Christian symbols in riot questioned
NASHVILLE – Two conservative Tennessee pastors were among the throngs of people gathered Wednesday in Washington, D.C. when a pro-president Donald Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol, disrupting Congress while the certification of Joe Biden as the country’s next commander in chief was underway.
Pastor Steve Berger, who leads Grace Chapel in Williamson County, and Pastor Greg Locke, of Global Vision Bible Church in Wilson County, denounced the riot that shocked the nation and the watching world, but they repeated unsubstantiated claims that supporters of the antifascist protest movement, Antifa, were the instigators.
“I’m all for peaceful protests,” Berger said in a Wednesday night Facebook live video. “Peaceful protests: yes; violence: no. There’s no reason for it.”
The day of the Capitol riot started with thousands gathering for a proTrump rally. The president addressed the crowd in the morning and continued his promulgation of the baseless claim that Biden stole the election.
Rioters were grappling with U.S. Capitol Police by early afternoon. Lawmakers fled for safety as the mob forced its way into the building, shattering windows and scaling walls. Police fatally shot one woman in the Capitol, three others died in separate medical emergencies and dozens were arrested.
In a Saturday statement, Berger said he was in Washington, D.C. for previously scheduled meetings and was back in his hotel room by 11 a.m. He apologized for incorrectly linking the rioters to Antifa.
“Anybody who’s got any sense or any patriotism — no matter who you voted for — has enough sense to know that, that was wrong. That was a line that should have never been crossed,” Locke said in a Thursday interview with The Tennessean.
Experts point to Christian symbolism and nationalism
The insurrection, which fell on the Christian feast of the Epiphany, received widespread condemnation from faith leaders all across the ideological spectrum.
But among the Gadsden, U.S. and Trump flags flying Wednesday, banners displaying religious messages like “Jesus Saves” raised questions about what role Christian belief played in the riot.
It is easy to find Christian symbolism in the movement supporting Trump’s reelection and the sense of embattlement that accompanies it, said James Hudnut-beumler, a Vanderbilt University professor of American religious history. Adversity is a trope of Christian life, he said.
“Every citizen brings all of whom they are to a protest. If you’re a Christian, you bring that,” Hudnut-beumler said. “It wasn’t a Christian mob taking on Congress. It was some people who were Christians and a bunch of other things, who had been mobilized to act under conditions for what they thought was a stolen election.”
Christian nationalism could partly explain what happened Wednesday, said sociologist Andrew Whitehead, the co-director of the Association of Religion Data Archives and an Indiana University–purdue University Indianapolis professor. Christian signs and imagery brought to the Capitol were indicators.
Christian nationalism is a cultural framework that wants a politically and religiously conservative expression of Christianity to have more access to power in the public sphere, said Whitehead, who co-authored “Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States.” Christian nationalism also can be racialized and patriarchal, he said.
It is not new either. During Trump’s bids for president, supporters spoke of it being God’s will for Trump to be in power and that he would make America Christian again, Whitehead said.
“If God wills it — for them — who are we to stand in the way, and democracy itself shouldn’t stand in the way of the right person leading the country. And that’s really what it gets down to,” Whitehead said. “The flouting of norms and institutions that Trump has played a part in and that his followers buy into, it’s no surprise that yesterday happened and it’s something that’s been fomenting for years.”
Pastor talks about mixing politics with religion
Locke, who has been traveling the country in support of Trump and recently hosted polarizing political operative Roger Stone at his church, said other pro-trump rallies have not been violent, giving him more fuel for his unsubstantiated Antifa theory. Locke, who walked to the Capitol but did not go inside, said he could not speak to the religious motivations of the rioters who went into the Capitol nor did he know what they brought in with them.
“Anybody that’s a true follower of Christ shouldn’t have been in there messing around, that’s for sure,” Locke said. “As a pastor, I would stand up before my people and rebuke them for doing such nonsense.”
Both Locke and Berger, who is Gov. Bill Lee’s pastor, said there could have been bad apples among those who gathered Wednesday, but they described the crowd as overwhelmingly peaceful and full of patriots concerned about the outcome of the November presidential election. Locke, who said faith-based flags were everywhere, also criticized the media for not telling the truth about what transpired.
The press, maligned by Trump, also were targeted Wednesday by rioters. Several members of the news media documented what happened in real time even as they sought safety.
Locke, who has a large social media presence and is known for his viral videos on divisive topics, said he was there Wednesday to preach.
If he does not call out what he sees as political corruption, Locke said he could lose his platform to preach about Jesus. Locke also believes God plays a role in politics by being in control without overriding man’s free will. He said God uses nations, blessing and cursing them, and Locke believes America, as the last bastion of freedom, plays a significant role in the end times.
“There’s no way anybody can convince me that Joe Biden won the election,” Locke said.
“I have to trust that God’s in control of the whole thing regardless of which way it goes, but I still have a personal responsibility to use my faith to say look, something’s not right here.”
The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly shot down challenges to Biden’s presidential victory. On Thursday evening, Trump finally acknowledged Biden’s win and now says he is focusing on a smooth transition of power.
Berger, who was not available for an interview Thursday, did not say in his Facebook video why he was there on Wednesday. During Grace Chapel’s Jan. 3 service, Berger asked his congregation to pray for him because he planned to be in D.C. “in some interesting places.”
In the live Facebook video, Berger described being in the middle of thousands of polite people for about an hour or so on Wednesday and called what happened that afternoon aggressive and ugly.
He spent the majority of the video talking about the end times and telling viewers to pay attention to the big picture. Berger emphasized that scripture says saints on Earth will go through difficult times.
“It lets me know that being a Christian ain’t for sissies,” Berger said. “We might be entering into some very, very difficult times, and again if your faith in Jesus is only as deep as your guy being the president and your spiritual life being smooth sailing, you are setting yourself up for disappointment at best and apostasy at worse.”
USA TODAY contributed to this report.
Reach Holly Meyer at hmeyer@tennessean.com or 615-259-8241 and on Twitter @Hollyameyer.