James Hirsen complained in his March 1 Newsmax column:
The unthinkable is happening.
Christians in America are under attack from the establishment media, the Hollywood community, and a myriad of left-adherent activists within our nation.
It was never supposed to be this way. Not in the Land of the Free.
Apart from our Christian Founding, people in America generally tried to maintain a kind of “live and let live” attitude, particularly when it came to an individual’s personal religious and political beliefs.
But somehow this cultural tenet, like so many others, has mysteriously been turned on its head.
Christians are suddenly being tarred with the label “Christian Nationalist.”
So what exactly is a Christian Nationalist?
To the best of my knowledge it is a phrase that is currently being used to foment hatred against those who believe in the New Testament and who view the Founding documents of our country as a national treasure.
Things seem to be escalating at a rapid pace.
The pejorative has been turned into a meme that is being used to repeatedly massage people’s minds and turn Christians and patriots into pariahs.
It may also be a means to further suppress free speech as well as the free exercise of religion.
That’s funny, because Hirsen is on record tarring non-right-wingers with the “woke” label, with the apparent goal of fomenting hatred and suppressing free speech:
- In November 2022, Hirsen claimed that Jimmy Kimmel, under a previous comedic persona, “has broken a whole host of woke rulebook provisions,” and that now “he has been trying to do penance as it relates to his newfound woke religion.” He also complained that “Tinseltown’s head honchos and their like-minded fellow residents of the New Woke Hollywood are virtually strangling comedians, comedy writers and comedy itself.”
- In another column, Hirsen claimed that election denier Kari Lake “was confronted with the sheer anger of the woke mob” — which actually referred to her facing criticism for slagging a local alternative paper in Phoenix as “a rag for selling marijuana ads” and referencing the now-defunct far-right social media site Parler, a stunt that got her suspended from her TV anchor job for a week.
- In August 2023, Hirsen touted right-wing-friendly songs of the summer, gushing that “the silent unwoke majority sure seems to have found its voice.”
- In January, Hirsen whined that “late-night hosts began moving further and further to the political left. Then so many of the jokes went woke.”
Hirsen offered no definition of what “woke” supposedly is.
He went on to complain that House Speaker Mike JOhnson’s links to Christian nationalist groups was highlighted:
Apparently it began last year with verbal assaults that were aimed at U.S. House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La.
Speaker Johnson had acknowledged his sincere religious beliefs, and the Christian Nationalist label has been used ever since to defame him and the GOP.
Mainstream news outlets have been releasing hit pieces disguised as journalism.
—Time Magazine published an article titled “The Christian Nationalism of Speaker Mike Johnson.”
—Politico.com followed suit with a piece called “The Christian Nationalist Ideas That Made Mike Johnson.”
—The New York Times joined in with an article titled “Christian Nationalism Is No Longer Operating Beneath the Surface.”
Hirsen has previously complained that the truth about Johnson is being reported. He then complained that Rob Reiner made a film about Christian nationalism:
Hollywood, too, has gotten into the Christian Nationalist name-calling craze.
Rob Reiner has taken a lead role in a not so subtle attempt to negatively brand a huge portion of the population.
Acting as a kind of unofficial marketer of the propaganda, he has produced a film that is chock-ful of falsehoods.
He recently promoted his movie on MSNBC by pushing the meme while simultaneously maligning both Johnson and former President Donald Trump. Then he pulled out the race card.
“They believe that this is a white Christian nation,” Reiner said, seemingly implying that “they,” i.e., Christian Nationalists, are inherently racist.
In the documentary itself, respected institutions and organizations, including The Heritage Foundation, Turning Point USA, and Hillsdale College, are also disparaged in the propaganda process.
Hirsen offered no evidence he has actually seen Reiner’s film, or that Reiner has done anything different on the “propaganda” front than he does, or that his own “woke” name-calling is any different than what he accuses Reiner of doing. He concluded by huffing:
All of this started me thinking about the “Deplorables” label of the past.
I remembered that it took the air out of their sails when the label was embraced by those who were in support of the former president.
So here goes.
I love Jesus. I love our country. And I love all people.
If that makes me a Christian Nationalist, so be it.
It doesn’t, of course. And Hirsen was certainly not going to give President Biden credit for doing something similar, turning the vulgar right-wing “Let’s Go Brandon” insult of him into the “Dark Brandon” meme.