{"id":323,"date":"2026-05-20T14:37:54","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T14:37:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=323"},"modified":"2026-05-20T14:37:54","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T14:37:54","slug":"how-christianity-took-center-stage-on-the-national-mall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=323","title":{"rendered":"How Christianity took center stage on the National Mall"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This article was first published in the <\/i>State of Faith newsletter<\/i>. Sign up to receive the newsletter in your inbox each Monday night.<\/i><\/p>\n

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For more than nine hours on Sunday, the National Mall became a sprawling worship service as part of \u201cRededicate 250: National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving,\u201d a government-sponsored event aimed at recommitting the country to God in line with what organizers described as the founders\u2019 original intent. <\/p>\n

The stage was framed by pointed Gothic-style arches and attendees spread blankets across the lawn and raised their hands in worship. <\/p>\n

The celebration echoed the events of May 17, 1776, when the Continental Congress resolved to call for a national day of prayer and fasting, urging the colonies to seek divine guidance in the fight against Britain.<\/p>\n

I thought this image featured in USA Today captured the spirit of the event: a woman in a total spiritual rupture, eyes closed and head tilted backward, wrapped in an American flag and a blue scarf adorned with a Star of David on her neck. <\/p>\n

The celebration has been, for lack of a better word, controversial and has stirred a some strong responses from faith leaders, who felt that the worship was lacking the breadth of Christianity and presence of other faiths, and that it eroded the boundary between church and state. Supporters, on the other hand, saw the production as an affirmation of faith in America and a way to trace the roots of the country to \u201cone nation under God.\u201d <\/p>\n

Although I hadn\u2019t listened to the full nine hours of the event, the speeches I watched were largely devoid of partisan rhetoric. They blended history vignettes about the nation\u2019s founders praying and relying on their faith in hard moments of the war and evangelical expressions like \u201cPraise God\u201d and \u201cHallelujah.\u201d Several speakers mentioned the phrase \u201ccreated equal by God\u201d to trace divine origins of the nation. <\/p>\n

Overall, the intermingling of politics and faith felt like a totally new genre of public event \u2014 not totally a political rally and not a typical worship service, but something in between.<\/p>\n

Messages from the stage:<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

Vice President JD Vance invoked the words of the late Charlie Kirk that \u201call law reflects morality\u201d and that \u201claw and morality \u2026 come from religion.\u201d He went to say that \u201cthe morality and religion that formed the American consciousness were decidedly Christian.\u201d <\/p>\n

Southern Baptist pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress didn\u2019t shy away from the title \u201cChristian Nationalist,\u201d interpreting it as a blend of patriotism and faith. \u201cBy the way, if being a Christian nationalist means loving Jesus Christ and loving America, count me in,\u201d said Jeffress. \u201cThey were bold about their Christianity.\u201d <\/p>\n

Sociologists like Andrew Whitehead and Samuel Perry, and others, explain that Christian nationalism is more than personal faith or public religious expression, but a view that Christianity should be shaping national laws and national identity. <\/p>\n

Trump himself refrained from a more personal message and instead opted for reading from the Old Testament, in particular \u2014 2 Chronicles 7, which describes the dedication of Solomon\u2019s Temple and God\u2019s response to King Solomon after the Temple was completed. <\/p>\n

The event featured an appearance by \u201cThe Chosen\u201d star Jonathan Roumie, who told the audience that being a voice guide on the Hallow prayer app and his role playing Jesus in the series have taught him to pray. \u201cIf God hands you the assignment of portraying on a global stage his own son, the savior of the world, the alpha and omega, the great I am. And you do not have faith. Lord help you.\u201d Roumie nudged people to pray directly to Jesus as opposed to paying \u201csome random app $2 a minute to talk to fake AI Jesus, when the real Jesus is right in front of you.\u201d <\/p>\n

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Jonathan Roumie delivers remarks at Rededicate 250 on the National Mall:<\/p>\n

“Rededicate yourself, or dedicate yourself to the first time to holiness, because holiness is what makes us sinners into saints. And perhaps that is what God is asking of us again as a nation, to reopen our\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/FvbiZGdPEf<\/p>\n

\u2014 Freedom 250 (@Freedom250) May 17, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Rabbi Meir Soloveichik, the only non-Christian speaker, shared the history behind the song \u201cGod Bless America\u201d written by Irving Berlin, a Jewish songwriter who fled pogroms in Russia and discovered his musical talent while serving in the U.S. Army. The 1938 song became a kind of anthem for American soldiers liberating Europe from fascism. \u201cAnd it is a reminder as hatred of Jews makes itself manifest again that antisemitism is utterly un-American.\u201d <\/p>\n

Bishop Robert Barron, one of two Catholic speakers at the event, argued that Abraham Lincoln\u2019s \u201ctheological addition\u201d of \u201cunder God\u201d in the Gettysburg Address reflected the belief that \u201cGod is essential to any coherent account of democracy, freedom and equality.\u201d Barron said the idea that all men are \u201ccreated equal\u201d points to divine origins, making all people \u201cequally children of God and therefore equal in dignity\u201d and endowed with inalienable rights. <\/p>\n

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Standing on the National Mall for Rededicate 250, reflecting on the deep connection between faith and the founding principles of our country. Keep us in your prayers as we celebrate 250 years of America under God. pic.twitter.com\/1xF8LFQOnA<\/p>\n

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\u2014 Bishop Robert Barron (@BishopBarron) May 17, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

He also linked freedom to dignity and love: \u201cIf you\u2019re forced to love, you\u2019re not really loving. Freedom is required for this.\u201d Barron distinguished between \u201cfreedom of indifference\u201d and \u201cfreedom for excellence,\u201d which he described as the disciplining of desire toward \u201cthe good.\u201d <\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s ballroom made an appearance in Eric Metaxas\u2019s speech: after mentioning that the White House was destroyed in 1812, he then invoked Trump\u2019s grand project: \u201cIt\u2019s hard to believe that it would take two centuries for the Lord to raise up a great man to bring that ballroom finally to stand where it needs to stand. \u2026 We only had to wait 200 years.\u201d <\/p>\n

Several interfaith leaders, who discussed the event in a Friday media briefing, said they did not oppose celebrating Christianity or faith and acknowledged the role of faith in the country\u2019s founding \u2014 but that the celebration appeared to elevate one strand of Christianity in an especially prominent, government-sanctioned way, sidelining the foundational principle of religious liberty.<\/p>\n

Fresh off the press<\/h3>\n