Joe.My.God. LGBT News
Rolling Stone reports:
The flag — which Rolling Stone has confirmed hangs outside his district office in the Cannon House Office Building — is white with a simple evergreen tree in the center and the phrase “An Appeal to Heaven” at the top. Historically, this flag was a Revolutionary War banner, commissioned by George Washington as a naval flag for the colony turned state of Massachusetts. The quote “An Appeal to Heaven” was a slogan from that war, taken from a treatise by the philosopher John Locke. But in the past decade it has come to symbolize a die-hard vision of a hegemonically Christian America.
To understand the contemporary meaning of the Appeal to Heaven flag, it’s necessary to enter a world of Christian extremism animated by modern-day apostles, prophets, and apocalyptic visions of Christian triumph that was central to the chaos and violence of Jan. 6. Earlier this year we released an audio-documentary series, rooted in deep historical research and ethnographic interviews, on this sector of Christianity, which is known as the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR). The flag hanging outside Johnson’s office is a key part of its symbology.
Read the full article. According to the piece, the flag was re-popularized in 2013 by Christian nationalist Dutch Sheets and is now often seen at far-right and QAnon events. Rioters brandished the flag during the attack on the US Capitol. As I reported this morning, Johnson is presently attending a far-right conference in Paris.
The more we learn about Mike Johnson, the new Speaker, the more we should be concerned. Extremism in values was the starter. Christian nationalism appears to be a driving force in his belief, an extreme position for anyone with power in our country. https://t.co/NrRCyjNEvd
— Mark Pocan (@MarkPocan) November 10, 2023
BREAKING: House Speaker Mike Johnson flies a Dutch Sheets-inspired, #January6th-famous Appeal to Heaven flag outside his office, & he’s not backing down. #NewApostolicReformation #ChristianNationalism
Read more w/ me & @BradleyOnishi in @RollingStone. https://t.co/fpfGXBG1t5 pic.twitter.com/lXTVYea65m
— Matthew D. Taylor (@TaylorMatthewD) November 10, 2023
I believe that’s Mikki Witthoeft, Ashli Babbitt’s mom—who since her daughter’s death has moved wildly right to become a minor fascist icon—outside Mike Johnson’s office w/ the Christian nationalist Appeal to Heaven flag Brad writes about in @RollingStone. https://t.co/wgDBRHvPVC
— Jeff Sharlet (@JeffSharlet) November 10, 2023
“An Appeal to Heaven” flag outside #NAR Mike’s speaker’s office.
“But for the past decade it has become a symbol of the NAR movement and their goal of establishing a “Seven Mountain Mandate” over the government.”
Lots re NAR Dutch Sheets in article, too #NewApostolicReformation pic.twitter.com/qHfIYBaurb
— bb_imissu (@ImissuBb) November 10, 2023