Apocalypticism

Colorado Springs Massacre Captures the Christian Nationalist 'Monster In The Mirror'

Lucas Kwong — Tue, 22 Nov 2022 05:27:05 EST

Sometimes, the scholarly life means taking delight in unexpectedly relevant news items: a new adaptation of a book one has studied, an unearthed manuscript from one’s period of interest. Other times, it means being horrified when the objects of one’s…

From Shofars to Hammers: The Spiritual Warriors of MAGA are 'ReAwakening' to Political Violence

Mark Clatterbuck — Mon, 14 Nov 2022 04:07:16 EST

For two days in late October, I attended Clay Clarke’s MAGA-driven ReAwaken America Tour near my home in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Keynote speakers included a predictable Who’s Who of Trump surrogates, including Michael Flynn, Mike Lindell, Roger Stone, and Eric…

Putin's Violent Holy War Rhetoric Made it to the Christian Right Fringe — And There's Reason to Believe it'll Go Mainstream

Thomas Lecaque — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 05:30:57 EDT

It starts with a tweet: https://twitter.com/realRickWiles/status/1585375961033605120?s=20&t=DZQ… And it is, of course, not simply that. Shortly before, in support of Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin appointing a “chief exorcist” against Satanism, he said : “Can you think of anybody, in the…

Putin Escalates Ukraine Invasion to 'Cosmic War' — But There is Hope

Mark Juergensmeyer — Tue, 11 Oct 2022 04:38:10 EDT

When Vladimir Putin recently announced the annexation of four regions of Ukraine that were purported to have voted in favor of joining Russia, he did so in what’s been described as an “unhinged rant.” In this wide-ranging and often incoherent…

The Far-Right Embrace of the Knights Templar isn't Just About Faith, Tradition or History — It's About Hate

Thomas Lecaque — Thu, 29 Sep 2022 03:36:35 EDT

In 1302, the island of Arwad, off the coast of Syria, fell to Mamluk forces. The Templar garrison died in the assault. The Templar had lost their last stronghold in the Holy Land, and while the other major military orders…

This Supreme Court is an Effect Not a Cause: The Hidden Century-Long Funding of the American Right

Cavan Concannon, Jill Hicks-Keeton — Mon, 12 Sep 2022 10:42:06 EDT

In a bombshell story last month, the New York Times revealed that two years ago an obscure billionaire named Barre Seid gifted $1.6 billion to a conservative political power broker, while skirting as much as $400 million in taxes. The…

Racialization Meets Purity Culture: Abortion Criminalization Cases Confirm That It's Always Been About Controlling Women's Bodies And Protecting the 'Ideal' American Family

Mihee Kim-Kort — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 01:57:34 EDT

Overturning Roe v. Wade was inevitable in this last decade. In March 2015, the state of Indiana sentenced 33-year-old Asian American woman, Purvi Patel to 20 years in prison on charges of feticide — an act that causes the death…

Salvation, Purity, and Right Wing Activism: A Sampling of What Taxpayers Will Be Forced to Support as a Result of Carson v. Makin SCOTUS Ruling

Chrissy Stroop — Wed, 22 Jun 2022 05:51:07 EDT

The two Christian schools at the center of Carson v. Makin —the case in which the Supreme Court just ruled that the state of Maine must include religious schools in its tuition assistance program for rural families that had, until…

Republican Lauren Boebert Jokes About AR-15s and Jesus — And Yes, She's a 'Real' Christian

Chrissy Stroop — Thu, 16 Jun 2022 04:39:05 EDT

In the aftermath of the Buffalo and Uvalde shootings —and the 54 mass shootings ( and counting ) that have happened since—America’s right-wing Christians have been busy defending their “ god-given ” right to own AR-15s. Like they always do…

Christian Nationalists and the Holy Gun Crusade

Thomas Lecaque — Tue, 07 Jun 2022 01:12:14 EDT

In the wake of every mass shooting in this country, we have a brief moment where we talk about the guns used and the need for gun control. And then rapidly, the gun lobby, conservative politicians, Second Amendment absolutists, and…

Buffalo and Uvalde Both Appear to Have Involved the AR-15, the Rifle Revered by the Christian Right

Brad Stoddard — Thu, 26 May 2022 02:45:10 EDT

For the second time in almost as many weeks, a mass shooter used an AR-15-style rifle to kill innocent Americans. On May 14, PG allegedly used a variation of the AR-15 to shoot 13 people, 10 of them fatally. Just…

It’s the Theology, Stupid: Why the Shocking SBC Report is Anything But Surprising

Chrissy Stroop, Jessica Johnson — Tue, 24 May 2022 05:22:59 EDT

On Sunday, an investigation firm called Guidepost Solutions released a 300-page report recounting a disturbingly familiar pattern of abuse and cover-up in the Southern Baptist Convention, the mostly white, evangelical Protestant denomination that accounts for over 5% of the adult…

If the Media Are Reluctant to Properly Label the GOP's Racist, Christian Nationalist Ideologies, We'll Have Trouble Hanging on to Democracy

Annika Brockschmidt — Fri, 20 May 2022 11:52:48 EDT

On Saturday, 18-year-old white supremacist P.G. drove to the “Tops” supermarket with the intention to kill people of color. He murdered ten people and wounded three others before he was arrested. All ten who were killed were Black. The racism…

Conservative Judge Suing 'Daily Beast' for ‘QAnon-linked’ Headline Thought QAnon Pod Was ‘Aimed at Christian Audience’ — Spoiler: It Was

Chrissy Stroop — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 03:32:10 EDT

Paula Patrick, a conservative judge in Philadelphia perhaps best known for being on the wrong side of a Christopher Columbus statue controversy , objects to being called “ QAnon-linked .” In fact, she’s filed a false light suit (similar to…

Evangelical Healthcare Sharing Plan Catastrophically Fails — But Why Did So Many Join in the First Place?

Chrissy Stroop — Thu, 21 Apr 2022 12:34:24 EDT

Remember the 1990s ? The inexplicable popularity of fluorescent fanny packs? The innocent thrill of getting AOL and connecting to the world wide web for the first time? Everyone talking about how Bill Clinton was probably the Antichrist who would…

With Demons Held Responsible These Days for Everything from Covid to LGBTQ Rights, Take a Visual Tour of the History of Demonization

Ed Simon — Tue, 05 Apr 2022 06:41:18 EDT

During our season of political madness , it took a lot to trigger a double-take, and yet a pro-Trump, Covid-denialist pediatrician named Stella Immanuel declaring that illness was caused by the semen of demons was an exemplary case. Dr. Immanuel…

'Russkii Mir,' the Russian Equivalent of 'Blood & Soil' Ideology at the Heart of Putin's War, Explained and Rejected by Theologians in New Statement

Daniel Schultz — Thu, 17 Mar 2022 04:52:10 EDT

A new statement by Orthodox Christian theologians—some of whom sign from Russia—dramatically illustrates what’s at stake in this war of (mostly) Christians against Christians, and what implications it has for the American scene. The statement sets its organizers in opposition…

Is Putin a 'Real' Christian? To Understand This Conflict We Need to Ask Different Questions

Sarah Riccardi-Swartz, Robert Saler — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 12:00:16 EDT

Vladimir Putin’s campaign of violence in Ukraine has brought to the fore questions about his longstanding religious connections, prompting scholars and journalists to challenge his well-marketed piety and seemingly deep devotion to Russian Orthodox spirituality — the latter of which…

Leaked 'Freedom Convoy' Donor Comments Clearly Demonstrate Christian Nationalist Presence

Thomas Lecaque — Sun, 20 Feb 2022 12:45:35 EST

As the “ freedom convoy” slowly but surely winds down —with police forces and the RCMP moving in to cordon off the center of the city, arresting leaders of the insurrection and preventing new people from joining—journalists and scholars are…

One Year After 1/6, Media Still Refuse to Recognize Authoritarian Christianity

Chrissy Stroop — Tue, 04 Jan 2022 05:57:51 EST

One of those unspoken social rules I’ve never been very good at observing is that new years are supposed to be greeted with optimism, and this year is no different. Here we are at the beginning of 2022, one year…

Is the Growing Anti-Pope 'Rad-Trad' Community Poised to Become 'Qatholics'? History Isn't Encouraging

Joshua P. Hevert, Thomas Lecaque — Wed, 01 Dec 2021 10:46:27 EST

On Halloween, Rhode Island police announced that they had arrested Father James Jackson , the pastor of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP)’s church of St Mary in Providence, Rhode Island, for possession and transfer of child pornography. The…

Vainglory Days: A Foremost Expert on Religious Violence Offers Clues to How QAnon Might End

Mark Juergensmeyer — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 04:50:59 EST

QAnon won’t last forever. Sooner or later, even if the failure of their prophecies doesn’t necessarily do them in , conspiracy theories unravel and violent movements associated with them eventually end. I make this prediction based on a study of…

A New Book By Esteemed Sociologist Robert Wuthnow Struggles to Show 'Why Religion is Good for American Democracy'

Peter Laarman — Thu, 14 Oct 2021 03:31:04 EDT

At a time when Christian Nationalism is finally being recognized as a threat to democracy, not only by legacy media , but also by the National Council of Churches and the rapidly secularizing population of the US, Robert Wuthnow, the…

A New Mormon Religion Has Taken QAnon Conspiracies and Canonized Them as Doctrine

Cristina Rosetti — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 04:13:59 EDT

Over the last year, I’ve scrolled past social media posts by members of diverse religious backgrounds and political opinions. However, because my ethnographic research is based in Mormon fundamentalist communities, a good amount of the commentary I see leans libertarian…

The 'Fake Christian' Deflection and Contrarian Concern Trolling: How Not to Write about Evangelical Authoritarianism

Chrissy Stroop — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 05:14:08 EDT

Over the last couple of weeks, America’s conservative, mostly white evangelicals have once again generated considerable buzz—and deserved criticism—over their authoritarian attitudes and behaviors. For example, as Christian nationalism has featured prominently at rallies against mask mandates and the Covid…