Alexander Ward and Heidi Przybyla recently wrote a Politico piece on the threat of Christian nationalism. The article has drawn a lot of criticism from conservatives, including conservatives who see themselves as opposed to Christian nationalism, for painting with too broad a brush. These critics say there is nothing distinctively Christian-nationalist, or dangerous, about believing that our rights come from God and not governments, or that fathers should be forced to pay child support.

The article focuses on Russ Vought, a former Trump administration official, and his plans for a second Trump term. They summarize his viewpoint thus: “Christian nationalists in America believe that the country was founded as a Christian nation and that Christian values should be prioritized throughout government and public life.”

But the authors also discuss other people. This passage, which has not drawn much attention from the critics, strengthens the case that Politico has chosen its targets without sufficient discrimination:

In 2019, Trump’s then-secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, set up a federal commission to define human rights based on the precepts Vought describes, specifically “natural law and natural rights.” Natural law is the belief that there are universal rules derived from God that can’t be superseded by government or judges. While it is a core pillar of Catholicism, in recent decades it’s been used to oppose abortion, LGBTQ+ rights and contraception.

That commission’s main work was a report that is available online. And that report bears no resemblance to Politico’s description. Its main point is to affirm the existence of unalienable rights that all governments are obligated to protect. It notes that the U.S. Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights both take up this charge.

The report mentions “natural law” only once, noting that the Declaration of Independence gives rise to questions about it (“In what ways are unalienable rights tied to natural law?”). The word “Christian” and forms of it occur five times, two of them in reference to the career of Martin Luther King Jr., none of them even hinting that “Christian values should be prioritized throughout government.” “Abortion” comes up twice, both times noting that Americans (and members of the commission) have varying views about basic human rights. Neither “contraception” nor “birth control” comes up at all.

“Christian nationalism” would be a good topic for a searching examination. But that would take authors in command of the material.