Jon McNaughton Painting Reflects
Political Idolatry Of Christian Right

by Dennis Oliver Woods
(Portland, Oregon)

Jon McNaughton manages to capture in one impressive oil painting, virtually all of the idolatrous belief-system of the so-called Christian Right. His recently completed work is entitled One Nation Under God?

The painting is skillfully wrought. With other of McNaughton's work it represents a welcome throw-back to the realistic Hudson River School of American art and the romanticism of that era.

Constitutional Idolatry

However, the centerpiece is breathtaking in its irreverent portrayal of Christ holding forth and pointing to a copy of the U.S. Constitution as the fountainhead of liberty and truth. The “sheep” at his right hand are all kneeling in adoration before the “sacred” document.

These include a Christian minister with Bible in hand, but clearly subordinate to the Constitution. A young mother releases her son to honor and one day serve all that the Constitution represents.

The "goats" to the lower right are secular and distracted. They are under the influence of a barely discernible Satan figure lurking behind them in the darkness.

Enlightenment "Saints"

The Jesus of the Bible appeared with Old Testament prophets like Moses and Elijah, but the Jesus of Jon McNaughton is backed up by the icons of America’s Civil Religion. Washington, Lincoln and Adams are all pictured beseeching the indifferent intelligentsia of the American Left.

It is ironic that champions of the 18th Century Enlightenment are summoned to chastise their 21st Century progeny. Washington, Madison, Franklin and Jefferson would probably be shocked by the secularism and licentiousness rampant in America today. However, it is the inevitable consequence of their declaration of religious neutrality in government (Art VI, Sec 3) and rejection of the Bible as the highest law of the land (Art VI, Sec 2).

Moreover, Madison and Washington stripped Christ of his governing authority in the Preamble when they audaciously placed that authority in the hands of "we the people." On top of that, the 1st Amendment boldly nullified the 1st and 2nd Commandments when it gave succor to all anti-Biblical religions.

To represent Christ as commending and exalting this godless and anti-Biblical document is inexcusable ignorance at best, blasphemous at worst. The Bible portrays Christ at the right hand of God, executing His sovereign judgment in history against all such mutinous nations.

We need a painting of that scene (Ps. 2), which shows the King of kings lifting up His written Word in judgment over the nations. In such a painting, rationalists like Washington, Madison and Jefferson would appear in the lower right with their 21st Century humanist descendants.

Prince Of Peace, Not War

Aside from the nail print, this is not the Jesus whose blood stained the cross of Calvary and died for the sins of His people. As explained by Jon McNaughton, the red sash worn by Jesus, “symbolizes the blood spilt by Americans for God and Country.”

Patriotism trumps propitiation as the well-spring of salvation. The blood of the patriots is given at least as much emphasis as the blood of the Savior. This calls to mind Peter Marshall's comparison of Washington's ordeal at Valley Forge with the passion of Christ at Gethsemane.

And so, the departed representatives of America’s wars are also portrayed kneeling before the Constitution. This of course is the sugar-coated and glamorized version of America’s armed conflicts. They are better understood as a facet of God’s judgment on a rebellious nation.

When King Solomon obeyed God he enjoyed peace on every hand. "So Judah and Israel lived in safety...all the days of Solomon" (I Kings 4:25). But when Solomon departed from God, “Then the Lord raised up an adversary to Solomon,….” (I Kings 11:14). The legacy of warfare passed to Solomon's son: "And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually" (I kings 14:30).

The reader is referred to “The Politically Incorrect Guide To American History” by Thomas E. Woods, Jr. for an analysis of the real motives behind America’s wars of aggression. For example, World Wars I and II were entered for the purpose of advancing the cause of one world government (League of Nations and United Nations) during the “peace” negotiations.

The Inspired Constitution

Jon McNaughton goes beyond the claim of many on the Christian Right that the Constitution is drawn from the bible. Most Christian Constitutionalists are content with the idea that the Constitution contains principles from the Bible.

But not Jon McNaughton. He states that “The fact that Christ holds the Constitution is very significant. I believe it was a God-inspired document.”

The Christian believes that there is only one God-inspired document: the Holy Bible. “All scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (II Tim. 3:16).

But Jon McNaughton subordinates the Bible to the Constitution. At the very least he places them on the same plane as “God-inspired” documents.

Christian Historical Revisionism

At many points the artist’s commentary reflects the superficial and sanitized “textbook” version of American history. Patrick Henry’s disdain for the Constitution is ignored as usual. Lincoln is the Great Emancipator, rather than the Great Centralizer. The abolitionists are altruistic "saints", rather than hate-mongers who goaded the nation into a senseless war.

Some of the Jon McNaughton heroes are surprising, even for a devotee of the religious right. Thomas Jefferson, for example, stripped Jesus of his power to work miracles in the “Jefferson Bible.” Likewise, Ben Franklin’s rejection of Christ as God is spirited away in the drama of the composition. McNaughton places both of them at Christ's right hand.

The title of the painting is appropriately cast in the form of a question: “One Nation Under God?” The question is appropriate, but in a totally different sense from that intended by the artist.

It was the Constitution itself that wiped out America’s claim to the title “One Nation Under God.” This assertion is defended on the “America Betrayed homepage”