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Militant Christianity

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Briefing
by
Kyle Mantyla

The man who led a congregation that gave birth to the religious movement Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth now follows has a few principles for you to understand.

Joel’s Army—the militant Protestant movement that fueled both the January 6 insurrection and the recent political assassinations in Minnesota—is rearing its head once again, this time in the 2026 race for California governor. Pasadena megachurch pastor Che Ahn, who announced his candidacy earlier this month with an anodyne press release, told his audience just a few months earlier: “We are the family of God, but we are also in the army of God. And the moment you’re born again, God calls you to warfare.” 

  • Tess Owen @ Wired: Christian Militants Are Using Instagram to Recruit—and Becoming Influencers in the Process

An emerging guard of paramilitary activists are using social media and edgy aesthetics to build a new brand of anti-government, Christian nationalist militias.

From the beginning, the Department of Homeland Security has downplayed the threat of white nationalism while focusing its law enforcement power on groups it deems a threat to an imaginary ideal America.

Folks, please. Check the credibility of your sources. They may be a Brazilian national fugitive wanted by the FBI.

You can still vote. It just might not mean much.

On the Watchlist
Douglas Wilson

Doug Wilson

Doug Wilson is a far-right Christian nationalist pastor and political activist. Notorious for publishing a book downplaying the evils of slavery, Wilson promotes extreme political positions: he opposes women having the right to vote, believes that non-Christians should not be allowed to hold public office or worship in public, and wants to see the Apostles’ Creed incorporated into the U.S. Constitution. Wilson is based in Idaho and exerts nationwide influence through his publishing house Canon Press, the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, and a network of “classical Christian” schools. In 2025, Wilson planted a church in Washington, D.C. to bring Christians working for the Trump administration into alignment with his worldview. 

Che Ahn

California-based pastor Ché Ahn is a leader in the dominionist New Apostolic Reformation movement and a MAGA political activist. On the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection, Ahn told a pro-Trump rally that "we’re gonna rule and reign through President Trump and under the lordship of Jesus Christ.” Ahn is running for Governor of California in 2025. 
Pete Hegseth

Pete Hegseth

Donald Trump's pick to run the Department of Defense, Hegseth left the military after colleagues raised concerns about his tattoos associated with the Crusades and embraced by white nationalists. As the head of a veterans' nonprofit, he reportedly led a bar crowd in chants of "Kill All Muslims." In his book "American Crusade," he wrote, “Our American Crusade is not about literal swords, and our fight is not with guns. Yet.” Hegseth attends a church associated with Doug Wilson, a Christian nationalist who wants the Apostles Creed to be incorporated into the U.S. Constitution.