New Apostolic Reformation spreads viewpoint on six-hour broadcast
The group associated with the radicalization of Christianity has a broadcast channel. It was used to link its cause to incoming President Donald Trump.
Immediately after the Republican victory, a right-wing group used the results as justification for their cause.
Lance Wallnau, the founder and leader of the New Apostolic Reformation, a radical sect within the Christian Right movement that has coded messages for violent resistance to liberal policies, and a radical televangelist celebrated the results. Wallnau’s election broadcast is available on YouTube. He said they now have a mandate for their positions. People who appeared on it spoke of demonic attacks.
“I believe God wants to make righteousness desirable,” Wallnau said. “Something's going to happen in America.”
Earlier this year, an online seminar on the group featured experts Anthea Butler, Frederick Clarkson, Andre Gagne, Julie Ingersoll, Rev. Naomi Washington-Leaphart, Peter Montgomery, Rachel Tabachnick, and Joe Wiinikka-Lydon.
Gagne, who wrote American Evangelicals for Trump, is one the nation’s leading experts on the NAR. He was featured in a recorded video at the event. He said that many in the NAR had started portraying Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris as representing Jezebel, a biblical figure who was depicted as promoting promiscuity. They see Jezebel as a demonic force.
I also attended an event in Pittsburgh that the group held. It was part of Project 19, the NAR’s effort to mobilize Christians to swing some key urban counties for Trump in 2024. Project 19 seeks to advance the Seven Mountain Mandate, which holds that believers seek to influence seven aspects of society: family, religion, education, media, arts and entertainment, business, and government.
The group sought pastors to register their parishioners as Republicans in suburban areas in 19 swing state counties. While this may seem like regular campaigning, the people who engage in Project 19 often demonize people who have different political differences, especially women.
In the aftermath of the election, many liberals described independent media as a source of right-wing viewpoints. During the broadcast, Wallnau praised podcaster Joe Rogan and social media mogul Elon Musk. Wallnau said the Joe Rogan interview redefined American politics.
Many of these fringe groups have broadcasting channels that spread their viewpoints, much like the proliferation of Christian Right media in the 1980s and 1990s. The Moral Majority grew out of a newsletter that it developed in the 1980s. Its founder, Jerry Falwell, traveled to all 50 states and sought to build chapters in each locality based on his mailing lists.
The Religious Roundtable was a significant group that started then that was steeped in religious fundamentalism. It appealed to Southern Baptist, Presbyterian, and Methodist ministers. When the organizations implored people to send mail to Congress, representatives and senators got inundated with mail telling them to oppose or support the legislation.
These new channels will undoubtedly play a central role in spreading the rhetoric of these groups.
My view of independent media is nuanced. Some Substack newsletters, like mine and Jessica Valenti’s, discuss abortion rights from a pro-choice viewpoint. Many discuss women’s issues and feminism. It also resists the notions of corporate media and the strong—and questionable influence–Democratic operatives have on the political narrative. I don’t think that independent media is inherently spreading fascism, though its commitment to free speech permits those viewpoints to spread.
I’ll spend more time writing about this group and others likely to connect to it.