Many of these groups of Christian nationalist militias are also called “guerrillas” as opposed to militias, which implies that their “enemy” is the government rather than the civilian population. While Jon Lewis, researcher of researcher on the program of extremism of George Washington University, is alarmed by the brandification of openly accelerated or Christian nationalist content on Instagram, he is skeptical about the fact that armed groups constitute a real threat. “They do their out-of-network guerrilla training, they shoot their video on their Instagram account, then they return to their mother’s basement,” he said. “I do not know how many of these 16 -year -olds are really prepared for a real guerrilla campaign against the US military.”
This new movement of online Christian nationalist militias is found at an increasing crossing between the culture of firearms and Christian nationalism, a union perhaps better illustrated by the popularity of the Christian “Gunten” Lucas Botkin and the society he founded, “T-Rex Arms”. In this Venn diagram of subcultures, the rhetoric of cultural war is associated with exhortations to take up arms to protect Christian and traditional family values.
“Firearms help push religion, and religion helps push firearms,” said Lewis. “You get these networks imbued with this kind of rhetoric, and when you combine this with offline mobilization and weapon training, that does not increase really well.”
Instagram already houses a sprawling and well -established community of firearms enthusiasts, tactical equipment marks and influencers of firearms, and abounds with potential recruitment possibilities for this emerging paramilitary movement. It is not uncommon for groups of firearms enthusiasts to meet in the woods on weekends to engage in training or air hunting. What distinguishes this movement from more legitimate “sports” organizations is their emphasis on recruitment and the fact that they hide their faces in imagery, explains Paul. “And then there is the explicit Christian ideology that they are trying to push.” (Wired tried to contact several accounts of this ecosystem; some initially agreed to be interviewed, before becoming suspect that this journalist was “Fed”.)))
We do not know exactly what this new harvest of paramilitary extremists from the Bible think they are preparing or fighting, since President Donald Trump took office in January and stacked his administration with Christian nationalists.
Since the emergence of the modern militia movement at the end of the 1980s, paramilitary activity has generally waxed and declined according to the political party in power. Higher levels of paramilitary activity have generally been observed during democratic administrations, because the leaders of the movement could rekindle and recruit around the perceptions of an excessive government or the control of firearms, as well as conspiracy theories on a “new world order” to come. (To this end, Kill Evil sells a t-shirt sporting the slogan “Christ World Order”.) This model broke during the first Trump administration, while the activity of the militia increased, galvanized by the collection of conspiracy theories and anti-government feeling.
The groups of this new goalkeeper make their political opinions known through the type of content they share with Instagram stories, which delete after 24 hours: for example, screenshots of the messages of the white nationalist Jared Taylor on immigration, articles on the drop in birth rate or anti-Musulmans. As for their broader mission, these militant influencers are generally preparing for the “end of time”, they tend to say, although it is not always clear what it means. Some adopt an accelerable approach, preparing for a conflict which they consider an inevitable response to “degeneration” and political decadence. “There is no longer any political solution,” published a story in July, as well as a photograph of a Roman bust representing the Greek god of war, Ares, in Tivoli, Italy. “Some hills are worth dying, if not for yourself, for your children.” For others, the mission may be more on a primordial battle between good and evil, and the “Armageddon” to come.
“If you do not train, you will die,” posted an account, as well as a photograph of a man in a skull mask and a long pistol. “Gather with friends, family or do it alone. Whatever you have to do, make sure you are not responsibility. ”
