Thread by @TaylorMatthewD

Today's Sean Feucht podcast episode offers a textbook example of the charismaticization of the far-right & the radicalization of young Christians.



That might sound like an odd combo, but it's a very real & unstable paradox in our politics. Read on... 1/podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hop…

As I gestured to in Charismatic Revival Fury (), a major & underreported trend in right-wing politics is the spread of charismatic Christian spirituality.

"Charismatic" here means focused on restoring supernatural & ecstatic aspects of Christianity. 2/ icjs.org/charismatic-re…

Sean Feucht is a pioneering new prototype of the juncture of far-right activism, California hipsterism, & charismatic spirituality.

During the summer of 2020, he launched an insurgent worship crusade, violating local COVID regulations & counter-programming BLM protests. 3/

Today, Feucht is among the most recognizable evangelical faces in America, w/ an ongoing 50-state-capitol (overtly pro-Trump & Christian nationalist) worship tour where he leads revival meetings & attempts to cast the demons out of that--almost always Democratic--city. 4/

Feucht's podcast episode entails him interviewing a young man named "Thomas" (no last name). A Capitol Hill staffer closely tied to Camp Elah, Feucht's "rallying point for the Hill." Camp Elah is a row house a few blocks from the Capitol where charismatic young folks gather. 5/

But as this Camp Elah short video makes clear, the goal is to gather, mobilize, &, dare I say, radicalize Capitol Hill staffers & young gov't employees in DC.

Mind you, Feucht has proudly posed w/ Proud Boys acting as security guards at his rallies. 6/

"Thomas" tells his story (w/ probably a few too many details if he wants to remain anonymous) of going from pothead frat bro to sold-out-for-Jesus Hill Staffer through attending Feucht's "Let Us Worship" tour. These are raucous charismatic events. 7/

Indeed, "Thomas" describes his own experiences of being "slain in the spirit" (an ecstatic spiritual fainting fit) on stage at Feucht's rally.

Then he quotes a famous charismatic quip from evangelist Leonard Ravenhill that tells you a lot about charismatics & how they think. 8/

Ravenhill: "A man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with an argument."

Or as "Thomas" quotes: "I am no longer at the mercy of a man with an argument."

Just pause for a second & think about what that implies. 9/

A Hill Staffer is affirming that because of his ecstatic experiences at a Sean Feucht concert, he is no longer susceptible to rational debate.

"Thomas" goes on to describe how he began leading worship sessions out of Camp Elah & gathering dozens of other Hill Staffers. 10/

Feucht & "Thomas" go back & forth describing the wild charismatic experiences these young DC Christians are having, with demons coming out of them (demons, by the by, who Feucht says became attached onto them through their government work & the polluting darkness of DC). 11/

Then Feucht sums up: "They're taking that breakthrough, and they're going back to their jobs. They're going back into the Senate bldg, into the House bldg, going back into the Capitol, going back into their different departments. And, really, that's the dream." 12/

He continues: "God is writing a story, he's moving through young people like Thomas and his friends... It's infecting the offices of senators and congress members. After we leave today, we're gonna have members of Congress in here... We're gonna be ministering to them." 13/

I have nothing against charismatic Christians; in fact, I grew up in a charismatic community myself. I understand the power of immersive devotional experiences.

Religious freedom says that peoples' beliefs, expressions of piety, & interior experiences are their business. 14/

But we are witnessing a fast-paced, Trump-centered, manipulation of charismatic Christian experiences toward right-wing political ends.

Far-right talking points, Trumpified prophecies, & militant spiritual warfare paradigms are packaged with these charismatic experiences. 15/

Convinced through these charismatic experiences that they have found the one true Christian vision, these young Republican staffers are the loafer-wearing shock troops of the modern religious right.

Their Christian nationalist agenda is totalizing & self-righteous. 16/

The violence of Jan 6th was spurred by & enmeshed with this ecstatic charismatic ethos & charismatic spiritual-warfare campaigns.



And it was preceded by "Jericho March" prayer events in DC & in swing-state capitols, doing spiritual battle for Trump. 17/ rickpidcock.com/2023/01/10/the…

In fact, January 6th itself was pitched in charismatic media as another culminating Jericho March, the final battle in a long-running spiritual warfare campaign to overturn the certified results of the 2020 election. 18/

christianitytoday.com/news/2021/janu…

At the end of the episode, "Thomas" describes his hope to start weekly prayer marches around DC "just like marching around the walls of Jericho."

Remember your Sunday school: the orig. Jericho marches ended with a miracle in battle & a wholesale massacre of God's enemies. 19/

In late 2020, Jericho marchers were marching outside key government buildings in support of Trump's election lies, now they're marching inside.

In early 2021, ecstatic rioters stormed the Capitol with violence, now they walk through security with staffer credentials. 20/