Pitkin County one of most religiously unaffiliated counties in the U.S.
Plus QAnon Shaman in Colorado, Independence Day and Promise Keepers
Happy Friday, Colorado! We hope you enjoyed your long weekend courtesy of Independence Day falling on a Sunday. And when that happens, you know there’s a good chance that patriotic Christians will celebrate. Colorado religious leaders weighed in online:
“Free Man! By both God and Country!/ It was for freedom that Christ set us free…Galatians 5:1/We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…Declaration of Independence,” tweeted Jeff Hunt, director of the Lakewood-based Centennial Institute, Colorado Christian University’s conservative think tank, on July 4.
“This 4th of July, remember the price that was paid for our freedom, and celebrate what makes America truly great,” tweeted Colorado Springs’ Andrew Wommack, founder of Andrew Wommack Ministries and co-founder of the Truth & Liberty Coalition.
Both Eric Hogue, an administrator at Colorado Christian University, and Todd Hudnall, pastor of Radiant Church in Colorado Springs, had a hankering to watch “The Patriot.”
Karen Oliveto, bishop of the UMC Mountain Sky Conference, tweeted a stanza of the hymn “This Is My Song.” Rev. Jasper Peters, lead pastor at Denver’s Belong Church, tweeted a photo of himself wearing a shirt that said “I don’t hate America, I just demand she keeps her promises.”
The Denver Post ran a full-page ad in its Sunday paper from Hobby Lobby, the arts and crafts store whose owners are well-known for their conservative Christian stances on political issues, that had at the top, “ONE NATION UNDER GOD.” Below the banner were quotes from presidents, congressional reports, and even Alexis de Tocqueville.
From de Tocqueville: “The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their minds that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other.”
Thanks, Alexis — we couldn’t have written a better segue. Some of the God + Independence Day celebrating by local Christian leaders would fit the label of “Christian nationalism,” a term coined by sociologists to refer to the belief that Christianity is an integral part of America’s identity (that’s the abbreviated definition. A book that spells it out better is “Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States” by Andrew Whitehead and Samuel Perry).
The idea of Christian nationalism has been around for a while, but it has received more attention in recent years during Donald Trump’s presidency and especially in recent months after the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, in which insurrectionists displayed Christian symbols and said their beliefs influenced their participation. (It’s important to note that the local religious leaders quoted above might reject the Christian nationalism label. Also, we aren’t equating these leaders with the Capitol insurrectionists.)
But you know where there is a recent connection between Christian nationalism, the Capitol insurrection and Colorado? In a federal corrections facility in Littleton. There, Jacob Anthony Chansley, one of the Capitol insurrectionists who wore a Viking hat and called himself the QAnon Shaman, is undergoing a competency evaluation. Speaking of Chansley and Christian nationalism, a Washington Post story published this week reported that the shaman, “prayed to Christ at the dais in the Senate and calls himself a ‘multi-dimensional being.’”
Landscapes of faith
The Public Religion Research Institute just published a new report surveying the American religious landscape up until 2020. Religion News Service reported that the census is based off, “hundreds of thousands of respondents surveyed between 2013 and 2019.” The report has some interesting top-line findings, including that the decline of white Christians and the rise of “nones” are both slowing slightly, and Americans ages 18-29 are the most religiously diverse age group. Also, while white Christians are much more likely to be Republicans than Democrats, significantly more Christians of color are Democrats than are Republicans.
At the county level, PRRI created indexes of religious diversity in each county in the U.S. along with the concentrations of each major religious group. Denver, Arapahoe, Eagle, Alamosa and Pueblo counties are the most religiously diverse in Colorado.
The state does not have the highest concentrations of any major religious group except the religiously unaffiliated, where Pitkin County ranks 7th highest in the nation at 45% of the population (compared to a national average of 23%). Here’s how some other groups break down:
White Christians: most concentrated in Kiowa County, 75%.
Hispanic Catholics: most concentrated in Costilla County, 40%.
Black Protestant: most concentrated in Denver County, 6%.
Jews: most concentrated in Boulder County, 3%.
Muslims: most concentrated in Douglas, Denver Boulder and Arapahoe County, 1% each.
Hindus: most concentrated in Douglas, Arapahoe, Denver, Boulder and Larimer County, 1% each.
Buddhists: most concentrated in Boulder County, 2%.
Unfulfilled promises
Christianity Today has a story looking back at the Evangelical movement Promise Keepers’ attempts at racial reconciliation, and what went wrong. Founded by then-University of Colorado Boulder football coach Bill McCartney, Promise Keepers is best known for its work promoting an ideal of Christian manhood, McCartney was passionate about working against racism and made it one of the core missions of the organization. It had some success, but it’s large stadium events didn’t pave the way to ongoing work addressing racism, and internal tensions among leadership also presented a challenge. Shortly after its largest event at the National Mall in D.C. in 1997 the organization essentially collapsed.
A reorganized version of the group exists today and will be holding its 2021 conference next weekend in Texas. Racial reconciliation is still on the agenda. Whether white Evangelicals will be more willing to listen — or less — remains to be seen.
Briefly noted
Iliff Seminary board of trustees member Adrian Miller was selected by Westword as one of nine “all-stars” changing the game in Denver off the baseball diamond.
Interfaith Alliance of Colorado cheers the signing of a new state law that will make more people eligible to seal their criminal records, which can be a barrier to housing and employment.
The Canyon Courier covered a blessing of the animals service at Church of the Hills in (worth reading for the pictures alone).
Colorado-based gun control activist Shannon Watts joined Tricycle’s podcast about her Buddhist faith.
Shambhala Mountain Center’s director spoke to KUNC about how forest thinning likely saved the center from destruction during the Cameron Peak Fire.
University of Colorado grad and Rhodes Scholar Serene Singh received the Diana Award for her humanitarian work. Singh previously spearheaded the creation of Sikh Recognition Day in Colorado.
“Have Faith, Colorado” is a weekly roundup and analysis of local religion articles in the Centennial State. It’s by Liam Adams and Carina Julig. Liam covers local news for Colorado Community Media and religion news as a freelancer. Carina covers education and other Aurora news at the Sentinel Colorado. To connect with us about the newsletter please email liamadams.journalism@gmail.com and carina.julig@colorado.edu, and follow us on twitter at @liamsadams and @CarinaJulig.