Hands Off Our Community Center, Hands Off Our Military...
The hubris of a megachurch cult seeking to invade our community.
Don’t forget, the Awaken megachurch cult has vowed to “take the crown” of our Crown City of Coronado, calling those who oppose it unholy and unclean demons while threatening to run citizens like you and me out of town if we dare oppose them.
Their founder spreads endless hate, prejudice, and disinformation on social media.
Their facilities in San Diego have hosted national groups whose speakers have included QAnon conspiracists, neo-Nazis, and white supremacists.
This is who they are.
Now take a closer look at this recent social media ad touting a “Coronado Campus Service” at the Coronado Community Center.
Coronado Campus Service? Really?
Our community center is a public facility funded by the residents of Coronado and run by our city government. It is not anyone’s “campus.”
The definition of a campus is “the grounds and buildings of a university or college; school, hospital, or other institution.” Awaken has rented our community center twice for short events. They don’t own it. They are not established there. They are not a part of the ongoing facility. To characterize it as their campus suggests it is an Awaken facility, which is patently false.
This is a deception, a ruse, an insult to our city government and our community.
The ad also says Awaken will be “ministering to our military families as well.” The irony of this subversion is palpable. The Oath of Enlistment for all members of our US Military includes a sacred vow to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Repeat: Foreign and Domestic.
Awaken is a promoter of Christian Nationalism, a radical fundamentalist movement seeking to undo our Constitution and replace our democracy with a fundamentalist theocracy. We should be deeply worried that they want to “minister” to our military whose members, by the way, have fought wars throughout our history to protect our democracy, many giving their lives in the process.
As the Awaken social media posts below illustrate, they have no respect for democracy or law & order. Nor do they have any standing or authority to tell anyone what the commands of God are.
They pose a threat to our nation and to Christianity itself.
Ex-megachurch Pastor John Pavlovitz is one of many theologians who argue that true Christians want nothing to do with the Christian Nationalist movement:
“They’re usually the ones most loudly claiming things like religious liberty while methodically swallowing up the personal freedoms and elemental rights of other people.
They incessantly broadcast their devotion to God on their bumpers and bellies, while living antithetically to the compassionate heart of Jesus actually found in the Scriptures.
Their spirituality is largely performative: a showy firework display of culture war talking points and religious buzzwords that distracts from the truth that their lives are yielding almost nothing truly loving to anyone except for people who agree with them on everything.” John Pavlovitz
Christian pastors across the nation are increasingly sounding the alarm about Christian Nationalism, which they see not only as a threat to our government but to Christianity itself.
As the Bible warns, there always have been wolves in sheep’s clothing like Awaken, exploiting Christianity as a cover for radical political agendas and the fleecing of their followers.
Resources:
Christian Nationalism and Political Violence
What Happens When Church and State Merge? Look to Nazi Germany For Answers
The Bogus Historians Who Teach Evangelicals They Live in a Theocracy
Christians Against Christian Nationalism
It’s No Big Deal, We Just Want to Take Over the World
Conspiracies, Crackpots & Crazies