Politics
Politico journalist Heidi Przybyla recently criticized Christians who believe in God-given rights, claiming that believing so amounts to “Christian nationalism.”
After creating a huge controversy, Przybyla has now apologized.
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He said believing one has God-given rights is “Christian nationalism”
The Christian Post reports: “In an article in Politico on Thursday, Przybyla addressed comments he made during an appearance on MSNBC’s ‘All in With Chris Hayes’ last week. You said on the cable news program that Christian nationalists “believe that our rights, as Americans, as all human beings, do not come from any earthly authority.”
That anyone would find this concept controversial or even sinister is bizarre.
The Post continues: “Przybyla added that, under this line of thinking, rights ‘don’t come from Congress, they don’t come from the Supreme Court, they come from God.’ He further stated that the “problem is that they determine – man, men and it is men – who determine what God is telling them.”
The story continued:
Przybyla also identified the concept of natural law as a “pillar of Catholicism” and suggested that while “it has been used for campaigns of good and social justice” such as the push for racial equality and civil rights, there is a “extremist element of conservative Christians who say this applies specifically to issues such as abortion [and] gay marriage.” She complained that “it’s going much further, as you see, for example, with a ruling in Alabama this week that made judges linked to that dominionist faction.”
The Alabama Supreme Court decision cited by Przybyla ruled that embryos created through in vitro fertilization are human beings protected by state law.
Przybyla’s comments about Christian nationalism on MSNBC drew a slew of criticism, including from Bishop Robert Barron of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona-Rochester in Minnesota. In a video posted to X last week, he condemned her remarks as “one of the most disturbing and frankly dangerous things he’s ever seen in a political conversation.”
“It is extremely dangerous to forget the principle that our rights come from God and not from a government,” Barron said. “Because the fundamental problem is, if they come from the government or Congress or the Supreme Court, they can be taken away by those same people.”
“This is opening the door to totalitarianism,” he added.
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Is the Declaration of Independence an example?
Przybyla apologized for her article after the backlash, saying: “Due to some clumsy words, some people interpreted me as making very different arguments from what I believe. Journalists have a responsibility to use words and convey meaning accurately. I’m sorry I didn’t live up to this in my appearance.
“Among the passages that caused confusion was my attempt to draw a distinction between Christians and the small group of these people who support Christian nationalism,” he added.
Przybyla added that “many people have views about our rights as Americans that coincide with those of many of our nation’s founders.” You cited the passage from the Declaration of Independence that all people “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
The idea that our rights are given to us by God is as old as the West itself, and certainly within Christianity.
The Founding Fathers were explicit that the Constitution granted no rights to citizens, but explicitly recognized that it would protect rights given by God, not man.
The fact that this is remotely controversial to this supposed journalist says far more about the state of modern media than it does about Christianity or even actual nationalism.
