For God and Country? The Price of Religious Nationalism in ‘The Everlasting’ by Alix E. Harrow
How far are we willing to go for the sake of our national identity? Whom are we willing to evoke to maintain our national power?
“One nation united under God. One kingdom, from the Slant Sea to the Northern Fallows, prosperous and peaceful. Just a dream, for now, but one worth dying for.”
Alix E. Harrow masterfully probes at the underpinnings of nationalism and politics in The Everlasting, critiquing the all-consuming modern nationalist ambition—a timely critique in 2025, when the Russian-Ukrainian war, the Israel-Gaza war, and the Trump tariff wars all profess the interests of their nation over others.
The villain of The Everlasting will do anything to rewrite history so that Dominion, a vast island reminiscent of Great Britain, will dominate its enemies and conquer lands in the name of the proud nation. The knight, Sir Una Everlasting, and the historian, Owen Mallory, are tasked with ensuring that this history plays out as commanded, but as they are pulled deeper, they realize that nationalism is not the grand end that they were promised. In fact, it costs far too much.
This is the question that The Everlasting asks: Are we willing to pay the price for proud nationalism?
Nationalism—The Engine of Conquest
Nationalism is a movement that began in the 18th to 19th centuries, highly influenced by the American Revolution and the French Revolution. The Germans and Italians of the 20th century brought the identity of a nation-state to the forefront, cementing nationalism as a global movement. Today, we hardly think about it; of course, our borders delineate who belongs and who doesn’t; of course, we will do anything to protect me and mine.
Before the 19th century, however, this wasn’t so obvious. Sure, there were tribes and kingdoms, but these were fluid and changed hands often. Empires rose and fell; it’s no wonder that Harrow uses Great Britain as her archetype for Dominion, an island nation whose conquests are dependent on cultural domination. Even the name Dominion implies sheer brute force, overwhelming all other races and ethnicities for the sake of so-called unity.
In Jesus’ day, the ruling power was Rome. Some hundred years earlier, it was Greece, then Persia, then Babylon. Fast-forward several hundred years after the fall of Rome, and we have the Holy Roman Empire, the Russian Empire, and the Byzantine Empire. The world, it seems, operates imperially.
““You argued that a nation is not a boundary on a map or a flag on a pole, but only a story we tell about ourselves.” “Yes, ma’am.” “It’s a hell of a story, isn’t it?” ”
The nationalist movement of the 19th-21st centuries is the empire of today. The worst of it, in my opinion, is when religion is co-opted for the purpose of national ambition— “for God and country,” right? History is littered with empires that wrangled religion into submission for their ambitions, and churches that leveraged power over empires for their own initiatives.
I live in Canada, and I see the influences of state-sanctioned religion in our southern neighbours; I see how the name of God is used and abused to perpetuate power over the weak, particularly the foreigners or anyone who doesn’t fit the white nationalist identity, that is, Blacks, Mexicans, and Middle Eastern refugees; I see how a white Jesus condemns Islam, Buddhism, New Age mysticism, and any expression of Christianity that does not conform to whilte evangelicalism; I see how wars are organized against 'the Other,’ as if everyone on this side of the border is homogeneous.
I see how these sentiments are creeping into homes and conversations north of the border, becoming normalized rather than horrifying the hearer.
Nationalism, at the end of the day, is the story that we’ve told ourselves. It’s the identity we’ve aligned ourselves with for the pursuit of our ambitions.
Harrow gets this. She points the finger at the machine of propaganda that churns out a very specific, polished version of our identity and purpose. She jabs at the leaders who have risen to the top, who insist on telling the story in a way that flatters them best, and the masses fall in blindly. She reveals the chaotic descent of society into autocracy and fear when nationalism has its way. Humanity is lost in the cogs of the nation.
The Gospel of Anti-Nationalism
I’ve known some Christians who loudly defend the conflation of church and state—but how else will the world know who Jesus is?? How else can we make sure that we stay in and all the undesirables who would defile our nation stay out?
Friends, that isn’t the gospel of Jesus. Not once did Jesus defend the empire. Not once did he align himself with the Jewish revolution movements. Not once did he rise up against those who were Other than himself.
“Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For it is the one who is least among you who is the greatest.”
No, instead, he healed the centurion’s slave and the Syrophoenician woman’s daughter. He mingled with the tax collectors—outcast Jews—and freed a Greek demon-possessed man. He overturned the temple’s monetary system, decrying their hypocrisy and nationalist interest. He tore the temple curtain, opening the way for all races and peoples to access God. He was killed by his own people because he refused to pursue their nationalist ambitions.
Jesus’ goal of redemption was far greater than one nation; it was for all humanity. It wasn’t freedom from the physical enemies of our lands, but freedom from Death. He broke the chains of our human ambitions and set our hearts on the things which he loves—to serve one another humbly, kindly, and in love.
The apostle Paul explained the implications of Jesus’ self-giving love to the mixed Jew-Gentile Jesus-followers in Ephesus:
“For he [Jesus] himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility... His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile them both to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.”
Jesus rejected Jewish nationalism. He rejected Roman imperialism. Instead, following Jesus meant uniting all nations, tribes, genders, languages, and ethnicities. It meant worshipping together, serving one another, and living together—in unity, not uniformity.
Nationalism rips away the gift of diversity. It demands that we all look, act, worship, and behave in the same ways. It condemns those who don’t, because at the end of the day, the nation is the deity we serve.
Following Jesus means pushing against the expectations of the nation, even defying it entirely. As Una and Owen learn through their harrowing journeys through time, the nation ignores the human need for love, acceptance, and home. It desires blood in exchange for power.
This is why Christians follow Jesus, the person, not the movement that is so often co-opted for state gain as it has been in Rome, Byzantine, Russia, the Holy Roman Empire, Germany, Great Britain, and the United States of America.
Jesus the person teaches us that life is about loving one another, not raising ourselves against one another. It is a counter-cultural message; it was so in the days of imperialism and is so today in the age of nationalism.
Whom Will We Serve?
Harrow offers a just critique of the state-and-church relationship that has caused so much harm over the centuries. She portrays the harm perpetuated to minority races or non-conforming gender roles. She exposes the danger of propaganda rewriting our stories so that we blindly accept the harmful behaviours of our leaders.
“Perhaps there’s no story we won’t swallow, so long as we’ve heard it before.”
It’s a charge to the reader—how will you respond to the rising nationalism sentiment on the global stage? We thought we were done with war after World War II, and yet, wars continue in the name of God and country. When will the cycle of violence end, and how can we resist the allure of personal and national sovereignty?
It’s the church’s responsibility to resist the narratives of the empire and nation. This has been our task from day one. Jesus asked his disciples if they would die for the message of the gospel; one by one, they would do just that, giving up all ambitions, control, and fear for the sake of telling others the good news that Christ’s love and redemption transcends all earthly and spiritual powers. He is Creator, he is God, and there is no domain that is not his; thus, we give ourselves to him alone because we are created beings under his rule that transcends borders.
When we elevate our race, language, culture, nation, or denomination above others, we proclaim a god that is not God. We worship an idol that cannot think, breathe, see, or hear. We become slaves to the machine, which only ever demands human sacrifice to be satisfied, and even then, its thirst is never slaked.
“Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
It’s an invitation, friends. Harrow critiques our world boldly, yet gently. She offers the hope of love as a path to redemption. This is the message of Christ, who said, “Love others as I have loved you” (John 13:34). It’s a hard path—it leads to the death of ourselves, our ambitions, our fears, and our desires, and yet, it leads to life in the fulfillment of ourselves, our ambitions, and our desires in the One who loved us before the foundations of the world were created.
Love transforms us. Jesus is the embodiment of Love. Will we choose love over nation and power? Let it be so, friends. Let it be so.
Are you curious about The Everlasting’s content and trigger warnings? Check it out here:
The Everlasting is slated for publication on October 26, 2025! Thanks to Netgalley for an electronic advanced reader copy.
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Book review with content and trigger warnings for The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow