war between Catholics and Lutherans in the 17th Century.
This is not the fault humankind’s attempt to reach out to God, or God reaching to us in the prophets, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. The conflict arises when humans think they can assume the role that is God’s regarding individual faith. Political governments have no authority to dictate an individual’s faith and religious beliefs.
First Amendment
That is why the founders of our government established freedom of religion in the First Amendment in Constitution’s Bill of Rights: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
Today it seems that those who desire to infuse religion into a nation’s government, are the same ones who support a regime that is striving to muzzle freedom of speech, or right to assemble in peaceful protest against grievances against a clearly corrupt and immoral federal government. The latter must be qualified by saying among the very top; I still have faith and respect for the majority of government workers trying to serve the public.
According to a Public Religion Research Institute poll, one-third of Americans qualify as Christian nationalism Adherents (11%) or Sympathizers (21%), compared with two-thirds who qualify as Skeptics (37%) or Rejecters (27%). For polling purposes, I would count myself among the skeptics; I am a Christian, but one who tries to follow Jesus’ words in Matthew Chapter 5, the Sermon on the Mount. Nowhere in the Bible does it support the current idea of Christian nationalism.
Not surprisingly, the majority of Christian nationalism adherents-sympathizers are found in the current Republican Party. “For a significant number of white evangelical Christians, support for Trump is not only a core part of their faith identity but is inextricably intertwined with their vision of what the country should be—and what steps should be taken to impose that vision,” states an article in The New Republic, left-leaning but usually accurate.
Faustian bargain
It’s difficult to comprehend the cognitive dissonance that Christian nationalism adherents must experience in supporting a president whose words and behavior appear to be the antithesis of Christianity. It’s like a modern replay of the legend of Dr. Faust, the alchemist who “sold his soul to the devil” in return for great success, wealth and power in his lifetime on earth.
Here an image comes to mind of House Speaker Mike Johnson, selling his soul to the president so that Christian nationalism can take over the government. It would be great stretch to compare Johnson with the legendary Faust, and even greater, with the great German poetic genius, Johann Wolfgang von Gothe, who embodied the legend in Faust, literature’s best-known ‘pact-with-the devil’ work.
I checked out Faust from the library and, lacking the time and patience for a thorough read, only skimmed through portions. Luck or divine guidance took me to some key lines (abbreviated):
Mephistopheles (Satan’s agent):
If you would like a coalition
I am your servant, I am your slave.
Faust:
And what have I to undertake in return?
Mephistopheles:
When we meet again on the other side,
In the same coin you shall pay me back.
Danish philosopher SØren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) is quoted in a 2017 BBC article, “What the myth of Faust can teach us,” that resonates today: “Every notable historical era will have its own Faust. Our challenge today is that, to some extent, we are all in a Faustian bind. We are plagued by politicians offering easy answers to complex problems – especially when those easy answers are empty promises. The legend warns us to be wary of the cult of the ego, the seductions of fame and the celebration of power.”
Instead, during Lent we are reminded to follow a leader who for 40 days resisted those temptations and went forward on a mission that changed the world, still a work in progress.
Some of my earlier thoughts relating to religion and politics appear in previous posts:, “Religious warfare – King Cyrus, really? Or, the Golden Calf, perhaps?” (March 19, 2025); “Being mindful of what lies beyond – As mainline church attendance declines, interest in God and spirituality rises” (Jan. 1, 2026); “Time for a little philosophical therapy, and the courage to be” (Jan. 22, 2025); “Religious literature a vast resource about human condition” (Dec. 11, 2024); “Darkness at noon on the road to wisdom (Nov. 13, 2024).
The phrase ‘the devil made me do it’ is said to have originated with comedian Flip Wilson, although the theme is consistent with ancient legends of people seeking wealth and power being tempted by Satan.
