Democratic gubernatorial nominee Chris Jones continues to introduce me to the concept of being boldly principled while engaging in left-of-center politics in the neo-Confederate South.
As an old dog, I struggle to adapt to this new trick.
It's confidently saying what you believe. It's eschewing any supposed imperative to finesse or avoid issues, which is what Bill Clinton frequently did pursuing political viability in Ronald Reagan's time and the Moral Majority's shadow.
But Clinton had a chance to win in the 1980s. In the 2020s, a left-of-center Democratic gubernatorial candidate down to a 32 percent base may as well let loose rather than lie low. It is positively liberating.
Last week, an online guest column appeared on the site of Newsweek. It was co-authored by our own Jones and Doug Pagitt, executive director of the national Vote Common Good organization.
That group asserts--as does our Democratic gubernatorial nominee, an ordained minister and scientist--that "Christian nation" is an un-American and un-Christian phrase, which it is.
Jones and Pagitt especially deplore "Christian nationalism," the latest raging madness on the ever-more-frightful American right wing.
"Christian nationalism" is the idea that America and Christianity are the same, and that one is beholden to enforce his version of Christianity on his government. In some current extreme forms, it makes "Christian America" imperatives of white supremacy and insurrection.
"Christian nationalism melds Christian and American identities, distorting both in the process," Jones and Pagitt wrote.
The authors spared no candor--leaned on no euphemism--in explaining that, whether in an extreme or tamer form, the notion of America as a Christian nation is both irreligious and dangerous to freedom and democracy.
They explain that America is by vital essence a gloriously free-religion nation where citizens' religion is a personal prerogative and no business of the government.
Our American fundamentalist and evangelical Christian religions long held that view, fearing government running them. Then, beginning in the 1980s, Republicans began to co-opt them for votes and encourage them to try to take over the government to run it as they think their God commands.
Through it all, saying America is not a Christian nation but a free-religion nation simply shows awareness of, and devotion to, the founding principles of the U.S. Constitution.
I've written it a few times over the years and, for the simple expression of American truth, have been widely demeaned as an atheist or communist.
I recall a conversation with a leading Republican politician whom I won't identify because we were texting personally as the Republican politician extended condolences on the passing of my mother. The leading Republican quoted the Bible and said maybe it would help even though I was a "non-believer."
Non-believer? Because I embrace the U.S. Constitution and the second of what are called the "great commandments" of Jesus, as enumerated in the book of Mark?
Jones explained to me last week--when I got him on the phone to ask why he insisted on political suicide--that the second of the "great commandments" applies by telling us to love our neighbors as ourselves.
One wouldn't want oneself demeaned or ostracized by one's government because of one's religious beliefs. But to declare that the U.S. is a Christian nation is to demean or ostracize a neighbor who might be Jewish or Muslim or none of your, or our, damned business.
It's appropriate that one advances principles founded in one's Christian beliefs. Or Jewish ones. Ditto Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, secular humanist, agnostic or atheist as well as the simply confused or indifferent. But, in each case, the point is to advance principles influenced by one's personal religion, not to impose that religion.
The clearest but tragically most divisive example of how the separation ought to work is that an evangelical Christian or Catholic would consider a broad range of greater-good issues rather than abortion alone.
It eventually would be fatal to a free democracy if the current extremist form of "Christian nationalism" was not confronted and defeated. That's because, as Jones and his co-author write, it can't be prayed away. It can only be voted down.
So, I asked Jones why he would marginalize his campaign by getting out-front on misunderstood truth in such a way.
"Marginalized by whom?" he asked.
"Voters," I said, such as those assuming me to be a non-believer.
He said people motivated politically in such a way probably weren't going to vote for him, anyway. He said the threat to the country is real and that responsible political conduct is to confront that threat, not run from it.
This kind of truth from election-seeking politicians in the South is going to take some getting used to, which will be a joyous exercise.
John Brummett, whose column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, is a member of the Arkansas Writers' Hall of Fame. Email him at jbrummett@arkansasonline.com. Read his @johnbrummett Twitter feed.