Christian Extremism Within the Far-Right
Author(s): EMAN Staff
The role of religion has been analysed in numerous academic studies, reports, and news articles concerning how religion and extremist misinterpretations of Holy scriptures have played a significant role in radicalising vulnerable Muslims and mobilising them to carry out terrorist attacks. However, what has rarely been discussed is how a small number of Christians misconstrue the Gospel to radical nationalists and right-wing extremists, particularly in the United States. In the same way that Al-Qaeda and Daesh are violent extremist groups motivated by their radical Islamist religious beliefs, Christian nationalist organisations such as the American Army of God (AOG) are ultranationalist organisations influenced by Biblical teachings to justify violence and murder. AOG is just one example of a Christian, anti-abortion terrorist group. Jahan Jones from MSNBC believes that “it is becoming increasingly clear that the United States is under siege by Christian fundamentalists and traditionalists.”
Christian nationalism in the U.S. is defined as a “pervasive set of beliefs and ideals that merge American and Christian group memberships.” Some of the prominent American Christian extremists include Franklin Graham who, in April 2020, asked medical workers at a hospital handling COVID-19 patients run by his Samaritan Purse to sign a “statement of faith” expressing their anti-LGBTQ views. Additionally, Rick Wiles, who is a far-right conservative preacher, stated, in March 2020, that coronavirus spreading from synagogues is a punishment from God for Jewish refusal to accept Jesus. Another notable Baptist Fundamentalist pastor is Steven Anderson who praised the gunman that killed 49 people in an attack on a gay nightclub in Florida in 2016, stating that “these people all should have killed anyway since the Bible says that homosexuals should be put to death.”
Although far-right extremism in the Western world is not necessarily anchored in Christianity, a radical and distorted interpretation of predominantly evangelical Christianity – particularly in the U.S. where people are more religious than in Europe – does play a pivotal role in the ideology of many far-right extremists and white supremacists. For them, Jews are not just “a group of people seeking to control the government, the media and are responsible for the world’s problems” – as neo-Nazis would argue. Rather, Jews are biblical foes for not believing in the salvation of Jesus and for not accepting him. This mentality also applies to Muslims and Islam, who white Christian fundamentalists view as enemies not because of issues related to immigration and the potential threat of Islamists, but because of a two-decade indoctrination following September 11 that Muslims are at war with America because it is a Chrisitan nation, and that Islam follows a false Prophet that claims to have the final word of God, thus nullifying Christianity. In the early days of the War on Terror, certain communications certainly did not help with that notion, such as former President Bush’s public statement that the Iraq and Afghanistan wars were “Crusades”.
It is a common belief among American fundamentalists that white Christians are God’s sovereign protectors in America and are therefore entrusted to establish and expand the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth through Christian nationalism. According to Wajahat Ali, “these Christian values and morals are allegedly under active threat and assault by “invaders” – who presently include feminists, LGBTQ+, Jews, people of colour, Muslims, immigrants, and essentially anyone who opposes their proposed theocratic state.” The theocratic worldviews of Christian extremists are like those of Islamist extremists, in which they believe their values are superior and that they must overturn the balance of power to enforce their beliefs. As far as they are concerned, the means will always justify the ends.
Despite the attack on the U.S. Capitol in January 2021 being of a secular nature, Christian extremism was undeniably present. Joshua Matthew Black, an Alabama citizen, recalled his unauthorised entry into the Capitol in a video that was published on January 8. Black documented his confession just before turning himself in to the FBI, in which he said “I wanted to get inside the Capitol so I could plead the blood of Jesus over it... I just felt like the spirit of God wanted me to get in the Senate room.” According to a 2022 report from the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, Christian nationalism was a “driving” and “unifying force” for the violent insurrectionists on January 6.
People who have been following the troubling relationship between evangelical Christians and conspiracy theories for the past several years shouldn’t be surprised that Black stormed the Capitol in the belief that he was fulfilling God’s will. According to the Foreign Policy, half of all Americans, regardless of religion, believe in at least one conspiracy theory. However, religious individuals are particularly vulnerable to conspiracy theories as they believe in supernatural power and endorse a good-versus-evil view of the world.
QAnon stands as a perfect example of an ideology that is fuelling right-wing extremism within conservative Christian communities. A 2021 survey by the Southern Baptist firm LifeWay Research concluded that “half of all American Protestant pastors said they regularly hear people promote conspiracy theories in their churches.” In December 2015, the prominent Christian extremist pastor and President of the Evangelical Liberty University, Jerry Falwell, Jr, delivered a speech to nearly 10,000 students during the weekly convocation in Lynchburg, Virginia, urging students, staff, and faculty at the Christian institution to carry concealed weapons on campus “to end those Muslims before they walk in and kill us.”
Combatting Christian radicalism, which is part of the wider rise in far-right extremism remains a difficult task for intelligence agencies and policymakers in the U.S, particularly as Homeland Security and the FBI both recently stated that far-right movements pose the greatest domestic threat to national security. There is a significant role to be played by law enforcement, not just religious leaders, but with increasing reports of far-right penetration and indoctrination within law enforcement and the military, it remains to be seen how effective that will be. Five of those arrested during the Capitol attack of January 2021 were active law enforcement officers, raising fears of how radicalised some law enforcement and military personnel – current and former – can be.
