After wildfires erupted in Los Angeles County earlier this year, a team from the Department of Housing and Urban Development descended on the wreckage. Led by HUD Secretary Scott Turner, the entourage walked through the rubble in Altadena, reassuring victims that the Trump administration had their back. At Turner’s request, a Christian-nationalist musician named Sean Feucht tagged along. “I can’t overemphasize how amazing this opportunity is,” Feucht had posted on Instagram the day before. “I’m bringing my guitar. We’re going to worship. We’re going to pray.”
今年早些时候在洛杉矶县爆发了野火之后，住房和城市发展部的一个团队降落在残骸中。在哈德（Hud）秘书斯科特·特纳（Scott Turner）的带领下，随行人员穿过阿尔塔德纳（Altadena）的废墟，使受害者保证了特朗普政府的支持。应特纳（Turner）的要求，一位名叫Sean Feucht的基督教主义音乐家标记了。“我不能过分强调这个机会有多惊人，” Feucht在前一天在Instagram上发布。“我带吉他。我们将要敬拜。我们要祈祷。”
Feucht has recently become a MAGA superstar. He tours the country holding rallies that blend upbeat Christian-rock songs with sermons that tie in his right-wing political views. Between praising President Donald Trump as God’s chosen one and suggesting that abortion supporters are “demons,” Feucht has repeatedly advocated for the fusion of Church and state. During a performance in front of the Wisconsin statehouse in 2023, Feucht paused after a song to make a proclamation: “Yeah, we want God in control of government,” he said. “We want God writing the laws of the land.” He has held rallies in all 50 state capitals, spreading similar theocratic messages.
Feucht最近成为Maga超级巨星。他参观了举行集会的国家，将乐观的基督教摇滚歌曲与讲道融合了他的右翼政治观点。在称赞唐纳德·特朗普总统为上帝被选的总统和暗示堕胎支持者是“恶魔”之间，菲赫特一再倡导教会和国家的融合。在2023年在威斯康星州立大厦（Wisconsin Statehouse）面前的表演中，菲赫特（Feucht）在一首歌后停了下来，宣告了一首宣言：“是的，我们希望上帝控制政府，”他说。“我们希望上帝写这片土地的法律。”他在所有50个州首都举行了集会，传播了类似的神权信息。
Feucht did not respond to multiple requests for comment. At times, he has denied being a Christian nationalist, but it can be hard to take that perspective seriously. Last year, he overtly embraced the term at a church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. “That’s why we get called, Well, you’re Christian nationalists. You want the kingdom to be the government? Yes! You want God to come and overtake the government? Yes! You want Christians to be the only ones? Yes, we do,” Feucht said. “We want God to be in control of everything,” he continued. “We want believers to be the ones writing the laws.”
Feucht没有回应多个置评请求。有时，他否认自己是基督教民族主义者，但很难认真对待这一观点。去年，他公开接受了俄克拉荷马州塔尔萨教堂的任期。“这就是为什么我们要打电话给您，您是基督教民族主义者。您希望王国成为政府吗？是的！您希望上帝来超越政府吗？是的！您希望基督徒成为唯一的人？是的，我们这样做，” Feucht说。他继续说：“我们希望上帝能够控制一切。”“我们希望信徒成为写法律的人。”
Feucht has the ear of many top Republicans. After he held a prayer gathering on the National Mall a week before the 2024 presidential election, Trump personally congratulated him for “the incredible job” he was doing defending “religious liberty.” Feucht then attended Trump’s inauguration prayer service at the National Cathedral in January, where he embraced Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. The very next week, he posted that House Speaker Mike Johnson had invited him to hold a worship event in the Capitol. Then, in April, Feucht performed at the White House.
Feucht有许多顶级共和党人的耳朵。在2024年总统大选前一周在国家购物中心举行了一次祈祷聚会之后，特朗普亲自祝贺他为捍卫“宗教自由”所做的“令人难以置信的工作”。Feucht随后在一月份在国家大教堂举行的特朗普就职祈祷仪式，在那里他拥抱了国防部长皮特·赫格斯（Pete Hegseth）。下周，他发布了众议院议长迈克·约翰逊（Mike Johnson）邀请他在国会大厦举行礼拜活动。然后，在四月，Feucht在白宫演出。
Given his rallies and political connections, Feucht is “maybe the most effective evangelical figure on the far right,” Matthew D. Taylor, the senior Christian scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies, told me. He is a big reason Christian nationalism has more purchase now than at any other point in recent history. According to a February poll from the Public Religion Research Institute, a majority of Republicans support or sympathize with Christian nationalism. They agreed with a variety of statements provided by PRRI, such as “If the U.S. moves away from our Christian foundations, we will not have a country anymore.” Last month, the Appeal to Heaven flag—a symbol popular among Christian nationalists—was spotted flying above a D.C. government building. Feucht is pushing to bring religion and government into even closer alignment.
鉴于他的集会和政治联系，Feucht是“也许是最右翼的最有效的福音派人物”，Matthew D. Taylor是伊斯兰伊斯兰，基督教和犹太研究所的高级基督教学者Matthew D. Taylor告诉我。他是基督教民族主义现在购买的主要原因，而不是最近历史上的任何其他时刻。根据公共宗教研究所的2月份民意调查，大多数共和党人支持或同情基督教民族主义。他们同意PRRI提供的各种陈述，例如“如果美国离开我们的基督教基金会，我们将不再有一个国家。”上个月，呼吁天堂旗（在基督教民族主义者中受欢迎的象征）被发现飞到华盛顿政府大楼之上。Feucht正在努力将宗教和政府更加紧密地保持一致。
Feucht comes from a subset of evangelical Christianity known as the New Apostolic Reformation, or NAR. As my colleague Stephanie McCrummen has written, “The movement has never been about policies or changes to the law; it’s always been about the larger goal of dismantling the institutions of secular government to clear the way for the Kingdom. It is about God’s total victory.” Many NAR adherents believe in the “seven-mountain mandate,” a framework that seeks to go beyond ending the separation between Church and state. The goal is to eventually control the “seven mountains” of contemporary culture: family, religion, education, media, arts and entertainment, business, and government. Feucht has endorsed the fundamental concept. “Why shouldn’t we be the ones leading the way in all spheres of society?” he said in a 2022 sermon. In a conversation that same year, Feucht referenced his desire for Christian representation in “the seven spheres of society.”
Feucht来自一个被称为新使徒改革或NAR的福音派基督教的子集。正如我的同事史蒂芬妮·麦克鲁森（Stephanie McCrummen）写的那样：“运动从来都不是关于法律的政策或变更；这一直是关于拆除世俗政府机构以清除王国的更大目标。这是关于上帝的全部胜利。”许多NAR的信徒们相信“七座命令”，该框架试图超越教会与国家之间的分离。目的是最终控制当代文化的“七个山”：家庭，宗教，教育，媒体，艺术和娱乐，商业和政府。Feucht认可了基本概念。“为什么我们不应该成为社会各个领域的领导者？”他在2022年的讲道中说。在同年的一次对话中，Feucht在“社会七个领域”中提到了他对基督教代表的渴望。
Read: The army of God comes out of the shadows
阅读：上帝的军队从阴影中出来
NAR has several high-profile leaders, but Feucht has been especially adept at drawing outside attention to the movement’s goals. After rising to prominence during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic by throwing Christian-rock concerts in violation of lockdown orders, Feucht has built a massive audience of devotees. His constant stream of worship events across the country makes Christian nationalism more accessible for the religious masses, as does his prolific social-media presence (he has half a million followers between Instagram and X). Feucht is connected to just about every faction of the modern right, even the grassroots fringe: On one occasion, he enlisted a member of the Proud Boys, the sometimes-violent far-right group, as part of his security detail. (Feucht later claimed that he wasn’t familiar with the group.)
NAR有几位备受瞩目的领导者，但Feucht特别擅长于外面注意该运动的目标。在冠状病毒大流行的早期，通过违反锁定命令举办基督教摇滚音乐会的早期，Feucht赢得了众多奉献者的观众。他在全国各地不断的敬拜活动使基督教民族主义和他多产的社交媒体的存在一样，使基督教民族主义更容易获得（他在Instagram和X之间有半百万的追随者）。Feucht几乎与现代权利的每个派系，甚至是基层的边缘相连：有一次，他招募了一个骄傲的男孩的成员，有时是暴力的极右翼团体，作为他的安全细节的一部分。（Feucht后来声称他不熟悉该小组。）
With Feucht’s help, a version of the seven-mountain mandate is coming true. The Trump administration is cracking down on “anti-Christian bias” in the federal government, and the president has hired a number of advisers who are linked to Christian nationalism. Under pressure from parents and lawmakers, schools have banned lesson plans and library books related to LGBTQ themes. Feucht is not single-handedly responsible for these wins for Christian nationalists, but his influence is undeniable. Feucht and Hegseth discussed holding a prayer service inside the Pentagon months before the secretary of defense actually did it. Or consider Charlie Kirk, the MAGA power broker who helped run the Trump campaign’s youth-vote operation, and then vetted potential White House hires. In 2020, Feucht unsuccessfully ran for Congress and was endorsed by Kirk. Within a week of the endorsement, Kirk invoked the seven-mountain mandate at CPAC, the conservative conference. With Trump, he said, “finally we have a president that understands the seven mountains of cultural influence.”
在Feucht的帮助下，七座命令的版本即将到来。特朗普政府在联邦政府中打击“反基督教偏见”，总统雇用了许多与基督教民族主义有联系的顾问。在父母和立法者的压力下，学校禁止了与LGBTQ主题有关的课程计划和图书馆书籍。Feucht对基督教民族主义者的这些胜利并不是一手责任，但他的影响不可否认。Feucht和Hegseth讨论了在国防部长真正做到的几个月之前，在五角大楼内举行祈祷服务。或考虑查理·柯克（Charlie Kirk），这是帮助经营特朗普竞选活动的青年投票行动，然后审查了潜在的白宫雇用的杂志权力经纪人。在2020年，Feucht竞选国会，并得到了Kirk的认可。在认可后的一周内，柯克援引了保守派会议CPAC的七座命令。他说，他说：“最后，我们有一位总统了解文化影响力的七个山。”
But not everything has been going well for Feucht. Last month, six staffers and volunteers who worked for Feucht published a long and detailed report accusing him of engaging in financial malfeasance. Feucht’s former employees claim that he withheld promised expense reimbursements from ministry volunteers, engaged in donor and payroll fraud, and embezzled nonprofit funds for personal use. The allegations track with earlier reporting by Rolling Stone and Ministry Watch, the nonprofit Christian watchdog. Both have reported on opaque financial dealings involving his nonprofits. Citing a lack of transparency and efficiency, Ministry Watch currently gives Sean Feucht Ministries a “Donor Confidence Score” of 19 out of 100, and encourages potential donors to “withhold giving” to the organization.
但是，Feucht并非一切都很好。上个月，为Feucht工作的六名工作人员和志愿者发表了一份漫长而详尽的报告，指责他从事金融弊端。Feucht的前雇员声称，他保留了部志愿者的费用报销，从事捐助者和工资欺诈，并挪用了非营利资金以供个人使用。这些指控与非营利性基督教监管机构的滚石和事工监视人观察者的早期报道有关。两者都报告了涉及其非营利组织的不透明财务交易。政府部门目前鉴于缺乏透明度和效率，目前使Sean Feucht部委的“捐助者信心得分”为100分，并鼓励潜在的捐助者“扣留”组织。
Feucht hasn’t been charged with any crimes stemming from the allegations, and has denied wrongdoing. “None of those allegations are true,” Feucht said in a video he recently posted to YouTube. “We’re in great standing with the IRS. We’re in great standing with our accountants.” He later added, “We are taking ground for Jesus, and we are not apologizing for that.” It’s possible Feucht’s audience will take him at his word. The NAR movement is insular and unwavering in its worldview: Allegations are evidence of persecution for success. Still, a large part of Feucht’s power is derived from his donors. At some point, some people might get fed up with giving him money. “He could lose traction at the follower level,” Taylor said.
Feucht尚未被指控犯有任何罪行，并否认有不法行为。Feucht在最近发布给YouTube的视频中说：“这些指控都不是真的。”“我们与美国国税局（IRS）表示敬意。我们与会计师保持着敬意。”他后来补充说：“我们为耶稣为基础，我们并没有为此道歉。”Feucht的听众可能会听他的话。NAR运动在世界观中是孤立的，坚定不移：指控是迫害成功的证据。尽管如此，Feucht的大部分力量还是来自他的捐助者。在某个时候，有些人可能会厌倦给他钱。泰勒说：“他可能会在追随者一级失去牵引力。”
So far, that seems unlikely. Scandals can take down people, but ideas are more resilient. Kirk has continued to advocate for Christian-nationalist positions; last year, he argued that “the separation of Church and state is nowhere in the Constitution.” (It is, in fact, in the Constitution—right there in the First Amendment.) Even the formerly staunchly secular world of tech is becoming more open to Christian nationalism. In October, Elon Musk held a town hall at Feucht’s former church in Pennsylvania, and has called himself a “cultural Christian.” Marc Andreessen and other investors have backed a tech enclave in rural Kentucky closely affiliated with Christian nationalists. Regardless of what happens to Feucht, many of the world’s most powerful people seem to be inching closer to what he wants.
到目前为止，这似乎不太可能。丑闻可以降低人们，但想法更有弹性。柯克继续倡导基督教民族主义的立场。去年，他辩称：“教会和国家在宪法中无处不在。”（实际上，在《宪法》中，就在《第一修正案》中。）即使是以前坚定的世俗技术世界也正变得越来越开放基督教民族主义。10月，埃隆·马斯克（Elon Musk）在宾夕法尼亚州菲切特（Feucht）的前教堂举行了市政厅，并称自己为“文化基督徒”。马克·安德森（Marc Andreessen）和其他投资者支持与基督教民族主义者密切相关的肯塔基州农村的技术飞地。不管Feucht发生了什么，世界上许多最有权势的人似乎都在接近他想要的东西。
