In 2023, Charlie Kirk’s hate-mongering propaganda machine Turning Point held their pastor’s summit - via TPUSA Faith - in Nashville, TN. Come to find out, Omni, the conference and resort-oriented hotel chain that hosted this particular event, seems to have a track record for hosting GOP and Trump-related goings on elsewhere in the US. That’s a whole other thing.
But THIS thing has to do with the fact that now-notorious white Christian nationalist Pete Hegseth was one of the speakers at the 2023 TPUSA event, sharing the bill with Murfreesboro megachurch pastor Allen Jackson. Hegseth’s 20ish minute talk was about education, how he is “the survivor of a progressive, godless education,” and how the years 2000-2005 were the start of the “culturally Marxist paideia” in America. Also he seems pretty convinced that a lot of today’s woes began in the 60s, and though he didn’t naaame, say, the Civil Rights Movement, he did throw “critical race theory” around a coupla times, so that was probably a sort of stand-in.
The whole thing was very mashed-together feeling, as it probably gets tedious calling for the return of bibles and crosses to public classrooms while also calling for religious freedom while also noting that “they” are targeting children under12 for The Liberal Agenda because that’s when kids are the most impressionable and the earlier kids are indoctrinated the more difficult it is for them to lose that knowledge or belief. Does he not see (or feel?) the terrible irony in making this sort of claim? The thing of indoctrinating children intentionally at a young age…you mean…like…..how Christianity does it?? And let’s not forget how the practice of hitting children is a completely acceptable disciplinary tool maintained by these same people. Mygoodness. To be clear, he’s calling historically-accurate social studies “indoctrination.” He wants the revisionist whitewashing of United States history, none of that “socialist” Zinn education stuff (which he specifically calls out).
Pastor Allen Jackson of Murfreesboro, who’s prayed over Gov. Bill Lee, is a familiar face on Fox News and CBN, and whose church is home to a handful of local politicians, shared a stage with alt-right-maga-adjacent pastors Russell Johnson, Troy Maxwell, and David Engelhardt. Jackson has a way of letting others say the specific, controversial things, while he sits close-by and nods, and this was no different. Engelhardt took the “no hate like a Christian’s love” cake with these quotes:
“…we can talk about transgender because it’s the craziest thing there is. But the seedbed for transgenderism is homosexuality, and the seedbed for homosexuality is sexual immorality”
“what’s wrong with people wearing dresses? It destroys culture! It’s over! There’s no more culture left! There’s no more family, there are no more children, there’ no more culture…it’s over we all die there’s no hope!” *Applause*
and: “I think the bible is relatively simple.”
Here’s the link to the videos, including speakers Charlie Kirk, Eric Metaxas, James Lindsay, Dave Ramsey, Riley Gaines, Dave Barton, Mark Meadows, Steve Berger, Michael O’Fallon, Rob McCoy, Sean Ellingston, Jentezen Franklin, Bill Federer, Lily Kate, Victoria Robinson, Leanne Mattesius, Michael Chandler, Kevin McGary, EW Jackson, Kelly Shackelford, and Chad Connelly.
Not mentioned is Michael Knowles of The Daily Wire, though I’m pretty sure I correctly recall Kirk naming him as a special guest for the weekend, conveniently coming days after Knowles called for the “eradication” of “transgenderism.”
White Christian nationalism is antichrist, that’s all I gotta say right now.