Let's Go Brandon

Vulgarly Reawakening America

Mark Tooley on November 15, 2021

Cornerstone Church in San Antonio is being roundly denounced on social media because it hosted an event this week in which the sanctuary crowd chants “Let’s Go Brandon!,” a euphemism for f—k the President.  Retired General Michael Flynn also declared at the event that America should have “one religion under God” and “we should have one church under God.”

These events occurred not during worship at Cornerstone Church but during a Thursday-Friday conference there for the “Reawaken America Tour,” which specializes in conspiracy and grievance advocacy. Flynn seems to be the organizing name behind the event. It’s unclear whether Cornerstone officially hosted the conference or only rented space. The church is unlikely to have provided space to an event of which it disapproved. But the church apparently has not yet offered any public explanation. Cornerstone’s longtime senior pastor is prominent Christian Zionist Jack Hagee, founder of Christians United for Israel.

Denunciations of the video clips have deplored the Christian Nationalism of the conference and its host church. Perhaps a better term for it is populist nativist folk religion. Several clergy are involved with the “Reawaken America Tour,” but the tour does not seem to claim to be Christian per se.

Critics have focused on Flynn’s “one religion” as backing for a state church or overturning religious freedom in America.  Flynn’s relatively brief remarks are rather rambling and almost incoherent. It’s doubtful he had any clear theological and political message other than a very esoteric view of God and country. To ascribe his comments to civil religion, which is a venerated tradition, or describe them as Christian Nationalism is to credit more content and purpose than likely deserved.  

As to the “Let’s Go Brandon” chant, it syncs with the rally tour’s chief theme of resentment and rage. Obviously chanting an obscene epithet is inappropriate in a church, and should be inappropriate for Christians or decent people anywhere. A sanctuary should be a place for prayerful intercession, not curses.

Critics have denounced the rally at Cornerstone Church as uniquely idolatrous and horrific. Many if not most comments have assumed or implied the rally was a church gathering. Some even assumed Pastor John Hagee was leading the vulgar chant. Actually it seems to be tour organizer Clay Clark, a self-identified entrepreneur podcaster. It remains to be seen to what extent the church is responsible. Did the church merely rent its space to the rally as to any other group? Given the politics and history of Cornerstone, presumably it has some connection to the Reawaken America Tour or at least was picked because it was deemed supportive. The upcoming Dallas and Phoenix rallies also are meeting in churches. An Oregon rally will be at a civic center.

Cornerstone and its pastor John Hagee will need to disassociate themselves from The Reawaken America Tour and its vulgarity in their sanctuary.  Meanwhile, some online critics are demanding the church’s tax exempt status be removed, as though this event were uniquely deplorable. 

Across 30 years I’ve personally attended many extremist leftwing political events directly hosted by churches and denominations. There’s nothing exceptional about unwise and intemperate religious sponsored political conferences and rallies. The Reawaken America Tour seems to have filled the sanctuary with many hundreds and perhaps several thousand people, so it attracted more than any of the leftist church events I’ve ever attended. The rightist folk religion to which this rally appealed has a wider popular appeal and more significant political implications than its leftist equivalent, so it gets much more attention. The Christian Nationalism ascribed to it is widely attributed to American Evangelicalism. Flynn comes from a Roman Catholic background. The churches hosting this tour, and the clergy speaking at it, are nondenominational. Arguably they are disconnected from historic Protestant teachings about political theology.

Politically-themed rallies in or hosted by churches, even if temperate, are generally a bad idea and confuse perceptions about the church’s chief mission, which is Gospel proclamation. Clergy themselves should be reluctant in any venue to attach themselves to overtly political causes. Temporal politics is chiefly the vocation of lay people.

But the clergy and the institutional church do have important roles in fostering temperance, wisdom, moderation, prudence and civility in Christian political witness.  All Christians who speak and act politically do so as mere mortals with sinful self-serving impulses and finite wisdom and knowledge. Christians should be slow to ascribe evil intent to opponents and quick to reflect on their own motivations.

Whatever its association with the Reawaken America Tour, hopefully Cornerstone Church will focus on truly reawakening America through Gospel proclamation and not through echoing or hosting vulgar political bromides.

UPDATE [11/18/2021]: Pastor Matt Hagee provides a statement:

  1. Comment by Lawrence Kreh on November 15, 2021 at 6:21 pm

    Thank you. These things badly need to be said.

  2. Comment by David S. on November 16, 2021 at 8:16 am

    “Across 30 years I’ve personally attended many extremist leftwing political events directly hosted by churches and denominations. There’s nothing exceptional about unwise and intemperate religious sponsored political conferences and rallies…

    But the clergy and the institutional church do have important roles in fostering temperance, wisdom, moderation, prudence and civility in Christian political witness. All Christians who speak and act politically do so as mere mortals with sinful self-serving impulses and finite wisdom and knowledge. Christians should be slow to ascribe evil intent to opponents and quick to reflect on their own motivations.”

    Of course, sadly, many of the same people denouncing this will have no problem with Rev. Dr. William Barber, II (Disciples), Rev. Liz Theoharis (PC(USA)), Rev. Jimmie Hawkins (PC(USA)), Rev. Denise Anderson (PC(USA)), and their compatriots in the other mainline denominations, thus revealing themselves to be hypocrites. These individuals really ought to heed the above comment about the role of the clergy and institutional church. But, they have demonstrated that they will not, because they, like the Pharisees and Sadducees of Jesus’s day, believe themselves to be above everyone else and are the exceptions to the rule. And the highest officials, i.e. the top ecclesiastical and administrative officers of the institutional church, will do nothing more than milquetoast comments or platitudes of “Of course we decry X in all forms…”, which is quickly contradicted, because either a) they quietly agree with them, or b) and even worse, they are cowardly men and women afraid to use their authority, moral, administrative, or both, to reign these people in.

  3. Comment by Gary Bebop on November 16, 2021 at 7:14 pm

    The author rightly notes the well-lacquered symbiosis between the church and the political Left. In my West Coast Methodist experience, there’s been no moment when the church acted betrayed or offended by its cooption for Leftist politics. Why? Because the advocates were church archons and their acolytes.

  4. Comment by David on November 16, 2021 at 8:17 pm

    There is much to be read about Gen. Michael Flynn be it his relations with Russia or his urging Trump to suspend the Constitution and declare himself the election winner. His actions are shocking for someone who took an oath to support the Constitution.

  5. Comment by Star Tripper on November 16, 2021 at 9:59 pm

    Mark, your desire for the past is noted but futile. Perhaps you should just wait around for the UMC Executives to finally allow the conservative UMC members to exit the buildings and go to their Global Methodist Church. You are not ready for the tidal wave that is coming.

  6. Comment by Adam H. on November 17, 2021 at 3:07 pm

    In 2011, I attended a last minute, “get out the vote” rally in Columbus, Ohio, sponsored by FreedomWorks, trying to garner additional support for Romney in his presidential race with Obama. There were thousands of people there—many of whom, I imagine, would have considered themselves Christian, Evangelical, or born-again—and the atmosphere was electric. With this, however, I felt unsettled. It was then I heard the Holy Spirit speak into my soul: “These people are looking to politics for the Answer when instead they should be looking to me.” Since that point, it has only gotten worse on both sides of the political aisle, and this recent episode at Cornerstone Church is sadly a prime example of those on the political/religious Right. God have mercy.

  7. Comment by Jeff on November 18, 2021 at 6:05 am

    >> Retired General Michael Flynn also declared at the event that America should have “one religion under God” and “we should have one church under God.”

    My Bible says that Jesus and His disciples and apostles declared these same truths, and not only for America.

  8. Comment by Jeff on November 18, 2021 at 8:29 am

    >> Cornerstone and its pastor John Hagee will need to disassociate themselves from The Reawaken America Tour and its vulgarity in their sanctuary.

    Vulgarity in their sanctuary. Oh the horror!

    Why, exactly, will Pastor Hagee and Cornerstone NEED to disassociate themselves from this common, cross-tribal awakening to America’s role in bringing in the Kingdom of GOD? Because you say so?

    You like that word “vulgar”, Mark, using it in your title and three times in your bitter screed. Its use in a disparaging manner speaks loudly to your institutionalist, elitist core values, in politics and governance matters of all sorts, including United Methodism.

    I do not think you are giving full credit to the etymology of “vulgar”. In the vernacular it has come to mean “coarse, gross, pretentious”, but at its root it means “public, ordinary, of the common people”. Of the same Latin root is the Vulgate, the version of GOD’s Holy WORD that has withstood the test of time as “the version commonly used”.

    In the true, not the vernacular, meaning of the word, Yeshua ben Yosef was authentically vulgar. He ate and drank with sinners, chose vulgar men to be his first disciples, and suffered the death reserved for the dregs of the vulgar. Resurrected as our King of Kings and Lord of Lords, He is anything but vulgar, yet He remains the Advocate before the Father of all of the vulgar everywhere — which is to say all of us.

    Yeshua once said this about the vulgar:

    “And [the master of the house] sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. And they all with one [consent] began to make excuse… So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel [them] to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.”

    Thy Kingdom Come, Lord Jesus! In the Cornerstone gatherings and through vulgar, as the elite deep institutions have abandoned your light and truth, paying inauthentic lip service to your invitation to the feast while running in dark secrecy into the arms of the pagan global humanists.

  9. Comment by Bill on November 18, 2021 at 11:27 am

    I understand the points made by Mark and don’t entirely disagree but I can’t help feeling a degree of frustration. It seems the criticism has two points, objection to use of the “Let’s go Brandon” in a Church setting and Christian Nationalism. For many the phrase has evolved from it’s first use and now is a stand-alone phrase used to voice objection to the current administration. It is roughly the equivalent to “dang”, “shucks” or “heck”. Many use it as a rally cry to avoid using uglier words, which is just crass and classless. The objection to Christian Nationalism is accurate and syncretism in any form should be avoided, but it seems there is inordinate number of objections to CN compared to those on the left. I don’t remember hearing the same level of criticism when the current administration produced a video featuring the Vice President promoting the Democratic candidate for Governor in Virginia to be shown in 300 black churches. If we call out one, let us call out all. Syncretism between the left and leftist Christians (a dubious title at best) is equally as wrong as Christian Nationalism. Christian Wokeness is equally as dangerous. Whenever we begin mixing “Jesus and” we have a problem. And we have been doing it for a very long time. Jesus isn’t coming back to take sides. He is His side, and our faith, life and theology should be separate entirely from this world.

  10. Comment by George on November 20, 2021 at 3:37 pm

    We all know what vulgar means and we certainly do not need to be schooled on the etymology of it. We live in today’s world and not in ancient times. The “ let’s go Brandon”
    chant is no different than flicking the middle finger . There is no place for it in Church and for that matter, most other places either. I can be conservative and Christian without lowering to those standards.

  11. Comment by betsy on November 23, 2021 at 4:04 pm

    I live adjacent to San Antonio. Locally, it has been reported that the pastor has profusely apologized for allowing the group to use the Cornerstone Church as they do not reflect the views or values of Cornerstone Church. He said there will have to be a more rigorous vetting process before any other outside group will be allowed to use the facilities.

  12. Comment by Jeff on November 25, 2021 at 12:51 am

    The thing you need to know about Mark and George: they don’t read Scripture. Indeed, they are blind to the Word of GOD.

    Jesus did not say “evangelize”, he commanded that we “make disciples”.

    Disciples understand the seasons and the times (Mt. 16:3). Mark Tooley (and George) know only the zeitgeist. As George said, “We live in today’s world”. Indeed they do.

    But there is a Scripturally prophetic movement active in America. of which is the “vulgar” Awakening that Mark and George spit on currently. (How did that work out for the Pharisees?)

    Denigrate the move of the LORD to bring about a Third Great Awakening of America’s anointing at your own peril.

  13. Comment by Jeff on November 25, 2021 at 12:55 am

    Betsy:

    Matt Hagee is not John Hagee. John Hagee would never have apologized and distanced himself from a genuine move of the Spirit of GOD.

    Matt Hagee is a woke replica, subservient to the world culture. It is sad to see.

  14. Comment by Kate on January 14, 2022 at 9:21 pm

    The fact that you have to say the words “vulgar” and “horrific” over and over again only proves that you have no actual argument. We get it. You hate the event. But perhaps you should dig a little deeper inside yourself to figure out why. Seeing as you pretend to be a Christian, you could at least pretend to act like it. Right?

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