From our writers
First thoughts on last week’s attack on the Capitol
Short Essay Series
Editor’s note: Following the attack on the Capitol one week ago today, we asked our contributing authors to share a brief reflection or excerpt from what they were planning to say to their congregations in sermons, pastoral letters, and prayers. Below is a compilation of their responses lightly edited. Their words reflect the trauma of these days and the difficult challenges ahead. They speak of the need for accountability, justice, courage, and healing, and call us to the necessary work of dismantling Christian nationalism and white supremacy. “Our faith should move us to be braver, more just, more honorable, and more courageous in our fight for justice,” writes Rev. Michael Woolf. “And we will need plenty of that faith in the coming days.” In the words that follow, and in what we continue to publish, we hope you will find inspiration and encouragement in the fight for justice.
Rev. Michael Woolf
As domestic terrorists interrupted Congress as it convened to accept the Electoral College results, singing hymns, bowing down before crosses, appropriating shofarot from our Jewish neighbors and friends, and engaging in mob violence, I was reminded of what Dorothee Sölle said when she coined the term Christofascism decades ago:
“At a mass meeting a thousand voices shouted: ‘I love Jesus’ and ‘I love America’ — it was impossible to distinguish the two. This kind of religion knows the cross only as a magical symbol of what he has done for us, not as the sign of the poor man who was tortured to death as a political criminal… What remains is a metaphysical Easter Bunny in front of the beautiful blue light of the television screen, a betrayal of the disappointed, a miracle weapon in service of the mighty.”
As people of faith, we must do our best to make sure that our religion never becomes a “miracle weapon in service of the mighty,” and we must denounce the mixing of those symbols with insurrection, Confederate flags, and white-nationalist rage currently on display. Our faith should move us to be braver, more just, more honorable, and more courageous in our fight for justice, and we will need plenty of that faith in the coming days. I will of course be in prayer for our country. However, prayer will not be enough. We will need to articulate and live out our values more assiduously than ever.
The Rev. Michael Woolf is senior minister, Lake Street Church of Evanston, Illinois and a ThD candidate at Harvard University.
Our faith should move us to be braver, more just, more honorable, and more courageous in our fight for justice, and we will need plenty of that faith in the coming days.
– Rev. Michael Woolf
Amanda Tyler
A violent, unlawful and delusional mob attacked American democracy on January 6. Even worse, they did it in Jesus’ name. What we saw on full display is Christian nationalism—an ideology that merges American and Christian symbols, narratives and identities and demands a privileged place in our government for Christianity and its adherents. Though Christian nationalism has no doubt flourished during the Trump presidency, the ideology predates Trump and will long outlast him.
Christian nationalism can be violent and easily recognizable, as it was when manifested in the attack on the Capitol. But it is as destructive in its more subtle and insidious forms. The horrific attack can serve as a wake-up call for all of us for our task ahead. Dismantling Christian nationalism will take a concerted, long-term effort to foster an understanding of what Christian nationalism is and how it shows up in our communities and institutions.
Amanda Tyler is executive director, Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty. Learn more and join BJC at ChristiansAgainstChristianNationalism.org.
Dismantling Christian nationalism will take a concerted, long-term effort to foster an understanding of what Christian nationalism is and how it shows up in our communities and institutions.
– Amanda Tyler
Rev. Dr. Eddie Cruz
I pray the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) everyday as a centering moment. This is a prayer cloaked in the Sovereignty of God. We can find an ocean of wisdom as we exegete every verse. However, the verse “deliver us from evil” (vs.13) resonates with my heart today.
Prior to entering the highest office in the land, the President-elect takes the oath as directed by the Chief Justice: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
Who could imagine that the most dangerous person in the land would be the President?
The recent outcry of insurrection by the President was an evil attack on democracy. He stoked the fires of anger, rage, and violent dissent in a mob that hangs on his every belief and word. This mob screamed, chanted, and embodied his desire for revenge in trying to prevent Congress in joint session from certifying the election of the President and Vice President.
Deliver us from evil.
Recently, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote, “This morning, I spoke to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley to discuss available precautions for preventing an unstable president from initiating military hostilities or accessing the launch codes and ordering a nuclear strike. The situation of this unhinged President could not be more dangerous, and we must do everything that we can to protect the American people from his unbalanced assault on our country and our democracy.”
Deliver us from evil is real for us today. There is a strong groundswell of hatred, division and death infecting America.
This prayer is a reminder that only God is the foundation of the world and has delivered us from evil in Christ. As God’s people our charge is to live out this prayer, be involved in denouncing evil, and become ambassadors of hope and light fleshing out a new and better reality of truth, equality and justice in Christ.
The Rev. Dr. Eddie Cruz is national coordinator, Mission and Discipleship, American Baptist Home Mission Societies.
Mike McCurry
Long before I worked at the White House, I served as a Senate press secretary and loved every moment I roamed the halls of the Capitol, giving tours to friends and relatives and showing off connections that gave me access to wonderful, historic places including watching July 4 fireworks from the Speaker’s balcony on the West Front. Will there ever again be a time when the people’s house is open to people? There better be. We cannot let violence and sedition destroy access to our temples of democracy.
Mike McCurry is professor and director of the Center for Public Theology, Wesley Theological Seminary, and former White House press secretary.
William Johnson Everett
Many public voices have cried out about the desecration of the sacred temple of democracy that is the Capitol. As someone who grew up in Washington, I shared in that horror as I beheld the sight of angry mobs storming this treasured edifice. But the sacred work that was being broken into is not a building. It is the very work of argument, negotiation, compromise, and agreement among equals that contains the sacred spirit from which we draw our life. The sacred spirit that has been violated is the presiding authority and power that arises as we gather in these circles of deliberation and search for a greater justice. Too often, both in church and in politics, we have sought to draw our life from a leader, an orator, indeed, some longed-for monarch or despot who might do our work for us. But the spirit that gathers people around a table to recognize the inherent worth of each person and to seek peace, a reconciliation of differences, and the common good coming from the one God—that is the sacred work that is under attack and that needs to be defended and exemplified in our religious assemblies and in our public life.
William Johnson Everett, Professor of Christian Social Ethics, Emeritus, Andover Newton Seminary at Yale.
The spirit that gathers people around a table to recognize the inherent worth of each person and to seek peace, a reconciliation of differences, and the common good coming from the one God—that is the sacred work that is under attack and that needs to be defended and exemplified in our religious assemblies and in our public life.
– William Johnson Everett
Rev. Dr. Corey Fields
Our hope is not in human leaders or institutions, none of which ever fully represent us. I remain committed to being non-partisan in my professional role, preaching a Kingdom that is above and beyond any party or country. But my allegiance to that same Kingdom demands that we concern ourselves with issues of the “polis,” the people, and the things that affect the real lives of people we are called to love as ourselves. God fully rejected the separation of “spiritual things” from real life when taking on flesh in Christ. The Bible tells us to “defend the rights of the poor and needy” (Proverbs 31:9), which we cannot do without engaging the processes and institutions by which those rights are secured. In addition, we are seeing an existential threat to the institutions of democracy through which we enjoy the freedom of religion. Clearly, recent events touch us at many points. In these times, silence and inaction are not options. We have seen our sacred text and institutions misused as props. We have seen prominent religious figures succumb to the cult of personality. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “There comes a time when silence is betrayal.” I believe we are in such a time.
The Rev. Dr. Corey Fields is senior pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, Newark, Delaware.
I remain committed to being non-partisan in my professional role, preaching a Kingdom that is above and beyond any party or country. But my allegiance to that same Kingdom demands that we concern ourselves with issues of the “polis,” the people, and the things that affect the real lives of people we are called to love as ourselves.
– Rev. Dr. Corey Fields
Rev. John Zehring
Why did God allow Rehoboam, Herod, Caligula, Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan, Torquemada (Grand Inquisitor), Ivan the Terrible, Maximilien Robespierre, Vlad the Impaler, Vladimir Lenin, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, Adolph Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, Francisco Franco, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, Idi Amin, Augusto Pinochet, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Saddam Hussein, and Nero? To this growing list, many might add the name of Donald J. Trump. Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Trump tweeted while his supporters, the rioters, attacked and invaded the Capitol while Congress was in session – just days after a phone call was recorded during which he begged Georgia officials to cheat, steal, and lie about election results.
Unimaginable millions of people have been hurt or killed by the evil-doing or incompetent leaders listed above. People of faith cannot help but wonder why? Why does a loving God allow them to do evil? Why doesn’t God intervene for the sake of all the good people in harm’s way? Isn’t the light supposed to shine in the darkness and the darkness not overcome it? (John 1:5).
Does God not care about politics, the goodness of government, or justice for all? Why has God allowed bad to happen to good people throughout history and in present times? I know there are no simple answers. The downfall of America’s leadership in the past four years, culminating in the attack on the Capitol, inspires me to consider that perhaps Jesus had something very different in mind when he taught about the Kingdom of God. Jesus did not “fix” evil leadership when he came. So, if the Kingdom of God is not about the politics of how we are governed, what then is it about? I think that question opens up a key window to peer into as we strive to understand God’s ways, to know God better, and to love God more.
The Rev. John Zehring has served United Church of Christ congregations for 22 years as a pastor in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Maine.
Rev. Brittany Graves
Creator God, let us acknowledge the ways you’ve already granted provision and given us freedom. Help us to always discern how to move and what to do when individuals or systems encroach on liberation. Give us the ability to step into our autonomy, to know our truth, and be fully present to create a better tomorrow. May we always strive to be connected to our intuition and the divinity you’ve given, not to be distracted by injustice disconnected from you.
The Rev. Brittany Graves is associate coordinator, Public Witness and Advocacy, American Baptist Home Mission Societies.
Dr. Marvin A. McMickle
The events that occurred inside the Capitol were a demonstration of white privilege in defense of the presumption of white supremacy. What would have happened if thousands of Black protesters laid siege to the Capitol while Congress was in session? We got an idea of that when unarmed, non-violent Black Lives Matter protesters decrying the death of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor were confronted with tear gas, rubber bullets, mounted police in riot gear, and armored vehicles in cities across this country. We saw what happened when federal troops were used to disperse a similar crowd in front of the White House last June so President Trump could walk through Lafayette Park for a photo-op in front of a church.
Now consider January 6 when white insurrectionists rampaged through the Capitol, trashed offices, displayed a Confederate flag, overran Capitol police, and killed one of them by beating him with a fire extinguisher. After their assault on our democracy, those treasonous insurrectionists and domestic terrorists just walked out of the Capitol, returned to their homes or hotels, and boasted about what they had done. Following that mayhem, Senators Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz and nearly two hundred Republican lawmakers continued their charade about voter fraud while blood was still on the floor of the Capitol. There is a double standard of justice in this country, and it was on full display last week. Make no mistake, this was a coup—an attempt to overthrow a legitimate election. Ivanka Trump called them “American patriots” and her father told them “we love you.” What happened to “when the looting starts the shooting starts?”
Dr. Marvin A. McMickle is professor of African American Religious Studies at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, Rochester, N.Y., where he served as president from 2011-2019.
There is a double standard of justice in this country, and it was on full display last week. Make no mistake, this was a coup—an attempt to overthrow a legitimate election.
– Dr. Marvin A. McMickle
Rev. Dr. Greg Mamula
The siege of the Capitol building was over before I knew it happened. Having spent most of the afternoon of January 6 away from social media, I was unaware of the events in Washington until the perpetrators were being escorted off the property. Since then, the images and information from the day have bombarded my soul in a way I have not fully grasped. So many dark elements coalesced in a single moment it is difficult to parse them out. Two thoughts rise to the surface for me.
First, the Christian nationalism celebrated by the insurgents is a twisted mockery of the message of Jesus. It damages our witness and endangers both church and state. Every time I experience it, I want to scream.
Second, the blatant difference between the treatment of these white Christian nationalists invading the Capitol and the consistent pattern of deadly violence used against people of color—even while following the instructions of law enforcement like Philando Castile and George Floyd, or while sleeping in their own homes like Breonna Taylor—is grotesque beyond words.
The Christian nationalist insurgents and the lies that preceded the events of January 6 flourish in the shadow cast by white supremacy, the roots of which run deep in the soil of our nation. May we have the courage to face this reality and begin to tear it out at the source.
O, God, make speed to save us. O, Lord, make haste to help us.
The Rev. Dr. Greg Mamula is associate executive minister, American Baptist Churches of Nebraska.
The Christian nationalist insurgents and the lies that preceded the events of January 6 flourish in the shadow cast by white supremacy, the roots of which run deep in the soil of our nation. May we have the courage to face this reality and begin to tear it out at the source.
– Rev. Dr. Greg Mamula
Rev. Bryan D. Jackson
After last week’s assault on the Capitol, I offered up someone else’s poetry via lyrics on YouTube for the day’s reflection—Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth,” the 1966 song that eventually became associated with anti-war and anti-establishment movements. The lyrics speak to our time just as they did then. I invite you to listen to it if you haven’t before.
When the mob got ahold of Jesus, the world changed forever. The crowd worked itself into frenzy. We can assume things were quite bloody. The contemporary Christian’s ultimate nightmare comes true, goodness vanquished by the neurotic prefect. When Pontius Pilate washed his hands of the chaos and loss of life, he probably had little to say about his role in the death of civility. If he’d had a television, he might have watched it all go down from the comfort of his office.
Feeling a sense of exile lately? I am. So many years ago, a man named John had a vision after being exiled to an island. He wrote in code to the people of his day. There’s a lot of that going on these days. The thing is, if we’re going to write in code, it should be the code of love, always.
For what it’s worth, we each have some work to do. We reap what we sow. Our contempt must give way to charity. Children, we need to stop, look around, and convert the horrible sounds into beautiful music. Before it’s too late.
The Rev. Bryan D. Jackson is an American Baptist minister and a member of the Mount Hood Cherokees, a satellite community of the Cherokee Nation. He lives on Vashon Island, Washington.
We each have some work to do. We reap what we sow. Our contempt must give way to charity. Children, we need to stop, look around, and convert the horrible sounds into beautiful music. Before it’s too late.
– Rev. Bryan D. Jackson
Rev. Dr. Greg Johnson
Our country faces many challenges. All too palpable are the hate that resonates from our differences, the need for greed, and the emotional immaturity and intolerance that prevents us from loving our neighbor as ourselves.
What happened at the Capitol January 6 was America on full display. I am less concerned about the shame that came with this display than I am about the duplicity that was shown. In the days leading up to this bombastic, barbaric display of force, signs were given, notices shared, and intentions made public. And yet, unlike this summer’s protests for racial justice, a show of force by police was lacking prior to the attack on the Capitol and preparation for the possibility of disorderly and malicious conduct was inadequate. As a result, we witnessed the disgracing of democracy.
There should be no double-standards in policing or in the application of justice. Nevertheless, this is what we continue to see. To witness such blatant disregard for justice at the Capitol, to hear leaders incite seditious acts against our democracy, adds insult to the injuries of the suffering minority.
Those who advocate, encourage, and incite seditious acts of terrorism within our borders are anarchist. They are not patriots. Their actions must be condemned, and participants held accountable. There ought not be duplicity in American justice.
The Rev. Dr. Greg Johnson is pastor of Cornerstone Community Church, Endicott, N.Y.
Those who advocate, encourage, and incite seditious acts of terrorism within our borders are anarchist. They are not patriots. Their actions must be condemned, and participants held accountable.
– Rev. Dr. Greg Johnson
Rev. Dr. Glenn E. Porter
Epiphany marks Jesus’ manifestation to the Gentiles (Matthew 2:1-12) and the culmination of the 12 Days of Christmas. Observed January 6, it is supposed to be a joyful day for Christians throughout the world.
An epiphany is about discovering, disclosure and discerning.
The deadly and destructive siege of the Capitol by President Trump’s supporters seeking to overturn the certification of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ victory discloses so much to us, on so many levels. It was, undoubtably, epiphany.
The insurrection, or failed coup, illuminates much about President Trump, his enablers in Congress, and the angry mob that carried out his desires. The law enforcement failure revealed a double standard in policing.
With five persons dead, the insurrection becomes another historic and infamous flashpoint for the Trump Administration and America. Moreover, as videos continue to emerge from the troubling events inside the Capitol, the extent of the chaos becomes even more chilling. And now there are threats of armed protests at 50 state capitols across the country, as well as during the presidential inauguration.
Following the bloody white nationalist rally in Charlottesville in August 2017, Dr. H. Beecher Hicks offered this prophetic observation regarding President Trump’s actions in Preaching While Bleeding:
“Our Tweeter-in-Chief had absolutely nothing to repudiate the actions of these organized racists. His silence is despicable and sends a clear signal to the citizens of the United States and to the world that under “Trumpian” leadership supremacists will have carte blanche within these shores and armed rebellion will be an inescapable reality. I suppose that is why David Duke thought it important to remind Mr. Trump who voted him into office and who did not.”
What is clear is that our nation needs an abundance of healing from racial injustice, coronavirus, unaccountable and unscrupulous leadership, and hateful rhetoric.
The impeachment and removal of President Trump is one aspect of our national recovery. The inauguration of President-elect Biden is another. Our prophetic pulpits must, in the words of Dr. Hicks, pray in the spirit of 2 Chronicles 7:14 and be what the Prophet Isaiah calls ‘repairers of the breach’ before the walls come tumbling down around us!
The significance of the Epiphany did not go unnoticed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. As the certification process continued, she offered, “On this day of revelation, let us pray that this instigation to violence will provide an epiphany for our country to heal.”
The Rev. Dr. Glenn E. Porter is senior pastor/servant leader at Queen Street Baptist Church, Norfolk, Virginia.
Our nation needs an abundance of healing from racial injustice, coronavirus, unaccountable and unscrupulous leadership, and hateful rhetoric.
– Rev. Dr. Glenn E. Porter
The Christian Citizen
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Where do we go from here? A response to the attack on the Capitol
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