The prominence of the Christian symbols revealed the faith of the gathered masses. Those rioters and insurrectionists who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Jesus’s name saw their protest as a righteous cause despite its antidemocratic nature. Authoritarian politics had merged with reactionary religion in a combustible way that threatened the foundations of American democracy.
Left out of the rationales for democratic forms of governance is the most important: this is how we practice nonviolence in the public square.