Today I Learned About Jesus Saves Racing (And No, It Wasn t A NASCAR Team)
Photo: John Minihan/Evening Standard/Hulton Archive (Getty Images)
I like to consider myself something of a 1970s Formula One encyclopedia, but if there’s one person in this world who can outdo me, it’s my good pal Josh Wilcock, who taught me about a fun little racing team called Jesus Saves Racing.
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I stumbled on a ‘Jesus Saves’ sponsor in a photo from the 1975 British Grand Prix while hunting for a photo of an American race car driver (which is the header photo for this story). After posting it on Twitter, Wilcock responded with a photo that completely changed the course of my day.
Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump protest outside the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C. Demonstrators breached security and entered the Capitol as Congress debated the 2020 presidential election Electoral Vote Certification. | ALEX EDELMAN/AFP via Getty Images
Hundreds of evangelical Christian leaders signed a letter this week decrying Christian Nationalism” as “heretical and antithetical to the teachings of Jesus,” saying it played a role in the storming of the U.S. Capitol last month.
Over 400 pastors and faith leaders signed a lengthy letter released Wednesday on saynotochristiannationalism.org that describes Christian nationalism as a version of American nationalism that is trying to camouflage itself as Christianity.”
A Capitol-Offense
By now, the disgraceful attempted insurrection at the US Capital needs no introduction. The events of that day reverberated around the world and shook the most stout-hearted believer in Western democracy.
By the time this article is published, it’s likely that much more chaos, bloodshed, and futile-fury will have been unleashed across America.
Much has already been blamed on ‘why’ these events took place. Each purported cause may have played some part, but it’s easy to see how religious-political fervour played its own role in this ‘insurrection-infection.’ And the ‘Jesus Saves’ banners which flew alongside the mob Capital rioters on that infamous day aren’t the only telling-indication why.
When a violent mob attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, it was their self-identification as Christians that struck at the heart of the Baptist leader and religious thinker Russell Moore and led to his decision to speak out against President Trump.