The American Soul

Christless Conservatism

• Jesse • Season 5 • Episode 172

Share episode

A hard word can also be a healing one: we dig into why “Christless conservatism” cannot carry a nation’s moral weight, and why political victories feel empty when the soul goes unattended. Starting with a frank look at ambivalence among believers, we trace how lukewarm faith leaks into families, schools, churches, and public life. God is love and also justice; mercy and also judgment—and ignoring either side bends us toward confusion. That tension sets the stage for a deeper call to repentance and renewed courage.

We ground the conversation in Scripture. Genesis invites husbands and wives to become one flesh, a covenant that shapes character and community far beyond the home. Revelation 16 confronts us with hardened hearts that curse rather than turn back, a mirror for our own moment when distraction replaces devotion. Along the way, we honor Staff Sergeant James L. Bondsteel, whose ordinary appearance hid extraordinary courage under fire. His story becomes a template: move toward the fight that saves others, carry what must be carried, and keep rallying people when fear closes in.

We also draw strength from President Harry S. Truman’s Christmas message, which links the Golden Rule to the American experiment. A free people must be a self-governed people, and love of neighbor is not a private sentiment but a public necessity. When we ask for order without grace, we get noise without peace. The path forward is steady and specific—tell the truth in love, rebuild marriages, practice repentance, honor courage, and keep watch with hope. If this conversation stirs something in you, share it with a friend, subscribe for more, and leave a review so others can find it. What’s one step you’ll take toward bolder faith this week?

Support the show

The American Soul Podcast

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1791934/subscribe

SPEAKER_01:

Hey folks, this is Jesse Cope, back with another episode of the American Soul Podcast. Hope y'all are doing well, wherever y'all are, and whatever part of the day you're in. I sure do appreciate y'all joining me, giving me a little bit of your time and attention, a little piece of your day. I will try and use it wisely. Hopefully, y'all are getting to listen to it with somebody else. For those of y'all that continue to share the podcast with others and tell others about it, thank you.

SPEAKER_00:

For those of y'all who continue to pray for me and for the podcast, thank you. Very grateful for your prayers. Father, thank you for today. Thank you for you, Father, and your son Jesus Christ and your Holy Spirit. Thank you for your love and your mercy, your grace and your forgiveness of sins. You're the merit of your son Jesus Christ. Thank you for the time to record this podcast and the people that listen to it. Please be with them, be with their families.

SPEAKER_01:

Surround us all with your angels, Father, protect us from evil of any kind.

SPEAKER_00:

Heal those who are sick and injured, Father. Please be with them. Bless them. Be with those who are alone, scared, anxious, depressed. Those who are living in darkness. Help us to be a little bit of a light to them. To show them a little bit of your son, Jesus Christ. Help us to relieve suffering wherever we can, Father. To care for the widow and the orphan, the poor and the needy. Help us to speak the truth in love, Father, but help us to speak the truth. Without shame or caveat or guilt, without apology. Be with our leaders, presidents, prime ministers, here in America and around the world, wherever people are listening. Governors, senators, representatives, parliamentarians, and those in our pulpits. Father, give them wisdom and courage and a strong faith. And please guide my words here, Father. In the name of your son Jesus Christ we ask and pray. Amen. So I'm gonna throw my father under the bus. Maybe for the next couple podcasts. But certainly for today.

SPEAKER_01:

He sent me some text messages, some missives, as he does so often, thankfully. Very blessed to have a wonderful father. I know that's not the case for many, and it is a blessing. It was from a pastor, I believe, of the name Alan Jackson, and I'm just gonna read you the comments, kind of paraphrase. It's true that God is a God of love, but it's also true that He is a God of justice and a God of judgment. Conservatism will not save us. Conservatism will ultimately embrace the Antichrist. We don't have a political problem. We have a spiritual problem. The problem we face isn't because of the depravity of the wicked.

SPEAKER_00:

The problem we face is because of the ambivalence of the faithful. The greatest threat to America today is without a doubt Christless conservatism.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, leftism, socialism, communism, Nazism, fascism, all those together, Islam, the followers of those evil ideologies are a great threat. Far more than North Korea or Russia or China or Iran or anywhere else, anyone else.

SPEAKER_00:

But above all of those is the ambivalence of people who claim to follow Christ toward Christ.

SPEAKER_01:

And since our country was founded on the principles of Christ, that ambivalence translates, transfers over to our nation. You see the same thing in marriages where you have one spouse that's married to a good man or a good woman, and they treat them ambivalently and differently with a lukewarm attitude.

SPEAKER_00:

The problem we have today is that those of us that claim to love America do so in a lukewarm, half-hearted manner.

SPEAKER_01:

In our schools, in our churches, in our communities, in our families, in our marriages. I've often said, and a lot of you may or may not get this, it may offend some of you, put some of you off. I really don't know. There wasn't much that I admired about the Muslims overseas who would blow themselves up, blow children up, blow women up.

SPEAKER_00:

But one of the few things that I did admire was their dedication and their very not lukewarm attitude. If we as Christians had the same intensity and dedication in our nation to Christ and to our nation, I dare say we would not have even a fraction of the problems that we have today.

SPEAKER_01:

Marriage verse for today, scripture for today, comes from Genesis chapter 2, verses 23 through 25. The man said, This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man. For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

SPEAKER_00:

And the scripture for today, going back into Revelation, we're closing, end of the year, end of the Bible, kind of lined up like that.

SPEAKER_01:

This is Revelation chapter 16, verses 1 through 21 to start with. Then I heard a mighty voice from the temple say to the seven angels, Go your ways and pour out on earth the seven bowls containing God's wrath. So the first angel left the temple and poured out his bowl on the earth, and horrible, malignant source broke out on everyone who had the mark of the beast and who worshipped his statue. Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse, and everything in the sea died. Then the third angel poured out his bowl on rivers and springs, and they became blood. And I heard the angel who had authority over all water saying, You are just, O holy one, who is and who always was, because you have sent these judgments. Since they shed the blood of your holy people and your prophets, you have given them blood to drink, it is their just reward. And I heard a voice from the altar saying, Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, your judgments are true and just. Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, causing it to scorch everyone with its fire. Everyone was burned by this blast of heat, and they cursed the name of God who had control over all these plagues. They did not repent of their sins and turn to God and give him glory. Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. His subjects ground their teeth in anguish, and they cursed God, the god of heaven, for their pains and sores, but they did not repent of their evil deeds and turned to God. Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great Euphrates River and it dried up so that the kings from the east could march their armies toward the west without hindrance. And I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs leap from the mouths of the dragon, the beast and the false prophet. They are demonic spirits who work miracles and go out to all the rulers of the world together them for the battle against the Lord on that great judgment day of God the Almighty. Look, I will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Blessed are all who are watching for me, who keep their clothing ready, so they will not have to walk around naked and ashamed. And the demonic spirits gathered all the rulers and their armies to a place with the Hebrew name Armageddon. Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a mighty shout came from the throne in the temple saying, It is finished. Then the thunder crashed and rolled and lightning flashed, and a great earthquake struck, the worst since people were placed on the earth. The great city of Babylon split into three sections, and the cities of many nations fell into heaps of rubble. So God remembered all of Babylon's sins, and he made her drink the cup that was filled with the wine of his fierce wrath, and every island disappeared, and all the mountains were leveled. There was a terrible hellstorm, and hellstorms weighing as much as seventy five pounds fell from the sky onto the people below. They cursed God because of the terrible plague of the hailstorm. Psalm one forty four verses one through fifteen. Praise the Lord, who is my rock, he trains my hands for war, and gives my fingers skill for battle. He is my loving ally and my fortress, my tower of safety, my rescuer. He is my shield and I take refuge in him. He makes the nations submit to me. O Lord, what are human beings that you should notice them? Mere mortals that you should think about them, for they are like a breath of air, their days are like a passing shadow. Open the heavens, Lord, and come down. Touch the mountains so they billow smoke, hurl your lightning bolts and scatter your enemies. Shoot your arrows and confuse them. Reach down from heaven and rescue me. Rescue me from deep waters, from the power of my enemies. Their mouths are full of lies. They swear to tell the truth, but they lie instead. I will sing a new song to you, O God, I will sing your praises with a tin stringed ark. For you grant victory to kings. You rescued your servant David from the fatal sword. Save me, rescue me from the power of my enemies. Their mouths are full of lies. They swear to tell the truth, but they lie instead. May our sons flourish in their youth like well nurtured plants. May our daughters be like graceful pillars, carved to beautify a palace. May our barns be filled with crops of every kind. May the flocks in our fields multiply by the thousands, even tens of thousands, and may our oxen be loaded down with produce. May there be no enemy breaking through our walls, no going into captivity, no cries of alarm in our town squares. Yes, joyful are those who live like this. Joyful indeed are those whose God is the Lord. Proverbs thirty verses twenty nine through thirty one. There are three things that walk with stately stride.

SPEAKER_00:

No, four that strut about the lion, king of animals, who won't turn aside for anything, the strutting rooster, the male goat, the king as he leads his army.

SPEAKER_01:

James Leroy Bonsteel, Staff Sergeant, highest rank, Master Sergeant, Vietnam War. Excuse me, Alpha Company, Second Battalion, Second Infantry, 1st Infantry Division, U.S. Army, May 24th, 1969, near the village of Lang Sao, Anloch Province, Republic of Vietnam. For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Staff Sergeant Bonstil distinguished himself while serving as a platoon sergeant with Alpha Company near the village of Lang Sao. Alpha Company was directed to assist a friendly unit which was endangered by intense fire from a North Vietnamese battalion located in a heavily fortified base camp. Staff Sergeant Bonstill quickly organized the men of his platoon into effective combat teams and spearheaded the attack by destroying four enemy occupied bunkers. He then raced some 200 meters under heavy enemy fire to reach an adjoining platoon which had begun to falter. After rallying this unit and assisting their wounded, Staff Sergeant Bonstill returned to his own sector with critically needed munitions. Without pausing, he moved to the forefront and destroyed four enemy occupied bunkers and a machine gun which had threatened his advancing platoon. Although painfully wounded by an enemy grenade, Staff Sergeant Bonstill refused medical attention and continued his assault by neutralizing two more enemy bunkers nearby. While searching one of these emplacements, Staff Sergeant Bonstill narrowly escaped death when an enemy soldier detonated a grenade at close range. Shortly thereafter, he ran to the aid of a seriously wounded officer and struck down an enemy soldier who was threatening the officer's life. Staff Sergeant Bonstill then continued to rally his men and lead them through the entrenched enemy until his company was relieved. His exemplary leadership and great personal courage throughout the four hour battle ensued the success of his own and nearby units and resulted in the saving of numerous lives of his fellow soldiers. By individual acts of bravery, he destroyed ten enemy bunkers and accounted for a large toll of the enemy, including two key enemy commanders. His extraordinary heroism at the risk of his life was in the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon him, his unit, and the U.S.

SPEAKER_00:

Army.

SPEAKER_01:

Accredited to Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, not awarded posthumously, presented october fifteenth, nineteen seventy three, the White House by President Richard M. Nixon, born july eighteenth, nineteen forty seven, Jackson County, Michigan, died april ninth, nineteen eighty-seven, Anchorage, Alaska.

SPEAKER_00:

Buried Fort Richardson National Cemetery, Fort Richardson, Alaska, United States. Christmas message for today comes from President Harry S.

SPEAKER_01:

Truman. His address at the lighting of the National Community Christmas Tree on the White House grounds. It was broadcast nationally at 5 15 p.m. on December 24th, 1946. Fellow citizens everywhere, again our thoughts and aspirations and the hopes of future years turned to a little town in the hills of Judea, where on a winter's night 2,000 years ago the prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled. Since returning home, I have been reading again in our family Bible some of the passages which foretold this night. It was that grand old seer, Isaiah, who prophesied in the Old Testament the sublime event which found fulfillment almost two thousand years ago. Just as Isaiah foresaw the coming of Christ, so another battler for the Lord, Saint Paul, summed up the law and the prophets in a glorification of love which he exalts even above both faith and hope. In love alone, the love of God and the love of man, will be found the solution of all the ills which afflict the world today. We have had a year of great progress and achievement in our nation. Our people have demonstrated their ability to produce the goods and services of a peaceful world. They have demonstrated their willingness to work together in the common cause of a better life for all. They have demonstrated their devotion to the principles of freedom and justice and the dignity of the individual. But we have not yet achieved the full measure of our potentialities. We still have unfinished business before us. We must continue to work for the expansion of our production and the improvement of our living standards. We must continue to work for the strengthening of our national security. We must continue to work for the establishment of a just and lasting peace. We shall find strength and courage at this Christmas time to go forward in these tasks. He whose birth we celebrate tonight was the world's greatest teacher. He said, Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them, for this is the law and the prophets. Through all the centuries since he spoke, history has vindicated his teaching. In this great country of ours has been demonstrated the fundamental unity of Christianity and democracy, a unity which is the foundation of our national life. We have our unique national heritage because of a common aspiration to be free, and because of our purpose to achieve for ourselves and for our children the good things of life which the Christ declared He came to give to all mankind. That is why we can say with confidence that the progress we have made gives hope that in the coming year we shall reach our goal. May nineteen forty-seven entitle us to the benediction of the Master. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.

SPEAKER_00:

I say to all my countrymen, Merry Christmas, and may God bless you all.

SPEAKER_01:

So our wrap up for today you go back to the marriage verse in Genesis, and you really look at the fact that a husband and wife are supposed to cleave to each other, folks. We're supposed to be one flesh. That's a big deal. It's not a little deal. It's not insignificant. You look at Revelation chapter 16 again, and look at verse 9 and 11, talking about the fact that these people, even despite all the plagues that God was pouring out on them, trying to get them to turn back to him, they continued in their sins. They didn't repent of their evil deeds. That strikes me as a lot of what we're doing in America today, sadly. We want to keep going down these roads of sin and debauchery and evil, and we don't want to turn back to God and to Jesus Christ. You remember James Leroy Bonsteel from Vietnam. When you look at his picture, folks, and this strikes me often, I was just thinking of it today. There's nothing about him that would scream hero to you just from looking at the picture. He's a very common-looking man that did extraordinary things. And I would remind you that whether you think you're extraordinary or not, God thinks God knows he put you here for a purpose. You have some role, some part to play, and it's a big deal. Even if it seems small to the world or seems small to you, God gave you all the tools that you need to do whatever it is that He needs you, wants you to do, and it's a big deal. And then you look at this Christmas message from President Truman, and there's a lot of encouragement here. Remember that he talks about the fact that our country is based on the fundamental unity of Christianity and democracy. I would argue republicanism, little R, a unity which is foundation, the foundation of our national life. We can't have America without a people that follow the principles of Christ. And I would remind you of Pastor Alan Jackson's comments that we talked about at the beginning, folks. The problem today, yes, followers of leftism and Islam, they are a huge problem, and they're never going to stop just like the Nazis would. And we have to acknowledge that. But more than that, we need to acknowledge what we've had for decades in America, and that's a pretty ambivalent, lukewarm attitude to God and Jesus Christ. And then really just remember for some reason, this line always makes me smile from this Christmas message each year. And again, our thoughts and aspirations and the hopes of future years turn to a little town in the hills of Judea, where on a winter's night 2,000 years ago, the prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled. If you are looking maybe for a Christmas present for a family-friendly middle grade read, I would humbly recommend Countryside. And if you read it and enjoy it, the first or the second book or both, and you would leave a review or two, I would greatly appreciate that. They help immensely. And if you feel like you're getting something out of the podcast and you have three or four or five dollars a month you can donate, there's a web page on the Buzz Sprout website where you can set up that monthly donation, and I would be very grateful for that also. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not to temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen. God bless y'all. God bless your families, God bless your marriages if you're married. God bless your nation, wherever you are around the world listening. God bless America.

SPEAKER_00:

We'll talk to y'all again real soon, folks. Looking forward to it.