Tens of thousands of evangelical Christians gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Saturday to pray for America\u2019s atonement and for Donald Trump\u2019s return to the White House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Organizers of the event, billed \u201cA Million Women<\/a>,\u201d described the gathering \u2014 and next month\u2019s presidential election \u2014 as \u201ca last stand moment\u201d to save the nation from forces of darkness. For hours, the gathered masses sang worship songs, waved flags symbolizing their belief that America was founded as an explicitly Christian nation and prayed aloud for Jesus to intercede on behalf of Trump in November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf we don\u2019t stand now,\u201d said Grace Lin, who traveled from Los Angeles for the rally and came wearing a red \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d hat, \u201cthen the enemy will take over our country. If that happens, that\u2019s the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lou Engle, the self-described prophet who organized the event, said God told him<\/a> in a dream to call on a million women to march on Washington in order to restore God\u2019s dominion over the nation. Engle is a leader in the New Apostolic Reformation<\/a>, a movement of charismatic Christians who for years have portrayed U.S. politics as a spiritual clash between good and evil and Trump as a flawed leader anointed by God to redeem the nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cListen to the cries of your people,\u201d Engle shouted Saturday as thousands of followers lifted their hands to the sky. \u201cSave us, God!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n From a stage overlooking the Washington Monument, Engle and other speakers warned of a multitude of threats they say are facing America: crime, religious persecution, abortion and the growing acceptance of LGBTQ people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thousands of women came wearing pink shirts emblazoned with the words \u201cDon\u2019t Mess With Our Kids\u201d \u2014 the name and slogan of an anti-LGBTQ activist group that claims library books, public school teachers and pop culture are tricking children into changing genders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Susan Marsh, who drove from Maryland, said she attended because she fears if Democrats maintain power, her 10-month old grandson will grow up in a nation where he\u2019s pressured to identify as a girl. As she sang and prayed, Marsh waved a large\u00a0Appeal to Heaven<\/a>\u00a0flag \u2014 a prominent symbol of the Christian movement to end the separation of church and state in America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo many people are hopeless right now,\u201d Marsh said, choking up as she spoke to a reporter. \u201cOur children are going through surgeries that are unnecessary because their hearts are broken and they think they\u2019re not who they\u2019re supposed to be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maryn Freitag was part of a group of about 50 people who traveled from Minnesota. She said she came \u201cto stand with the man who God has selected as the president.\u201d She then gestured to her hat, which spelled out \u201cTrump 2024\u201d in shimmering rhinestones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Freitag refused to contemplate what would happen if Trump loses to Vice President Kamala Harris: \u201cI don\u2019t even want to go there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sandi Woskie, another member of the Minnesota contingent, overheard the comment. She leaned in and said: \u201cThink Armageddon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s right,\u201d Freitag said. \u201cIf we don\u2019t turn this nation back to the Lord, we\u2019re on a fast slide into the abyss with no return.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Matthew Taylor, a senior scholar at the nonprofit Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies in Maryland, said those comments are representative of a dangerous and increasingly widespread embrace of apocalyptic political messaging on the Christian right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Taylor, who attended the march Saturday as part of his research, has spent years studying the New Apostolic Reformation and its unwavering support for Trump. He documented in his book, \u201cThe Violent Take It by Force,<\/a>\u201d how false claims about widespread election fraud by Engle and other Christian nationalist leaders helped fuel the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Taylor said he worries that the dire messaging \u2014 and the portrayal of Trump as God\u2019s chosen candidate to defeat evil Democrats \u2014 could set the stage for more violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is about activating the most ardent Christian supporters of Donald Trump, putting them into an apocalyptic mindset that says this election is do or die for America,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cThe danger is that these folks can easily be converted over into Capitol rioters if the right circumstances come about and if their leaders give them that guidance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Taylor \u2014 and many others in attendance \u2014 noted that the crowd was more racially and ethnically diverse than most conservative political rallies. Churches from across the country, including some majority-Black denominations, chartered buses for the event. Organizers chose to hold the event on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism, because it is a day to atone for sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n LaTrece Curry, a Black mother who said she voted for Barack Obama in 2008, drove from Ohio with her husband and four children. She said her support for Trump \u2014 a twice-divorced billionaire who\u2019s facing a range of criminal charges<\/a> related to his business practices and alleged attempts to overturn<\/a> the 2020 election \u2014 has led to divisions and arguments with her Black friends and family members. But she believes he\u2019s the only candidate who will set America back on a moral course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI do think it is a last stand,\u201d Curry said. \u201cBut God has given us so much time. Now judgment will come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Phil Heilman drove with his wife from Florida. They learned about the event while attending a get-out-the-vote rally in Georgia hosted by Lance Wallnau<\/a>, an evangelist who coined and popularized the Seven Mountains Mandate<\/a> \u2014 a growing belief on the American right that says conservative Christians are called to occupy positions of power in seven key spheres of society, including business, education, media and government. Wallnau was among the speakers Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n