WASHINGTON.— Tens of thousands of evangelical Christians gathered yesterday Saturday on the National Mall in Washington, DC, to pray for the atonement of USA and for the return of Donald Trump to the White HouseNBC News reported.
Organizers of the event, called “One Million Women,” described the gathering (and next month’s presidential election) as “a moment of last stand” to save the nation from the forces of darkness.
For hours, the gathered masses sang worship songs, waved flags symbolizing their belief that the United States was founded as an explicitly Christian nation, and prayed aloud for Jesus Christ to intercede on Trump’s behalf in November.
“If we don’t stand up now,” said Grace Lin, who traveled from Los Angeles for the demonstration and arrived wearing a red cap with the legend “Make America Great Again”, “then the enemy will take over the country. If that happens, it will be the end.”
Lou Engle, the self-proclaimed prophet who organized the event, said God told him in a dream to call a million women to march on Washington to restore God’s dominion over the nation. Engle is a leader of the New Apostolic Reformation, a movement of charismatic Christians who for years have portrayed American politics as a spiritual clash between good and evil and Trump as a flawed leader anointed by God to redeem the nation.
“Listen to the cry of your people,” Engle shouted yesterday as thousands of followers raised their hands to heaven. “Save us, God!”
From a stage overlooking the Washington Monument, Engle and other speakers warned of a multitude of threats they say the United States faces: crime, religious persecution, abortion and the growing acceptance of LGBTQ people.
Thousands of women arrived wearing pink T-shirts with the words “Don’t mess with our children,” the name and motto of an anti-LGBTQ activist group that claims library books, public school teachers and pop culture They are tricking children into changing gender.
Susan Marsh, who drove from Maryland, said she attended because she fears that if Democrats keep power, her 10-month-old grandson will grow up in a nation where he is pressured to identify as a girl. As she sang and prayed, Susan waved a large Appeal to Heaven flag, a prominent symbol of the Christian movement seeking to end the separation of church and state in the United States.
“A lot of people are desperate right now,” Susan said, her voice breaking as she spoke to a reporter. “Our children are going through surgeries that are unnecessary because they are heartbroken and believe they are not who they are supposed to be.”
“Elected”
Maryn Freitag was part of a group of 50 people who traveled from Minnesota. He said he came “to support the man God has chosen as president.”
He then gestured to his hat, which had “Trump 2024” written on it in sparkling rhinestones. Maryn refused to contemplate what would happen if Trump loses to Vice President Kamala Harris: “I don’t even want to go there,” she said.
Sandi Woskie, another member of the Minnesota contingent, heard the comment. He leaned over and said, “Think of Armageddon.”
“That’s right,” Maryn said. “If we fail to bring this nation back to the Lord, we will quickly plunge into an abyss of no return.”
Matthew Taylor, a senior fellow at the Institute of Islamic, Christian and Jewish Studies, a Maryland nonprofit, said those comments are representative of a dangerous and increasingly widespread embrace of apocalyptic political messages by the Christian right.
Taylor, who attended yesterday’s march as part of his research, has already spent years studying the New Apostolic Reformation and his unwavering support for Trump. In his book, “The Violent Take It by Force,” he documented how false claims of widespread voter fraud spread by Engle and other Christian nationalist leaders helped fuel the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Taylor said he worries that the dire message — and the depiction of Trump as God’s chosen candidate to defeat evil Democrats — could set the stage for more violence.
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