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Many white evangelical leaders have provided religious justification and undying support for Trump’s presidency, including his most racially incendiary rhetoric and policies. But as a scholar of religion, I argue that a particular segment of white evangelicalism that my colleague Richard Flory and I call Independent Network Charismatic, or INC, has played a unique role in providing a spiritual justification for the movement to overturn the election which resulted in the storming of the Capitol.

This study examines the social impact of community service organizations that are affiliated with church groups in Southern California.

INC Christianity is led by a network of popular independent religious entrepreneurs, often referred to as “apostles.” They have close ties, we found, to conservative U.S. politicians, including Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Bobby Jindal, Rick Perry and more recently President Donald Trump.

While not directly affiliated, these two events and the leaders who organized them are central players in a movement that we call “Independent Network Charismatic,” or INC, Christianity in our recently released book, “The Rise of Network Christianity.”

By Brad Christerson and Richard Flory
(Oxford University Press 2017)

What’s going on? How does a profanity-spouting authoritarian who argues for a ban on Muslims, demonizes Mexican immigrants, disparages women, the disabled and “losers” of all stripes capture the support of those who see Jesus as their savior and model for living life? As one of my evangelical Australian friends once asked me, “why do American Christians vote for fascists?”

As a sociologist of religion, I'm fascinated by the fact that churches and Christian leaders have been integrally involved in these Chinese protests (see CRCC's interview with Samuel Chu), much like the Solidarity movement in Poland in the 1980s. This also makes me fear for religious groups all over China, as the Chinese government’s suspicion that religious groups are a threat to its rule is seemingly coming true. Groups that are perceived as a threat to the government do not typically fare well in China.

As a sociologist of religion and a professor at Biola University, I’m immersed in Christian culture. But it took a two-year research project on new movements in Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity for me to realize something interesting: Christianity (or at least Protestantism) is becoming Pentecostalized.

By Richard Flory with Brad Christerson and Korie Edwards
(Stanford University Press: 2010)