(air whooshes)

- [John] Tonight, theroots of the Capitol riot.

- Jesus Christ, we invoke Your name!

- [John] Why some are blamingan out-of-control ideology

of Christian nationalism.

(air whooshes)- Christian nationalism

as a political ideology is not drawn

directly from the Bible.

- [John] Plus...

(air whooshes)

- [Jenna] The RepublicanParty after President Trump.

(air whooshes)Why the former president's

presence is set to loomlarge in American politics.

And...(air whooshes)

- [Albert] The mainstreammedia have failed us.

- Why the Internet has become a hotbed

of conspiracy theories leading Christians

down the wrong path.

All this and more tonighton "Faith Nation."

(urgent music with air whooshes)

Can democracy and religiousnationalism co-exist?

Welcome to "FaithNation." I'm John Jessup.

- And I'm Jenna Browder.

Waving Jesus flags and praying

in the breached Senate chamber,

these actions by the mob making the horror

of the Capitol Hill assaulteven more troubling.

John?- That disturbing scene,

Jenna, reflects a political ideology

known as Christian nationalism.

CBN's Heather Sells has more on what it is

and why it's become so dangerous.

- [Heather] On January 6th,thousands of Christians

came to Washington to supportPresident Donald Trump

and to pray.

Later, however, manyunwittingly found themselves

in a crowd that would march on the Capitol

and eventually breach thebuilding, leaving two dead

and more than 100 police officers injured.

- [Barry] I think it'sthe most shocking failure

of security imaginable.

- [Heather] Many, including Capitol Police

and Congressman Adam Kinzinger, described

what felt like spiritual warfare.

- [Adam] I just felt a realdarkness over this place,

a real evil.

- Disobeying andassaulting police is a sin,

whether it's done by Antifaor by angry Republicans.

- [Heather] Doubly disturbing,

the mob's use of Christiansymbols, such as these flags

and praying in the Senate chamber.

Fair warning, this video is hard to watch.

- Jesus Christ, we invoke Your name!

Amen!

- [Mob] Amen!

- Let's all say a prayer!

Let's all say a prayerin this sacred space.

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for gracing us

with this opportunity.

- [Heather] Christianleaders have been quick

to condemn the display.

- There is no such thingas a righteous riot.

It is the equivalent ofsomeone breaking into a bank

and asking God to bless the heist.

This is a fringe, radicalgroup with a religious zeal

that comes with a myopic worldview.

- To understand how andwhy this could happen.

Georgetown professorand InterVarsity Press

author Paul Miller says it's important

to understand Christian nationalism.

- Nationalism is very popularon the political right.

It has eclipsed what Iwould call conservatism.

Christian nationalismas a political ideology

is not drawn directly from the Bible.

It borrows a lot of Christian words

and symbols and rhetoric, which is why

it can be confusing for some Christians.

- [Heather] Christiannationalism is different

from patriotism or love of country.

It is a political viewthat asserts that the U.S.

was and must remain a Christian nation,

with other faiths taking a back seat

on issues like religious liberty.

- Religious liberty, tobe true and consistent,

needs to be religiousliberty for everyone.

It's not "Religious libertyfor me, but not for thee."

- [Heather] Southern Baptist Albert Mohler

warns against nationalism infused

with any racialsuperiority, or that becomes

an idol in our lives and canlead us away from our faith.

- That kind of nationalism,even though it may claim

a religious identity upfront, it will eventually

show itself to be idolatrous.

If it requires me to deny Christ

or forbids me to follow Christ obediently,

then I will no longer pledgeallegiance to that flag.

I have no ultimateallegiance to that flag.

- [Heather] Conspiracytheories can also fuel

Christian nationalism, and we've seen them

seep into some evangelical circles.

Half of U.S. Protestantpastors report it's entered

their churches, accordingto new research by Lifeway.

It's why leaders arecalling on their flocks

to search out the truth.

- You should be able tovalidate what you share,

what you spread.

- When we're gullible and easily fooled,

when we're the people thatare posting conspiracies

and the next thing saying,"Oh, the Resurrection's true.

All those conspiracies aretoo," it undermines our witness.

- [Heather] Miller encourages pastors

to help their congregations focus

on their heavenlycitizenship above all else.

Suarez says that can apply tothe prophetic world as well.

- I need to make sure that asa believer, as a Christian,

that I'm more kingdom-mindedthan I am American-minded.

We need to, as propheticpeople, we need to re-examine

and wonder why is it that we'reonly getting prophetic words

about American elections?

- [Heather] Ultimately, thelocal church can provide

what many have lost, which is part

of what's fueling political extremism.

- There are many people inAmerica who feel lonely,

isolated, alienated,and in that isolation,

they're gravitating towardsthe conspiracy theories,

they're gravitating towards,perhaps, militia movements,

they're gravitatingtowards extremer ideologies

like nationalism because it gives them

a sense of belonging and purpose.

- [Heather] That belonging isharder to find in a pandemic,

yet may be more important than ever.

Heather Sells, CBN News.

- All right, thank you, Heather.

Here with us now for this special edition

of "Faith Nation" is TimothyHead, the executive director

of the Faith and Freedom Coalition,

and someone you mightrecognize from Heather's story,

the Reverend Samuel Rodriguez, president

of the National HispanicChristian Leadership Conference.

Sammy, Tim, thank youso much for being here

on "Faith Nation."

Tim, let's start with you.

In an op-ed you wrote forthe Washington Examiner

about patriotism and nationalism,

you say that they don't mix.

So can you explain thedifference between the two?

- Well, I think, simply put,I would consider patriotism

as a healthy pride, a sense of belonging

to a nation or to acountry that we do believe

in America, that Americais a tremendous country.

It has rich history and biblical truth

and a strong heritage in Christianity.

Nationalism, there's anelement of superiority

or of exclusivity to itthat I would actually argue

that the German Christiansshould be patriotic Germans,

and Hondurans shouldbe patriotic Hondurans.

I don't believe that thatthere is an exclusive

or a hierarchy, if you will, among races

or ethnicities, or certainlynations or countries.

And so, this is an important, it seems

like a small distinction, butit's an important distinction

that I think that we begin to make.

- Sammy, would you like to add in on that?

What's your take?

- Completely, I concur completely,

that the idea of Christian nationalism

is both spiritually incoherentand theologically absurd.

And there is a difference.

I love what Timothy just laid out.

There is a distinction.

We don't want this to be conflated.

There's nothing wrong withaffirming that our nation

was founded upon aJudeo-Christian value system.

Absolutely nothing wrong with that.

It's historically accurate.

There's nothing wrong with, as Christians,

us advancing and advocating for pro-life,

pro-religious liberty,and biblical justice

in the name of Jesus.

There is something wrongwhen we drink the Kool-Aid

of a political ideology ofthe notion that this nation

is exclusively by Christiansand for Christians.

Absolutely not.

So Christian nationalism,that fringe minority,

maybe less than 1% thatactually adhere to that,

it's a vocal group, butwe, other, the Christians,

those that are committedto biblical orthodoxy,

to the centrality ofChrist, and the citizenship

of God's kingdom above everything,

we need to make surethat we let everyone know

that group that stormed the Capitol Hill

on January 6th does notrepresent true Christianity.

- Sammy, you're making the distinction

between patriotism and nationalism.

I wonder where the whole conceptof American exceptionalism

fits in in this equation.

- Well, hold on a moment.

I believe in American exceptionalism

because, as a former history teacher,

it's a historical fact.

We were exceptional in embracing the idea

of God over man, man over government.

That's American exceptionalism.

It's not our military, it'snot our cognitive bandwidth,

it's not our free-marketplaceenterprise endeavors.

No, it's God over man,man over government,

and we were the first onesto ever articulate that.

That's what makes us exceptional.

Now, with that being said,I am a proud American,

but I'm a Christianbefore I am an American.

And I agree with Timothy,and with the professor

that referenced this previously.

I am not gonna worshipthe flag. I worship Jesus.

I'm not gonna bow for any flag.

I'm gonna worship Jesus.

So there is a distinction.

We can be patriotic butnot drink the Kool-Aid

of Christian nationalism.

- Yeah, for both ofyou, maybe to Tim first,

how should Christians participatein politics, if at all?

What do you think, Tim?

- Well, that's a great question.

And I often kind of think of this

in terms of stewardship, right?

I mean, just like when you buy a home,

one of your roles is to try to continue

and pass that home on in the future

as a better piece of propertyto the next generation,

or potentially to the next owner.

I think of that in similarveins to our citizenship

here in the United States,that one of the strong,

I would argue, biblicalfiduciary responsibilities

that we have to the next generation,

and also to the Lord Himself,is to actually be citizens

and stewards in our cities,in our school boards,

in our local, certainly, states,

and ultimately in national politics

to have our voice be heard,and for these values,

you know, here here atFaith and Freedom Coalition,

we talk about giving Christiansa voice in government.

That doesn't mean that,that we "separate,"

quote-unquote, you know,separate church and state,

so to speak.

We believe that God, thatthe principles of God,

should direct and informgovernmental decisions.

So to kind of retreat out of public arena,

we believe, is not onlynot biblically accurate,

but also bodes really, really dangerously

for any nation, America or any other.

- Unfortunately, gentlemen,we are out of time.

We're gonna have to invite you back

for more conversation.

Tim Head and Sammy Rodriguez,

thank you so much for your time.

- Thank you, guys.

(air whooshes)

And coming up, theRepublican Party post-Trump.

How the former president'spresence still looms large.

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CBN.com.

(air whooshes)

- And we wanna bring in CBNNews Chief Political Analyst

David Brody for some analysis.

David, good to have you with us.

Let's start with this ideathat the election was stolen.

There's a recent poll that shows something

like 46% of pastors saythey've had congregants

tell them about electionconspiracy theories.

And then you hear certainstories from lawmakers,

like there's the one fromSenator Bill Cassidy,

who says he would just like Trump

to admit that the election was stolen

so that his constituents inLouisiana will stop insisting

that the Dominion votingmachines were rigged,

these kind of stories.

To you, David, how pervasive is this idea

of a rigged election?

- Well, look, Jenna, let'sstart with this for a second.

It's a bit complicated, right?

Because if you saythere's a rigged election,

or you say that this election was stolen,

you have been brandeda conspiracy theorist,

and that seems to be the problem

in a lot of what's going on here.

For example, you cited thatstatistic regarding the pastor

and 46% of folks actuallysaid this to them.

Well, hold on for a second.

what did they say to him,to that pastor, exactly?

What are they saying in the churches?

I mean, it is one thingto say Dominion software

is out there, it's a wholebig plot by Venezuela.

It's quite another to saythere were election issues

before the election as itrelates to certain states

that passed certain lawsthat they shouldn't have,

There's issues with voterirregularities after the election.

So there's all different sorts of, quote,

"election fraud" here thatpeople are pointing to.

So it's very hard to kindof put it all in one bubble,

because if you say thewords election fraud at all,

you're branded a conspiracy theorist,

and that is not the case whatsoever.

- David, moving from the past election

to the next one in 2022, how do you think

the GOP should deal with Donald Trump?

Especially if he's gonnabe on the campaign trail,

likely continuing to tell American voters

how he won the past election.

- Well, they're gonna haveto deal with him, John.

He's not going away.

He'll be here today, tomorrow, in 2022,

and probably even 2024,so it's not something

they're going to have to figure out.

I mean, Donald Trump is goingto be the number one voice

hovering around theRepublican Party at all times.

And I gotta tell you, itseems to me, John and Jenna,

that this is a time forRepublican Party to,

you have a game of kickball and you've got

Republican Party members andconservatives and all that

having to choose sides and say,

"Look, what side are you on?

Are you with Liz Cheney andMitch McConnell and Mitt Romney?

Or are you with Donald Trump and the gang

on the left-hand side?

Or maybe it's the far-right-hand side.

But the point is is that yougot two clearly different sides

in the Republican Party, and Donald Trump

is the number one voice for sure.

- David, after DonaldTrump, who do you think

will be the next leaderof the Republican Party?

- Well, Jenna, it's a great question,

and it's really hard to say,because we're sitting here

in 2021 and it's hardto predict the future.

I'll just say that MikePence will be out there

and Nikki Haley will be out there.

I think you'll see more fromTom Cotton and Tim Scott.

I think you'll see stillmore from Josh Hawley

and Ted Cruz, believe it or not,

even though today you might laugh at that.

But the bottom line is,is that all of it's going

to be superseded andcircumvented by Donald Trump.

- All right, CBN's David Brody.

Thanks so much.- Thanks, David.

(air whooshes)- Thanks, you guys.

- [John] Coming up, The Internet

is now a hotbed for conspiracy theories.

How that's leading someChristians down the wrong path.

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He says, "Well, no, youalready have a pulpit."

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- Literally, we felt the earth shaking.

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- Tonight, a survey from theAmerican Enterprise Institute

suggests white evangelicalsare most likely

to believe QAnon conspiracy theories.

From church fines over lockdown violations

to silent dissent, threatsto religious liberty

are certainly real.

But there's another cause for concern,

not from the government intrusion,

but from online chatrooms and social media.

And now Christian leadersare sounding the alarm.

John?

- That's right, they're sounding the alarm

about the lure of conspiracytheories in the church.

Take a look.

(Theme from "The Twilight Zone")

From aliens...

- Did you ever see suchjerky-looking creatures?

Typical Earthmen.(high-pitched whir)

- [John] To Area 51...

- [Jim] Why not just shootKennedy coming up Houston?

- To JFK, 9/11, and thedeath of Jeffrey Epstein,

conspiracy theories abound.

The most recent ones swirlingaround election fraud

and martial law, all courtesyof a source known as QAnon.

This Washington, D.C.,restaurant was the subject

of a disproved conspiracyknown as Pizzagate,

twice targeted, most recently in 2019,

set on fire by a man with ahistory of mental illness.

Three years before, an armedgunman from North Carolina

stormed into the building to free kids

from a purported international sex ring

that supposedly wasoperating from the basement.

When he got there, hefound no victimized kids,

and no basement, either.

Though now rejected by some who brought it

into the mainstream...

- I want our viewers and listeners to know

that we regret any negativeimpact our commentaries

may have had on Mr. Alefantis,

Comet Ping Pong, or its employees.

We apologize.

- QAnon joins a collection of conspiracies

seeking to expose a globalring of political elites

(bubbles pop)who abuse children.

- [Crowd] Fight forTrump! Fight for Trump!

- [John] And the champion of the cause,

President Donald Trump,who, despite the election,

is still viewed by Q adherentsas a man on a mission,

a belief reinforced on social media,

where he's depicted as a superhero, or,

as in this video, Moses...

- Who is on freedom'sside? Let them come to me.

- [John] Separating thegodly from the ungodly.

That comparison, and QAnon's sprinkling

of scripture and codes, have troubled

a growing number of Christian leaders.

- There are probablypeople in just about every

evangelical church who aren'tsure what to think about it.

That's one of the reasons why I think

we need to talk about it.

I'm Albert Mohler, andthis is "The Briefing."

- [John] In a summerpodcast, Albert Mohler,

president of the SouthernBaptist Theological Seminary,

joined other prominentChristians denouncing QAnon

as it gained a foothold in some churches.

- The mainstream media have failed us.

- [John] Mohler blames a liberal bias

for sending people toquestionable sources.

- But our response tothat has to be even truer

than the mainstream media.

It has to be more based in objective truth

and verifiable truth.

- [John] Carl Johnson, aretired Marine Corps pilot

who now leads a Christiandiscipleship program,

says the information Q claims to have

through high-levelgovernment security clearance

would never be shared in the way it has.

- These posts are also interspersed

with Bible verses and things like that.

So it's not just straightletting information out.

It's sounding an alarm and it's actually

a bit of campaigning and reminds me

more of psyops and propaganda.

- [John] For Mohler, it allboils down to two issues.

First, credibility.

- We want to speak of the Gospel as true.

Not true-ish, but true.

And thus, if we are foundto be communicating things

that turn out not to be truein other arenas of life,

it weakens our witnessto bear to the truth

of Christianity, to bear witness

to the Gospel of Jesus Christ,the only message that saves.

- [John] He also pointsto history, highlighting

a rift in the early church when some

claimed salvation through secret wisdom.

Mohler notes the ApostleJohn called that heresy.

- He speaks of JesusChrist, whom we have seen,

whom we have touched with our hands,

who we have heard in the flesh.

It's public truth.

But, you know, if youhave secret knowledge,

that's at the expense ofbiblical Christianity.

- [John] Now filling online message boards

with personal storiesof family breakups...

- [Men] Christ is King! Christ is King!

- [John] And linked tomultiple reports of vandalism

and violence, Darrell Bock, a professor

at Dallas Theological Seminary,

warns of other issues atodds with biblical teaching.

- So if I'm making chargesthat are actually false

that deal with someone'sreputation, that's slander.

- [John] Even so, these leaders agree most

who follow QAnon havethe right motivation,

just chose the wrong path.

- We don't wanna villainize or demonize

people who hold these views.

Most of these people arereally, really good people.

There's maybe some realgood political instincts

coupled with a real desire tolive out Christ in this world

and be thoroughly biblicalin everything they do,

and sometimes, when you mixthese elements together,

they don't mesh as neatly as we think.

- I do solemnly swear.

- [John] When it comesto waging the battle

between good and evil, Bock says believers

should take a page fromthe early Christian church.

- The church in the firstcentury had no social power,

no political power, no ideological power,

but what it did have was spiritual power,

and that spiritual powerwas the authenticity

of their lived-out faith and the way

they related to those around them.

They did quite well in that period.

I think we could affordto learn some lessons

from the first-century church.

- We should add QAnon's hold both abroad

and here at home is still strong.

A January survey showsabout 30% of Republicans

have a favorable view aboutthe conspiracy theory.

That's even after the Capitolriot, as well as being

labeled a domesticterrorism threat by the FBI.

Still certain of a, quote, "coming storm,"

Q's followers closely watch to see

if their convictions will come true.

For followers of Christ,the Christian thinkers

we talked to say the only placeto securely put their hope

is in Jesus Christ alone.

We'll be back right after this.

- It's the new "Superbook" Bible app.

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There's trivia, a fun daily devotional,

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You can even create your own"Superbook" character, ta-da!

It's the new "Superbook" Bible app.

Free downloads on iTunes,Google Play, and Amazon.

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CBN honors the men andwomen in our military

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from repairing homes to wiping out

medical bills for wounded veterans.

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- Finally, tonight, and Jenna,

here's a great way to end the show,

an unlikely story abouthow an immigrant farmworker

went on to become a NASA astronaut.

- Jose Hernandez spenthis childhood traveling

from Mexico to California, picking produce

in the fields for months at a time.

He was a math and science whiz and knew

he wanted to be anastronaut, but 11 times,

he was rejected from NASA.

Well, fast-forward morethan a decade to 2009,

and Hernandez would becomethe first first-generation

Mexican-American astronaut.

At the end of the first mission he did,

weather forced the space shuttle

to land in California instead of Florida,

something Hernandez calls poetic justice.

- It's about 80 miles from where

I used to pick strawberries.

- [Jenna] The former astronaut says

that looking out at Earth andthe vastness of the universe

strengthened his faith in God.

Hernandez, in a quote, "It's too perfect

to be a coincidence."

- What a great story.

Well, thanks for watching "Faith Nation."

- Have a great weekend.

(urgent music)