The God of Capitol
I’m sorry God, but I think there might be a few of you operating at once. There is a rather vast area of incongruous beliefs under the banner of Christianity and it’s getting pretty confusing. It would be easy if there was an acceptance of gods (plural), but that’s not the way of the Christians. So how many gods are there in Christianity? If there’s only one of you, you’d have to admit your communication, on the whole, has been monumentally shoddy for a few thousand years now. Is there a feedback form or a suggestion box somewhere?
Christians worship “God” and claim there is only “one true God”. Amongst that one “God” we have the nuanced differences of Catholicism and Protestant denominations: Anglican, Uniting, Baptist, Congregational, Salvation Army, Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah’s Witness, etc. Many of these protestant denominations have existed for hundreds of years, so there is recognition of the behavioural expectation when attending one of these churches. Then throw in the mixed bag of the Pentecostals. They’re relatively new entrants to the Protestant pool, appearing in 1901. They suffered ridicule and disbelief at the outset and, as it started dying a natural death with few followers, a man suddenly claimed he had the gift of faith healing. As people became more excited, speaking in tongues became their reality. Hand waving, slaying in the spirit, tongues, prophecies all showed off their spiritual vigour. Overall, from my perspective, these diverse denominations still worship the “one true God” per the Judeo-Christian Bible and generally respect each other’s views.
So, where do we position the recently formed Christian evangelical group, QAnon? They worship the “one true God” along with all the other Christian denominations. They may have been lawless and violent in their far-right terrorist actions[1] in USA recently, but they’re worshipping God as they do it. The QAnon Sharman, dressed in his peculiar garb that featured a horned hat, had breached the Chambers and, standing at the front of the chamber, he started praying, “Jesus Christ, we invoke your name. Amen.” With encouragement he removed his headgear and fervently prayed on the loudspeaker,
“Thank you, heavenly father, for blessing us with this opportunity to stand up for our god-given <indistinguishable> rights. Thank you, heavenly father, for giving the inspiration needed to these police officers to allow us into the building; to allow us to exercise our rights, to allow us to send a message to all the tyrants, communists and globalists that this is our nation not theirs. That we will not allow America the United States of America to go down. Thank you to the divine, omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, creative God for filling this chamber with your white light of love, your white light of harmony. Thank you for filling this chamber with patriots, that love you and that love Christ. Thank you divine, omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, creative God for blessing each and every one of us here and now. Thank you divine, creative God for surrounding <indistinguishable> with the divine omnipresent white light of love and protection, peace and harmony. Thank you for allowing the United States of America to be reborn. Thank you for allowing us to get rid of the communists, the globalists and the traitors within our government. We love you and we thank you in Christ’s holy name we pray, AMEN![2]”
The chorus of Amen was shouted in unison like a battle cry by all those kneeling or with the arms raised and eyes closed in worship to the “one true God.” During the prayer, others had called out, “Yes, father. Yes, Lord. Amen,” as they waved their outstretched arms at the heavens in true Pentecostal style. They were worshipping the “one true God” as they committed a terrorist attack where people were killed. If I’d closed my eyes, I would have believed I was at a Pentecostal church like Hillsong or C3. The words and actions were identical to Pentecostalism. Are Hillsong and C3 worshipping the same god as the Capitol insurrectionists or do they have their own god that’s different?
The Western world has characterised the shouting of “Allahu akbar” as a terrorist phrase by Muslims. This phrase translates to “God is great.” The Trump and Q supporters were doing exactly what any radicalised person does: claim their deity is the true deity and opposition to this must be removed or negated. Trial by conduct. It couldn’t be accomplished by a civilised way so extremists opted for a lawless and violent manner. The religion doesn’t change the action; it’s the radicalisation of the individual.
After the Capitol attack in USA on 6 January, 2021 what safeguards are to be employed in Australia? We want to feel confident that our democracy can’t be challenged in the same way. We’re certainly not receiving any leadership from the Prime Minister on it. That is odd. Previously, we’ve heard scathing attacks on African gangs and school kids protesting climate change inaction. Even vegans protesting animal cruelty were referred to as domestic terrorists. Condemnation of Trump? QAnon? <crickets chirping>
Australia’s Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, spent time in a Brethren church before moving to a Baptist church and is now attending a Pentecostal church. Morrison is a disgrace to Christianity but he is the epitome of Pentecostalism: he has officially endorsed a group of Pentecostal Christians in their bid to convert towns for God[3]. He holds prayer meetings on the taxpayer dime excluding ministers not of his faith. Morrison maintains friendships with two people in the radical, evangelical group, QAnon. There are significant questions that the Prime Minister must answer:
What are his religious beliefs, particularly the condemnation of some to hell?
How has he managed his beliefs to ensure government policies and legislation are independent of his religion?
What do the parliamentarians pray about in their prayer meetings?
Why has Morrison avoided firm political condemnation of the events in the USA on January 6?
Why hasn’t Morrison condemned QAnon as domestic terrorists?
Why did Morrison agree to change a parliamentary speech at the behest of QAnon[4]?
Does Morrison believe the world is dominated by Satanists and/or that humanity is in the “end times?”
Why is Morrison refusing to correct George Christensen or Craig Kelly for their recent statements; statements aligned with the beliefs of QAnon?
It is time for Christians to take stock of their beliefs after the Capitol attack. Those terrorists prayed to the “one true God,” the Christian God of the Bible. Christians should be outraged. Christians should vocally label them extremists. Unless they’re conceding there are multiple gods. Why is there not firm condemnation from religious leaders? This attack has been motivated by their view on spiritual warfare; a battle of righteousness versus evil. If Christians really believe in only “one true God” then that “one true God” just endorsed a violent, deadly, political coup. Morrison, Australia’s most prominent Pentecostal Christian, is connected to the Capitol attack by his religion and QAnon. He is not condemning the violence committed in the name of his God nor is he condemning QAnon’s involvement in the attack. In the absence of the PM’s ardent and earnest words to allay our concerns, we’re left to fill in the blanks ourselves. For me, merging Christianity and QAnon with a Prime Minister is dangerously unpleasant indeed.
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/09/us-capitol-insurrection-white-supremacist-terror
[2] https://www.timesofisrael.com/new-capitol-riot-video-shows-mayhem-as-mob-ransacks-senate-prays-for-victory/
[3] https://www.karenthinksaloud.com.au/blog/dominionism
[4] https://www.karenthinksaloud.com.au/blog/qanoncult