If you guys had merely held a referendum on secession instead of shooting guns, we might find Christian support for a U Sexit strategy comparable to British believers’ support for Brexit (via Chris Gerhz):
Practising Christians are the most likely among faith communities in England to support the Eurosceptic ‘Brexit’ position.
Muslims, meanwile, are the most Europhile of all the religious groups, a new survey has found.
The findings came in the new Populus Hope Not Hate survey which throws light for the first time on what different religious groups feel about the EU referendum in June.
“All the questions suggest that professing Christians are currently more likely than average to take up Eurosceptic positions, with Muslims the most Europhile,” reports religious researcher Clive Field.
Terry Teachout explains why U Sexit may be necessary (thanks to Rod):
In a totally polarized political environment, persuasion is no longer possible: we believe what we believe, and nothing matters but class and power. We are well on the way to becoming a land of jerking knees.
Never before have I felt so strongly that Americans are talking past instead of to one another. It is, I fear, our future and our fate—which is why I have come to believe that I will live to see Red and Blue America negotiate a “soft disunion.” No, there won’t be a second civil war. I can’t imagine the citizens of Blue America waging a shooting war over much of anything, least of all continued union with people whom they disdain. (Red America is a different story.) But the gap that separates the two Americas has grown so deep and wide that I find it increasingly difficult to imagine their caring to function as a single nation for very much longer. If I’m right, then I expect that they will ultimately find a more or less polite way to stop doing so.
Isn’t polarization what happens when we place personal over national identity? But just try issuing yourself a passport that will get you past customs. Not even calling the church an embassy will work:
Leeman descends from global height in his Preface to mountain-top height in his Introduction. And here, one gets a sense of his concerns. “A fundamental assumption of…many democratic Westerners, is that local churches are one more voluntary organization.” (21) In contrast, claims Leeman, “The church is a kind of embassy, only it represents a kingdom of even greater political consequence to the nations and their governors. And this embassy represents a kingdom not from across geographic space but from across eschatological time.” (22)
Isn’t that treasonous?
Old Life 
Yeah how come there wasn’t a referendum for Colonies-exit? And the Confederacy-exit (Fed-exit?) was peaceful, but the re-entry was the bad part.
But I dunno if polarization is that bad. Being a contrarian for truth/good is a good thing, no? And come on, national identity over personal identity?!?! You don’t have to be a Marxist to be an American. You only have to watch Hot Fuzz.
SPOILERS IN THE CLIP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUpbOliTHJY
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“Practising Christians are the most likely among faith communities in England to support the Eurosceptic ‘Brexit’ position.”
Which seemed – from dissections of the poll to be more down to age than anything else (Christianity is a somewhat aging faith in the UK and Scepticism is strongest amongst the 45+).
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More OPC churches in the South pease.
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If there is somehow a connection being construed in this post between brexiters and US southern confederates there is little in common between them. Social class concious confederates with their separationist attitude and condescending politeness couldn’t be much more different from the average brexiter who is usually working class with a love for their country rooted in the tradition of Roger Scruton and Edmund Burke.
Chris Gerhz is having a laugh if he thinks the BBC is a good source of information about brexit. It’s like looking to MSCBN for an impartial view of conservative politics. The BBC is deeply biased, dressed up in metropolitan respectability and having a national and international influence way beyond it’s original remit.
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Paul, the connection is that political union is really, really tricky. Independence or separation is a constant in political history. But in the U.S. we never never tolerate 2-state solutions. No to the Confederates and no to the Nation of Islam.
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I don’t see the relevance of the reference to the BBC, other than an opportunity for a rant.
Incidentally, there is another strong reason why support for the EU among Christians in the UK is low – and it won’t be one that will lend people here much comfort. Dispensationalism is strong in the UK, and we’ve had decades of variants on the story that ‘EU is the Beast/Whore of Babylon/The AntiChrist will be the President of the EU’.
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Chris, couldn’t it be that people in the West at least want a strong nation-state which seems to be more likely to secure some peace and order than international institutions that have no real skin in the game. My sense is that the same topics that motivate Trump supporters — economy and immigration — are also at play in the UK. Heck, they’re even at play in Mexico.
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