On Tuesday morning, the far-right Catholic media outlet Church Militant published a video editorial suggesting that violence may be necessary, and justified, if the country's divisions can't be addressed through political means.
Describing Election Day as a "day of reckoning for the communists who have seized so much control of the country and wreaked so much havoc on America," Church Militant founder Michael Voris warned that, in the "all-out war going on between the forces of darkness who have complete control of one political party and partial control over the other," conservatives might have "no choice but to fight back violently if needs be." That shouldn't be the first resort, Voris went on to say, but it "must always be an option."
Now we are in a pitched battle in the political arena — the last remaining line before all-out civil war. If you love peace and you don't want to see violence, then you better get involved on the political front. And let's be clear about this, for all the phony or delusional pacifists out there: violence in and of itself is not immoral. It depends on the circumstances and sometimes even, it's necessary: self defense, the subduing of an aggressor threatening the life of your family, the Son of God in the temple violently whipping the money changers.
The idea that violence must always, at all times, always be avoided is not Catholic. Remember the Crusades? Sometimes violence must be unleashed to protect the innocent. But lethal violence — because of its drastic, you-can-never-come-back-from-it consequences — must never be the first resort. In fact it must always be the last resort, and then not be allowed to turn into an orgy of dominance over the foe. Nonetheless, violence does — must always be an option. Welcome to a fallen world.
Church Militant has castigated the Catholic hierarchy as an "international crime syndicate" or the "lavender mafia," and billed itself as the home of the "red-pilled laity."
For years, Church Militant has served as a bombastic firehose of criticism directed at the Catholic church hierarchy and its fellow conservative Catholics, whom the outlet often castigates as milquetoast wimps too cowardly to fight a corrupt church leadership it has described as an "international crime syndicate" or a "lavender mafia." Amid the bitter 2020 election campaign, Church Militant began to describe itself as the home of "the red-pilled laity" and warned that Catholics who failed to vote for Donald Trump because he was too vulgar couldn't complain when they were "herded onto the trains headed for the camps" or "gun[ned] down in the streets."
In 2021, Church Militant welcomed disgraced "alt-lite" commentator Milo Yiannopoulos into the organization, and this April, the outlet scored a long, sit-down interview with far-right Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, in which the congresswoman suggested that Satan was controlling the church, as evidenced by the existence of Catholic charities that help immigrants and refugees. (Since Yiannopoulos had facilitated Greene's appearance last February at the annual conference of the white nationalist America First/"groyper" movement, and then interned for her this summer, it's reasonable to speculate that he was involved in brokering her interview with Church Militant.)
All of this follows the outlet's longstanding promotion of figures on the far right, including former Trump campaign manager Steve Bannon, Jan. 6 planner Ali Alexander, Gab founder and CEO Andrew Torba, and Joseph Flynn, brother of QAnon hero Michael Flynn.
In a two-part investigation this May, Salon reported that Church Militant also has a web of connections — including direct ties through its staff — to the "groyper" movement, led by the virulently racist, antisemitic and misogynist live-stream celebrity Nick Fuentes. The outlet has praised the groyper movement in interviews, published ads seeking to recruit groyper followers for its activist arm, and last spring made plans to join forces with groypers to counter pro-choice demonstrations.
One groyper-aligned figure that Church Militant has elevated, far-right live-streamer John Doyle, helped lead an ugly protest outside an LGBTQ bar in Dallas that was hosting an all-ages drag show for Pride month this June. During the protest, local activists video-recorded Doyle — who has referred to himself as both a "white nationalist" and a "Christian fascist" — suggesting that Texas law enforcement should enter the bar and "put bullets in all their heads," adding, "They'd be rewarded for it. That's what the badge is for."
In May, Voris acknowledged in emailed comments to Salon that "Church Militant might partner with anyone in a particular effort to achieve a limited and shared goal," such as opposing abortion. He continued, "it should not be surprising that two (or more) organizations that hold GENERAL views of the current cultural crisis would experience SOME crossover of ideas."
Today's video-editorial from Voris suggests the crossover of ideas isn't limited to social issues, but a growing acceptance of political violence as well.
While Voris notes at multiple points in his commentary that politics should function as "a buffer" between political disputes and "a violent melee," he also repeatedly warns that this buffer might fail. Should conservatives win the midterms, he continued, they must take advantage of the victory to push for a complete, no-exceptions national abortion ban, to fight same-sex marriage and the "polluting" of children's minds "under the guise of education." He went on:
For those of you who still think violence is never an option for a follower of Christ when defending the innocent, would you not take up arms yourself against the destruction of a young soul if that was the only option left to you? …
Fallen men will always have people who choose to embrace the darkness and destroy the innocent. That's why laws are instituted among men. But when the evil ones seize control and exercise raw political power to destroy those laws erected to secure not just rights but God-given rights, then the people have no choice but to fight back, violently if needs be.
