Patriotism, at its best, is simply affection — a natural gratitude for the place that shaped you. There is nothing sinful about loving your homeland. It is human, even God-given, to feel rooted in the soil that raised you. But confusion begins the moment patriotism is used as a shield to protect something far more dangerous. And that brings us to the strangest part of this entire debate.

The Apple–Orange Trick: How the Terms Keep Getting Swapped

Ask someone, “Why should Christians support Christian nationalism?” and you almost never hear an answer about nationalism. Instead, you get a passionate speech about patriotism: that it’s not a sin to love your country, that God calls us to care about our nation, that there’s nothing wrong with being proud of where we come from. All of that may be true — but it’s also not what we were talking about.

It’s like someone boldly declaring, “Oranges are the best fruit,” and when you ask why, he starts listing the benefits of apples. You’d sit there thinking, “Brother … we weren’t talking about apples.”

That’s exactly how Christian nationalism is defended — by never defending it. By sliding into a safer, softer word that nobody is attacking.

Patriotism is affection. Nationalism is supremacy.
Patriotism says, “I love my home.” Nationalism says, “My home is chosen by God and morally superior.”
And because nationalism cannot survive honest scrutiny, its defenders blur the line — sometimes out of confusion, sometimes out of convenience.

Why These Terms Keep Getting Confused

There’s a reason this mix-up is so common. People don’t confuse patriotism and nationalism because the words are similar — they confuse them because the emotions behind them are powerful. Patriotism feels warm and harmless. It reminds people of childhood memories, familiar songs, national holidays, and the sense of belonging that comes from calling a place home. It’s safe. It’s nostalgic. It feels innocent.

Nationalism, on the other hand, demands something heavier — a belief in moral superiority, divine favoritism, and an “us vs. them” worldview. It asks for more than affection; it asks for allegiance. It asks for identity. And for many people, that demand is uncomfortable.

So when nationalism enters the conversation, people instinctively retreat to the word patriotism because it sounds noble and unthreatening. It becomes a shield — not to clarify the debate, but to protect the emotional comfort that patriotism provides.

There’s also a deeper psychological pull at work. Nationalism gives people a sense of meaning and purpose that feels bigger than their individual lives. It offers certainty. It offers belonging. It offers a story in which their group is chosen, favored, and central. For some, it fills the very void that faith used to fill. And because nationalism promises identity without requiring repentance, it’s far easier to embrace than the way of Christ.

And beneath it all, there is fear: fear of losing cultural dominance, fear of irrelevance, fear of a world where “our kind of people” no longer sets the tone. Fear drives people to dress nationalism in the language of patriotism — not to deceive others, but often to deceive themselves.

Unless we name this confusion for what it is — emotional, psychological, and spiritual — we will never see through it.

Let’s Be Honest About What We’re Really Debating

Call yourself a patriot, a nationalist, or something in between — the label doesn’t bother me. I’m not here to police your identity. But the moment we start hiding behind words, we stop dealing with truth. And truth is the only thing that matters, especially for Christians.

So if we’re going to talk about America as if it has some unique relationship with God, then let’s at least be honest about the forces that actually shaped it. Anything less is self-deception dressed up as devotion.

A Necessary Reality Check About America

America has certainly been shaped in part by Christians — abolitionists, reformers, educators, and ordinary believers who influenced different pieces of its story, and that deserves to be acknowledged. But America’s power did not come from Christian character. It didn’t grow because the nation lived out the Sermon on the Mount or because its founders modeled their politics after the humility of Christ.

America became what it is through very human forces: expansion, ambition, industry, immigration, innovation, risk-taking, and the pursuit of opportunity.

Speaking as an immigrant myself, that’s what draws people here, not Christlike governance or Biblical values or a national covenant with God. People uproot their lives because America offers stability, mobility, and a chance to build something better for their families.

None of that is evil; it is simply human. America is a nation shaped by the pursuit of opportunity, not a nation shaped by the teachings of Jesus. And that is precisely why we shouldn’t confuse its success with divine favor or mistake patriotism for a mandate from Heaven.

And That’s Why the Distinction Matters

Love your country if you want. Celebrate it, critique it, grieve it, defend it — that’s your choice. But don’t pretend your nation is holy. Don’t drape the cross in a flag and call it faith. And don’t confuse the comfort of living here with the calling of following Christ.

Patriotism is a gift — nothing more.
Nationalism is a god — and a jealous one at that.

A country might demand your loyalty.
Only Christ has the right to demand your obedience.

And if you ever find yourself choosing between the two, the one you obey will reveal the one you truly worship.

References

Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. Verso, 1983.
A foundational work explaining how nations create imagined identities of superiority, aligning with your distinction between patriotism and nationalism.

Barton, David. The Myth of a Christian Nation. (Referenced indirectly through critique by scholars who argue he misrepresents history.)
Frequently cited in discussions about American Christian nationalism and historical revisionism.

Gorski, Philip S. & Perry, Samuel L. The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy. Oxford University Press, 2022.
A leading scholarly examination of how Christian nationalism blurs faith with national supremacy.

McNaughton, Jon. One Nation Under God. 2009.
Painting referenced under fair use for commentary on Christian nationalist imagery.

Niebuhr, Reinhold. The Irony of American History. University of Chicago Press, 1952.
Explores how American self-perception often mistakes national ambition for divine purpose.

Sider, Ronald J. Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger. InterVarsity Press, 1977.
Offers a Christian critique contrasting economic pursuit with the teachings of Jesus, shaping your argument about capitalism vs. Christlikeness.

Smith, Gregory A. & Podrebarac Sciupac, Elizabeth. “White Evangelicals and National Identity.” Pew Research Center, 2017.
Provides data on how nationalism and patriotism are often conflated within American Christian circles.

Wolfe, Samuel. The Case for Christian Nationalism. Canon Press, 2022.
Not cited approvingly, but relevant as the modern articulation of the ideology you critique.