How to bonk heads with yourself.

September 3rd, 2025.

Introduction.

This next chapter of disarming Leviathan continues to complain that Christian nationalists

are all about picking up the sword in order to attain ungodly power and advance their nefarious

agenda. It seems almost unnecessary to type out the boh-ha-ha-ha. Here would be a sampler. Endorsing

Violence, page 64, entitled to exert force over, page 65. Reaching for the sword, page 67. Its own

power, page 67. Take up the sword, page 67. Put down their swords, page 67. But all these

complaints about the sword are not able to disguise the fundamental tension, the basic contradiction

in Campbell's worldview. The complaints about us and our swords cannot keep him from bonging heads

with himself. Perhaps you would like me to highlight the problem?

As it turns out, I would be happy to. It is actually a distinct pleasure. I'm going to do this

by means of selecting two quotations from this chapter and setting them before you side by side.

After you've stared at them goggled for a bit, like a prawn who just walked into a surprise

birthday party, I will then seek to exhibit

some of the implications for you. Two quotes, and yes, they are quite at loggerheads.

While states can be composed of many Christians, the state itself is not inherently Christian,

nor can it act in Christian ways. The state cannot follow Jesus, live out the sermon on the Mount,

or embody the fruit of the

Spirit. Campbell, disarming Leviathan. Page 71. Okay, got that? Set it down in a secure place in your

head. Make sure it is a level surface. Note particularly that powerful word cannot. The state cannot.

Cannot. But then consider this lament from just a few pages earlier.

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