This is from a Washington Post op-ed by Shadi Hamid, referencing the memorial to the assassinated young far-right wing activist and antagonist Charlie Kirk, has some interesting things to say.
I'm not going to talk about Kirk. I have my own ideas about him, but talking about him can invoke strong reactions on either side of the political spectrum, as well as either side of the religious spectrum. That's what the extracted comment below is about.
Two versions of Christianity battle for America’s soul
"Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared, “This is not a political war, it’s not even a cultural war. It’s a spiritual war.” These are not careless remarks or mere metaphor. They represent the intentional framing of politics as religious combat, in which political opponents are seen as demonic forces requiring defeat rather than conversion.
The theological gulf between Erika Kirk’s message of forgiveness and Hegseth’s fantasies of forever war runs deeper than most realize. Russell Moore, a former top official in the Southern Baptist Convention and a fierce Trump critic, told NPR that when pastors quote Jesus’ words about turning the other cheek, congregants increasingly ask, “Where did you get those liberal talking points?” When pastors respond that they’re “literally quoting Jesus Christ,” the answer comes back: “Yes, but that doesn’t work anymore. That’s weak.”
Can you simultaneously bless your enemies while viewing them as evil forces who require nothing short of total defeat?
The secular hope has been that declining religiosity would produce more rational, less intense politics. But as American church attendance hovers around all-time lows, including among young Republicans, the Kirk memorial suggests the opposite: American faith is becoming more politically charged, not less. As Christian institutions decline in influence, conservatives find inspiration in the MAGA movement, whose undisputed leader is Trump, a man often portrayed as a kind of new American savior."
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