On February 17, 2015, three teen-age girls made their way through Gatwick Airport in London where they eventually boarded a plane to Istanbul, Turkey. From there, the three made it to Syria where they eventually joined with ISIS.
From what we know, these three were relatively gifted students and had decent lives and prospects for the future. They threw it all away though. How? These three teenagers were “groomed” and radicalized over the internet/social media/blogs to leave their families and become part of the ISIS infrastructure (brides for jihadists), then at war with Syria.
We learn of something like this and it boggles the mind. How, we wonder, does something like this happen. Many of us American Christians probably think we sort of get it and we chalk it up to Islam, a religion many of us don’t understand. We might think, well, I guess that’s what can happen with people in these “other” religions.
Well, guess what, it’s not just “other” religions. We are seeing the very same thing play out here in America with Christian fundamentalism and evangelicalism. See here, here, and here. And the proof is in the pudding.
The January 6th insurrection was only possible, partly, due to the radicalization of American, mostly white, mostly male, Protestant fundamentalist/evangelicals. And, there were some pulled from the mainline denominations as well—even Catholics and Eastern Orthodox. Still, I would wager evangelicals/fundamentalists made up the bulk of the rioters as far as religious bent.
The real “grooming” taking place in front of our very eyes, completely out in the open, is the grooming of funda-gelicals to become politically and ideologically radicalized. Historically, this has happened on the left and right, but in our current moment, it is right-wing actors doing the most damage and who were clearly responsible for the January 6th violent insurrection.
The seeds have always been present in fundamentalism (and portions of evangelicalism), no matter what variety of religious or secular expression. Given it’s thin hermeneutical methods, its fear of life, its infantile sensibility and narrow-mindedness, its lack of scale or perspective, its rejection of beauty and lack of curiosity, we can see why it has always been fertile soil for disinformation, lies, conspiracy theories, and a lot of other utter nonsense.
The seedbeds, the fertilizer have been there for some time. But with the coming of the internet and social media, the full blossoming of those seeds has now become evident. The result, needless to say, wasn’t good. The crop, the produce, the fruit turned out to be spoiled and rotten.
What every evangelical/fundamentalist pastor/leader/theologian, who hasn’t themselves been radicalized, needs to understand is that they are probably no longer the ones truly teaching/training their people. Whatever influence they may have pales in comparison to the influence of Fox “News,” right-wing media, and right-wing social media. Discipleship has been, knowingly or not, outsourced to Fox and right-wing social media.
It’s a matter of time spent. These pastors may get 3-5 hours a week with their people. Fox and social media however probably gets that amount of time per day, if not even more. Do the math.
That time spent is leading to the same sort of radicalization of American fundamentalists and evangelicals we see happening to Muslims in other parts of the world. It’s the same process with the same purpose: Prepare a people open to the idea of using violent means to impose their religious belief system on others. Both seek theocracies where their respective scriptural sources are codified into public law and imposed on all.
What these radicalized evangelicals/fundamentalists want to do is create their own version of the Taliban, only a “Christian” one. Such is what “Christian Nationalism” is all about. January 6th was just the first violent attempt in what will probably be a long twilight struggle between orthodox Christianity and this radicalized, modern, and violent version of something that is about as far from the Christian narrative and traditional/historic theology as one can get.
You evangelicals leaders or lay people who understand the danger but remain passive or silent: If these radicalized actors are successful, what do you think that will do for you and your tribe’s “witness” and evangelism efforts in the future?
You are tied to these groups/influencers/actors by name and history. It will reflect upon you whether you like it or not. You will have entire generations turn from you and your “gospel.” They will come to despise you and your “message.” Will your silence and complacency have been worth it, then?
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