As we know by now, the Donald Trump administration has ramped its war on the media into Defcon 1. But one collection of Trump’s most ardent supporters has had it at that level for some time–the religious right.
Almost from the moment of Trump’s upset victory, they have been warning us against daring to speak out against him. Their explanation? The media, and everyone else who is even mildly critical of Trump, is being driven by witchcraft, demons, and the devil himself. To hear them talk, even mild criticism of Trump puts you at risk of being charged with sedition at best and cursed at worse.
In a sane world, Trump’s apparent inability to see that there was only one side in Charlottesville would have knocked the scales off these fundies’ eyes. But it turns out that some of the most fervent among them are not only still bowing down to him, but are mounting an effort to churn out alternative facts for him.
Last weekend, POTUS Shield, a group of hypercharismatic pastors and ministers dedicated to covering Trump in prayer, held a convocation at Rick Joyner’s church in Fort Mill, South Carolina–just outside my hometown of Charlotte. Joyner is a member of the POTUS Shield council. On Saturday afternoon, POTUS Shield founder Frank Amedia announced that he was seeking one of the biggest prizes in American media–a White House press credential. People for the American Way’s Right Wing Watch got a clip.
Just over half an hour into the session, Amedia invited POTUS Shield council member and Christian publisher Bob Whitaker to speak. He claimed that the news media was sowing “confusion by mixing” truth and lies. He led the gathering in prayer for a change of heart in the leaders of the news media–particularly that they would see abortion as murder and the protests against Trump as “rebellion.” He also prayed that the owners of the media either get saved, or that the outlets would pass into the hands of those who are saved.
Amedia then took the stage and revealed a vision God had given to him earlier in the spring–a possible “press reporting division for POTUS Shield.” He planned to travel to New York and Washington and press for a White House press credential for this nascent media division so POTUS Shield can “prophetically be in the place we need to be.” He has already received commitments from a number of prominent fundie televangelists, such as Joyner, Jim Bakker, and Sid Roth, to air POTUS Shield’s news dispatches.
On the surface, this looks like a copycat of what Pat Robertson is already doing with “The 700 Club,” as well as what American Family Radio is already doing. But it’s a lot more than that. POTUS Shield is part and parcel of the New Apostolic Reformation, an overtly fascist offshoot of the religious right that believes it can actually bring about the Second Coming by taking over the world. Their blueprint for doing this is the “Seven Mountains strategy,” which calls for Christians under submission to self-described apostles and prophets to take over the seven forces, or mountains, that influence our culture–business, education, family, entertainment, religion, media, and government.
When you put Amedia’s proposal next to Whitaker’s prayer that the mainstream media have a “change of heart,” this looks like a concerted push to take over the media mountain. Any doubt that this was the case was erased when Amedia had council member Herman Martir go into prayer for this new project. Martir received a vision that Amedia would be on “three major networks” at some point, and would have a “mantle” to speak for Trump. He declared, “We take authority over the airwaves in the name of Jesus!” He also declared, “We will control the narrative, and the enemy will not, God, use the airwaves to distort and Lord, to release false information and lies.”
We already have some idea how the “commentary” on POTUS Shield’s news reports will look. For instance, we can expect to see people like Lance Wallnau praying against the “curses” that are attacking Trump and his family. Or Joyner saying that those who attack Trump risk getting “smacked” by God himself. And on, and on, and on. In other words–religious right agitprop masquerading as news, with a dominionist cast.
But what is more telling is that this enterprise is even on the drawing board at all. These so-called pastors are still willing to carry water for a president who seems to think that there are two sides to a situation when one of those sides is made up mostly of Nazis and white supremacists who murdered an innocent woman. They are still willing to carry water for a president who thinks men who fought to tear this nation apart are on the same level as men who fought to build it.
In short, they are still willing to carry water for a president who, by any reasonable standard, is morally bankrupt. From where I’m sitting, Amedia, Joyner, Bakker, Roth, and everyone else who is in on this project have disqualified themselves from serving as pastors as well.
(featured image courtesy Touch Heaven’s Facebook)
