When Vance Boelter preached the Gospel of Jesus a little over two years ago at a church in Democratic Republic of Congo, he retold the story of Adam and Eve, in which God asks the fallen couple, “What have you done?” (Credit to Hemant Mehta for links to sermons by Boelter.)
Boelter also told the story of Cain, whose offering God rejected and who later murdered his brother. “So often in the world today, everyone wants an excuse for not doing the right thing,” Boelter warned; “We want to blame someone else or something else.” God asks Cain, “Why are you angry, and why is your face sad?” God advises, “If you do well, won’t your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door, and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”
A little over two years later, on June 14, Boelter would allegedly assassinate Minnesota state representative Melissa Hortman along with her husband and attempt to murder others. How could Boelter so quickly go from preaching against sin to murder? Motivations are multifaceted, but religious ideology seems to have played an important role.
Obviously at one level Boelter abandoned the teachings of his faith, starting with “thou shalt not kill.” The AP reports that “the church Boelter attended outside Minneapolis issued a statement … condemning the shootings as ‘the opposite of what Jesus taught his followers to do.'”
Yet we also can see the ideological seeds of Boelter’s violence in his 2023 sermons. He said:
“The word of God can be so convicting. … Sin messes up a person so bad. It gets into your heart, it gets into your soul, it messes with your mind. … ‘The word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword.’ … There’s no sin that God can’t take care of. Nothing. There’s people, especially in America, they don’t know what sex they are. … They’re confused, the enemy has gotten so far into their mind and their soul.”
Here we see Boelter switch from meditating on personally doing right to conspiracy mongering about a supposedly Satan-led effort to recognize transgender identities. He seems to have primed himself to focus on other people’s supposed sins and the demonic forces allegedly behind them. (As I have pointed out, the Bible takes no strong stand on transgender identities.)
In another sermon, Boelter said, “America is in a bad place … The churches are so messed up they don’t know abortion is wrong, many churches.”
CNN reports that Boelter had a “hit list” consisting “largely [of] Democrats or figures with ties to Planned Parenthood or the abortion rights movement.”
Apparently Boelter thought that God’s word alone was not sharp enough for the task at hand. And never mind, as theology professor Melanie Howard points out, “that although the Bible was written at a time when abortion was practiced, it never directly addresses the issue.” Certain theologians such as Boelter seem to think they have a special connection to the mind of God, such that they can discern what he means even if he does not say it.
Regardless, in a civilized society, politically it does not matter what an ancient book of mythology says about God’s alleged political positions. Even if (counterfactually) the Bible clearly condemned abortion, that would not be a reason to ban or restrict it, any more than the Bible’s endorsement or tolerance of genocide, slavery, and the murder of “witches” and blasphemers justify those positions. As I have argued, there is no good reason to restrict abortion before a fetus develops the capacity for consciousness, and at any point in pregnancy government may not rightly force a woman to provide bodily support to a fetus (a position that allows for some possible late-term restrictions).
Certainly a difference of opinion about abortion policy does not justify the murder of legislators. But religious fervor, especially when it claims to side with God against demonic forces, can be a powerful motivator.
Irresponsible Rhetoric in Colorado
Joe Oltmann leads with religion within his organization “Faith, Education and Commerce United” (FEC United). Last year, Oltmann said, “Prayer is the first thing that I go to” in the mornings. He also told a crowd, regarding alleged election stealing, “Let’s go get our guns; we have to have a target. The time is coming when good people will have to do bad things to bad people.”
Oltmann previously called for “a line of executions of traitors through the United States of America,” including the governor. Then-state representative Patrick Neville, who nominated Oltmann for governor, assured people in 2022 that Oltmann was “joking.” Although no reasonable person would argue that Christian theology supports Oltmann’s politics, Oltmann does go out of his way to cast his mission partly as a religious one.
Driven by religious zeal, various Colorado leaders, including Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, have called abortion murder. Last year, most Colorado abortion providers reported “at least one incident of trespassing,” and some reported “an incident of obstruction” and even threats, Colorado Newsline reports. Years ago, Colorado pastor Bob Enyart called for the death penalty for women who get abortions. Although the 2015 murders at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs involve mental illness, the perpetrator also was motivated by religious views.
Colorado pastor Kevin Swanson has called for gay people to be given the death penalty, in accordance with his interpretation of the Bible, as the Colorado Times Recorder has previously reported. This did not stop Christian Home Educators of Colorado from inviting Swanson as a speaker.
Last year, then-chair of the Colorado GOP Dave Williams sent out an email urging people to “burn all the [gay] pride flags” and claiming that Pride month is an “evil that is trying to indoctrinate children” perpetrated by “godless groomers.” Following the horrific murders at Club Q, TV evangelist Andrew Wommack said that homosexuality is “the thing that Satan is ramming through.”
Following the horrific June 1 terrorist attack in Boulder targeting Jews, Aurora City Councilor Danielle Jurinsky addressed elected Democratic officials in Colorado, including Jared Polis and Phil Weiser, who are Jewish, “You’re not Jewish, you’re a Democrat.” She continued, “Nothing brings me to tears like this, than watching Jews … put their dedication to a demonic cult, the Democratic Party.” She further accused Jews in the Democratic Party of being anti-American and antisemitic. In literally demonizing Jewish elected officials, Jurinsky is borrowing from one of the oldest antisemitic tropes of calling Jews Satanic.
Most of the people mentioned here do not advocate violence and no doubt would recoil in horror if someone used their words as motivation to commit violence. Yet it would surprise no reasonable person if their irresponsible and hateful rhetoric helped encourage someone to violence.
Many people have been motivated by their religious faith to love their neighbors and fight for justice. Tragically, though, religious faith, especially when it becomes obsessed with casting targeted groups as sinful and demonic, also can become a pretext to encourage or even commit horrific acts of violence.
Let’s hope that those who have used their religion to spread hate will instead turn to the loving and tolerant side of their traditions.
