The editorial in the July 2025 edition of Christian Century is titled “Patriots: The church is called to be a loving critic, not a national cheerleader” by that publication's editor/publisher who holds that position in good measure because his daddy Martin held it previously.
In the opening of the essay, this particular Marty compares the United States and the celebration of Independence Day with Nazism and the ceremonial pomp he equates with both regimes in his mind.
Peter Marty begins this analogy by referencing a plaque hung on the gatehouse of the Buchenwald concentration camp brandished with the phrase “My country, right or wrong.” The opening paragraph concludes with the observation, “An uncritical love of country held a warm appeal to the Nazis. Authoritarian governments thrive on the people's unquestioning obedience, and uncritical patriotism usually follows.”
Yet it is not enough for the Marty lad to render such judgments against a presidential administration not to his liking.
To emphasize that his comparisons between Nazism and traditional American patriotism are quite deliberate and not accidental verbal over-exuberance, Marty invokes an additional verbal flourish in the sentence, “The all-night blitzkrieg of neighborhood fireworks is not for me.”
The entire essay pretty much consists of Marty virtue signaling just how much more he values reflective history resulting in a stifling sense of White guilt than hayseeds that rather spend the Fourth of July enjoying their country instead of flagellating themselves over what are the historical shortcomings of their genetic forbearers.
As such, it is not out of line to assume that Marty as the progeny of good Midwestern Lutheran stock and thus most likely of German lineage himself knows that the term “blitzkrieg” translates from that particular tongue into English as “lightening war”. The term gained a degree of infamy when invoked to describe the spread of Germany's overwhelming attacks during the early days of World War II.
As to why Rev. Marty believes it is his homiletical responsibility as a pastor to assume the role of wet blanket and scold in regards to celebrating civic commemorations, he writes, “If we're open to ...a constructive patriotism ... then we should know these injustices well.” He is referring to the sorts of events, of course, that no one alive today directly experienced or themselves bear responsibility for by any legal standard.
For example, in his liturgy of grievances, Marty references a book on voter suppression, a Frederick Douglas address from 1852 titled “What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July”, and a dairy entry by a Presbyterian missionary venting over President Andrew Johnson (a Democrat by the way) ordering the Cherokees off their land.
But aren't those finding themselves in settings such as schools, corporate workplaces, and an increasing number of churches already subjected to such mandatory chastisement especially during the month of February when it's scheduled on the calendar? What makes the most ardent virtue signalers think most Americans want another round of it at a time not agreed to by the complexities of civic temporal convention?
If Marty and those under his editorialship at the Christian Century want to be sticklers having history be an account of what actually happened rather than an ossified glorification of how the nation would nostalgically liked things to have been, does he intend to turn the resources of the venerable media institution under his guidance to expose the assorted shortcomings of the causes and personages that the publication has supported over the years and decades?
For example, despite the power of the Martin Luther King “I Have A Dream” Speech, does Christian Century in the name of historical accuracy intend to exhibit the moral strength necessary to examine the questionable Marxist ties King might have had through a number of associates or that he certainly wasn't husband of the year material as a result of his documented marital infidelities? To be honest, King wasn't even really that orthodox of a Christan given the number of fundamental doctrines he denied such as the Virgin Birth, the Bodily Resurrection of Christ, and even Jesus' divinity.
Over the course of the past decade or so, numerous articles have appeared in the pages of assorted publications of the leftwing Social Gospel mindset such as Sojourners and even Christian Century extolling the virtue of agitation front groups such as Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter and Antifa.
In an 11/17/2011 column, Jim Wallis did far more than praise the ideology and activism of these sorts of organizations. In the piece titled “A Church Sanctuary For The Occupy Movement”, he demanded that congregations across America open their doors to these militant subversives.
However, this outreach was not part of some evangelization strategy in the hopes of confronting the Occupy Movement about the errors of that protest movement founded on an underlying socialist ideology manifesting in acts of vandalism. Rather the invitation called for by Wallis was one of pandering, capitulation, and solidarity. For instead of verbally reaming the Occupy Movement for their antics or even dispassionately detailing the errors of this subversive ideology in a rational manner, Wallis calls upon the congregations of his ilk to provide these activists with sympathetic succor.
Wallis writes, “If our mayors and police departments are making the Occupiers feel unwelcome, why don't we welcome them to stay on our church property if they need some place to go? Open our church basements and parish halls as safe places to sleep --- shelter and sanctuary as cold weather descends upon many of our cities.”
Maybe these activists brought into these houses of worship almost Trojan Horse style can do the exact same thing to the sanctuaries of these progressive religionists that a number of these hooligans did to the side of police cars. Namely pull down their pants, relax their sphincters, and smear their fecal slurry all over property that does not belong to them.
Effetes such as Peter Marty will recoil in horror at subjecting their genteel sensibilities to such a disturbing image. Yet that is mild compared to those these same progressives want to subject the minds of school children to in regards to raunchy library books.
In his column, the young Marty insists that what he is calling for is an embrace of history as it actually transpired rather than the Hallmark greeting card of how we would have liked it to have been. This sensitive thinker insists upon highlighting those sorts of events that spoil the good times and warm feelings inherent to most celebratory civic commemorations. As such, Christian Century ought to rank foremost among the publications eager to expose the profound moral and civilizational shortcomings of organized leftwing protest movements.
By Frederick Meekins
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