It’s been just over a year now since the January 6 Capitol attack and if a desirable endgame has been attained in your eyes, then please, by all means, shed some light for me.

To say the phrase “all politics aside…” isn’t applicable when it comes to the aforementioned insurrection would be a blatant and outright lie. Politics, which was in fact the root cause behind the riot, should’ve been on the back burner while common sense, reason, and truth governed.

If that were the case, though, this wouldn’t be an issue and I wouldn’t be sitting here writing this right now, would I?

It needn’t matter what side of the line you toe to understand the blatant rip-off perpetrated on Americans last January. However, it may make it easier for some.

Our politicians flat outplayed us. No, not all of them, and not all of us, either. But enough so that a group of predominantly white evangelicals followed suit. And in the worst of ways.

Behind a backdrop of Christianity and all the religious symbols and icons you can imagine, the actual truth and cause of the riot was nothing short of apparent. It was an attempt at a political uprising fueled by an outrageous lie and acted upon by a certain offshoot of the far-right.

With the truth veiled under a cloak of feigned “fundamental Christianity”, many of those who participated were blind to the lie. Many simply hid behind the lie. And many are still hiding behind the lie, and by choice.

I have a sneaking suspicion, however, that radicalizing one’s religious beliefs for the sake of personal and/or political gain is just as blasphemous now as it ever was.

But hey, all in the name of politics, right?

The sea of Christian symbols on display that day was paralleled only by the massive presence of Donald Trump supporters with their signs and MAGA hats.

There can be no denying that the events of that day were spurred and led by a group of white evangelicals, a specific camp of right-wing conservatives who were fueled by the whiny rants of the former president.

Calling on his base to stage a revolt in the days leading up to the actual riot, the former president used every card he had to stage this political coup that not only failed but continues to fan a political fire of divisiveness more than a year later.

So, were Americans lied to on that day last January? Yes. Duped in the days before by former President Trump? Undoubtedly.

And not for the first time.

Basing things off a temper tantrum of childish nonsense, the former leader of the free world ushered in a moment of true ugliness for this country. One that was totally avoidable, though not soon forgettable.

But those who participated in the riot weren’t the real players of the game anyway, just pawns used by those who were really pulling the strings.

And, oh, how those strings were pulled.

That being said, those who acted as “true” pawns played the role splendidly and to great effect.

No matter where your motives lie, though, using one’s Christian faith as a front for such a personal agenda doesn’t seem very Christian at all.

And yes, it’s easy to throw the blame on the far-right wingers responsible for the riot – if it wouldn’t appear to be inclusive of all conservatives who also identified as Christians. Using a blanket statement like that may have helped clear up some of the under-the-surface ignorance before it turned into sheer arrogance for many, but not for me. And it shouldn’t for you, either.

But we can’t blame every politician. However, you can be sure to thank a certain faction of them for helping perpetrate such a scam.

You can’t blame all white evangelicals as a collective or Christianity as a belief system, either. The fault lies in the lap of what is luckily a super-niche group of, for the most part, radical-thinking white evangelicals. A group using faith-based Christian ideologies to bolster their own conspiratorial efforts and beliefs.

In my opinion, using the Cross to hang a bloody American flag on is an act worse than treason.

In the end, though, it shouldn’t matter which political party you affiliate with. It should only matter that truth be the guiding light in a matter that is almost too polarizing to be so politicized.

And who knew that could even be possible?

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