Armed Christianity treats Jesus as a conqueror needing weapons

Evidence

Violence and the tools of violence are merely part of the cultural package of being an American Christian. After a mass shooting in a small church in Texas in 2017, a pastor in Florida posted a sign on his church’s doors: “Please know this is not a gun free zone—we are heavily armed—any attempt will be dealt with deadly force.” In early 2022, conservative candidate for governor of Georgia Kandiss Taylor debuted her tour bus featuring her slogan: “Jesus, Guns, Babies.” Boebert made more headlines in June 2022 at a Christian conference in Colorado Springs when, in response to a hypothetical question about how many AR-15s Jesus would own, she boasted that Jesus “didn’t have enough [AR-15s] to keep his government from killing him.” For Taylor, the Massie and Boebert families, and millions of others like them, weapons created for warfare and violence dovetail perfectly with Christianity. It is a religion of conquerors. — Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry, 489

Categorization

• CANDY: Massie’s Christmas ‘Santa please bring ammo’ photo and its proximity to the Oxford school shooting is a light but sharp anecdote.
• XREF: connects to: Centuries of Christian violence served protecting power and privilege — Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry, 447; The only blood Jesus shed in making disciples was his own — Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry, 439; Evangelical leaders treated tenderness in Jesus as a heresy undermining national defense — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne: How White…, 414 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Eldredge reframed Jesus as a warrior rather than a pacifist #exemplifies (0.95) — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 397
• American conservative Christianity exalts a hypermasculine, militarized image of Jesus. #corroborates (0.95) — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers, 347
• Evangelical leaders treated tenderness in Jesus as a heresy undermining national defense #corroborates (0.92) — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 414
• Evangelicals spent a half century remaking Jesus in their own militant image #corroborates (0.90) — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 664
• Medieval crusade theorists read Luke’s two swords as justifying armed force #expands (0.88) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1336