Soldiers For Christ In New Hampshire

Are they talking about the Prince of Peace? What would he need an army for?

By Sarah Posner	Wed Jan 09, 2008 at 11:25:21 AM EST
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Although Mike Huckabee wasn't about to pull off any miracles in New Hampshire, he did try to rally a crowd of 350 to enlist in "God's army" and be "soldiers for Christ" at The Crossing church in Windham Sunday, according to the Washington Post. I caught up with an employee of The Crossing, Rebecca Schmitz, on primary day. Schmitz said the church is a 150 member, non-denominational "plant" of the organization YouthStorm. (In church parlance, a "plant" is a church that is launched by a sister organization.) The church had invited Huckabee to Sunday's event, said Schmitz, but it was not a campaign stop; instead, she said, it was "all about Jesus."

Schmitz said that Huckabee had spoken a few months ago at YouthStorm's "Prayer Furnace," which she described as a "house of prayer." (YouthStorm's website describes it as "a 24/7 prayer initiative being developed to fuel our aggressive mission endeavor and societal transformation. Kingdom-minded congregations and lovers of Jesus are joining together to stoke the eternal flame of devotion through prayer, fasting, and worship.") The purpose of that event was for Huckabee to "introduce himself" and there was a meet and greet afterwards. "Some of us are hopeful for him," said Schmitz, referring New Hampshire evangelicals' assessment of his prospects there.

According to YouthStorm's Web site, the organization views itself as being "on the verge of being history makers!" as it pursues "the greatest revival yet." To wit:

Historically, Satan has tried to extinguish God's plan for a generation that is destined to manifest the glory of God. America has seen this young generation attacked with everything from abortion to drugs, and now the American church is seeing her first martyrs, and they are the youth!! Now is the time to spend our lives for the kingdom.

YouthStorm has been established to seize this divine opportunity and facilitate a united front.

This is pretty standard dominionist stuff -- the belief that Christians have a duty to take dominion over governmental, societal, and cultural institutions -- and this kind of aggressive evangelizing, studded with militaristic metaphors, is increasingly marketed to young people. YouthStorm echoes the same sort of ideology as Ron Luce's Teen Mania, which focuses on regimentation and holiness, or Lou Engle's The Call, whose support for Huckabee I discussed in last week's FundamentaList. It centers on one's own devotion to Christ as an end in itself, and as evidence of one's obedience and purity. YouthStorm's "enlistment" form requires pledges of "allegiance to His kingdom," that "I will present myself a living sacrifice," and that "I will not be entangled with youthful lusts and the affairs of this life but endure hardship and fight the good fight that I may obtain His favor and obtain an incorruptible crown of righteousness."

This is not a primarily religious movement, despite all outward appearances, and it is not benign love-thy-neighbor stuff. It is overtly political, with a laser focus on spiritual battle with satanic forces by combating the evils of secularism, abortion, and sexuality of any kind, except within heterosexual marriage. (YouthStorm has reprinted a paper written by one of its directors condemning dating because God commands monogamy.) Mike Huckabee is the first major presidential candidate to so openly embrace this sort of militaristic evangelism -- more evidence of his unabashed coalition-building with even the most controversial and extreme foot soldiers of the evangelical right.

This post is excerpted from The FundamentaList, Sarah Posner's weekly countdown of the top news from the religious right at The American Prospect Online.

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Soldiers for Christ in New Hampshire | 1 comment (1 topical, 0 hidden)

This is not a primarily religious movement? (none / 0)

Good post. I often wonder what the Christian Right would do if, say, an Islamic presidential candidate in the U.S. would use the same religious language Huckabee uses as part of his campaign, with nuggets such as "Allah's army" and "soldiers for Mohammad".

Nevertheless, I would like for you to explain to me this phrase that you use to describe Huckabee's ilk: "This is not a primarily religious movement". I mean, they're motivated by a particular interpretation of a specific religion and they identify their opponents as being of a secular nature, so how can they not be religious? I know that most liberals (including myself) would like to think that religious activity differs from political activity, but for groups like this they are clearly both the same thing. Ergo, how are they not a religious movement?

by Mitchell on Wed Jan 09, 2008 at 01:19:40 PM EST

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The Nazis, Fascists and Communists were political parties before they became enemies of liberty and mass murderers.