GOP lawmaker asks God to cleanse government of non-believers at Christian Nationalist event

At the "National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance," Tennessee Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger called for a purge of non-believers from the government

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Last week, at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., a Christian hate group hosted a “National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance,” asking God to solve the problems many of the people in that room helped create.

The four-hour event was hosted by the Family Research Council and featured several politicians and pastors begging God to return the country to a moral foundation, all while celebrating a thrice-married wildly corrupt racist who paid hush money to porn stars he was having affairs with when his latest wife was pregnant with his fifth child.

Many of the speeches shared a common theme: America needs God.

One sermon in particular made that point explicitly clear. It was from Tennessee Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger, who asked for God to support Trump because he has a “servant’s heart” and get rid of everyone in politics who doesn’t share her faith:

I pray for our president, Lord, that you would draw him into a powerful relationship with you, Father. Thank you for his servant’s heart, God. I pray that you would anoint him with the Holy Spirit, God. The power of the Holy Spirit, Lord. Let the president feel you in every area of his life. And with every decision he makes, God, let him know that you strengthen him… Father, he needs you. Our nation needs you, God.

I pray for Congress, Lord, that you would give us wisdom and discernment in all that we do, God. I pray that you would order our steps and give us divine appointments, Lord, to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

And God, I pray that you would put godly people in places of authority and take those people out of those places that are not godly, Lord.

If you think Trump has a “servant’s heart,” your moral compass is permanently broken.

Congress doesn’t lack wisdom and discernment; the problem is that the people who don’t have it are currently the ones in the majority, and they require marching orders from the voices in their head—or Stephen Miller—because nothing and no one in their lives ever taught them to just do the right thing on their own even if it didn’t help them politically. They’re incapable of thinking for themselves, much less listening to their constituents.

And that last line about removing people from authority if they “are not godly” is deeply offensive—which all the people in this crowd would understand if an atheist ever demanded that religious people be removed from public office because they’re delusional.

This entire event is proof that the people dragging this country into a ditch are also the most attention-seeking and publicly devout people you’ll find. It’s not that Christians are the problem; it’s that Christian Nationalists like these are so hellbent on following whatever they think God wants them to do, they have no ability to see how much harm they’re causing.

It’s no surprise that Harshbarger in particular would elevate Trump like this. Last November, he pardoned her husband for crimes relating to health care fraud:

In 2013, Robert Harshbarger Jr., a licensed pharmacist at the time, pleaded guilty to health care fraud and distributing a misbranded drug, in this case kidney medications, some of which came from China, that were not approved for the purpose by the Food and Drug Administration.

…

Mr. Harshbarger was sentenced in 2013 to four years in prison and ordered to pay more than $848,000 in restitution, as well as a $25,000 fine and $425,000 in forfeiture.

Jesus couldn’t be reached for comment.

Other speakers at this religious revival included Texas Rep. Randy Weber, who insisted marriage was ruined because The Gays have “trampled on what [God] called holy matrimony”; Speaker Mike Johnson, who lied about the supposed Christian foundations of the country; hate-group leader Tony Perkins, who said Christian Nationalism was a wonderful thing; Hitler-quoting Rep. Mary Miller of Illinois; and pseudo-historians David and Timmy Barton.

In short, it was a group of people with massive platforms and reach asking God to bless their continued grip on power. They use Christianity as a weapon to hurt others while pretending they’re simply enacting God’s will, all while covering their eyes and ears anytime a fellow conservative breaks a commandment or stands accused of being a sex predator. Instead of reckoning with corruption, cruelty, or hypocrisy, they always recast themselves as victims. And that means casting their opponents as enemies of God.

Speaking of which, Harshbarger is currently facing a challenge to her congressional from atheist YouTuber Kristi Burke, who recently jumped into the race as a Democrat.

It’s undoubtedly a long-shot bid in a deeply red seat, but Burke’s been fighting Christian Nationalism and Harshbarger in particular for a while now, and she finally decided to go from the sidelines onto the court.

I asked her what she made of Harshbarger’s anti-atheist comments:

If someone asks to be trusted as “godly,” their actions still have to stand on their own. Diana Harshbarger has ignored her constituents, voted for corporate tax breaks and cruel immigration policies, and stayed silent as her colleagues in Congress confront evidence of a massive, global sex trafficking cover-up. The president she praises as having a “servant’s heart” is mentioned at least 38,000 times in the Epstein files. I did not hear her pray for the victims of these horrendous crimes.

Calling this “servant leadership” doesn’t make it true. Serving power while people suffer is the opposite of public service.

Quick correction: According to Rep. Jamie Raskin, Trump is actually listed in the Epstein files over a million times. But Burke is spot-on with everything else. It’s just a question now of whether other people in their district can understand that, too.

Because outside the safe bubble of that religious event, the speakers’ words sound like mantras from cult members who pose a threat to decent people everywhere. Imagine any other group demanding that public office be reserved only for people who share their beliefs and this would be obvious. But when they do it in the name of Jesus, these same people expect applause. The double standard is staggering.

It’s the same reason no Democrats should ever participate in similar charades like the National Day of Prayer, even if they’re religious. It’s all a way to launder corruption by covering it in the cloak of faith and victimhood.

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