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Date: July 03, 2022 08:27PM
https://www.npr.org/2022/01/14/1073215412/christian-nationalism-donald-trumpThis movement of ultra-conservative, politicized churches is apparently on the march, though there are no firm numbers because the congregations are mostly nondenominational. The belief system provides a godly underpinning for right-wing activism in venues like school-board elections, anti-vaccine protests, and the Jan. 6 attack on the capitol.
"This is a spiritual battle. It's good versus evil," says congregant Jim Willis, after the service. He's a 72-year-old retired army colonel and software salesman, who wears on his lapel an American flag inside of a Christian cross. "And, unfortunately, evil has taken charge."
The barn-like Patriot Church, with the giant American flag painted on the roof, has prospered. There are currently about 350 church members in the four campuses, in Tennessee, Virginia and Washington State, with two more locations underway.
https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/news/evangelicals-debate-their-role-political-activists-trump-era-n1281422KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — At the Patriot Church on the outskirts of the city, politics and religion mix freely under a flag-painted roof.
“This nation was founded on predominantly Christian values by predominantly Christian people. We just want to keep that in play,” Pastor Ken Peters told “MTP Reports.”
Peters doesn’t consider politics a private matter. He voted for President Donald Trump last year, and he wanted every member of his congregation to know it and to do the same. He then marched on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
To Peters and many other pastors like him, the stakes are high. Many in the white evangelical community feel under siege from a socially liberal mainstream culture increasingly out of step with their beliefs.
“They can’t stand Christian culture,” Peters said. “Why? Because we believe marriage is between a man and a woman. We believe that there are only two genders. We believe that life in the womb is actually human life, and they’re murdering human life for money.”
The beliefs are increasingly hard to separate from partisan politics. White evangelicals have long been described as the foot soldiers of the Republican Party, and that held true last year, when exit polls found that close to 8 in 10 voted Republican in the presidential contest.
It’s all fueling a growing Christian nationalist movement that links love of God to love of country and often a very specific vision of what that country should look like.
Willis says he and his wife fled California because of heavy-handed pandemic restrictions and headed to Tennessee. He says the Holy Spirit led them to the Patriot Church, which is not afraid to jump into the fray.
"We know what (the enemy's) agenda is," he continues, with a steely gaze. "Their agenda is to close down churches, to get rid of religion permanently in this country."
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/03/2022 08:29PM by anybody.