Home Christian News Michael Flynn’s ReAwaken Roadshow Recruits ‘Army of God’

Michael Flynn’s ReAwaken Roadshow Recruits ‘Army of God’

The other side of the giant monitor has photos of ReAwaken heroes: regulars including Flynn, Locke, MyPillow CEO and 2020 election denier Mike Lindell, and three doctors who became famous for their anti-vaccine views.

Katherine Stewart, author of “The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism,” attended a March 2022 ReAwaken America show at a church in San Marcos, California. She said it was like entering a “parallel messaging universe.”

“The leaders of the ReAwaken America tour are really driving people into a fact-free echo chamber,” Stewart said. “They have been persuaded and manipulated into believing they’re doing what’s right for their country. But all of their good intentions are being harnessed in service of an agenda that’s dividing our country as never before and, frankly, leading to the potential destruction of our democracy.”

The politics, anger and prayer were interspersed with a good dose of commerce and fundraising.

Ticket prices ran as high as $500 for VIP seating or $250 for general admission, though tickets were only sold by phone and sales agents were eager to bargain. An AP reporter bought two tickets to the Batavia show for less than $100. A retiree said he paid more than $700 on admission for two — one VIP ticket for himself plus a donation of $250 for a general admission ticket for someone who couldn’t afford it.

Trump ally Roger Stone asked for donations to his legal defense fund. A naturopath promoted her organic health and beauty line. The stage backdrop even carried ads for a company that buys and sells gold and silver and bills itself as “General Flynn’s Gold Buyer of Choice.”

In booths inside and outside the church, buyers could pick up a $3,300 vibrating platform that could purportedly ease back pain and increase sexual function, a $259 blanket sold to shield the user from 5G, and a “power pendant” that supposedly helps people absorb “the natural living frequencies to empower your body, mind and spirit.”

Flynn’s son, Michael Flynn, Jr., manned his father’s merchandise booth, where autographed copies of Flynn’s 2017 book, “The Field of Fight,” sold for $60.

Du Mez, who is writing a book on the overlap of consumerism and Christian identity, said such events are orchestrated to extract money from participants. They are invited to participate in the movement by pulling out their credit cards.

“The skeptical take is this is a scam. That’s not how it feels to the people who are giving their money,” she said. “People give it happily.”

Such events, she said, are “identity building and sustaining,” giving people a sense of belonging.

Speakers affirmed the message that inside the tent, they are all part of a community. One told attendees that they should “go ahead and take the hit” if they have to split with their loved ones over their views. At the ReAwaken tour, they were repeatedly assured, they are welcome and their beliefs will be validated.