A large group of the people that stormed the U.S. Capitol last week were right-wing Christian conspiracy theorists. According to Washington Post religion reporter Michelle Boorstein, many of them are followers of self-style “prophets” who still insist President Donald Trump will serve in the White House for the next four years.
According to Boorstein, Prophet Mario Bramnick, for instance, insisted Trump was going to remain in power even after the president himself acknowledged that he would be leaving the White House.
“Anyone who think this ends tonight is totally mistaken,” he said. “You are still the president and we need you to stay on the front lines, sir.”
24/7 National Strategic Prayer Call, an Arkansas-based ministry, told its followers that the riots were part of the plan to help Trump serve four more years.
“We affirm his lawful election and pray for four more years with Donald Trump as our president!” the ministry said.
Boorstein notes that many of these “prophets” are part of what religious scholars call “neo-charismatic” Christianity that encourages to see themselves fighting every day in a biblical struggle against evil, complete with divine signs and prophecies of the kind found regularly in the Old Testament.
“Many of these prophetic leaders in 2015-2016 said Trump was anointed by God, divinely assigned to save America and protect religious freedom,” explained Peter Montgomery of People for the American Way. “And now with them believing that Trump is standing in the way of Christianity being criminalized in the United States, this is an existential moment.”
You can read the full report HERE.
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