What is the strategy — if indeed there is one — behind Trump’s increasingly looney-tunes conspiracy theories as he continues to push his baseless claims about election fraud? Note that in addition to Trump himself — who literally has not stopped talking about this since Election Day — three distinct groups have been promoting his bogus claims: first, multiple charismatic “prophets and apostles” (many of whom confidently “prophesied” a Trump victory and were proven to be charlatans), as well as a great many voices on the Christian Right. …

On this issue of the cult of Trumpism, Christian nationalism and American exceptionalism: how did we arrive at this point? Americans, and indeed people from all over the world, want to know what in the hell is going on, in these final days of Trump, the mad king who seems bent on destroying democracy even more so than he has done over the last four years of his presidency. Always a shatterer of norms — and indeed basic, common decency — Trump received a record number of votes in the 2020 election. According to exit polls, Trump received 46.9% of…

In a recent episode of MindShift Podcast, I spoke recently with Frank Schaeffer, the son of the late Francis and Edith Schaeffer. They founded the L’Abri center in Switzerland and were hugely influential on the origins of the Christian Right, American evangelicalism, the evangelical and Republican anti-abortion movement, and Christian apologetics. Francis in particular was well-known as a Christian intellectual, writing numerous books, speaking worldwide, and making a number of film series with the help of Frank. …

QAnon — the rapidly-spreading online conspiracy theory — is now making increasing inroads into American evangelicalism. If you are unfamiliar with what QAnon actually is, then before you go any further, read my article about it here.

As just one example of the encroachment of QAnon into evangelicalism, there is now an “online church” called Omega Kingdom Ministries (OKM) out of Wolf Lake, Indiana. They hold regular Sunday Zoom calls billed as “ekklesia training.” (By the way, ekklesia is the Greek word for “church,” as most evangelicals understand it anyway).

According to their linked site homecongregations.org, OKM’s goal is to…

What exactly is QAnon? Is it a cult? And if it is a cult, does it represent any sort of danger to Americans — or indeed, the world?

We see it most clearly at Trump rallies or pro-Trump demonstrations: attendees waving a giant letter “Q” with an American flag background, or other QAnon related signs. They wear shirts saying “We Are Q,” or those with the cryptic slogan “WWG1WGA” on it. There have also been recent rallies in various US cities of concerned citizens allegedy seeking to “Save the Children.” …

Journalist Katherine Stewart, author of the recent book The Power Worshippers, has been reporting and writing on the Christian Right for over a dozen years. The whole journey began many years ago with her own experience, as a mother with children of her own attending a small public school in Santa Barbara, CA. Stewart describes what happened to her community when an evangelical child evangelism ministry, the “Good News Club” (GNC) decided to start an after-school Bible study program in her children’s local public school.

Aside from immediate issues that might arise due to its sectarian and fundamentalist Christian nature…

What exactly is “Christian nationalism”?

How is it connected to “dominion theology”?

Many different authors researching the subject have defined Christian nationalism in multiple ways. The basic core of this belief can be seen in the following Christian nationalist narrative: America’s founding fathers were staunch believers — basically like evangelical Christians are today. As devout Christians, they imbued America’s Constitution and legal system with Christian/biblical principles.

Moreover, they fully intended to found America as an expressly “Christian nation,” with Christianity as the preferred religion of America. This program was built on the notion that America enjoyed a special covenant relationship…

Many years ago, back when I was an evangelical pastor in the Portland, OR area in the United States, we used to attend a “Great Commission” conference every year at a large church near Salem, OR. What I recall about that conference the most was how the pastor shared insights of how he had successfully built such a large church, even though it was located in the midst of a fairly small, rural town. The church had over 1,000 people attending — where did they all come from? What mysterious church growth formula accounted for these incredible numbers?

As pastors…