So please, save your appalled nonsense. You do not get to now pretend that you had nothing to do with it. You fomented doubt in the election for the past two months. You riled up the Christian base to believe they were robbed of another four years with their idol at the helm. Sure, maybe not as blatantly as Steven Strang but your rhetoric was more dangerous because of tis subtlety. You are still doing it now in this article! Do you honestly think this was a just an informal Gaither Family concert until this mysterious bus showed up filled with agitators? Then you float the ridiculous notion that the agitators were secret Antifa plants. You quickly back off of it but its too late because you already inserted it into the conversation. I watched from the inception and it was always an unruly mob which clearly sought trouble and found it. There were no Antifa plants and the suggestion that there was is both insulting to my intelligence and odious to me as a believer. The fact is that many who attended were indeed Evangelical Christians who have obviously been taught very poorly by dominionists like you.
"This is not who we are. These are not the values to which we adhere. In that sense, this was not a Christian insurrection. Do I believe many of these same Christians have become caught up in a partisan political spirit? Absolutely. Do I believe they should have been grieved at the unwise remarks of Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump, Jr. at the rally? Certainly. Do I believe that, for many, there was an unhealthy mingling of patriotism with the worship of Jesus? Without a doubt. Do I believe that many of these committed Christians had been misled by lies and exaggerations, including those of QAnon? Yes again. Do I believe that this should be a time of great soul searching for those evangelical Christians who tethered their hopes to a man? Once more, yes. That's why I say that I share many of the concerns French raised and why I encouraged some of my friends and colleagues to read his article. That's also why, as I mentioned in my most recent article, I have always respected Christian Never Trumpers (who sat out elections rather than voted Republican or Democrat), even if I did not join in their ranks." - Dr. Michael Brown
No Dr. Brown. This is who you are. These people are your creation. The remarks by the people you associate with were not just unwise. They were treasonous. Giuliani actually told the crowd to go to the Capitol and engage in "trial by combat." Do you honestly believe this was just an "unwise" statement or should in fact Mr. Giuliani go to jail for it? You claim that mixing Jesus worship with patriotism was unhealthy but it is you that have done so, consistently, since Donald Trump came to power. Sure you couch all of your articles to sound reasonable because you like the feel of the fence under you but your listeners knew damn well what you were teaching. You walked into the public square and set off a pipe bomb Dr. Brown. You do not now get to pretend that you were the sensible one the whole time.
'The Serious Jesus Followers. But once more, that's where I make the important distinction between the serious, Jesus followers who were in D.C. to pray for a righteous outcome to the election and those few who came ready to do battle. (For my relevant Twitter poll, see here. Over 79 percent of those polled did not know a single Christian who approved of the violent attack.) If you think I'm being too naïve (which, at times, I certainly can be), take a few minutes to research where the pre-rally, violent chatter came from online. Was it from solid evangelical sites, where the Word of God is honored and Jesus is preached? Or was it from right-wing extremist websites? The latter may profess to be Christian, but they have little to connect them to the Christian faith. As the Washington Post observed, "The planning for Wednesday's assault on the U.S. Capitol happened largely in plain view, with chatters in far-right forums explicitly discussing how to storm the building, handcuff lawmakers with zip ties and disrupt the certification of Joe Biden's election -- in what they portrayed as responding to orders from President Trump."' - Dr. Michael Brown
And those very people stopped in the chamber to pray thanksgiving to Jesus Dr. Brown. You are not naïve at all. The problem is you play as if you are. There were 79% who did not approve of the violence? What do you expect they are going to say to a poll! You still do not get it. Why should any clear-thinking Christian feel compelled to go to Washington DC on the day they were confirming the electors? To pray? Nonsense. They could pray just as effectively from home or at their local church, as inappropriate as that would have been. Why would they need to pray for a righteous election outcome when we have had one for two months already! When the Trump administration had already declared this as the most secure election in our nation's history! When Trump appointed judges not only dismiss 62 lawsuits filed by Trump but do so mockingly because there was never any evidence presented, it is nothing short of delusional to think we "need a righteous outcome." Even if you try to distance Christians from those who sought to take prisoners or worse, you still act as if their mere presence that day is perfectly justifiable and it most certainly is not. They were there because Trump told them to be and because those who claim to be leaders in the church such as yourself betrayed them with this false fantasy that the election was stolen.
"I agree that this is certainly a time for housecleaning in our evangelical camp. And just as Trump has helped to expose the radicality of the left, the bias of the media, and the tyranny of Big Tech, he has also helped to expose the hypocrisy and compromise of the church. But that's why we must be circumspect in our diagnosis if we want to help address and correct these problems. Otherwise, if we paint with too broad a brush or speak in too general terms, many will say in response, "Sorry, but that does not apply to me." The fact is that you and I did not storm the Capitol on January 6th and engage in violent acts against the police while threatening the lives of our elected officials. In that regard, this was absolutely not a Christian insurrection." - Dr. Michael Brown
This is why you are so dangerous Doctor Brown. This is where you contribute to the false narratives and lies that have corrupted the minds of weaker men and women. You agree it is time for housekeeping in the evangelical camp but you do not lift a finger to do so and in fact you continue to actively work on the other side of the disinformation. How? Trump did not expose the radical left. That is creation of the false narrative. Neither did Trump expose your imaginary bias in the media. This is a tired old narrative that has been false for decades. Now, if there is some anti-Trump bias can you hardly blame people who he labeled "enemies of the state" and actively stirred violence against them? Thirdly, Trump did not expose any big tech hypocrisy. This silly argument stems from the fact that people who are conservative are censored or banned more frequently than liberals. Your assumption that it must be bias is asinine and childish. The reason why of course is that conservative lie more often!
It is interesting that you think he exposed compromise in the church because he actually did but not the way you probably think. Trump helped expose the rampant idolatry people in church leadership operate under. Now it may surprise you that I agree with your summation in the end. It is too easy and too broad to call the insurrection a Christian effort. I do not believe that was an organizing principle across tens of thousands of people. However, they were certainly there Doctor Brown. They were certainly a part of it despite the alleged biblical teaching they have received. They reveal the harsh truth that the American apostate church is so enamored with NAR dominionism that they think nothing of joining thousands of other people in murdering cops and overthrowing their government, in Jesus name of course. The insurrection may not have been Christian but the Christians were definitively a part of the insurrection. A lot of the blame for that is laid at the feet of those who claim leadership and teach them. It is laid at your feet sir.
