The American Taliban's Sean Feucht- "Why, yes, I AM an asshole. Thank you for asking."
Would Jesus really pray for fire to destroy Spokane?...or why Sean Feucht is a Christian like I'm a Nobel Peace Prize winner
[W]e don’t care about the smoke. Let’s pray for a fire that would consume Spokane…sweep our city like a fire sweeps through the woods…. Jesus, we know that you are in control of the fires. And we are on fire for you.
Today on “Assholes for Jesus,” Sean Feucht prays for wildfires to destroy the city of Spokane, WA…and, presumably, the people who live within the city limits. Yes, that’s right; a man who claims to believe in the teachings of Jesus Christ, who supposedly preached things like love, tolerance, understanding, inclusion, and acceptance, is praying for a city to burn to the ground.
He seems nice, eh?
Or not, because Feucht and his fellow travelers wasted no time capitalizing on the suffering of those in Spokane County who’ve been dealing with large wildfires for the past few weeks.
(Full disclosure: We have friends in Spokane, so this is personal.)
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN you combine a Christian nationalist musician and a disgraced former state representative-turned-pastor accused of domestic terrorism? According to local lawmakers and faith leaders in Washington state, it’s a recipe for “bigotry” cloaked “in religious language.”
Controversy has erupted in Spokane after Mayor Nadine Woodward appeared at a “Let Us Worship” event on Aug. 20, hosted by Christian singer Sean Feucht with special guest Matt Shea, a former state representative in Washington accused of domestic terrorism. The mayor’s appearance alongside Shea, as well as comments made by Feucht about a religious “wildfire” ravaging Spokane — while actual fires destroyed parts of the county — has angered members of the community.
Feucht rose to prominence during the pandemic, hosting anti-lockdown concerts that drew thousands of attendees. In 2023, he partnered with the right-wing group Turning Point USA (TPUSA) for a religious revival tour. The organization was present at the event in Spokane.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN you combine a Christian nationalist musician and a disgraced former state representative-turned-pastor accused of domestic terrorism? You get a couple of unreformed and unapologetic assholes like Sean Feucht and (domestic terrorist) Matt Shea pretending to serve their “Lord” when they’re serving their massive egos and padding their bank accounts.
Feucht could have gone into Spokane and used his notoriety and name recognition for good. He could’ve worked to raise funds for those who’ve been displaced and those who needed a helping hand. He could’ve asked how he could best be helpful to Spokane County during a severe crisis.
Did he do ANY of those things? HELL, no, he didn’t. He went into Spokane and decided to capitalize on the pain and suffering already extant in the community by proclaiming a religious “wildfire.” That he did so in the company of Matt Shea, a former state representative accused of domestic terrorism, only poured more salt in the wounds of the local community.
Feucht’s appearance in Spokane appeared to have been more than anything an attempt to monetize and capitalize upon the hatred and divisiveness that already exists in eastern Washington and northern Idaho. It had nothing to do with being Christ-like and trying to be of service at a time of need.
Feucht has made millions capitalizing on the overlap between the religious right’s reverence for Donald Trump and the rapidly growing influence of Christian Nationalism. Much like other celebrity evangelists, Feucht is living large on the financial contributions of his devout flock, purchasing millions in property and indulging in lavish vacations. But, as previously reported by Rolling Stone, the financials of Sean Feucht Ministry Inc. are raising eyebrows. Despite constantly soliciting donations, and raking in more than $5.3 million in 2020, the organization claimed it had received $0 in contributions that same year.
Shea was ousted from the state’s House Republican Caucus in 2019 after an FBI investigation and House report found that he had “planned, engaged in, and promoted a total of three armed conflicts of political violence against the United States government” between 2014 and 2016.
The investigation had been prompted by revelations that Shea had distributed a manifesto titled “Biblical Basis for War,’ which called for “warriors” to “kill all males” should their opponents not surrender to their demands. Shea has since become a pastor, founding On Fire Ministries in 2021.
Feucht’s appearance in Spokane was just another stop in his continuing grift of those inclined to support his Christian Nationalist preaching, which has as much to do with Jesus Christ as I do with cutting-edge oncology research.
This all occurred during a legitimate crisis in Spokane, with the fires around Spokane Country threatening lives and property. Did any of this concern Sean Feucht or Matt Shea? And d’ya think Mayor Nadine Woodward had better things to do than appearing on stage with a couple of Christian Nationalists trying to fleece her constituents?
This whole thing stinks, yet Mayor Woodward played along, perhaps to play to her MAGAfied constituents in Spokane, who may well influence whether or not she wins another term.
During the “Let Us Worship” event with Feucht, Shea appeared on stage to lead prayer over Mayor Woodward. “We’ve got an enemy we need to fight, his name is Satan,” Shea said. “We pray a blessing over the leaders you have chosen for this time. …That you would give them supernatural discernment. You would increase their faith, you would increase their joy. That they could laugh in the middle of crisis Lord God, because you are with them. Not laughing at the crisis, but knowing that you are still on the throne.”
Spokane was in crisis at the time of the event. Wildfires had ravaged the county, killing at least three people and destroying dozens of homes.
Mayor Woodward’s participation in the rally didn’t go unnoticed by other politicians in Spokane, who noted that her time could’ve been better used in dealing with the crisis facing the city and, indeed, the entire county.
Instead of leading, the Mayor was taking part in a Christian Nationalist rally that appeared to be intended only to separate the attendees from as much of their money as possible. It had nothing to do with addressing or assisting with the crisis facing Spokane.
It was about “leaving it to Jesus.”
But leaving it to Jesus was not enough for members of the Spokane City Council, who denounced Mayor Woodward’s participation in the event. In a statement, members Betsy Wilkerson, Zack Zappone, and Karen Stratton wrote that they “strongly denounce Mayor Woodward’s appearance with a domestic terrorist, former Representative Matt Shea, and extremist Sean Feucht over the weekend.”
Feucht claimed that Mayor Woodward had scheduled her appearance months ago, but there’s no disputing that the optics of her fiddling appearing at the rally while Rome Spokane burned was…less than optimal.
Even if you remove the fires consuming large parts of Spokane Country from the equation, why would Nadine Woodward appear on the same stage with a Christian Nationalist and a domestic terrorist? How could she justify implicitly endorsing that sort of extremism?
How is that a good look for any elected official? Unless, of course, she’s one of them and isn’t concerned about who’s aware of it.
“This pre-planned appearance by Mayor Woodward is alarming and makes clear that she is comfortable embracing dangerous and hateful individuals,” Zappone wrote. “Minutes before calling Woodward on stage, Shea stated the problems he believes the country is facing, specifically naming wildfires, homosexual marriage, and transgender issues. As a member of the LGTBQ community, I feel the hatred and violence that is being directed towards families like mine. Elected officials must be leaders that make it clear that hatred and extremism have no place in Spokane.”
According to Woodward, she attended the event to “join with fellow citizens to begin the healing process” after the wildfires. But her claim was contradicted by Shea, who said the mayor had agreed to participate in the event months before the fires.
In a statement to The Washington Post, Feucht said that his events “routinely have pastors, elected officials, community leaders, along with addicts, the lost, the hurting, and the forgotten onstage praying, praising, and worshiping Jesus.”
“Not all of them agree with each other on every issue, but we all agree that there is only ONE WAY under heaven to be saved, and that’s by the blood of Jesus Christ,” he added.
When Mayor Woodward realized that “Shea stated the problems he believes the country is facing, specifically naming wildfires, homosexual marriage, and transgender issues,” she should’ve walked off the stage then and there. She should’ve wanted no part of anything that connects wildfires, homosexual marriage, and transgender issues.
And yet she stood there silently when Shea connected those issues. In doing so, she implicitly endorsed the hatred, bigotry, homophobia, and extremism the event represented.
When they tell you who they are, believe them.
There are, of course, no connections between those issues. There’s no angry, mean-spirited God meting out punishment to America in the form of wildfires for “tolerating” same-sex marriage and/or transgender people. Tolerance, acceptance, and inclusion are basic Christian concepts that Sean Feucht and Matt Shea have long forgotten.
Hatred, bigotry, homophobia, and transphobia are NOT Christian values, and if you belong to a Christian church or worship group that tells you otherwise, YERDOONITRONG! I don’t even believe in a Christian god, but I remember that much from my Sunday School days.
Being a White Conservative Christian heterosexual cisgender male makes you no more or less valuable than anyone else. If you believe that you’re MORE valuable to society than someone who’s LGBTQ, that’s a “you” problem. And if you’re basing that belief on your “Christian” faith, I’d submit that your “Christianity” is a chimera- a mythical construct composed of incongruous parts. Your belief is as worthless as it is meaningless.
It’s one thing to host a revival meeting. Christian zealots and frauds of various flavors have been doing that since Jesus rode a dinosaur into Jerusalem. But for American Taliban tyrants like Sean Feucht and Matt Shea to run their grift in Spokane amid a county-wide crisis is as insensitive as it is unforgivable. I sincerely hope reserved parking spaces will be waiting for them in the Hell I don’t believe in.
That’s an asshole move…which is pretty much par for the course for these corrupt, arrogant clowns.
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