Christian Nationalist: A Biting Critique of White Nationalism in the United States
There cannot be any discussion of punk music without talking about the politics that influence it, in this case, it is the problem of Christian Nationalism in the United States and all over the world.
Anti-Flag, one of the most politically charged punk bands of recent years, just released a biting attack directed at nationalists. They even directly tweeted at the president of the United States.
Christian Nationalist, like most punk songs, is straight to the point. Anti-Fascist, anti-religion, and anti-theocracy, Christian Nationalist bites against the Proud Boy (aka White Supremacist) rhetoric that is somehow being allowed to be spread by the president.
As soon as you open Anti-Flag’s twitter page, you’re greeted with the anarcho-punk band’s leftist views that are extremely clear in their music and the punk genre as well. Anti-Flag has always been very political, scrolling through their twitter is a testament to this. Retweeting pro-climate change movements, such as protestors in Bolivia, posts against the US military allowing Turkey to invade Rojava, as well as the Hong Kong protests which have been going on since March.
The main idea behind this song is that Anti-Flag and people, in general, would not, and should not, let nationalists have control over anything. Every time that they try anything, they will be met with resistance. This is further exemplified by the line in the song, “We reject theocracy We reject your view of the world.” Nationalists cannot hide behind their cultist, inflammatory rhetoric any longer. In fact, they don’t even try to hide their faces as they feel that they are on the correct side.
There is no correct or even morally correct side to this idea of thinking. Christian Nationalist, further echoes Anti-Flags message of anti-fascism, clearly stated in songs such as When the Wall Falls and many others. Anti-Flag will continue to be a driving force in the current punk scene and hopefully, for years to come, they certainly will if they keep releasing songs like this.
