Radical Violent Christians

I cannot claim to be deeply religious, but I was raised in the Episcopalian/Anglican church, even to having been an alter boy in an Anglican parish if, of all places, Beirut, Lebanon.  And if I were to summarize the headline of the New Testament, it would be message of kindness, tolerance, peace, charity and particularly eschewing sitting in judgment of others. So many of those in conspiracy driven cliques, groups and militia claim that they are acting in the name of God, and in particular, Jesus Christ. They speak of demonic pedophiles drinking the blood of babies, all Democrats, who have defrauded the nation of its rightful leader, Donald Trump. They speak of war, violence and killing, insurrection to place their chosen autocrat in absolute power. Kidnapping and then executing anyone who opposes them, including all Congressional Democrats. Immigrants are despised and their mistreatment justified. Whites are racially imbued with power above others.

These words and attitudes are definitely not Christian values anywhere. For those in these mobs, militia and conspiracy-defined organizations, they truly do not seem to understand that they are, at best, following false prophets and false values. Unchristian prophets and values. At worst, their beliefs are demonic.

Let’s take a little walk back into the Old Testament as well. Why? Well, the adulation of Donald Trump, elevating him to a near and infallible deity, was really brought home with the life-sized golden statute of Trump displayed at the recent CPAC gathering. Pictured above. I was reminded of the Golden Calf (mentioned in Exodus 32:4, Exodus 32:8; Deuteronomy 9:16; Nehemiah 9:18). “This was a molten image of a calf which the idolatrous Israelites formed at Sinai. This symbol was borrowed from the custom of the Egyptians. It was destroyed at the command of Moses (Exodus 32:20).

“The Bible Story of the Golden Calf is very revealing of human nature and the tendency of people to stray away from devotion to God.  It is ironic that while Moses was on Mount Sinai, receiving the Ten Commandments from God, the Israelites were breaking the very first commandment ‘thou shall not have any gods before me.’” BibleStudyTools.com. Donald Trump has violated many of the Ten Commandments, often routinely. His false witness lies are legendary, including the “Big Lie” that he was duly elected president last November, by a landslide, the impetus for the mob violence we have witnessed on Capitol Hill and elsewhere across the land.  

There are pastors out there supporting these insurrectionists, preaching the Big Lie as well. That they hold a clerical post, however, does not make them bona fide Christians. Indeed, there is a growing practice among too many evangelicals of treating Biblical dictates as these were options on a menu. “Menu Christians,” I call them. Writing for the March 5th Los Angeles Times, Jaweed Kaleem relates this story: “The congregation was in the middle of an online service when a longtime churchgoer in her 60s texted her pastor to complain that his prayer lamenting the assault on the U.S. Capitol in January was “too political.”

“The woman later unloaded a barrage of conspiracy theories. The election of Joe Biden was a fraud. The insurrection was instigated by Black Lives Matter and antifa activists disguised as Donald Trump supporters. The FBI was in on it all. The day would soon come, she said, ‘when all the evil, the corruption would come to light and the truth would be revealed.’… Startled and moved to tears, Pastor David Rice told the woman she had been ‘tricked by lies.’

“‘You need to know how crazy this is,’ he said to his congregant at Markey Church in Roscommon County, Mich., a rural region of about 25,000 residents that voted 2 to 1 for Trump. ‘You have been with my family and in my home and I care for you, but you are dabbling in darkness. You are telling me it’s giving you hope. I’m telling you as your pastor that it’s evil.’… The two haven’t spoken since.” So many of these radicals believe their conspiracy theories above Biblical proscriptions and above the teaching of their prelates. 

“In photos from the Capitol on Jan. 6, religion abounds: ‘Jesus 2020’ and ‘Proud American Christian’ banners, a flag with an ichthys , or ‘Jesus fish,’ and a man in a jacket advertising the Knights of Columbus Catholic fraternity among them.

“For pastors like Rice, whose church members were hundreds of miles away from Washington, D.C., and by and large abhorred the attacks, the lawlessness that day has spurred them to speak out against the rising tide of misinformation and Christian nationalism that they, too, have seen gripping their congregations and evangelical life in the United States.

“‘Something disturbing has happened with evangelicals in this country, where we have become prone to conspiracies and believing the worst about our enemies, where we end up placing the Republican Party and ourselves as Americans first before true Christianity,’ said Rice, 39, who has led his Baptist church for six years and doesn’t identify with either major party.

“His fears are matched by recent data… The American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, reported in February that more than a quarter of white evangelicals believe the QAnon conspiracy theory, which holds that a cabal of powerful politicians run a global child sex trafficking ring, is ‘mostly’ or ‘completely’ accurate. The rate was the highest of any religious group. The same survey indicated that 3 in 5 white evangelicals believe Biden’s win was ‘not legitimate.’

“A poll released this year from Nashville-based Lifeway Research , an arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, indicated that 49% of Protestant pastors often hear congregants repeating conspiracies about national events.

“The trends led a group of more than 500 influential evangelical pastors, thinkers and faith leaders to publish an open letter recently condemning ‘radicalized Christian nationalism’ and the ‘rise of violent acts by radicalized extremists using the name of Christ.’ Signers of letter , called ‘Say No to Christian Nationalism,’ included the late Rev. Billy Graham’s granddaughter Jerushah Duford, and the Rev. Jim Wallis, founder of Sojourners, a prominent progressive Christian advocacy organization.” LA Times. 

It would be unfair to lay this right-wing radicalism on Christianity. People of all faiths and no faith have joined in this conspiratorial chorus with more than a few willing to back their passionate beliefs with violence. But the sheer numbers of those who support these radical causes and find sympathy with the resulting violence are practicing evangelicals. It might be time for them to be re-born again… this time starting with the Bible itself.

I’m Peter Dekom, and the distortions of some of the most basic Christian beliefs have created an existential threat to the very existence of the United States.