澳彩开奖

Huddled in an elevator at the 澳彩开奖 headquarters in Montgomery, Alabama, stood a group of people who had attended an interfaith summit that day on countering hate and election-related violence ahead of November鈥檚 presidential contest.

The group had assembled to learn about the Christian white nationalist movement and its influence on the country鈥檚 elections 鈥� and, most importantly, to hear strategies on how to counter the movement鈥檚 influence on their congregations.

The three-day summit, held Sept. 24-26 and hosted in partnership with the 澳彩开奖鈥檚 Intelligence Project (IP) the and the 澳彩开奖鈥檚 Alabama state office, brought together a group of about 50 faith leaders from churches, synagogues and mosques, as well as faith-related organizations. The day鈥檚 program had closed with participants sharing how hope and love kept them grounded in the ever-changing battle against hate and division.

As the elevator descended to the lobby, one participant, a white-haired woman of small stature, sighed in relief. 鈥淎fter hearing so much about hate today, it felt so good to hear about love in the end,鈥� she said, as the others nodded in agreement.

Her sentiment highlights the values that make progressive faith leaders such important agents of change in the fight against religious extremism and hate-based violence in communities across the U.S.

鈥淭he faith community is purposely being manipulated and divided by a group of people that don鈥檛 have the best interest of all of our communities in mind,鈥� said Rachel Carroll Rivas, interim director of the Intelligence Project. 鈥淲e need to uplift the abundant interfaith voices that are supportive of civil and human rights but are getting drowned out.鈥�

Interfaith Alliance organizing and election strategist Adam Friedman echoed the sentiment.

鈥淲e know that Americans from all different walks of life trust their faith leaders, regardless of political belief or affiliation,鈥� Friedman said. 鈥淔aith leaders have a unique ability to speak to the values that people hold and invite them to reflect on their shared beliefs and lived experiences as community members, despite their differences.鈥�

White Christian supremacist values

The Intelligence Project鈥檚 2023 Year in Hate report identified 1,430 hate and far-right antigovernment groups working to radicalize Americans and push white supremacist ideology and misinformation. Over the years that the Intelligence Project has tracked white Christian nationalist and antigovernment movements, its researchers have documented how their influence can be used to work against the common good.

One of the greatest current threats to U.S. democracy is the movement to infuse authoritarian-style, white supremacist Christian ideology into U.S. culture and politics through the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) movement.

The NAR follows the principle of 鈥渄ominionism,鈥� the 鈥渢heocratic belief that Christians are mandated by God to exercise dominion over all parts of society by controlling its cultural and political institutions,鈥� according to Fred Clarkson, of Political Research Associates.

It encourages the use of 鈥溾�� and paints other religions, political opponents and historically marginalized people, such as immigrants and those who identify as LGBTQ+, as demonically influenced. Their reach has extended to the nation鈥檚 capital, where the movement鈥檚 doctrine has been echoed by former Trump administration officials. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson has been identified as closely with NAR leaders.

About 30% of Americans hold some beliefs consistent with the Christian nationalist political ideology, according to a 2023 conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) in partnership with the Brookings Institution. In another PRRI/Brookings that same year, 83% of Christian nationalist adherents and 67% of sympathizers agreed with the statement 鈥淕od intended America to be a new promised land where European Christians could create a society that could be an example to the rest of the world.鈥� Forty percent of adherents and 22% of sympathizers agreed with the statement 鈥渂ecause things have gotten so far off track, true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country.鈥�

How progressive faith leaders can fight hate

Interfaith Summit participants learned about the role that antisemitism and racism have played in Christian nationalist movements, as well as the history of political organizing within Black churches and interfaith communities. Participants learned strategies to identify communities that might be targeted by far-right groups as well as ways to mobilize their communities to push back.

Some of those tactics included deepening relationships with communities that are being targeted as well as those adjacent to the people and groups that perpetuate hate; identifying locations that might face heightened risk and showing up to de-escalate, for example, by serving as a poll chaplain on Election Day; challenging disinformation and encouraging congregants to trust the democratic process; and offering space for diverse, interfaith groups to come together to discuss and act on issues affecting their communities.

鈥淚t鈥檚 critically important that people see the threads of the ways in which white supremacy and discrimination are used to target many groups,鈥� said Sabrina E. Dent, Ph.D., a summit participant and panelist who leads the 鈥檚 . 鈥淲hen theological language is used to paint people as demonic, it takes away the human responsibility and moral obligation to address the issues that we see in our society 鈥� issues that are not to be left up to a supernatural power to address, but those of us that see it happening and those of us that are impacted. I appreciate that in each of the workshops, that鈥檚 what has come forward.鈥�

The Rev. C.J. Brinson, a minister and organizer in Greensboro, North Carolina, shared how faith leaders in his state were working to counter the right鈥檚 co-optation of evangelist tent revivals. These revivals in the 18^th century as a way to spread the word across large swaths of mostly rural communities that lacked dedicated churches.

Through 鈥�,鈥� a program sponsored by , Brinson described how he and local faith leaders traveled to churches throughout the state carrying sermons that spoke of uniting people to build multiracial coalitions to fight poverty, protect reproductive justice and affirm the rights of LGBTQ+ people.

Their message encouraged believers to embrace love rather than hate, protection over persecution and opinions driven by facts rather than disinformation.

鈥淲e have an opportunity to bring these folks in and to gather them around progressive faith values,鈥� Brinson said. 鈥淰alues that they can not only hold for themselves, but that they can carry with them into the ballot box.鈥�

Picture at top: 鈥淔aith leaders have a unique ability to speak to the values that people hold and invite them to reflect on their shared beliefs,鈥� said Adam Friedman, Interfaith Alliance organizing and election strategist. (Courtesy of Adam Friedman)