During a spirited discussion Tuesday about America’s epidemic of mass shootings, two cohosts on ABC’s “The View” decried how some Christians twist Bible passages to support their beliefs about guns and slavery.
Tara Setmayer, a senior adviser for the Lincoln Project, addressed the “disturbing…rise in violent Christian nationalism,” saying adherents “prevent…biblical principles to justify this.” She added, “Particularly in Texas, this is a growing movement. It’s God, guns, and Trump. Or God, guns, and whatever. It’s a part of their ethos.”
After Fox News wrote that Setmayer blamed Christian nationalism for mass shootings, she pushed back on Twitter. She emphasized that she was addressing a gun maker’s tweet featuring a child, an assault rifle, and Proverbs 22:6. The company, Daniel Defense, has since removed the post.
Tara Setmayer Is Alarmed by Radicalized Christians
Tara Setmayer, who describes herself as a “principled conservative,” cut ties with the Republican Party in 2020 due to the “malignancy of Trumpism.” She has been filling in as a guest host this week on “The View.”
On Twitter Thursday, Setmayer called out Fox News and its reporter, urging them to “correct your headline & story” because “it’s dishonest and inaccurate.” She writes: “My comments are in the context of the gun maker’s ad featuring a child & using a Bible verse. I never tie violent Christian nationalism to Uvalde.”
Setmayer has appeared on other outlets to warn against the “radicalization of the Christian evangelical movement.” On “The Breakdown” last week, she described being “alarmed” by the movement’s rapid acceleration. “They are so perverting the Bible and what Christianity stands for,” she told the Lincoln Project’s Rick Wilson.
“This is no different than the radicalization of Muslims and calling for Muslim jihad,” Setmayer continued. “Because they are calling for violence. They’re using biblical Scripture to justify violence… and they’re rationalizing violence. That is not a joke at all.”
Referring to controversial Pastor Greg Locke, who has spoken about insurrection, Setmayer added, “That Tennessee pastor is a heretic, as far as I’m concerned…That’s not the Christian church I grew up in, and I don’t know what Bible he’s reading from.”
Whoopi Goldberg: Christians Used Bible to Justify Slavery
Following Setmayer’s comments on “The View,” co-host Whoopi Goldberg added that Scripture-twisting isn’t new. “This was the way it was down South,” she said. “They used to use the Bible and say you’re not people, God doesn’t see you as people, so we don’t see you as people.”
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