Russell Moore has called for President Donald Trump to be removed from office, saying that he is willing to lose his position as president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention in doing so.
On Wednesday, symbols of Christian nationalism were on full display among many of those who stormed the U.S. Capitol. However, both before and after Wednesday's attacks, some legislators invoked the language of faith in a different way: to reject President Donald Trump's repeated attempts to to discredit the election and the insurrection it sparked.
An attempted coup, theological reflections, and how the internet's algorithms help radicalize young Americans.
“Every Republican politician and every far-right preacher who spread baseless lies about the election results” should be held accountable for the violence at the Capitol this week, said Nathan Empsall of Faithful America . “That process of accountability starts at the top, with Donald Trump.”
I have tried to find ways to speak about this country and its failure — failures that we have tried to preach about and write about and pray about; failures we sometimes try to ignore to salvage what little peace human beings can be afforded. This week, I witnessed the same terror so many of us did. I witnessed it all, and I am afraid, and I am angry.
Despite advanced warnings of far-right demonstrations intent on wreaking havoc in Washington, D.C., Wednesday began as many pro-Donald Trump rallies have in weeks since the election: Spirited attendees in American flag apparel, some bearing the insignias of right-wing organizations like the Three Percenters, took pictures, mingled, and professed their ardent support of Trump – some going so far as to conflate the president with Jesus Christ.
As faith leaders, we must call for the immediate removal of Donald Trump from office. There is great danger in the hands of a morally deranged president: the threat of martial law, his ongoing efforts to overturn a free and fair election, the potential of politically conceived war, and the unique danger of his destructive hands on the nuclear codes.
As pro-Trump rioters broke into the Capitol on Wednesday to stop members of Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 election, some evangelical leaders denounced the violence — including elected representatives who continued to support President Donald Trump’s debunked claim that the election was “stolen.”
When a mob of supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol building on Wednesday afternoon, many carried weapons, wore red MAGA hats, and draped themselves in the candidate’s flag. After legislators and their staff had been evacuated, Trump supporters entered the Senate floor. With them came a Christian flag.
In the months prior to the November 2020 election, progressive activists Jethro Heiko and Nick Jehlen partnered with Choose Democracy to create the Coup-o-meter in order to provide clear communication about how close the U.S. was to an anti-democratic usurping of power. By Wednesday afternoon, they had shifted the meter.