NAR new apostolic reform

*Commentary

Trump administration officials and Christian nationalist leaders hyped Sunday’s event to “rededicate America as one nation under God” as a historic moment and turning point for the nation, but President Donald Trump skipped it to go golfing.

The same was true for the Saturday evening worship gathering organized by musician and MAGA activist Sean Feucht on the grounds of the Washington Monument; while his followers gathered, Trump went golfing.

The snub was particularly noteworthy because Trump owes his election victories to the overwhelming support he got from conservative Christian voters, thanks in part to religious-right figures telling their audiences over and over again that Trump was anointed by God to lead and save America.

Religious-right figures who helped promote the event made a big deal out of the spiritual importance of Trump as president calling for the nation’s rededication to God. Dominionist anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ activist Lou Engle has organized many prayer events over the years that drew much bigger crowds, but he said that this one was special: “This solemn assembly is different than any other solemn assembly, for the president of the United States has called this day.”

But the president couldn’t even be bothered to make a video greeting for this “historic” moment like Vice President J.D. Vance did. Instead, organizers played a video of Trump reading a scripture passage from a religious-right organized Bible-reading marathon event a few weeks ago. Engle added that when Trump read that passage, “he opened a door for the greatest awakening America has ever seen.” He called it “a hinge of history moment.”

If Trump cared enough to think that a gathering of “prophetic” leaders might call him out the way Old Testament prophets called out unjust political leaders, he needn’t have worried. None of the speakers calling for personal and national repentance suggested that Trump should repent for his cruelty or corruption. As the Religion News Service noted, neither Sen. Tim Scott nor religious-right activist Alevda King, who spoke about the Black church’s central role in the Civil Rights Movement, mentioned the current MAGA assault on the Voting Rights Act.

Even White House Faith Office Director Paula White didn’t attend in person, sending a short video.

:{:{Ben Carson, who was secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the first Trump administration and is now National Advisor for Nutrition, Health, and Housing at the Department of Agriculture, did show up in person. He was one of a few speakers who talked about the need for national unity. There are “forces” that want Americans to think they are one another’s enemies, Carson said. “We are not enemies.” He did not acknowledge Trump’s central role in creating bitter divisions or his ongoing demonization of his political opponents as traitors—or for that matter his religious-right backers’ portrayal of Trump opponents as demonic.}:

And if the organizers of the event were really interested in promoting national unity, or transcending politics as House Speaker Mike Johnson claimed, they would have created an interfaith event that celebrated America’s exceptional religious liberty and religious pluralism. Instead they created an event overwhelmingly dominated by MAGA Christians.}:

MAGA pastor Franklin Graham delivered a video diatribe about the moral state of the country, quoting scriptural warnings about people being lovers of money, arrogant, abusive, heartless, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, and more. While Graham said this list could apply to America today, he ignored the obvious fact that all those traits apply to the president he unwaveringly promotes.

Samuel Rodriguez, a MAGA pastor, New Apostolic Reformation figure, and head of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, gave an opening prayer. He spoke for about four minutes, calling for love and justice but failing to utter a single word about the immigrants and other people in their communities who have been terrorized by the Trump administration’s brutal mass deportation efforts. So much for prophets speaking truth to power.

MAGA pundit Eric Metaxas used his time on the platform at the Sunday rally and the Saturday worship service to promote his new book about the American revolution.

At Feucht’s worship on Saturday, Metaxas claimed that every single one of the founding fathers understood that the national narrative of the revolution was, “We are re-establishing the Sinai covenant.” That kind of claim doesn’t bode well for the credibility of his book, but then, there wasn’t much hope for that anyway.

On Sunday, Metaxas said God’s hand had guided American leaders beginning with George Washington. After talking about the British burning the White House during the War of 1812, he added jokingly, “It’s hard to believe it that it would take two centuries for the Lord to raise up a great man to bring that ballroom finally to stand where it needs to stand. It’s extraordinary. We only had to wait 200 years.”

The actual “prayer of rededication” was delivered by Speaker Johnson, who invoked God’s support for the MAGA war on wokeness and truth-telling history:

In recent years we’ve seen sinister ideologies sow confusion and discord among our people. We’ve witnessed attacks on our history, on our heroes, and the cherished moral and spiritual identity of this nation. These forces insist to the young and impressionable that our story, the American story, is one of oppression and hypocrisy and failure, and that this story can only be understood through the lens of our sins. Father, we reject that. We rebuke it in your name. … We turn to you once again to save us from these afflictions, to deliver us from the forces of evil, oppression, injustice, and tyranny both within our borders and beyond our shores.

In asking for deliverance from oppression and injustice, Johnson was apparently not thinking of the authoritarian abuses of power that mark the Trump administration, because his only mention of Trump was to pray that God would “continue to bless our president with the wisdom, prudence, and strength to govern our nation in accordance with your will.”

Neither the smaller-than-expected attendance nor Trump’s apparent disinterest in the “rededication” ceremony mean that the rest of us should ignore that the increasingly aggressive Christian nationalism of the administration and the MAGA movement threatens Americans’ religious freedom and the rights of people seen as undeserving by right-wing Christian nationalists.

// RWW

05/18/2026

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Alex Nguyen @ Mother Jones: Trump Just Gave Himself a $1.8 Billion Slush Fund to Reward His Friends

And the public may never know who their money was spent on.

Jon Wertheim, Aliza Chasan, Andrew Bast, and Jessica Kegu @ CBS News: Suspected insider accounts net $2.4 million on Polymarket Iran war bets with 98% win rate, firm finds

Nine connected Polymarket accounts have raked in more than $2.4 million betting almost exclusively on U.S. military actions in what digital detectives from the data analytics firm Bubblemaps have identified as a potentially egregious case of insider trading.

Sarah Posner @ Talking Points Memo: Trump’s Evangelical Allies Gather in DC for Prayer Marathon, Push to Further Erode Church-State Divide

Speakers cast America as ‘morally rotten’ and sinful while embracing the ‘Christian nationalist’ label.

María Teresita Armstrong-Matta @ Raw Story: Reports attest Trump's 'Rededicate 250' event drew in small crowds

President Donald Trump's free eight-hour Rededicate 250 prayer event held at the National Mall in D.C. Sunday drew a notably sparse crowd, with Reuters photos capturing numerous empty seats.

Steven Waldman @ Religion News Service: Christian nationalists need to look again at their religious DNA

The ancestors of today’s Christian nationalists weren’t the leaders of Christian America — they were the heretics.

Warren Throckmorton: Donald Trump's Rededicate 250 is Religious Kayfabe

The Christian worship performance scheduled for the National Mall is a religious show.

---

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rww --> 9 26

The rise of the Jim Crow theobros

(RNS) — A group of Reformed pastors and influencers has wedded old-school segregationist theology with the hypermasculinity of the manosphere and the savvy of the attention economy to preach and sell white supremacy, antisemitism and patriarchy to angry young men. Its audience is small but growing, and their movement has ties to powerful religious and political figures.

Joel Webbon, from left, Dale Partridge, Joshua Haymes, and Michael Spangler. A previous image included an individual not in the article. (RNS illustration/Chaz Russo/AI used)

Bob Smietana

September 24, 2026

(RNS) — Michael Spangler does not look like a white supremacist and antisemite.

He has no visible tattoos, no shaven head, no black overcoat or jackboots. No hood, no Confederate flag and no Nazi images appear in the background as he sits in front of a screen for a recent Zoom interview.

Instead, the soft-spoken Christian school teacher and pastor of Piedmont Presbyterian Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, sporting a neatly trimmed beard, was dressed in a charcoal suit and sat in front of a fish tank that seemed straight off the set of Pixar’s “Finding Nemo.”

Then he began talking about Jews. And a broad smile broke across his face.

“You’re asking if I oppose the Jews who murdered Christ?” said Spangler as he paraphrased a verse from the Apostle Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, which he says labels Jews as “the enemies of God and all men.”

“We need to consider them and treat them accordingly.”

A segregationist and “race realist” whose start-up church, which has a handful of families, bars Black people out of fear of “harmful race-mixing,” Spangler is one of a small but growing group of pastors and internet influencers who openly embrace racist and antisemitic views, casting them as true Christian ideas.

This group, many of whom fit the Reformed Christian theobro typology — known for their distinctive beards, suits and penchant for exegeting over whiskey — has wedded old-school segregationist theology from the Jim Crow-era South with the hypermasculinity of the manosphere and the savvy of the attention economy to preach white supremacy, antisemitism and patriarchy, mostly to disillusioned young men on the internet.

And along the way, they are turning outrage into cash.

Selling white supremacy

In May of 2025, Joel Webbon, a Texas pastor and self-described Christian nationalist with more than 100,000 followers on X, launched On the Nose Media LLC, a new for-profit media company.

The company, which does business as NXR Studios — short for “New Christian Right” — bought the YouTube channel formerly run by Right Response Ministries, a nonprofit founded by Webbon in 2019.

That channel currently has 187,000 subscribers and more than 20 million views. Webbon told RNS, in an email after this article was originally published, that at the time of sale, the channel had 125,000 subscribers and “under 16 million views.” He said the channel had added more than 50,000 subscribers and “more than 8 million views this year.”

Joel Webbon. (RNS illustration/Chaz Russo)

Webbon, who had declined an interview before publication, also told RNS that the channel does not promote white supremacy and never has. “Our content is explicitly Christian, grounded in the theological and political vision of the Scriptures and the historic Protestant tradition,” Webbon said in a post-publication email.

The new company, which lists Webbon among its principals in documents filed with the state of Texas, has turned the channel into a bullhorn for Christian nationalism, antisemitism and white supremacy. One of the first videos for the new NXR channel was an interview with Nick Fuentes, a white nationalist influencer whom Webbon called “the most significant man in America.” (Fuentes was paid for his appearance, the company’s CFO recently disclosed.)

Along with subscriptions, which range from $9.99 a month for premium content and $19.99 for VIP access, the company sells a “Christian Nationalist Starter Pack” of books for $99.99 with titles like “White Genocide” and T-shirts emblazoned with “It’s Ok to be White” and “I’ll Take the Christian, Hold the Judeo,” among other slogans. (The group also sells pro-nicotine T-shirts, part of their pro-smoking message.) Subscribers can listen to an audiobook version of Martin Luther’s “On the Jews and Their Lies” as well.

Webbon’s company also hosts conferences and sells ads, offering “millions of impressions each month across high-engagement content, connecting your brand with a loyal and values-driven audience.”

The mix of extreme views and commerce can be jarring.

Jesus is not front and center with these guys.

Hunter Baker, senior fellow at the First Liberty Institute

During a recent episode, Webbon, whose church boasted of having about 200 members back in 2023, jumped from dissing Civil Rights icon Rosa Parks and extolling the virtues of the Patriot Front, a white nationalist group, to a pitch for affordable “grass-fed, pasture-raised beef” sold by Wild Pastures, a meat subscription service.

“Try it for yourself, get 20% off,” he said, then hopped back into praising the “physically fit, well-behaved, disciplined” members of the Patriot Front.

YouTube influencer Joshua Haymes is even more enthusiastic. Once a ponytailed hipster church planter with a soul-patch in the early days of COVID-19, Haymes has defended slavery using the Bible, and claims Hitler — who he calls “the mustache man” — was misunderstood.

Joshua Haymes. (Video screen grab)

“It is not inherently evil to own another human being,” he said about slavery in a late December episode on his Reformation Red Pill YouTube channel, adding that “it is very important that every Christian affirm what I just said.”

“Christians in America have been led astray on this issue,” he said, saying the Bible defends slavery. Then Haymes, who often sports a brown blazer, tie and pipe, launched into an energetic pitch for Beam Dream Sleep Powder.

“It’s literally like a hot chocolate before bed, and it tastes really good,” he said. “So guys, go get some Beam Dream Sleep Powder and use my code RRP for up to 35% off.”

Haymes is also a big fan, at least on his channel, of a Christian protein powder and teriyaki beef sticks from a sponsor.

Ramping up

Podcaster Will Spencer, who runs a podcast focused on Christianity and men’s issues, said pro-white supremacist pastors have mastered some of the lessons of other internet influencers. Spencer, who grew up in a Jewish family and later converted to Christianity after meeting a church group at the Burning Man festival, has warned of the dangers of neo-Nazi ideas invading churches by targeting young men.

Spencer, who faced backlash after disowning an interview he’d done with influencer Corey Mahler after finding out about Mahler’s neo-Nazi views, said extreme views can be a proven strategy for building an audience online. He said in general, women share and engage with social media content more than men do.

“But there is an exception to that. If you could tap into a segment of young, angry, disaffected men with disposable income — they are hyper-tribal, hyper-loyal, they share and engage consistently — you become their guy — you can circumvent the way social media usually works,” he said.

But that strategy requires a constant stream of outrage.

“The problem,” he said, is that “you have to keep shoveling them increasing red bits of meat — it is a one-way trip.”

Dale Partridge. (RNS illustration/Chaz Russo)

For Dale Partridge, an Arizona pastor and another member of the New Christian Right channel, that one-way trip has included significant transformation.

A decade ago, Partridge was a lifestyle blogger and social justice evangelical entrepreneur who had been “saved from success.” In 2015, he gave a TEDx talk called “How to Value People over Profits” based on his book of the same title. His most controversial view was that yoga pants are sinful.

In recent years, Partridge, who has more than 300,000 social media followers and more than 40,000 on YouTube, has rebranded himself as a chain-smoking, hardcore Christian nationalist, claiming women should not be allowed to vote, Black Americans should not be citizens and Jews were ruining Germany before the Nazis took over.

“So this Nazi or National Socialist movement terrified the Jews because it represented a powerful form of Christian nationalism,” he said in a video clip posted on social media.

Partridge, who did not respond to a request for an interview, also runs “Manhood.org,” which offers a get-rich program based on his past business experience for $200 a month or $2,200 a year.

At his church, King’s Way Reformed Church, Partridge recently preached a series of sermons on the curse of Ham — a reference to an obscure Old Testament story historically used to justify slavery and segregation. He advocated for a return to “European Christian colonization of African nations.”

Elsewhere, Partridge has argued for America to become 90% white again, as it was in the 1960s, and called for the deportation of 100 million immigrants.

Dale Partridge. (Video screen grab)

Partridge and King’s Way Reformed Church, which has about 100 members and is located in Prescott, Arizona, were featured this year in the New York Times for the congregations’ embrace of biblical patriarchy and household voting, the idea that every household gets one vote and the husband casts it.

Many of these pastors, including Partridge, Webbon and Spangler, have brick-and-mortar churches, but while their congregations are small, their online audiences run in the hundreds of thousands.

No longer taboo

Partridge and Webbon, along with Calvin Robinson, a British cleric who lost his ministerial credentials for making a Nazi-like salute at an event, recently took part in a long YouTube discussion on what to do about “the Black problem.”

Along with arguing for mass deportations, the panelists claimed the Civil Rights Act has held Black Americans back, that Black Americans are less intelligent than white Americans and that interracial marriage, while not banned by the Bible, is ill-advised, and minorities should know their place.

George Yancey, a professor of sociology at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, believes the rise of Donald Trump and the MAGA movement have created space for these kinds of racist ideas to thrive.

“When Trump was elected, and the way Trump talks about race, that created a permission structure for people to talk about race,” he said. “Some people had these racist ideas, but they were afraid to say it before Trump.”

It is not inherently evil to own another human being.

YouTube influencer Joshua Haymes

Yancey also wonders if the George Floyd-era discussions about racism have played a role as well. In those discussions, the definition of racism was expanded beyond what he called “no-doubt about it” hateful forms of racism to include disagreements on how best to address racial disparities.

“I really want to reserve that term for people who engage in the sort of hateful racism that I grew up seeing,” Yancey said.

Webbon, who declined a request for an interview, recently sat down in a wood-paneled studio with Thomas Rousseau, founder of the Patriot Front, a white nationalist organization. After a promo for the NXR’s upcoming fall conference, “Christ is King: America After Trump,” which offered deep discounts for families, they discussed, among other things, whether Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who is Black, should be deported to Africa along with other Black Americans.

Pastor Joel Webbon, right, interviews Patriot Front founder Thomas Rousseau. (Video screen grab)

In an excerpt of the interview, posted online by Nashville investigative journalist Phil Williams, Rousseau said yes, in his version of America, Thomas could not be an American. Webbon said no, adding that Thomas is one of the few Black people who should be allowed to vote. Both said the United States should not be a multi-racial country.

Webbon, dressed in his uniform of a dark sport coat and khaki pants, assured Rousseau that he doesn’t find his claim that Black people cannot be Americans racist.

“I just want you to know, and I hope you know this. Like, I don’t hear that and say, ‘You dirty racist. Okay, that’s terrible, or I can’t believe that,’” Webbon said. “I perfectly understand the position.”

Webbon, a former aspiring musician and one-time Vineyard church planter, has not always held such extreme views on race. As recently as 2024, he posted a video saying if his daughter brought home a Black Christian man “who loved the Lord,” Webbon said, “I want to say, praise God, marry my daughter.”

Webbon’s change in views grieves Samuel Sey, a conservative Black Christian blogger who was once on friendly terms with the Texas pastor, even speaking on a panel together at a church conference in 2022.

He believes Webbon and pastors like him chose ambition and controversy over preaching Christianity. To quote the Bible, he said in a reference to a New Testament passage, they want to gain the world but are losing their souls.

Sey, who was born in Ghana and immigrated in childhood to Canada, worries that all the language of white supremacy will lead to violence.

“You can’t keep saying all these things, and therefore there not to be a violent consequence at some point,” he said.

Reconstructing racism

Spangler, who has been a pastor since 2018 and was expelled from the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in 2024 for his views, also went through an extreme transformation. He grew up attening services at Lloyd Presbyterian Church, a historic African American congregation in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) where his mother was pastor.

Michael Spangler. (RNS illustration/Chaz Russo)

Things started to change when he was a student at Davidson College. At the time, Spangler, an aspiring minister, was engaged to another aspiring minister.

“My fiancé and I were going to be pastors together in the PCUSA,” he said in an interview.

Spangler said he had a conversion experience while reading a sermon on the New Testament book of Ephesians and came to believe women should obey men.

That did not go over with his wife-to-be. In Spangler’s retelling, she ended up dumping both him and Jesus, becoming a lesbian and Jewish. Spangler, who in the past has said America needs a Protestant Hitler, said his views on feminism later changed how he views matters of race.

“Just as God did not make the sexes equal, he did not make races equal,” Spangler told RNS.

Spangler and his friend, the Rev. Samuel Ketcham, who was defrocked by the Reformed Presbyterian Church for his racist views earlier this year, have started their own denomination, known as the Southern Presbytery.

That name is telling. Southern Presbyterians during the Civil War era were zealous proponents of the righteousness of slavery and racism, said R. Ward Holder, director for the Center for the Study of Religion and Public Life at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Holder said during the Civil War, Presbyterians, like the Baptists, split between the North and the South. Theologians like James Henley Thornwell and Robert Lewis Dabney, in what was known as the Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of America, believed the Bible supported slavery and their way of life.

Michael Spangler. (Video screen grab)

Holder sees a parallel in pastors and influencers like Spangler, for whom the racism and sexism of America’s past are not sins to be overcome but an essential part of the Christian America they want to build.

They are features, not bugs, for pastors like Spangler.

“If you’re a true believer, that’s not going to bother you,” said Holder.

True believers?

Jemar Tisby, the New York Times bestselling author of “The Color of Compromise,” compared the return of racist ideas to the Redemption era, which followed Reconstruction. In that era, Southern Blacks lost much of the social standing and political influence they’d gained after the Civil War.

“Redemption is a Bible word that means restoring a people to right relationship with God,” he said. “But in the hands of white supremacists, redemption meant taking back the country for white people. That’s essentially what this resurgence of racism is about.”

Tisby said the ideas promoted by pastors like Spangler and Webbon are gaining attention but are unlikely to convince large numbers of people.

“There are some people who always believed it who are now being more vocal about it,” he said. “But I don’t know that they’re being effective evangelists of their ideology.”

Hunter Baker, senior fellow for civic renewal and religious liberty at the First Liberty Institute, said for pastors like Partridge or Webbon, creating outrage is “almost like a fun activity.”

Some of the nationalist influencers, Baker said, seem to have adopted a “pre-Christian identity” and have rejected teachings of Jesus, especially the Sermon on the Mount.

“Jesus is not front and center with these guys,” he said.

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RWW 18TH?

Mike Johnson Says ‘Rededicate 250’ Event ‘Transcends Politics’; So Why Are All the Speakers MAGA Christians?

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson addressing the 2026 National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance (Image from CBN News coverage)

News & Analysis

05/15/2026

A letter from Speaker of the House Mike Johnson promoting this weekend’s Christian nationalist ceremony to “rededicate” America to God was sent out by Freedom 250 Thursday evening.

In the email from Freedom 250, which President Donald Trump set up to wrest control of the national celebrations from the bipartisan and congressionally authorized America 250to promote himself and MAGA ideology, Johnson called Sunday’s day-long event “a unique moment for believers" and “a call for unity, repentance, and hope, and one that truly transcends politics.”

That is classic Trumpian gaslighting.

First of all, an event seeking to unify the actually country might in some way recognize the religious pluralism that is an essential part of what makes America exceptional, along with our Constitution’s protections of religious freedom and prohibitions on government-established religion or religious tests for public office.

Instead, every speaker listed in the schedule sent out by Freedom 250 is a Christian; most are evangelical and Pentecostal Trump boosters, along with a couple of right-wing Catholics and other denominations represented. Earlier speaker lists included a rabbi, perhaps as “Judeo-Christian” window-dressing, but he was not included in Thursday’s Freedom 250 email.

It’s a bad joke for Johnson to claim that Sunday’s event “transcends politics,” given that every speaker listed in the Freedom 250 email is a vocal supporter of President Trump, many of them on record declaring him to be anointed by God and some, like White House Faith Office Director Paula White, claiming that Trump’s opponents are enemies of God or demonic agents of Satan.

In reality, this is another opportunity for Trump to posture as a defender of the faith and bask in the adoration of his most loyal supporters at a time when his public support has hit record lows. And it is an opportunity for Christian nationalists to continue to send the false and exclusionary message that the only “real” Americans are the right kind of Christians, at a time when Christian-right and MAGA officials are trying to claim that Muslims and other non-Christians do not deserve the protection of the First Amendment.

The “moment of rededication” will be led by Johnson, along with former Archbishop of New York City Timothy Dolan, MAGA Pastor Lorenzo Sewell, and dominionist New Apostolic Reformation figure Lou Engle. Engle is a longtime anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ activist who led prayers that God would knock off Supreme Court justices to create vacancies for Trump to fill. In an Engle teaching guide called “The Keys to Dominion,” he preached:

“The church’s vocation is to rule history with God…The same authority that has been given to Christ Jesus for overwhelming conquering and dominion has been given to the saints of the most high….We’re God’s rulers upon the earth…We will govern over kings and judges will have to submit…We’re called to rule! To change history! To be co-regents with God!”

Christians, secularists, and other Americans who reject the MAGA movement’s increasingly aggressive Christian nationalism are speaking up in opposition to the “rededication.” This week, the Interfaith Alliance projected messages supporting religious freedom for all on the walls of the National Gallery of Art.

---

rww

04/03/2026

Frederick Clarkson and André Gagné @ Religion Dispatches: Meet the Top 24 Leaders of the New Apostolic Reformation in the U.S.

Get to know the under-the-radar leaders of a movement that helped organize January 6 and continues to pose a threat to American democracy.

Matthew Chapman @ Raw Story: MAGA senator declares war on RFK as pro-lifers mutiny

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) fired off an angry letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday, slamming the department's move to restore certain health grants to Planned Parenthood.

Gordon Lubold and Courtney Kube @ NBC News: Hegseth has intervened in military promotions for more than a dozen senior officers

The defense secretary’s efforts to block or delay promotions to general or admiral for some officers has raised concerns that he may be targeting them because of race, gender or affiliation with the Biden administration, sources say.

Tommy Christopher @ Mediaite: Trump’s Stunning Declaration in Now-Deleted Video Isn’t Helped By ‘Context’

President Donald Trump’s stunning rant about cutting or eliminating massively popular programs (from a now-deleted White House event) went viral — and all the “context” in the world doesn’t make it any better.

Ben Terris @ Intelligencer: Judge Jeanine’s Big Audition

Many in Trumpworld are circling the newly open job of attorney general. Jeanine Pirro may be the most recklessly loyal.

Sophia Cai and Finya Swai @ Politico: Trump’s Online Brawler Is Trying to Keep MAGA Cool

Alex Bruesewitz went from volunteer online hatchet man for Donald Trump to his lead impresario. What will he do if pop culture decides MAGA is no longer cool?

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AN 11 25

Founded in Nigeria in 2002 — the year after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon — Boko Haram has been a frequent source of violence in that country for 23 years. The far-right jihadist group, often compared to al-Qaeda, favors overthrowing Nigeria's democratic republic and replacing it with an Islamist dictatorship governed by strict fundamentalist Shariah law — specifically, a Sunni version. Boko Haram has a long history of violent attacks on both Christians and Muslims (including Shiites as well as fellow Sunnis they consider too liberal).

U.S. President Donald Trump is now threatening military action against Boko Haram, vowing to "protect Christians." And his messaging is specifically focused on Christianity, not Sunni and Shiite Muslims in Nigeria who fear Boko Haram.

In an article published on November 4, Salon's Heather Digby Parton examines the influence that far-right white fundamentalist evangelicals and "Christian nationalists" are having on Trump's Nigeria policy. And one of them is Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

"Whatever the case, this appears to be based upon misinformation," Parton explains. "Nigeria is dealing with the Boko Haram extremist group, which does target Christians. But it also threatens Muslims who don't accept its radical form of Islam, as well as those who are sympathetic to the Nigerian government. Most experts and analysts reject the assertion that this is some kind of Christian genocide. Trump may have wanted to give a little something to his 'cherished Christians,' as he sometimes refers to his evangelical supporters, but Hegseth is a much more interesting case."

Parton continues, "This is, after all, a man who wrote a book called 'American Crusade,' which The Guardian described as 'depicting Islam as a natural, historic enemy of the west; presents distorted versions of Muslim doctrine in Great Replacement-style racist conspiracy theories; treats leftists and Muslims as bound together in their efforts to subvert the U.S.; and idolizes medieval crusaders."

Parton warns that evangelical Hegseth embraces an extreme form of far-right Christian fundamentalism. In this book, the former Fox News host calls for "followers of Christ to take up the sword in defense of their faith."

"Hegseth is also a member of an extreme far-right sect called the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches that also believes in militant Christianity," Parton warns. "It's heavily influenced by reconstructionism, a theology that religion scholar Julie Ingersoll describes as believing 'it's the job of Christians to exercise dominion over the whole world.' In short, Hegseth is a serious Christian nationalist, and there could be nothing more satisfying for him than to muster a fighting force to wage war against Muslims in a foreign land in the name of Jesus Christ."

Parton continues, "It sounds medieval, and it is…. Whether they will follow through on this is anyone's guess. At some point, one might hope that a few of the Christians who are clamoring for the U.S. to go into Nigeria with 'guns-a-blazing' might spare a thought for their fellow followers of Christ who are being terrorized every single day right here in America at the hands of an oppressive government that is deporting them to face certain persecution."

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AN 9 25

Far-right MAGA pundit Candace Owens is claiming that Turning Point USA's Charlie Kirk was getting ready to convert to Catholicism near the end of his life, but evangelical Christian fundamentalists are denying that claim. And reporters Sam Stein and Will Sommer appeared skeptical about that alleged conversion during a conversation for the conservative website The Bulwark.

Kirk, who was 31 when he was fatally shot in Utah, was closely identified with evangelical Christian nationalism. And The Guardian's J. Oliver Conroy, in an article published on September 20, reports that Christian nationalists are "positioning Charlie Kirk as a martyr for their movement."

After Kirk's murder, his widow, Erika Kirk, posted, on Instagram, that the "world is evil" and declared, "They have no idea what they just ignited within this wife."

Author Jeff Sharlet, known for his writings on Christian nationalism, discussed Erika Kirk's comments with The Guardian — warning, "That's holy war, that's accelerationism, and it's incredibly powerful."

Conroy notes some of the other things far-right Christian nationalists have been saying since Kirk's death.

In a video, megachurch pastor Matt Tuggle said of Kirk's murder, "If your pastor isn't telling you the left believes (in an) evil demonic belief system, you are in the wrong church."

Sean Feucht, a Christian nationalist pastor who worked with Kirk, said, "We know that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. The devil is not gonna win. The forces want us to be silent; they want us to shut up.… We need to be more bold."

Conroy describes Christian nationalism as "the belief that the U.S. is and should be an explicitly Christian nation."

"Kirk had been an evangelical Christian since childhood but earlier in his career, expressed reluctance at politicizing his religious views," Conroy explains. "That changed during the peak of the early pandemic, when Kirk made the acquaintance of several charismatic megachurch pastors protesting church lockdowns. He began to traffic in ideas influenced by the (New Apostolic Reformation),including the seven-mountain mandate. Turning Point USA also began to forge partnerships with churches."

*Read J. Oliver Conroy's full article for The Guardian at this link.

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08/12/2025

Last month, Ché Ahn, a far-right pastor in California, announced that he is running in the 2026 election to become governor of his home state.

Last week, Ahn officially launched his campaign with an event at which he explained how he has been called by God to run for the office.

"On April 28th, I had an encounter with the Holy Spirit at 2:30 in the morning," Ahn said. "The presence of God came upon me and this weighty presence—the kavod of God, the glory of God—came and I felt this incredible knowing. I didn't hear a voice, I didn't see a vision, I didn't have a dream, but I knew I was called to run for governor."

Ahn claimed that he initially resisted the calling and insisted upon receiving a confirmation from God that this is what he has been instructed to do.

"My first reaction, I said, 'Lord, please not this,'" Ahn claimed. "I'll do anything you ask me to do them not run for governor. And yet, I knew that I couldn't shake it. I was up for two hours, until like 4:30 in the morning just praying through this. Then I said, 'Lord, you know my weakness. I need a confirmation. I just can't go on this impression.' ... If I get an invitation from President Trump to come to the White House, then I know this is of you. Two hours later, I get a text saying that I'm going to get an e-mail invitation from President Trump to the White House for the National Day of Prayer at the Rose Garden."

"Now you can't make this up," Ahn declared. "And I said, 'OK, Lord, OK, that's a sign.'"

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As Right Wing Watch reported when he first announced his campaign, Ahn is an ardently pro-Trump Christian nationalist activist and a leader in the New Apostolic Reformation:

The New Apostolic Reformation is a growing religious and political movement that emerged from the Pentecostal corner of American Christianity over the past few decades. President Donald Trump’s rise to power was assisted by NAR leaders who declared that Trump was anointed by God to lead America; in turn, Trump and his spiritual adviser Paula White have given dominionist leaders a level of access and influence they have never had before.

The movement’s leaders, like Ahn, believe that Christians who share their religious and political worldview are commanded to transform whole nations by taking “dominion” over every sphere of influence in society, including government, and "occupy" them until the return of Christ. Ahn’s campaign website says he is running “not out of ambition, but out of obedience.”

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said release, then 180 then shut down hse

an 7 25

During a press conference on Tuesday morning, July 22, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) announced that he was cutting the week's legislative activities short and sending lawmakers in order avoid a vote on the Jeffrey Epstein investigation. And he blamed Democrats, accusing them of "endless efforts to politicize the Epstein investigation" and adding, "We're not going to play political games with this."

Johnson's announcement drew plenty of criticism online, with many social media users accusing him of running interference for President Donald Trump.

Mother Jones' Kiera Butler, in a biting article, argues that far-right "Christian nationalism" is influencing that decision and others from the House speaker.

"On Tuesday," Butler explains, "House Speaker Mike Johnson, in a departure from his previous calls for transparency, announced that he would not ask for a vote on whether the files pertaining to accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein should be released…. It's impossible to truly know what prompted Johnson's about-face, but it's worth noting that he has long been connected to the New Apostolic Reformation — a charismatic evangelical movement that teaches that Christians are called to take 'dominion' over all aspects of society, including the government. Johnson has publicly acknowledged that NAR has had a 'profound influence' on his life, according to a report issued by the Congressional Freethought Caucus last year."

Butler adds, "It's also worth noting that arguably the most influential and visible NAR leader, a Texas business strategist named Lance Wallnau, has been outspoken in recent weeks in his defense of Trump on the Epstein issue. On July 14, Wallnau told his 100,000 YouTube followers that he believed that Trump was acting in the best interest of the country by not releasing the files."

The Mother Jones reporter notes, however, that Wallnau isn't the only far-right evangelical "Christian nationalist influencer" who is closely allied with MAGA Republicans.

"Another prominent Christian nationalist influencer, Texas pastor Joel Webbon, has also arrived at a belief in Trump's innocence —but from a different perspective," Butler observes. "Webbon isn’t connected with the NAR like Johnson and Wallnau — instead, he's a member of the TheoBros, a network of Christian nationalist Millennial influencers. Many of them believe that women shouldn't be allowed to vote, and that the Ten Commandments should replace the U.S. Constitution."

Butler continues, "Like NAR, the TheoBros are also well-connected to Republican politicians. U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth attends a TheoBros-aligned church, and (Vice President JD) Vance has socialized with members of the movement as well."

Webbon, according to Butler, isn't shy about expressing "antisemitic views."

In a November 2, 2024 post on X, formerly Twitter, Webbon wrote, "I hate Judaism, but I love Jews and wish them a very pleasant conversion to Christianity. If you really want to know my full thoughts on the modern nation/state of Israel, you can watch the new series I recently published with @BonifaceOption…. Christ Is King."

Webbon told Mother Jones he stands by "everything I've said about Judaism. It is a pernicious evil."

*Kiera Butler's full article for Mother Jones is available at this link.

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Vance Boelter, who allegedly shot Melissa Hortman, a Democratic Minnesota state representative, and her husband, Mark Hortman, on June 14, 2025, studied at Christ for the Nations Institute in Dallas. The group is a Bible school linked to the New Apostolic Reformation, or NAR.

The NAR is a loosely organized but influential charismatic Christian movement that shares similarities with Pentecostalism, especially in its belief that God actively communicates with believers through the Holy Spirit. Unlike traditional Pentecostalism, however, the organization emphasizes modern-day apostles and prophets as authoritative leaders tasked with transforming society and ushering in God’s kingdom on Earth. Prayer, prophecy and worship are defined not only as acts of devotion but as strategic tools for advancing believers’ vision of government and society.

After the shooting, the Christ for the Nations Institute issued a statement “unequivocally” denouncing “any and all forms of violence and extremism.” It stated: “Our organization’s mission is to educate and equip students to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ through compassion, love, prayer, service, worship, and value for human life.”

But the shooting has drawn attention to the school and the larger Christian movement it belongs to. One of the most important aspects of NAR teachings today is what is called “the Seven Mountain Mandate.”

The Seven Mountain Mandate calls on Christians to gain influence, or “take dominion,” over seven key areas of culture: religion, family, education, government, media, business and the arts.

With over three decades of experience studying extremism, I offer a brief overview of the history and core beliefs of the Seven Mountains Mandate.

‘Dominion of Christians’

The Seven Mountains concept was originally proposed in 1975 by evangelical leader Bill Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ. Now known as “Cru,” the Campus Crusade for Christ was founded as a global ministry in 1951 to promote Christian evangelism, especially on college campuses.

United by a shared vision to influence society through Christian values, Bright partnered with Loren Cunningham, the founder of Youth With A Mission, a major international missionary training and outreach organization, in the 1970s.

The Seven Mountains Mandate was popularized by theologian Francis Schaeffer, who linked it to a larger critique of secularism and liberal culture. Over time, it evolved.

C. Peter Wagner, a former seminary professor who helped organize and name the New Apostolic Reformation, is often regarded as the theological architect of the group. He developed it into a call for dominion. In his 2008 book “Dominion! How Kingdom Action Can Change the World,” he urged Christians to take authoritative control of cultural institutions.

For Wagner, “dominion theology” – the idea that Christians should have control over all aspects of society – was a call to spiritual warfare, so that God’s kingdom would be “manifested here on earth as it is in heaven.”

Since 1996, Bill Johnson, a senior leader of Bethel Church, and Johnny Enlow, a self-described prophet and Seven Mountains advocate, among others, have taken the original idea of the Seven Mountains Mandate and reshaped it into a more aggressive, political and spiritually militant approach. Spiritual militancy reflects an aggressive, us-vs.-them mindset that blurs the line between faith and authoritarianism, promoting dominion over society in the name of spiritual warfare.

Their version doesn’t just aim to influence culture; it frames the effort as a spiritual battle to reclaim and reshape the nation according to their vision of God’s will.

Lance Wallnau, another Christian evangelical preacher, televangelist, speaker and author, has promoted dominion theology since the early 2000s. During the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Wallnau, along with several prominent NAR figures, described Donald Trump as anointed by God to reclaim the “mountain” of government from demonic control.

In their book “Invading Babylon: The 7 Mountains Mandate,” Wallnau and Johnson explicitly call for Christian leadership as the only antidote to perceived moral decay and spiritual darkness.

The beliefs

Sometimes referred to as Seven Mountains of Influence or Seven Mountains of Culture, the seven mountains are not neutral domains but seen as battlegrounds between divine truth and demonic deception.

Adherents believe that Christians are called to reclaim these areas through influence, leadership and even, if necessary, the use of force and to confront demonic political forces, as religion scholar Matthew Taylor demonstrates in his book “The Violent Take It By Force.”

Diverse perspectives and interpretations surround the rhetoric and actions associated with the New Apostolic Reformation. Some analysts have pointed out how the NAR is training its followers for an active confrontation. Other commentators have said that the rhetoric calling for physical violence is anti-biblical and should be denounced.

NAR-aligned leaders have framed electoral contests as struggles between “godly” candidates and those under the sway of “satanic” influence.

Similarly, NAR prophet Cindy Jacobs has repeatedly emphasized the need for “spiritual warfare” in schools to combat what she characterizes as “demonic ideologies” such as sex education, LGBTQ+ inclusion or discussions of systemic racism.

In the NAR worldview, cultural change is not merely political or social but considered a supernatural mission; opponents are not simply wrong but possibly under the sway of demonic influence. Elections become spiritual battles.

This belief system views pluralism as weakness, compromise as betrayal, and coexistence as capitulation. Frederick Clarkson, a senior research analyst at Political Research Associates, a progressive think tank based in Somerville, Massachusetts, defines the Seven Mountains Mandate as “the theocratic idea that Christians are called by God to exercise dominion over every aspect of society by taking control of political and cultural institutions.”

The call to “take back” the culture is not metaphorical but literal, and believers are encouraged to see themselves as soldiers in a holy war to dominate society. Some critics argue that NAR’s call to “take back” culture is about literal domination, but this interpretation is contested.

Many within the movement see the language of warfare as spiritually focused on prayer, evangelism and influencing hearts and minds. Still, the line between metaphor and mandate can blur, especially when rhetoric about “dominion” intersects with political and cultural action. That tension is part of an ongoing debate both within and outside the movement.

Networks that spread the beliefs

This belief system is no longer confined to the margins. It is spread widely through, podcasts, and political networks.

It’s hard to know exactly how many churches are part of the New Apostolic Reformation, but estimates suggest that about 3 million people in the U.S. attend churches that openly follow NAR leaders.

At the same time, the Seven Mountains Mandate doesn’t depend on centralized leadership or formal institutions. It spreads organically through social networks, social media – notably podcasts and livestreams – and revivalist meetings and workshops.

André Gagné, a theologian and author of “American Evangelicals for Trump: Dominion, Spiritual Warfare, and the End Times,” writes about the ways in which the mandate spreads by empowering local leaders and believers. Individuals are authorized – often through teachings on spiritual warfare, prophetic gifting, and apostolic leadership – to see themselves as agents of divine transformation in society, called to reclaim the “mountains,” such as government, media and education, for God’s kingdom.

This approach, Gagné explains, allows different communities to adapt the action mandate to. It encourages individuals to see themselves as spiritual warriors and leaders in their domains – whether in business, education, government, media or the arts.

Small groups or even individuals can start movements or initiatives without waiting for top-down directives. The only recognized authorities are the apostles and prophets running the church or church network the believers attend.

The framing of the Seven Mountains Mandate as a divinely inspired mission, combined with the movement’s emphasis on direct spiritual experiences and a specific interpretation of scripture, can create an environment where questioning the mandate is perceived as challenging God’s authority.

Slippery slope

These beliefs have increasingly fused with nationalist rhetoric and conspiracy theories.

A powerful example of NAR political rhetoric in action is the rise and influence of the “Appeal to Heaven” flags. For those in the New Apostolic Reformation, these flags symbolize the belief that when all earthly authority fails, people have the right to appeal directly to God’s authority to justify resistance.

This was evident during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection, when these flags were prominently displayed.

To be clear, its leaders are not calling for violence but rather for direct political engagement and protest. For some believers, however, the calls for “spiritual warfare” may become a slippery slope into justification for violence, as in the case of the alleged Minnesota shooter.

Understanding the Seven Mountains Mandate is essential for grasping the dynamics of contemporary efforts to align government and culture with a particular vision of Christian authority and influence.

Art Jipson, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Dayton

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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'Fits a profile': More assassination attempts feared as suspect's Christian ties come to light

In this handout provided by Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, Vance Luther Boelter poses for a booking photo on June 16, 2025 in Green Isle, Minnesota.

Jordan Greenand Raw StoryJune 19, 2025

Since the fatal shooting of a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband in an act described by a federal prosecutor as a “political assassination,” scrutiny has turned to suspect Vance Boelter’s ties to independent charismatic Christianity, in particular a movement known as the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR).

Boelter is alleged to have posed as a police officer as he gunned down Democratic Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, in the early hours of June 14. In a separate shooting, he wounded state Sen. John A. Hoffman, also a Democrat, and his wife, Yvette Hoffman. Investigators say Boelter visited two other lawmakers and had a list of 70 targets, including Democrats, civic leaders and abortion providers.

Boelter was described in a court filing supporting federal charges as embarking "on a planned campaign of stalking and violence, designed to inflict fear, injure, and kill members of the Minnesota state legislature and their families."

Researchers who study the Christian right have homed in on Boelter’s attendance at a Bible college in Dallas in the late 1980s and missionary work in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where he delivered sermons critical of abortion and LGBTQ+ people.

Christ For the Nations Institute (CFNI) confirmed that Boelter attended the college from 1988 to 1990, graduating with a “diploma in practical theology in leadership and pastoral.”

Christ For the Nations Institute has been a “merging space” for trends in independent charismatic Christianity, Matthew D. Taylor, a senior scholar at the Institute for Islamic Christian Jewish Studies, told the “Straight White American Jesus” podcast.

Those trends include dominionism — the idea of Christians taking control over the world — and NAR, which emerged in the mid-1990s.

Frederick Clarkson, a senior research analyst at Political Research Associates, described NAR to Raw Story as a movement whose adherents believe God speaks directly to modern-day apostles and prophets, and which seeks to “restore their vision of what they think 1st-century Christianity was.”

Both Taylor and Clarkson note that Apostle Dutch Sheets, one of the major proponents of New Apostolic Reformation, attended CFNI in the 1970s and taught at the college in the following decade, potentially overlapping with Boelter.

Sheets reportedly met Trump officials at the White House one week before the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Staff at Dutch Sheets Ministries declined Raw Story’s request for an interview.

In the early 2010s, Sheets was executive director at CFNI, where a sign in the lobby displays a quote attributed to founder Gordon Lindsay: “Every Christian ought to pray at least one violent prayer a day.”

Following the Minnesota shootings, the institute said its leadership was “absolutely aghast and horrified that a CFNI alumnus is the suspect,” and that it “unequivocally rejects, denounces, and condemns any and all forms of violence and extremism, be it politically, racially, religiously or otherwise motivated.”

The statement rejected any notion the college’s teachings were “a contributing factor” to Boelter’s “evil behavior.”

The statement also claimed Lindsay’s comment about “violent prayer” has been misrepresented.

“By ‘violent prayer’ he meant that a Christian’s prayer life should be intense, fervent, and passionate, not passive and lukewarm,” the statement said, “considering that spiritual forces of darkness are focused on attacking life, identity in God, purpose, peace, love, joy, truth, health, and other good things.”

‘Five soccer balls’

Researchers who track the Christian right have taken note of a sermon Boelter preached in Congo in 2023.

“They don’t know abortion is wrong, many churches,” Boelter said, in comments first reported by Wired. “They don’t have the gifts flowing. God gives the body gifts. To keep balance. Because when the body starts moving in the wrong direction, when they’re one, and accepting the gifts, God will raise an apostle or prophet to correct their course.”

Clarkson told Raw Story Boelter’s rhetoric had a familiar ring.

“Nobody but someone influenced by the New Apostolic Reformation movement would say something like that,” Clarkson said.

But Taylor saw a broader strain of charismatic Christianity in Boelter’s sermonizing, connected to the Latter Rain movement, a precursor to NAR that emerged after World War II.

“Many people today would say those are NAR ideas, but they were Latter Rain ideas before they were NAR ideas,” Taylor said. “I don’t know where he picked up these ideas. He’s very clearly charismatic in his theology and in his preaching as well.”

In a sermon in Congo in 2022, Boelter used an odd metaphor involving soccer balls to suggest he was burdened with regrets.

“Do you understand what God has given us?” Boelter asked. “He’s given us eternity — with Him. And what does he ask? He says, ‘Life didn’t go the way I wanted it for you. But it wasn’t my fault. Vance, you sidetracked. You messed up your life. You took your five soccer balls, and you wrecked ’em.’

“But He says he loves us so much he came and he died to pay for it all. And he says, ‘Vance, do you want to trade your five wrecked soccer balls for all of these? Do you want to live forever with me? Then get on your face, Vance, and repent of your sins.”

Clarkson told Raw Story he thinks both personal troubles and exposure to ideas in the realm of charismatic Christianity could have factored into Boelter’s turn to political violence.

“If he’s in NAR all the way, and his marriage and his finances are falling apart, he may lean into his faith to find purpose,” Clarkson said. “If he thinks his life as he knows it is over, he may be thinking about trying to go out in a meaningful way.”

Boelter reportedly texted his family after the shootings: “Dad went to war last night.”

“He’s been planning these things for a long time; he was armed for it,” Clarkson said. “It was literally war. He did seem to assume he would be killed … When people commit violence out of religious motive, that’s profound.”

‘Priming the pump for violence’

Clarkson said that if it turns out Boelter is an NAR adherent, “this would be the first major example of the violent vision and rhetoric of the New Apostolic Reformation movement manifesting.”

On the other hand, Clarkson said, “if it turns out that he’s not NAR, it’s still the case that there are all these NAR leaders that have been teaching people that they are in an end-times war. They’re priming the pump for violence in their lifetime.”

Taylor suggested a different way of looking at Boelter’s attack.

Political discourse in the U.S. is “at a high boil,” Taylor said. While Boelter might have been influenced by hostility towards abortion and LGBTQ+ rights in right-wing media, Taylor noted that political violence is manifesting against an array of targets, with a firebombing attack against Jewish demonstrators calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza in Colorado this month only one example.

“There’s so much of this bile in the far-right and right-wing and independent media spaces about abortion, and about LGBTQ+ rights,” Taylor said. “And that’s something that Boelter touches on in his sermons as well — about trans people, about Muslims, about immigrants.

“I worry that this is the harbinger of what’s to come. And we could see more attacks like this in the coming time, because he fits a very common profile.”

NOW READ: Trump now faces the same terrible choice

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06/18/2025

Madison Pauly @ Mother Jones: Supreme Court Upholds Tennessee Ban on Gender-Affirming Care for Minors

Three years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, allowing states to ban abortion, the justices have decided to let states ban another politically controversial form of health care—this time, gender-affirming medical treatments for minors.

Keri Ladner @ Religion Dispatches: We Should Not Be Shocked That the Alleged Minnesota Shooter’s Christian School Is Connected to Political Violence

As coverage of the horrific shootings in Minnesota has unfolded, the focus has turned to the alleged murderer’s time at a little-known Bible school in Dallas called Christ for the Nations Institute (CFNI). Most simply refer to it as a “Christian school,” a “religious college,” or a “theology school”—all of which are, strictly speaking, correct—while others, like Mother Jones’s Kiera Butler, more accurately describe it as “a Bible college popular among Christian nationalists.” Yet even that doesn’t fully describe the school’s ties to recent episodes of political violence. Because despite CFNI’s insistence that “this is not who we are,” we should not be surprised that a violent murderer came out of this school. While it was once considered a fringe establishment, CFNI is far more mainstream now than at any point in its history.

Madeline Peltz: “Thin, fertile, and conservative”: Inside Turning Point USA’s conference for conservative young women

About halfway through the Young Women’s Leadership Summit in Grapevine, Texas, I got a talking to from Turning Point USA comms.

Andrew Kolvet, the organization’s chief spokesman, peeled me away from the line of young women I was speaking to warn me that he had gotten complaints about me, though he couldn’t name what they were beyond “weird questions”, and if I kept interviewing attendees under 18, I’d be removed from the conference. “I’m very familiar with your work,” Kolvet said. He reminded me these girls are “innocent,” and to lay off.

Michael Luciano @ Mediaite: Tucker Carlson Humiliates Ted Cruz in Wild Exchange on Iran: ‘How Could You Not Know That?’

Tucker Carlson brawled with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and humiliated the senator for old time’s sake in a wild exchange during an interview set to be released on Wednesday.

Cameron Adams @ The Daily Beast: Laura Loomer Says MAGA Crowd Has Turned on Her With Antisemitic Slur

Far-right activist Laura Loomer has slammed “fake” MAGA supporters in a series of posts on X claiming her conservative critics are using an antisemitic slur against her.

Vittoria Elliott and Leah Feiger @ Wired: Far-Right ‘Appeal to Heaven’ Flag Flown Above Government Agency in DC

The “Appeal to Heaven” flag, a popular symbol for Christian nationalists that was waved by January 6 rioters, was raised over the Small Business Administration headquarters last week.

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03/05/2025

Tim Sheets, a Dominionist pastor and self-proclaimed "apostle" who is deeply tied to the New Apostolic Reformation, appeared on the "Elijah Streams" program last week, where he declared that "miracles are taking place every day" in this nation because President Donald Trump is welcoming prophets into the White House.

"President Trump did not mind hearing prophetic words or hearing from the clergy, from five fold ministries, even allowing them to pray over him, prophecy over him," Sheets said. "He did not mind that at all and there are others in his Cabinet that are the same way. So, thank God that we have someone that's paying attention to what the church has to say."

"Right now, we have plenty to say because this is a supernatural moment," he added. "This is a very supernatural time."

Sheets said that this is as it should be because, throughout the Bible, "the prophets went and prophesied to the king, who is the head of the government."

"We went through a period of time where the government wasn't listening, but now they are," Sheets rejoiced. "And look what's happening. ... We are looking at miracles taking place every day."

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01/21/2025

Dominionist pastor Ché Ahn appeared on the Christian nationalist program "FlashPoint" last week, where he declared that those who oppose President Donald Trump or anyone in his administration are "fighting God."

"Concerning all the [cabinet] candidates, I really believe we're seeing Daniel 2 played out where God says I'm going to remove leaders and replace them," Ahn said. "That's what we're seeing. God, in his sovereignty and his mercy on our nation as we have prayed and repented of our sins, he is answering our prayers."

"He's put Trump into position," Ahn continued. "But not only that, [Vice President J.D.] Vance. Are you kidding me? This incredible vice president and as well as the cabinet member, it's like an all-star team, a dream team that you couldn't even figure out or make up. God's doing it and so whoever fights them is really fighting God."

With Trump and his cabinet in place, Ahn proclaimed that America will "have incredible revival and reformation as a result of that for four years and beyond."

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Ahn, a leader in the New Apostolic Reformation and head of Harvest International Ministries based in Pasadena, California, was active in the right-wing effort to keep Trump in office after he lost the 2020 election, appearing at a rally on Jan. 5, 2021—one day before the Capitol insurrection—where he proclaimed that Trump would stay in power and told rallygoers that they would “rule and reign through President Trump and under the lordship of Jesus Christ.”01/21/2025

09/23/2024 rww

The Courage Tour, organized by Trump-promoting dominionists Lance Wallnau and Mario Murillo, and co-sponsored by the MAGA movement organization America First Policy Institute, rolls into Pennsylvania this week on its tour of 19 swing counties that could decide the outcome of the presidential election. The event will be held Friday night and all day Saturday in Monroeville, which is located east of Pittsburgh.

Scholar Matthew Taylor, who attended a Wisconsin stop, called the tour “the most targeted and tactical voter mobilization effort done by Christian nationalists ever,” adding that “they’re doing it hand in glove in many ways with the Trump campaign and with the apparatus of the Trump campaign through an organization like AFPI.”

Indeed, the Courage Tour exemplifies the de facto merger between the MAGA movement and dominionist Christian nationalists. AFPI, a “think tank” organized by and filled with former Trump administration officials, is an active participant in Project 2025, another example of the shared authoritarian goals of Trumpworld and the Christian nationalists who helped put Trump in power in 2016 as part of their long-term plan to take “dominion” over every sphere of influence in society. Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk has also supported the tour.

In 2023, AFPI President Brooke Rollins, a former Trump adviser who had been preparing his second-term agenda before he lost the 2020 election, held an America First Summit where she discussed AFPI’s Vision 2025, a preview of Project 2025’s plans for the aggressive use of government power to promote the far-right agenda. Rollins happily admitted that their “ideologically revolutionary” goal is to “seize control of the administrative state” as part of “an America First confrontation against anti-conservative institutions.” That echoed language used by the Heritage Foundation when it launched Project 2025 as a plan for the MAGA movement to “take the reins of government.”

The Courage Tour’s combination of tent revival-style religious rallies with political mobilization reflects the beliefs of New Apostolic Reformation figures like Wallnau and Murillo that spiritual revival will lead to political transformation of the country to bring it into alignment with their particular biblical worldview. Wallnau has said the tour’s purpose is to break “demonic strongholds” that have supposedly kept Republicans from winning elections, and to prepare Christians to rule and reign after Christ’s return by training them to “occupy territory now.” In other words, the Courage Tour is an example of NAR “spiritual warfare” in pursuit of earthly power—for Trump and for themselves.

Right Wing Watch reported that when the tour stopped in Wisconsin in July, the leader of a group called The Lion of Judah urged people to sign up to serve as election workers so that they could be in effect a “Trojan Horse” for the Christian nationalist political movement. At an earlier stop in Michigan, Christian nationalist political operative David Barton spread false Christian nationalist history.

Researcher Jenny Cohn has pointed out that Rob Pacienza, senior pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida—a longtime center of Christian-right political organizing—is a senior fellow in the Center for the American Dream at AFPI. This Wednesday, Sept. 25, Pacienza will kick off 40 days of prayer leading up to the election with an online event with Courage Tour speaker Alveda King.

Pacienza’s project comes with a daily prayer guide that includes prayers for policies protecting life “from conception until natural death” and “restoration” of marriage being limited to one man and one woman. It includes a prayer that “Christians would use the power we have as citizens to rein in big government so that the State never becomes our Master.” It also urges people to pray that God would “remove those from office who oppose Him” and “cause chaos and confusion among groups who oppose Him and His people so that their plans are thwarted.”

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10/29/2024

Kiera Butler @ Mother Jones: For Four Hours, Christians in Georgia Gathered to Worship Trump. I Was There.

Their flex today turned out to be a four-hour marathon of praise music, speakers, and a lengthy intermission before Trump arrived. The extensive speaker lineup included several superstars of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) a growing charismatic movement led by a loose network of apostles and prophets who believe Christians are called to take over the government.

Hannah Allam @ The Washington Post: In a race they cast as good vs. evil, Christian hard-liners are fired up for Trump

Christian nationalist tours timed to the election showcase the power and ambition of a movement aimed at erasing the separation between church and state.

Dan Ladden-Hall @ The Daily Beast: Steve Bannon Released From Prison Under Cover of Darkness

Steve Bannon was released from a federal prison in the predawn hours of Tuesday morning after completing his four-month sentence.

Karim Zidan @ Sports Politika: In The Red Corner

A three-part audio series exploring the controversial alliance between Donald Trump and the UFC, and it's profound impact on America's socio-political landscape.

Matthew Sheffield @ Flux: CNN’s Ryan Girdusky fiasco is part of a much bigger problem in mainstream media

By obsessively trying to have ‘balanced’ discussions, mainstream television news keeps platforming extremists.

Matt Gertz @ Media Matters: Donald Trump’s authoritarian playbook to crush the free press in a second term

If Donald Trump returns to the White House, the fate of the U.S. press may rest on whether corporate executives who control mammoth multimedia conglomerates are willing to prioritize the journalistic credibility of the news outlets they oversee over their own business interests.

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rww 10/18/2024

Frederick Clarkson @ Religion Dispatches: Packed with Threats of Political Violence, Media Largely Ignore the NAR’s ‘Million Women’ Rally in DC

On October 12th one of the most remarkable political statements of any religious leader in this or any election season was broadcast live from an all-day rally of tens of thousands of people on the Washington Mall. The event, called A Million Women, was staged by some of the leading apos

Andy Kroll, Phoebe Petrovic and Nick Surgey @ ProPublic: JD Vance Campaign Event With Christian Right Leaders May Have Violated Tax and Election Laws, Experts Say

Ziklag and the Courage Tour, the far-right groups that hosted the Republican vice-presidential nominee, are charities that can’t legally intervene in political campaigns.

Tim Dickinson and Nikki McCann Ramirez @ Rolling Stone: ‘Mass Exorcism’: Christian Supremacists Take Over the National Mall

Last week’s MAGA-inflected spectacle cast Kamala Harris as demonic, and Trump an avatar of biblical justice.

Angry White Men: ‘The World Is Ours’: Joel Webbon Claims Christians Are ‘Destined To Colonize The Stars’

Bigoted Christian nationalist pastor Joel Webbon declared on an Oct. 16, 2024 livestream that the world rightfully belongs to Christians, such as himself, as they were promised “dominion” over it. Webbon also stated that Christians are “destined to colonize” not just the world, but also “the stars.”

Shawn Musgrave @ The Intercept: Trump’s Big Lie Attorneys Are Back

In lawsuits filed across the country, attorneys who worked to overturn Trump’s 2020 defeat are alleging rampant voting fraud.

Pema Levy @ Mother Jones: Trump Has a Plan to Win Without the Votes—and the Fight Is On to Stop Him

Elections are supposed to be decided at the ballot box. But this year, Donald Trump’s campaign appears to be trying to win on a different field of battle. With dozens of lawsuits already filed across the country, the Republicans are using state and federal courts as a key pillar of their strategy to retake the White House.

Hafiz Rashid @ The New Republic: DeSantis Lawyer Sounds Alarm About Administration’s Authoritarian Turn

Last week, a lawyer who worked for the Florida Department of Health resigned, and a letter obtained Thursday by the Miami Herald indicates that he didn’t like the state agency’s decision to prosecute television stations for airing political ads.

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10/15/2024

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Tens of thousands of people answered from New Apostolic Reformation leaders to gather on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on Saturday for what organizer Lou Engle called “a last stand for America.”

Like the pro-Trump Courage Tourbeing led by NAR leader Lance Wallnau in swing states, the ten-hour gathering in DC mixed worship, spiritual warfare, and MAGA politics. The day ended with NAR apostle and political activist Ché Ahn talking about the demonic spirit of Jezebel supposedly working through politicians like Vice President Kamala Harris—and making an “apostolic decree” that Donald Trump would be elected in November.

The New Apostolic Reformation is a growing religious and political movement grounded in a theology of dominion—the idea that God wants certain kinds of Christians to take control of the government and every other important institution in society to transform nations and bring culture and laws into alignment with their right-wing biblical worldview. The NAR is also characterized by the idea of strategic level spiritual warfare—prayers and decrees meant to dislodge demonic spirits controlling geographical areas or institutions in “the natural.”

In the U.S., NAR leaders reached new heights of influence during the Trump administration—thanks in part to having publicly declared during the 2016 campaign that Trump was anointed by God. NAR leaders acted as cheerleaders for Trump and prayed for God to “remove” Supreme Court justices to give him more opportunities to reshape the Court.

NAR leaders are still intimately connected with the MAGA movement and political power at the highest levels; House Speaker Mike Johnson sent a message to the gathering that was read from the stage. Wallnau and Mario Murillo’s Courage Tour is working with MAGA movement groups Turning Point USA and the America First Policy Institute in what scholar Mathew Taylor has called “the most targeted and tactical voter mobilization effort done by Christian nationalists ever.”

The NAR is not a denomination but functions as a collaborative network of leaders and ministries. Many of the movement’s top figures participated in the Oct. 12 rally. In addition to Engle and Ahn, they included Wallnau, Dutch Sheets, Cindy Jacobs, Mark Gonzales, Bill Johnson, and Jonathan Cahn. FlashPoint host Gene Bailey was interviewed on the event’s livestream.

Engle has spent decades holding large-scale prayer rallies, often connected to specific political goals, like a presidential election or, in California in 2008, passage of an anti-marriage equality ballot initiative. For this event—which was billed specifically as a call to “A Million Women”—he teamed up with Jenny Donnelly, leader of the Her Voice Movement and its anti-LGBTQ “Don’t Mess With Our Kids” campaign. The event was also promoted by Intercessors for America, the Family Research Council, and the Christian Broadcasting Network.

Before Ahn gathered the apostles behind him to make his decree about Trump’s victory, spiritual warriors on stage had engaged in more concrete violence. With Engle urging them on, Cahn and others took sledgehammers to a representation of the altar of the goddess Ishtar, who is closely associated with the biblical figure of Jezebel. Another leader had previously asked people to turn around to look at the Washington Monument, declaring that the obelisk is America’s “Asherah pole”—Asherah is another name for Ishtar. The smashing of the altar, said Engle and Ahn, signified that the day’s prayers had stripped the evil goddess of her spiritual power over the U.S.

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The rally was held on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Repentance on both a personal and national level was a major theme of the day. Speakers led prayers asking forgiveness for pornography, legal abortion, marriage equality, and schools that affirm transgender students. While speakers insisted that they “love the rainbow people,” they prayed that God would “break” the LGBTQ Pride movement and defeat the “demonic principality” they blame for the existence of trans people. Engle has had a dream prophesying that 100,000 “LGBTs” would be “saved.”

Speakers told victims of sexual assault to forgive their perpetrators and people who had been subjected to racism to forgive “all those who’ve betrayed us.” Speakers also asked forgiveness for historical Christian antisemitism and for the U.S. government not being sufficiently “unequivocal” in its support for Israel.

Blue and pink “Don’t Mess With Our Kids” flags—emphasizing two genders—were prominent. One activist held a banner with the same color scheme that called for a return to a patriarchal “Holy Order”—with a hierarchy of God, husband, wife, and children.

Also popular were “Appeal to Heaven” flags, which date to the Revolutionary War but were turned into a political and spiritual warfare banner by NAR Apostle Dutch Sheets. Appeal to Heaven flags flew over the Jan. 6 crowd at the Capitol as well as Justice Samuel Alito’s beach house; one stands outside Speaker Johnson’s office.

While the NAR is global in scope and ambition, in the U.S. it works closely with other Christian nationalists who believe the U.S. has a national covenant with God to promote Christianity. In his time at the microphone, Dutch Sheets ran through a David Barton-esque list of anecdotes from early American history to justify leading the crowd through his request for God to “reconstitute” what he said was the country’s original “covenantal alliance and purpose.”

Some speakers made the connection to the upcoming elections quite explicit.

Bernadette Smith, a vice chair of the Michigan Republican Party, invoked the now-commonplace description of American politics as a “spiritual fight.” She said “it’s evil vs. good, demons vs. the light,” adding, “We are the light and we will eradicate the darkness that’s on the face of the Earth.”

“It’s not enough to pray if we’re not gonna vote,” said Mark Gonzales, a member of the Trump-supporting POTUS Shield network. He complained about reports that 41 million American Christians did not intend to vote this year, saying “and then we wonder why prayer’s not in school…then we wonder why we see same-sex marriage is legal, abortion’s legal, all these things are happening.” Gonzales talked about the difference churches could make by turning out voters in crucial swing states and counties:

We were a nation founded on biblical principles, and I’m here to tell you it’s time we take our culture back. It’s time we take back our schools. It’s time we take back the halls of government. It’s time we take back the Capitol. It’s time we take back the White House. Because I’m here to tell you, if we do our part, we’re here to take over for his honor and his glory…The time has come for the church to rise up like never before and we decide who’s gonna serve at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. We’re gonna decide who’s gonna walk the halls of Congress. And we’re gonna decide who’s gonna be at our city council, our school board, our boards and commissions, if the church begins to rise up in this hour.

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After a communion service and the long and frenzied smashing of Ishtar’s altar, Ahn took the microphone to talk about his successful legal challenge to public health restrictions on worship gatherings during COVID-19, which he called a victory over Jezebel as manifested in Gov. Gavin Newsom and just a warm-up to the defeat of Ishtar. He said that Jonathan Cahn had told him that Ishtar was going down on October 12:

And when I heard that, I knew that I’m to make a decree, an apostolic decree. And I want all the apostles and prophets to stand behind me because I want to make a decree. And I’m decreeing this by faith. I believe when Jonathan Cahn says that Trump is a type of Jehu and Kamala Harris is a type of Jezebel, and as you know Jehu cast out Jezebel. I took one of the stones [from the shattered altar], I went over the edge, and I threw that stone into the trash can, because it was a prophetic act for me, so I’m ready to make this decree: So I decree in Jesus’ mighty name, and I decree it by faith, that Trump will win on November the 5^th. He will be our 47^th president. And Kamala Harris will be cast out and she will lose, in Jesus’ mighty name.

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It seems relevant to note that on Jan. 5, 2021, the eve of the Trump insurrection, Ahn attended a pro-Trump rally near the White House, where he declared that the election was stolen, that Trump would stay in power, and his supporters would “rule and reign through President Trump and under the lordship of Jesus Christ.”

Organizers of the Oct. 12 rally didn’t get a million people to attend, but the crowd was large enough to fill several blocks of the National Mall. It was a far more diverse crowd than the previous week’s Pray Vote Stand event, reflecting the fact that Pentecostal churches tend to be more ethnically diverse than traditional predominantly white evangelical denominations. The NAR has global reach and ambition, seeking to transform Christianity itself as well as the nations of the world, and it claims to have drawn viewers from around the world.

The New Apostolic Reformation is one of the most significant movements in American religion and politics today. Right Wing Watch chronicled its leaders’ rising influence during the Trump era; the movement has recently begun to get the critical media attention it deserves. You can learn more by watching a webinar hosted by Political Research Associates or a hosted by the Bard Center for the Study of Hate, or checking out “A Reporter’s Guide to the New Apostolic Reformation” by researcher Frederick Clarkson and religion scholar André Gagné, whose book on NAR and dominionism was reviewed by Right Wing Watch.

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10/04/2024

Ava Kofman @ The New York Times: How Two Billionaire Preachers Remade Texas Politics

They control Republican politics in the state. Now they’re poised to take their theocratic agenda nationwide.

John Fritze @ CNN: Supreme Court flooded with prayers for relief from groups eager to promote religion

Religious interest groups are queuing up a series of high-profile appeals at the Supreme Court this fall that could further tear down the wall separating church and state, seeking to take advantage of a friendly 6-3 conservative majority that has rapidly pushed the law in their favor in recent years.

Kristen Tomason @ Baptist News Global: The far right is building ‘aligned communities’ while looking for a Red Caesar

Aligned Christian communities like the [Highland Rim Project] are actually springing up all across the country, from Doug Wilson’s misogynist compound in Moscow, Idaho, to an orthodox Catholic enclave in Hyattsville, Md. What makes New Founding’s community noteworthy is the company’s dark political connections.

Alex Griffing @ Mediaite: Pro-Trump Colorado Election Official Sentenced to Nine Years In Prison For Election Tampering

Former Colorado election official, Tina Peters, was sentenced to nine years in jail on Thursday for her role in helping to access Mesa County’s election system as part of a pro-Trump plot to alter the 2020 election outcome.

Rebecca Hopkins @ The Roys Report: Chris Reed Starts New Church and Calls for ‘Revolution’ Weeks After Admitting Sexual Misconduct

Chris Reed, former president of MorningStar Ministries, is starting a new church in South Carolina five weeks after resigning from the prophetic ministry and admitting to sexual misconduct with an adult student.

Kiera Butler @ Mother Jones: Christian Nationalists Dream of Taking Over America. This Movement Is Actually Doing It.

The New Apostolic Reformation is “the greatest threat to US democracy you’ve never heard of.”

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JD Vance to appear at town hall with Christian nationalist show whose host has said Kamala Harris represents “the Jezebel spirit” and predicted “sudden deaths” of Trump’s opponents

Lance Wallnau has also already claimed that “there will be cheating” in the 2024 election

Written by Payton Armstrong

Published 09/27/24

On September 28, right-wing “prophet” and self-described Christian nationalist Lance Wallnau’s show is set to host a town hall event with Republican vice presidential nominee and Sen. JD Vance.

Wallnau has a history of extreme rhetoric, including saying that Vice President Kamala Harris represents “the spirit of Jezebel,” lambasting reproductive rights supporters as a “demonic manifestation,” and predicting “sudden deaths” of Trump’s opponents.

The Lance Wallnau Show announced that it will host a town hall with Vance in Pennsylvania on September 28 during The Courage Tour, which religious extremism expert Matthew Taylor described as “a 2020-election-denying, Christian nationalist, conspiracy propagation machine masquerading as a Pentecostal-style Christian revival.”

Wallnau is a prophet and key figure in the New Apostolic Reformation, an extreme right-wing movement “whose followers believe that we are living in an age of new apostles and prophets, who receive direct revelations from God.” According to Taylor, Wallnau was “one of the key Christian mobilizers for January 6th” through his eponymous show and the program FlashPoint, for which he serves as a contributor.

Wallnau frequently pushes extreme rhetoric and conspiracy theories, including framing Democrats as “demons,” asserting that Harris represents “the Jezebel spirit,” and claiming “there will be cheating” in the 2024 election.

Reporting on Vance’s planned attendance at Wallnau’s event, NBC News noted that the right-wing pastor “said after this month's presidential debate that Vice President Kamala Harris used ‘witchcraft.’”

Wallnau claimed “the left is loaded with demons,” saying, “I don't think it's people anymore — I think you're dealing with demons talking through people.” In June, Wallnau suggested that there is a “demon that is talking through” Harris.

In July, Wallnau declared that Harris represents “the spirit of Jezebel in a way that will be even more ominous than Hillary [Clinton] because she'll bring a racial component and she's younger.” Earlier this month, Wallnau said: “When you’ve got somebody operating in manipulation, intimidation and domination—especially when it’s in a female role trying to emasculate a man who is standing up for truth—you’re dealing with the Jezebel spirit. … So, with Kamala, you have a Jezebel spirit, a characteristic in the Bible that is the personification of intimidation, seduction, domination and manipulation.”

On his show, Wallnau said that Harris is an “aggrieved female … who will paint [herself] as a black minority against a white majority,” and represents “Hillary Clinton 2.0” but “with an augmented heat seeking missile capacity” to “stir up strife and civil war.”

Wallnau has suggested analyzing current events through the context of a “demonic spin cycle.”

After Roe v. Wadewas overturned, Wallnau said abortion rights supporters protesting the decision were a “demonic manifestation.” Wallnau claimed: “I now realize that when the devil is mad, God is glad. And a lot of the time the political mechanism is such that when you see the left having a meltdown and getting hysterical, it’s maybe because God is actually taking ground back.”

Wallnau connected Vance’s selection as the GOP nominee for vice president to “prophecy.” Wallnau titled the July 15 episode of his show “Viral Prophecy Predicted Trump Being Shot In Ear & JD Vance as VP Months Ago,” claiming that he predicted Vance’s pick on a June episode of FlashPoint.

After Trump was indicted for falsifying business records, Wallnau said that “elites in Washington” are “happy that this is happening, but I’ve been listening to prophecies lately about sudden deaths, and it looks to me like there could be some sudden deaths coming in May. In May, you’re going to see some of the disciplinary hand of God come down upon those people that have been standing in the path of what he wants to do.”

* Wallnau has already claimed that “there will be cheating” in the 2024 election, claiming in July, “The drop boxes is where they’re going to put fake votes. They’re going to do multiple votes. They’re going to drop wads of votes.”

Wallnau has praised dictators, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who he celebrated for targeting “the LGBTQ doctrine … like a good dictator does.”

Since Trump left office, he and his family and allies have increasingly engaged with and embraced extreme prophetic media, especially programs that assert Trump has “the anointing” from God. Eric Trump ally Clay Clark even noted that “Trump’s inner circle is embracing the prophets.”

Donald Trump Jr. recently spoke at an Oklahoma church led by an extremist right-wing pastor and media figure who has referred to Harris as a “lying whore” and claimed that “Democrats have a demonic obsession with murdering babies.” Eric Trump is scheduled to speak at the same church in October.

Additionally, Trump allies are reportedly planning to infuse Christian nationalism into his potential second administration through Project 2025, the extreme right-wing initiative organized by The Heritage Foundation to provide policy and personnel recommendations if he is reelected.

lance Wallnau Blames the Seduction of Witchcraft for Kamala Harris’ Success

By Kyle Mantyla | September 12, 2024 rww

Shorty after President Joe Biden announced in July that he would not be running for reelection and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, self-proclaimed Christian nationalist and unabashed Trump cultist Lance Wallnau immediately began posting videos in which he warned that Harris represents “the spirit of Jezebel” and declared that she is “the devil’s choice.”

When Harris bested former President Donald Trump in a debate earlier this week, Wallnau was quick to blame it on “witchcraft,” and then doubled down on that attack Wednesday when he the “FirePower” show, hosted by fellow Trump cultists Mario Murillo and Todd Coconato.

“What you’re seeing now is a real Jezebel,” Wallnau declared. “When you’ve got somebody operating in manipulation, intimidation and domination—especially when it’s in a female role trying to emasculate a man who is standing up for truth—you’re dealing with the Jezebel spirit. … So, with Kamala, you have a Jezebel spirit, a characteristic in the Bible that is the personification of intimidation, seduction, domination and manipulation.”

“She can look presidential,” he continued. “That’s the seduction of what I would say is witchcraft. That’s the manipulation of imagery that creates an impression contrary to the truth, but it seduces you into seeing it. So that spirit, that occult spirit, I believe is operating on her and through her.”

While Harris is supposedly operating under an occult Jezebel spirit, Wallnau claimed that Trump has “an Elijah mantle on him, probably from the intercession of a million Christians.”

“So, we have to double down in intercessory prayer in the warfare mode of Pentecostals,” Wallnau proclaimed. “We need to close ranks and actually begin to get in a superlative agreement over what we believe we’re hearing God say he wants to manifest, because this election is coming five days after Halloween—another high holy day for all the Satanist crazy people.”

“We’ve got to lean into this thing because the Elijah mantle can break the spell of witchcraft off America,” he concluded. “God can tear the veil and unless that veil is torn, we have a lot working against us.”

Murillo and Wallnau are close spiritual and political allies who are currently leading a “Courage Tour” to swing states ahead of the 2024 election in order to break the “demonic strongholds” in swing states that have supposedly been preventing Republicans from winning elections. The Courage Tour consists of series of multi-day events during which attendees hear from religious-right activists who mobilize them politically during the daily sessions, while the evening sessions are dedicated to spiritual revival and miracle healing. The purpose of these events is, as Wallnau explained earlier this year, to prepare Christians to rule and reign when Jesus Christ returns by training them to “occupy territory now.” As that language suggests, Murillo and Wallnau are associated with the dominionist New Apostolic Reformation.

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Andy Kroll and Nick Surgey @ ProPublica: Ginni Thomas Privately Praised Group Working Against Supreme Court Reform: “Thank You So, So, So Much”

In a call with donors, First Liberty Institute’s Kelly Shackelford read the supportive email he said came from Thomas. The leader of the religious-rights group also labeled Justice Elena Kagan “treasonous” for backing a stronger ethics code.

Rebecca Hopkins @ The Roys Report: Rick Joyner Says Evidence is ‘Mounting’ Against Chris Reed, While Justin Perry Challenges Morningstar’s Timeline

MorningStar Ministries president Rick Joyner said that “evidence is mounting” that the South Carolina prophetic ministry’s former president Chris Reed engaged in physical sexual misconduct in a statement to the ministry’s congregation Sunday.

Lorena O’Neil @ Rolling Stone: Inside One Governor’s Crusade to Tear Down the Wall Between Church and State

According to his interpretation of the First Amendment, the government can’t persecute citizens for failing to worship a specific religion. But that, in his opinion, doesn’t mean the majority is barred from governing as they see fit, including incorporating religion into government. “Democracy doesn’t say the majority has to sit in the back and listen to what the minority says, because the minority have some feelings that have been hurt,” he says.

Mikael Thalen @ The Daily Dot: Trump’s meme army helps launders fake claim Kamala Harris paralyzed a child

The claim is going viral thanks to pro-Trump influencers.

Alice Herman @ The Guardian: Christian group recruits ‘Trojan horse’ election skeptics as US poll workers

Lion of Judah enrolls poll workers in Trump-aligned swing state tour, which experts say could be ‘hazard to democracy.

Political Research Associates: The New Apostolic Reformation and the Threat to Democracy

The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) is a significant religious and political movement that is playing an outsized role in public life. Media outlets are now publishing explosive stories about it.The New York Times revealed how Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito flew an NAR battle flag at his summer home. The New Republic discussed the implications of the “Jezebel” attacks on Kamala Harris, and The Atlantic exposed the NAR involvement of the Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. All this and much more. Please join us for a dynamic discussion of this profoundly anti-democratic movement.

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Christian nationalist musician-politician Sean Feucht “can’t take it anymore.” On Thursday, Feucht sent his followers fuming about the fact that all Christian leaders are not outspoken MAGA activists like him, which he called a “leadership crisis.”

Feucht is associated with the dominionist New Apostolic Reformation movement, whose U.S. leaders see politics through the lens of spiritual warfare and Donald Trump as anointed by God to defeat his enemies. Feucht apparently shares Trump’s frustration with the excitement being generated by the Democratic presidential ticket and the enthusiastic, celebratory vibe of this week’s Democratic National Convention. On his video, he ranted against abortion and “transgenderism and child perversion,” and asked, “Where are the real Christians?”

Feucht compared American politics today to the biblical story about a wicked queen Jezebel and her husband Ahab, and called for God to raise up “the Jehus.” In the Bible, Jehu is sent to execute Jezebel, tramples her body under his horses’ hooves, and oversees the slaughter of her husband Ahab’s extended family. Feucht says Jehu was “commissioned in a season where Jezebel was reigning supreme and wreaking havoc and terror.” He goes on:

I don’t have to be more obvious than this. You have Ahab, which is the docile, sheepish, you know, leader that abdicates his authority to a wicked woman that is hell-bent on perversion and abortion and Baal and destruction, and she has smooth lips and tender eyes and she’s demonic. And it’s like, ‘Yeah, welcome to 2024!’

Like, this is happening today, and you know what the answer is to the spirit of Jezebel? It’s the rising up of the Jehus of a generation that are—they don’t care about being called crazy. …

Guys, I am so, like, blown away this week with the silence of the masses of church leaders and people with platforms. They’re unwilling to call out darkness. They’re unwilling to call out perversion. And you know what? Like, there’s a vacuum right now in America, in the nations of the world. We need the Jehus. We need those that have a mandate to dethrone Jezebel and bring the kingdom, we need you to rise up! …

And listen, if you can’t speak out about a mobile death abortion clinic that’s circling around the DNC in Chicago, I don’t know what you can speak about. That is absolutely from the pit of hell. And I’m telling you, it is from the pit of hell, and we need some real followers of Jesus, like not intellectuals, not just people that maybe know the theology, not just people that know people. No, we need real wild Jehus, like those that are willing to ride for Jesus, those that are willing to destroy works of darkness.

He described a recent dream as a warning about the coming persecution of Christians:

Don’t you guys see where this is going? Like, it is time for us to rise up. I’m not playing nice anymore. I’ve never been the nice guy, but definitely in this season, it’s not a season to be nice. It’s a season to rise up with truth and righteousness and justice. And so it’s time to ride like a madman, like it says about Jehu. It’s time to dethrone the works of Jezebel. It’s time to restore righteousness to our nation, and it’s time to see a harvest of souls come to Jesus, and we can only do that if we expose the works of darkness.

Feucht has held worship services in the U.S. Capitol attended by members of Congress and rallies on the National Mall where Sen. John Hawley has spoken. Feucht is close to completing a 50-state “Kingdom to the Capitol” tour, which has drawn MAGA Republican officials to his public worship services and political rallies. He used this week’s video to promote the remaining eight state events and the Oct. 26 pre-election rally on the National Mall that will be the final stop on the tour:

This is not just a gathering for women or for men or for young people or for old people. We need all legit followers of Jesus to show up, those that truly care about the future of our nation and the future of our generations. We’re going to do a massive Jesus march through the streets of the city. We’re going to march by the White House, the Supreme Court, the Capitol. We’re going to remind all the powers and the principalities that God is not finished writing the story in our nation. And then we’re going to gather on the National Mall, thousands of us, tens of thousands of us. I believe it’s going to be massive, just days before the election, and we are going to commission the worshipers to take his presence across the land. …

And so listen, I just have a burning in my spirit. I’ve been praying and fasting this week leading up to these three capital cities, Minnesota, Ohio and Michigan. And I want to call the crazy people. I want to call the madman for Jesus, the mad women for Jesus, those that are pricked in their spirit, those that are not okay with the current narrative of what’s happening in America. If you’re out there, please join me.

Jezebel—often portrayed as a demonic spirit—is a frequent topic of New Apostolic Reformation figures like Lance Wallnau, who recently claimed that Vice President Kamala Harris represents “the spirit of Jezebel.”

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johnny Enlow, a Seven Mountains dominionist and QAnon conspiracy theorist, declared this week that all three branches of the federal government have been so “corrupted” that the U.S. military will have to “step in.” Enlow called it a “long shot” that the November 5 election would take place “before the whole thing is interrupted by military presence.”

Enlow, who is associated with the dominionist New Apostolic Reformation movement, appeared Monday with Steve Shultz, who runs Elijah Streams, a streaming platform for modern-day “prophets.” As of noon Friday, the interview had been viewed more than 200,000 times.

After the 2020 election, Enlow said former President Donald Trump would be justified in imposing martial law and calling for revolution. This week, Enlow railed against Trump’s criminal convictions, making a big deal out of Trump’s frequent use of the term “election interference” to describe legal proceedings against him. According to Enlow, the convictions provide “absolute proof” of the corruption in the system, giving the “white hats” in the military full justification to step in. “There’s good reason why a lot of the people are like, ‘What in the world are you waiting for?’ with the proof that has already been made directly to the American people with all that’s taking place.”

In his conversation with Shultz, Enlow compared Trump to biblical figures God used to advance his will, including Cyrus, Moses, Joshua, and Jesus. “The Lord says, ‘I love Trump. He is my ally,’” Enlow claimed, insisting that Trump is a shepherd and “anointed” by God.

Other dominionists like Lance Wallnau have compared Trump to Cyrus, a Persian king who God used to free Jews from in exile in Babylon. On Monday, Enlow read multiple Bible verses about Cyrus, urging listeners to replace “Cyrus” with “Trump” as he and Shultz marveled at how “specific” the scriptures are in applying to Trump. “This is like Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump,” Enlow said, adding that Trump’s “assignment” comes with “higher consequences for global and kingdom matters.” Enlow said even many of Trump’s supporters fail to understand the “destiny” and “mantle of God” on him. “Trump’s assignment, if anything is 10 times larger than what Cyrus’s assignment was.”

Enlow brought in classic antisemitic and modern QAnon conspiracy theories to describe the forces that God has called on Trump to battle: “The Lord has chosen Trump as his ally,” he said. “He will use him to put an end to the empire of Babylon. And now where you see Empire of Babylon, think Federal Reserve, central banks, Rothschild dynasty.”

“So that is what’s being taken now,” Enlow said. “The Federal Reserve, even the religion of those who are what we would call the deep state, the Illuminati, those that are that are part of the cabal, this ruling corrupt pedophilic elite around the world, they really religiously connect completely with the same practices, even the same gods as Babylon, the same Babylon, that Cyrus had to deal with.”

Enlow is currently promoting a documentary called “Big God.” His latest book, “Kingdom Come: Understanding the Reign of God on Earth,” was published this week.

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Frederick Clarkson and André Gagné @ Religion Dispatches: A Reporter’s Guide to the New Apostolic Reformation

The story of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) lives at the epicenter of the intersection of politics and religion in the US—and reporting about it is as essential as it is challenging.

Kathryn Post @ Religion News Service: How is the ‘Appeal to Heaven’ flag spotted at Alito’s house linked to Jan. 6?

‘Throughout the Trump presidency, the flag became a symbol for Trump, for Christian America, for this insurgent Christian nationalism,’ says scholar Matthew Taylor.

Julianne McShane @ Mother Jones: Moms for Liberty Is Coming for the Swing States

The group will launch more than $3 million in ads attacking Biden in several battleground states—but they will not say who’s paying for it.

Roger Sollenberger and Mini Racker @ Daily Beast: GOP Senate Candidate Spent Thousands in Donor Funds on Strip Clubs, Luxury, and Mysterious Wire Transfers

Star athlete and conspiracy theorist Royce White just landed the Minnesota GOP’s endorsement for Senate. They must not have seen his previous campaign expenses.

Jason Wilson @ The Guardian: At least 66 members of far-right group in rural Oregon standing for office

At least 66 members of an anti-government group founded by far-right militia figure Ammon Bundy have attempted to win local positions of influence in the Republican party in Oregon, the Guardian can reveal.

April 25, 2024 RWW

Sean Feucht says that “we are living in the last days”: “These are the end times … we’re living in the midst of it.”

Mark Meckler of Convention of States and Rick Green of Patriot Academy and WallBuilders are teaming up for a series of events to explain the “pivotal role the Wild West can play in shaping America’s future.”

Stephen Wolfe, author of “The Case for Christian Nationalism,” declares that “in places where Christians can assert their will in politics, then they should do that.” And if people don’t like it, well, “tough.”

“Apostle” Dutch Sheets, a leading figure within the New Apostolic Reformation, asserts that Democrats who oppose former President Donald Trump are “fighting against the purpose of God for this nation.”

Finally, self-proclaimed “prophet” Cindy Jacobs and “The Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders” held an emergency livestream last night so Jacobs could tearfully deliver a warning from God that the Gaza protests are an insurrection aimed at establishing an Islamic state in North America.

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“I will not feed a demon,” Ruby Franke told her son. The former YouTube influencer starved, kicked and bound the 12-year-old, and twisted him into stress positions. When the boy’s restraints lacerated his flesh, Franke rubbed honey and cayenne pepper into the wounds and let them suppurate until the whole house stank.

Franke pled guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse. This week prosecutors released the underlying evidence in her case, including a diary in which she records the degradation of her children in meticulous detail and justifies it in the name of exorcism.

Franke believed that her children were possessed by demons that could only be cast out by horrific abuse and neglect. There are many similarities between Franke’s case and that of Lori Vallow, a cult leader who orchestrated the murder of her two children, her lover’s wife, (and probably her ex-husband,) and justified the slaughter by claiming her victims were possessed.

There’s no indication that Franke or Vallow had a partisan political agenda, but demonization is becoming a partisan political problem in its own right.

As Donald Trump seeks a second term, more and more high-profile Republicans are literally demonizing their political opponents. The candidate kicked off his reelection campaign in apocalyptic terms promising to be his voters retribution in the “final battle,” implicitly likening himself to a returned Christ in the final battle against the Antichrist.

Trump confidante Roger Stone claims to have seen a swirling demonic portal over Joe Biden’s White House. Trump strategist Steve Bannon has been railing about spiritual warfare and Democratic demons since at least 2021, according to an analysis by Media Matters.

Earlier this month, Republican senatorial hopeful and supreme Trump toady Kari Lake blamed demons for stealing the 2020 election. “We have to continue fighting. The devil is working. Evil is working. Those stolen [2020 and 2022] elections were meant to make us feel like we have been beat down and there's no hope,” Lake told a podcaster.

Trump lawyer Alina Habba tried to deflect criticism of her dismal courtroom performance by blaming Trump’s legal woes on demons.

You might think this is just the usual overheated sulfurous political rhetoric. After all, demons can be a potent metaphor for everything from the psychological problems of rock stars to the laws of thermodynamics. It’s hard for secular folks (or even worldly Christians) to relate to those who explain mundane events in terms of demons, but just because we can’t relate doesn’t mean it’s not happening.

Last week, Republican operative Charlie Kirk was babbling about Haiti being demonically possessed. “Haiti is legitimately infested with demonic voodoo” that allows practitioners to do “quasi-levitation stuff,” Kirk proclaimed. And furthermore, Kirk continued, he knows a guy who knows some guys who say Haitians turn into cats at night. Kirk also claims that witches made him sick in Albuquerque. When Fox News host Jesse Watters accused a Trump grand jury foreperson of witchcraft, Kirk amplified his charges.

Since the 1980s, growing numbers of Americans have embraced the idea of “spiritual warfare” against demons, which they believe to play active roles in politics and everyday life.

The fastest growing and most influential contingent of demon-believers is found in independent charismatic Christianity, including the radical movement known as the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR). In NAR theology, demons command physical locations and worldly institutions such as journalism, academia and the government.

Anything a believer doesn’t like can be framed as demonic. Biden getting more votes than Trump is a "stolen" election in Lake's mind because it was the result of demonic influence. Anything that doesn't go their way is demons. Car breaks down? Demons. Depressed? Demons. Kid gay? Demons.

Thousands of protesters were enticed to Washington on January 6 by NAR leaders who promised to lead them in spiritual warfare against the demons that supposedly possessed the Capitol. The shofars honking around DC were NAR battle calls. For some, spiritual warfare spilled over into literal combat. This can easily happen when followers are steeped in violent rhetoric and their opposition is portrayed not as misguided or even malicious, but as demonic

An estimated 10 million Americans identify as independent charismatic Christians. However, a preoccupation with demons is not unique to the NAR. A Catholic priest from Nebraska told a videographer on January 6 that he had exorcized a tattooed demon named Baphomet from the Capitol. Trump’s circle of demon-pushers includes Baptists like Greg Locke and Robert Jeffress and Roman Catholics like Mike Flynn. Franke and Vallow identify as Mormon.

In the nineteen eighties, millions of Americans became convinced that satanists had infiltrated key sectors of society, including the C-suites of Fortune 500 companies, the recording industry, and the nation’s daycare centers. We laugh about the Satanic Panic, but we're living through something much worse.

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Dominionist pastor Ché Ahn appeared at an event in Oklahoma last night that was organized by the Christian nationalist program “FlashPoint,” where he bragged that several members of his congregation are on the ballot for the November elections in California.

Ahn, a leader in the New Apostolic Reformation and head of Harvest International Ministries based in Pasadena, California, was active in the right-wing effort to keep former President Donald Trump in office after he lost the 2020 election, appearing at a rally on Jan. 5, 2021—one day before the Capitol insurrection—where he proclaimed that Trump would stay in power and that they would “rule and reign through President Trump and under the lordship of Jesus Christ.”

While Trump did not remain in office, Ahn is still intent on seeing his fellow right-wing Christians “rule and reign” over this nation.

“It is time for the church to rise,” Ahn told the FlashPoint audience. “We have the answers. We are the ones and we can’t just wait for the government—you are his ekklesia, you are his legislative body of the Kingdom of God and you need to be involved.”

“We’re encouraging people to run for office,” he continued. “For the first time in my network of churches … we have had seven people run in the March 5 primaries. They all ran because we gave them money to win and now they’re facing the election in November. They all won (their primaries). Not one lost.”