Thousands of social media posts tell the story of the insurrection on Capitol Hill on 6th January 2022. Two academics have curated a selection called uncivilreligion.org which shows that religion was not just one aspect of the attack on the Capitol, but rather a thread weaving through the entirety of events. They say the flags, songs, costumes and actions were drawn from diverse traditions and none, showing the diversity and perplexities of American religion and its relationship to political activity.
Ruth Peacock hosted this discussion with:
- Dr Michael J. Altman, Associate Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama
- Dr Jerome Copulsky, a consulting scholar at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History’s Center for the Understanding of Religion in American History and research fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs.
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Report: Uncivil religion: the incoherent threads woven through the Capitol insurrection
“I think the people were there for political reasons, but those political goals, reasons and ideas often got expressed through religious discourse, religious practices, religious language, or just songs.”
– Dr Altman
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