Not every public mention of religion is "creeping Christian nationalism"
Magazine editor Clara Jeffery saw backlash after complaining about a flight attendant who wished her a "blessed" night
This newsletter is free, but it’s only able to sustain itself due to the support I receive from a small percentage of regular readers. Would you please consider becoming one of those supporters? You can use the button below to subscribe to Substack or use my usual Patreon page!
Some people just enjoy complaining about everything, especially if it suits their narrative. I regularly point out when conservatives do it; it’s only fair to call it out when it’s an ally.
On Friday, Clara Jeffery, the editor-in-chief of (left-leaning) Mother Jones magazine, claimed to witness “creeping Christian nationalism” after her flight attendant on Alaska Airlines wished everyone a “blessed” night upon arrival in San Francisco.
You have to pick your battles. This ain’t one of them.
Would I have noticed a flight attendant saying that word? Probably. But it’s no different than someone saying “Bless you” after I sneeze. For just about everyone, that’s a knee-jerk response and not some subtle way to shove Jesus in my face. You can’t complain about Christians who insist the Devil was responsible for everything that doesn’t go their way if you treat “have a blessed day” as proselytizing,
This was not a skirmish in the Culture War. It was a flight attendant trying to politely get everyone off the damn plane. The proper response is to say “thanks” if she’s nearby—Or nothing! Nothing is also okay!—grab your carry-on bag, and move on with your life.
If that’s Christian Nationalism, then nothing is Christian Nationalism, which is a problem since there really is a Christian Nationalism threat! It’s the idea that our nation was founded on (a specific type of) Christianity and that the government has an obligation to pass laws in accordance with conservative Christian beliefs.
Christian Nationalism is not the problem when a random employee uses harmless religious language during the course of her shift. To suggest otherwise feeds into the lie repeated by Republicans that saying “Merry Christmas” is under threat.
If there’s any consolation here, it’s that no one, including other liberals, seemed to buy it. While conservatives were quick to mock the tweet, they were hardly alone on this one.
Pretending that “blessed” is an endorsement of Christian Nationalism is like arguing that “happy holidays” is anti-Christian. It’s just a phrase. Intent matters. Unless there’s good reason to argue otherwise, you should just assume there’s no ill-intent behind it.
You would think Jeffery, of all people, would recognize that since she has a long history of saying the word “blessed” in perfectly normal, innocuous, non-sarcastic ways!
Was she endorsing Christian Nationalism a few years ago? Of course not. And neither was the damn flight attendant.
Plus, if you actually want to complain about Alaska Airlines promoting Christianity, it’s not hard to find an example of it. For decades, the company handed out literal prayer cards—with Old Testament verses—to go along with its in-flight meals.
Even then, however, the goal wasn’t to convert passengers but rather because it was just seen as a wise marketing move. That may have made sense in the 1970s but they eventually went out of style. By 2006, only first-class passengers received them (because the peasants no longer got their food on trays), and that was only on long-distance flights. The cards were phased out entirely in 2012.
"This difficult decision was not made lightly," Alaska Air Group CEO Bill Ayer and Alaska Airlines President Brad Tilden wrote in an email Wednesday to regular customers.
"Some of you enjoy the cards and associate them with our service," they wrote. "At the same time, we've heard from many of you who believe religion is inappropriate on an airplane."
All of that’s to say that, even when Alaska Air was literally promoting Christianity on flights, it still wasn’t Christian Nationalism. And neither is a flight attendant trying to be nice.
I’m an atheist. I’m not concerned or bothered by someone wishing blessings. I occasionally do it myself.
Here in my native Redneckistan, there's Walmart greeters and grocery checkout folks saying "have a blessed day" and even corporate management didn't make them stop even after customers complained.
I just reply with the Wiccan "Blessed Be!" And dig a bit deeper to actually wish them well: for my own sake.
"For all their curses and their blessings come to much the same thing..."