Michael Harriot Profile picture
Jul 11, 2024 20 tweets 7 min read Read on X
Whenever there's a national tragedy, a natural disaster or something that affects a lot of white people, right-wing zealots always cite one particular bible

2 Chronicles 7:14

To them, it is a warning from God. But throughout history, it's become a weapon of hate.

A thread Image
If you are an evangelical Christian, a Republican or attend a church where the drummer doesn't use a sweatrag, you've DEFINITELY heard this 2 Chronicles 7:14

They literally believe its a biblical directive for us to Make America Great Again

christianindex.org/stories/2-chro…
To be fair, I've never been to a church whose shouting music doesn't have a bassline. So how do I know?

Well, the Southern Baptist Convention kicked out the president of their political arm because he was critical of pastors who supported Trump.

That wasn't his worst offense. Image
During Trump's original presidential run, right before the GOP primaries, Russell Moore wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post>

In the article he exposed the myth that 2 Chronicles 7:14 had nothing to do with "taking America back"

The article's title?

washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-f…
If you recall, news outlets made a big deal when Mike Pence took the oath of office on Ronald Reagan's old Bible during the Trump inauguration.

Pence insisted on putting his hand on the same PAGE and the SAME scripture as Reagan did when he was inaugurated.

Guess which one: Image
It's so important that one scholar called it "The John 3:16 of American civil religion"

To be fair, it's just white evangelicals' version of a similar scripture in Galatians that Black people love:

"He that shall fucketh around shalt also find out."*

*Real Negus Translation Image
And this is not a new thing. It's been used throughout history.

Dr. Samuel Cartwright used 2 Chronicle 7:14 when he coined the phrase "Drapetomania" to describe the mental illness that made Black people want to be free. It explained why Black people were "eternal knee benders"
Image
It has been used to explain everything from pandemics was good to why God was a Confederate.
No, seriously:

In 1793, a yellow fever broke out in Philadelphia. Some blamed the pandemic on abolitionists & free Black people

In 1780, Pennsylvania passed a gradual emancipation act Image
Then in 1790, Philly became the US capitol.
Then in 1793, Black Haitians organized the largest slave revolt in the history of the world. Many of those French slave owners brought their slaves to Philly. Plus, the free African society, who joined with Quakers to build schools
When the pandemic broke out, white preachers blamed it on the heinous act of abolition.

One slave-owning Virginian refused to leave his slaves home when he moved to Philly to work for the government. He used 2 Chronicles 7:14 to explain why God visited his wrath on the city.
Some high-level government employee named George Washington

If you think that was bad, 2 Chronicles 7:14, is what happened toAbraham Lincoln and the evil Union army after the Civil War.

As soon as the Confederate Army surrendered on April 9, 1865, Confederate Jesus went OFF
A week later Abraham Lincoln was dead. Now, we know a white supremacist killed him. But to Southerners, it was 2 Chronicles payback.

To send Union prisoners of war home, Confederates loaded 1,800 POWs on a steamship on April 27.

It exploded.

sharetngov.tnsosfiles.com/tsla/exhibits/…
The Sultana disaster is STILL the deadliest maritime disaster in US history, worse than the Titanic. It is one of the deadliest FIRES in history.

Today, we know it was caused by faulty boilers. But back then, it was proof that the Confederates were right.

2 Chronicles.
2 Chronicles is STILL used to open civil war reenactments and explain disasters and mass shootings. It is literally what they mean by "thoughts and prayers"
Segregationists used it.
The pro-life movement cites it ALL the time
So do anti-Trans and anti-LGBTQ groups.

And most of all, Conservative Evangelical Republicans use it to explain why a civil war is coming.


Image
Image
Image
Image
My favorite use of 2 Chronicles is when a preacher who apparently never read a history book in his life explained by BLM is satanic
And of course, it explains why God cursed America with Joe Biden Image
It has been weaponized for centuries and will be weaponized more in the upcoming election.

And since it is a Bible verse and "America is a Christian nation," many people think there's nothing wrong with it.

But what if one state REALLY leaned in on 2 Chronicles 2:14?

How? Image
How could conservatives use a bible verse to swing an election?

Well, what if the entire election hinged on 1 swing state? And what if conservatives were in charge of that state? And what if they used local governments & a familiar Bible verse to create an army of MAGA voters?
Anyway, this Saturday, every county courthouse in the entire state of Georgia will be open to welcome Jesus-loving Christian citizens in to read the Bible

Why?

According to an article I came across in a local paper today...

2 Chronicles 7:14 explains it all Image

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Michael Harriot

Michael Harriot Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @michaelharriot

Jan 9
Oh, they understand the question; they're just laughing at how dumb it is.

But since you asked, I actually know the answer.

Now, I don't want to misquote you, so here is the specific question you asked:

A thread. Image
Now, the first thing we have to acknowledge the inherent whiteness of your question.

You don't get to define the idea of freedom. For instance, there is a reason why most countries don't allow everyone to own guns carte blanche; it's stupid.
Had it not been for slavery, 2nd Amendment wouldn't exist in the federal constitution. Only 4 of the original 13 state constitutions contained a "right to bear arms'

So, by your logic, between 1776 & 1791, MOST Americans were not free.
nytimes.com/2018/05/24/opi…
Read 27 tweets
Jan 6
According to @Grok, Apartheid Elon is literally the biggest spreader of misinformation on Twitter. But I'm willing to give the literal Grammar Nazi a pass on this one because he doesn't know much about HIS OWN history.

A thread.
It began before America existed, when the Favres, a white family (Yes, an ancestor of Brett) moved to the Mississippi Valley to start a family business. They initially worked for France. Then, Spain. They eventually secured a lucrative contract with the US government. Image
Image
Image
Image
The scam was simple. They would move near a indigenous people to trade guns in exchange for allowing white people to live in peace.

Now, EVERY CULTURE fought over territory, including the Choctaw & other natives. So having more guns than a rivals meant more territory.
Read 26 tweets
Dec 4, 2025
While different tribal groups, nations and shared identities always existed, “race” was used to describe a KIND of thing

Burgundy region of France produced a different “race” wines than Chianti Italy.

Until white people got obsessed with it racial classifications Image
In 1669 & 1670, the Va colony passed 2 laws

The first allowed the “casual killing of slaves.”

The second created a distinction between a slave and a servant:

The Black ones were slaves

But Black people are obsessed with race Image
Read 22 tweets
Nov 10, 2025
Someone tagged me on this because I've told it before.

Basically, it WAS Canada Dry, until...

A thread
In the days before WebMD, an enterprising scammer could make a fortune promoting ANYTHING as a health product. If you wanted to stay healthy, you needed to include gin, a few cigarettes and some tonic to your health routine Image
But if a scammer REALLY wanted people to trust a product, they would sell it straight to a pharmacy. Like the dude who couldn't sell his tonic named after Dr. Joseph Lister (who had nothing to do with it). He made a deal pharmacist, & the pharmacist sold it as a health drink
Read 25 tweets
Oct 31, 2025
I've seen SO MANY ppl use the shutdown as an opportunity to demonize people who receive SNAP benefits, WIC and any kind of government assistance.

Here's the thing:

I agree with those people.

We need to end the WHITE welfare state

BECAUSE welfare works.

A thread:
The original welfare program began when the government decided to help the lazy, uneducated Jamestown colonists who didn't want to work. In exchange for bringing carpenters, farmers & indentured servants who knew how do stuff, colonizers received 50 free acres in "headrights" or "patents."
Virginia even recorded names of the migrant workers. On Apr 19, 1638, George Menefie received 3,000 acres for 60 "servants." But there's only 37 names.

What happened?

He received 1,150 acres, an area about the size of Harlem, for 23 unnamed "negroes..."

Behold the first welfare check.Image
Image
Read 26 tweets
Sep 4, 2025
I’m sure you think I’m gonna mention Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, the Black fur trader who is known as the first non-indigenous resident of Chicago.

But du Sable was not enslaved when he moved to the mouth of the Chicago river in 1790.

So who TF was buying furs?
Well, remember all that was French territory. In 1719 French entrepreneur Philippe François Renault hopped in a boat in the South of France, stopped in Haiti to purchase 200-500 humans beings & headed to “Upper Louisiana”

By 1760, 900 ppl were enslaved in “Illinois Country” Image
Read 15 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(