That Dog Won’t Hunt, Part 2: 5 More Bible Verses Christian Nationalists Keep Getting Wrong


1. Exodus 20:3 – “You shall have no other gods before me.”

How they use it:
“America was founded as a Christian nation. We just want to keep God first!”

Why that dog won’t hunt:
Putting flags in the sanctuary, pledging allegiance in worship, and building golden-calves-for-profit empires around Christian branding sounds an awful lot like… idolatry.
Spoiler alert: God doesn’t need constitutional amendments. And faith that relies on dominance isn’t devotion… it’s empire pretending to be righteous.

2. Ephesians 5:22 – “Wives, submit to your husbands…”

How they use it:
To justify patriarchy, silence women, and sell “biblical manhood” as if Jesus were a 1950s sitcom dad with a Messiah complex.

Why that dog won’t hunt:
Ephesians wasn’t a blueprint for somekind of Southern Baptist frat house. The full context includes mutual submission, and Jesus never demanded obedience from women, only offered dignity.

If your theology needs a hierarchy to function, maybe it’s not from heaven. Maybe it’s just from your own personal daddy issues.

3. Proverbs 13:24 – “Whoever spares the rod hates their child…”

How they use it:
To justify spanking, corporal punishment, and authoritarian parenting styles smothered in sweet tea and supremacy.

Why that dog won’t hunt:
“Rod” in ancient Hebrew often symbolized guidance, not beatdowns. This isn’t permission to whack your kids into submission.

Raising children in fear is not the same thing as raising them in faith. And last I checked, Jesus didn’t say, “Let the children come to me… so I can smack ‘em for misbehaving.”

4. 1 Timothy 2:12 – “I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man…”

How they use it:
To keep pulpits full of men and church committees stacked with women serving but never speaking.

Why that dog won’t hunt:
This verse has been mistranslated, misused, and misapplied so many times it oughta come with a Surgeon General’s warning.

Paul was addressing a specific cultural context in Ephesus. What he was not doing was issuing a divine gag order on half the Church. (And let’s be real, in most churches, women are more than half in attendance).

I mean, if women stopped teaching in churches today, half of y’all wouldn’t even have Sunday School.

5. John 14:6 – “No one comes to the Father except through me.”

How they use it:
As a theological trump card: “Jesus is the only way, so everyone else is wrong, condemned, and going to hell. Period.”

Why that dog won’t hunt:
Jesus wasn’t building a toll booth on the road to heaven; he offered belonging, not boundaries.

This verse is about trusting the path of Love, not gatekeeping salvation like it’s backstage at a VIP concert.

Using Jesus to condemn entire religions isn’t faith, it’s fear all dressed up in it’s Sunday best with scripture in one hand and supremacy in the other.

Bonus Round: When You Weaponize the Word, You Miss the Word Made Flesh

Christian Nationalism takes Scripture out of context, wraps it in fear, and sells it as salvation.
But y’all, if your version of Christianity requires power, privilege, and patriarchy to function…
That dog won’t hunt.

Because real faith?
It breaks chains.
It sets captives free.
It welcomes the stranger.
It calls out empire.
And it never confuses political dominance with spiritual depth.

Stay tuned for Part 3. And remember:
Just because you found a verse doesn’t mean you found Jesus.
And if someone comes at you with a twisted Bible verse, feel free to channel your inner Southern granny and say:
“Honey, that dog won’t hunt.”