Doug Mastriano, Christian Nationalism, and the Cult of the AR-15

[Nevilledog]

https://www.thebulwark.com/doug-mastriano-christian-nationalism-and-the-cult-of-the-ar-15/


The horrific mass shootings at Buffalo and Uvalde have brought the AR-15 back into the news for the unfortunately familiar reason that the perpetrators of both massacres used the weapon to commit their violence. In response, public pressure has been brought to bear on senators, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, former President Donald Trump, and the National Rifle Association, whose annual convention took place in Houston over the weekend. As conservative politicians defend Second Amendment rights and declaim against restrictions on gun ownership, a dangerous ideological commitment has become visible: the cult of the AR-15.

Daniel Defense, the company from which the Uvalde shooter purchased his guns, posted a since-deleted tweet containing an image of a child holding a dismantled rifle over which Proverbs 22:6 has been inscribed: “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” The company clearly knows its audience, as an ideology connected to the AR-15—combining Christian nationalism with a firearms obsession—has spread across the country. There are churches that have AR-15 giveaways, some even using scripture to sacralize the weapon—with the most extreme proponents incorporating the gun into their services.

The most prominent and explicit church belonging to this cult has ties to Doug Mastriano, the GOP’s gubernatorial candidate for Pennsylvania.

Mastriano’s résumé hits all the main points of today’s bog-standard MAGA candidate template. He’s an insurrectionist who ginned up enthusiasm for the attempted coup as a featured speaker for Jericho March’s rally in December 2020 before participating—by his own admission—in the “Stop the Steal” rally on January 6, 2021. (He bused Trump supporters to Washington and although he claimed that he and his wife did not cross police lines at the U.S. Capitol, they were caught on video doing just that.) The House Jan. 6th Committee subpoenaed him for being part of a plan to send pro-Trump electors to Congress, and he responded with loyal silence.

*snip*

[keithbvadu2]

1. Worship the gun and worship with the gun.

Worship the gun and worship with the gun.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/02/28/pennsylvania-church-ceremony-guns/383815002/

[crickets]

3. Yep. It's bonkers, absolutely nutso.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/03/01/589808670/ar-15s-are-biblical-rod-of-iron-at-pennsylvania-church

According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, "The ceremony's official name was the Cosmic True Parents of Heaven, Earth and Humanity Cheon Il Guk Book of Life Registration Blessing. It was part of the church's weeklong 'Festival of Grace,' which included a 'President Trump Thank You Dinner' on Saturday." [snip]

Moon is the youngest son of the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon — the self-proclaimed messiah who founded the Unification Church in South Korea in 1954 and eventually spawned a worldwide movement regarded by detractors as a cult. The church is perhaps best known for its mass wedding ceremonies.

As the AP notes, "The younger Moon's congregation is a breakaway faction of the Unification Church, which had distanced itself from Wednesday's event." [snip]

As the Inquirer notes, the Rev. Sean Moon's brother, Moon Kook-jin, also known as Justin Moon, is the founder and CEO of Kahr Arms, a firearms manufacturer headquartered in nearby Greeley.

Kahr specializes in making compact semiautomatic pistols. It was not clear from its website whether the company sells AR-15-style rifles, but the newspaper quoted one follower who said he bought one there.

When even the original Moonies distance themselves, you know it's way, way off the reality map.

[keithbvadu2]

4. I think some Bibles have comments about plowshares.

I think some Bibles have comments about plowshares.

Must not be in their Bible.

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=bible+plowshares

[crickets]

5. You make a very good point. Sadly, that verse get about as much attention these days

as Matthew 25, where Jesus talks about the sheep and the goats. Selfish people don't recognize themselves as the goats. I haven't been to church in decades, but the sentiment behind those verses meant a lot to me and I will never forget learning them as a child.

[usonian]

2. Drew Harwell saved the tweet.

https://mobile.twitter.com/drewharwell/status/1529277794794053640
If that doesn't render, this is from that web page.