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Churches that supported Trump should discuss the way forward and if they have anything to be ashamed of, church leaders believe.
Prayer against Biden January 6. Numerous Christians participated in the demonstrations in Washington against the democratic election of Joe Biden Photo: Mike Theiler, Reuters / NTB
– Thank you, Heavenly Father, for giving us this opportunity to defend the human rights that God has given us!
The man who calls himself the shaman of QAnon held the vice president’s seat in the Senate. Through his rope, he asked everyone to remove their hats or caps while praying to God.
Along with the American flags and Trump hats, Christian symbols were clearly visible as the mob stormed the Congress buildings. Some attackers held banners that Jesus is the Savior and Trump the president. Others marched with the Bible held high. And some went through heavy crossings.
Many stood in smaller circles within the building while praying to the higher powers.
In retrospect, the Washington Post and other outlets have documented that conservative Christian communities were involved in planning for the rally and riots.
Many American Christians feel that their identity as citizens of a Christian nation is threatened by the electoral victory of the Democrats. Photo: LEAH MILLIS, Reuters / NTB
Dishes in churches
Following the assault on the Congress building, there has been a split in the Christian communities that had previously supported Donald Trump. The discussion is similar to the one currently unfolding in the Republican Party. Some want to find a way forward without Trump. Others are still by his side.
“Violent Christian rebels invaded and occupied” the convention buildings on Capitol Hill, writes David French.
He is an influential and conservative voice in American Christianity. French knows that many of his readers will react negatively to the description of the mafia as “Christian.”
Therefore, he turns it around and asks what they would have said if the mob had shouted “Allahu Akbar” when they attacked the National Assembly.
“If it had happened, conservative Christians would have had a volcanic eruption of anger,” he writes. Christians would demand that Muslim leaders clean up their own ranks, he believes.
Now French and a few others think it’s time to start doing the dishes.
But so far, the strongest demands for dishwashing or repentance come from those who have criticized Trump all along.
Christians and racists
The Religion News Service writes that Christians in particular should take seriously the fact that the riots demonstrated how conservative Christians and racists go hand in hand. Author Robert P. Jones asks how fellow Christians can use Christian symbols, along with the flags of the southern states and other racist identity markers.
Albert Mohler hopes to become president of the great Southern Baptist Convention. After the riots, he told The Atlantic:
– This is certainly a difficult time for us. Evangelical Christians who support Donald Trump find ourselves in a terribly embarrassing position after this.
On January 3 of last year, President Trump appeared at a meeting in Miami. There, several Christian leaders launched a partnership to guarantee Trump’s re-election. Photo: Evan Vucci, AP / NTB
The First Choice of White Christians
In 2016, 85 percent of those who described themselves as “born again white Christians” said they voted for Donald Trump. This is according to figures from Pew Research.
Two years after Trump’s presidency, support was at least as strong, according to Vox. And preliminary figures from last year’s November election indicate that Trump still scored highly in this group. This applies to white Christians. Among blacks who call themselves evangelicals, the picture is almost the opposite. Democrats are also much stronger in the Latino Christian communities.
Two issues in particular have been important to many Christians supporting Trump. He has appointed conservative judges, who can help them fight abortion. And he has supported Israel, among other things he moved the embassy to Jerusalem.
Don’t think Trump understood
Franklin Graham is one of the most influential Christian leaders in Trump supporter circles. He is the son of the “Pastor of America”, Billy Graham. After the attack on Congress, he told Yahoo News that he was fed up with the television images and that he was disappointed in the way Trump excited the protesters.
But it is not enough for him to distance himself from the president.
– I don’t think he understood what was going to happen. Neither of them did, Graham said.
One of the church leaders who has spoken out most strongly against Trump is Russel Moore. He is the leader of the Southern Baptist Convention and calls himself a “lobbyist for God.” The day after Biden was installed as president, Moore told Time magazine that it was not possible to defend Trump’s role in the uprising.
The prophecy that failed
In Norway, Dagen’s publisher Vebjørn Selbekk is one of those closely following this part of American Christianity. He has been skeptical of Trump “since he came down the escalators and declared that he wanted to be president.”
He believes more people share that skepticism now, after Trump lost the election and the way he has behaved on the side.
– In some of these charismatic circles, it was prophesied that Trump would continue as president. Now they have to bite into the sour apple, he says.
He also believes it is a revelation to many how Trump failed Vice President Mike Pence. As protesters shouted “hang Pence,” Trump tweeted that he loved them. And Pence has been an important link between Trump and these churches.
– But Trump also has a solid position. It may seem strange, considering he’s a billionaire with a nightmare vision of women, in his third marriage.
Selbekk also struggles to support a president who, to that extent, generates hatred and conflict. Remember that Trump started the election campaign calling Mexican immigrants “criminals” and “rapists.”
– But it gives support in evangelical circles. Many of them feel they are being marginalized, he says.
– It may sound strange, when they are so strong. But they feel that it is a cultural struggle, where important values are threatened. And parts of the left in the Democratic Party are pursuing an identity politics that scares conservatives.
He believes that many Christians feel that what they have built their lives on is about to crumble.
– Then comes the cry of a strong man. And they found that in Donald Trump.
Christian symbols were easily visible in Washington during Trump’s protest rally. Photo: David Goldman, AP / NTB
Also in Norway
In his leadership position, Selbekk has also criticized Norwegian communities that support Trump. This has generated a lot of criticism.
– I am concerned that Norwegian support for Trump is largely a Christian phenomenon, he says.
No prominent church leaders endorsed the president, but at the grassroots level he seems different.
– I see it in the comment fields about what I write. There has been a kind of radicalization, it scares me that conspiracy theories seem to be common. For example, many believe that the election was stolen, after so many judicial rounds and not a single test, he says.
