At a gathering of Christian nationalist preachers called Let Us Worship on Sunday night, Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward took to the stage with other political candidates to receive prayers and an endorsement from former Spokane Valley legislator-turned-pastor, Matt Shea.
The event came almost exactly four years after Woodward denounced what she called Shea's "divisive and extreme rhetoric and ideology." Onstage Sunday, Shea began by striking an unmistakable chord of reconciliation.
"I want you to extend your hands," Shea implored the crowd in a video of the event RANGE reviewed, “because we have an enemy we need to be fighting. His name is Satan. We don’t need to be fighting each other, amen?” The crowd shouted, “Amen.”
Woodward, her hands crossed in front of her, nodded positively.
“Xian” in the title made me think it was a Chinese fascist group.
Ha, that's great, that would never have occurred to me. I long ago got into the habit of abbreviating "X" for "Christ", as is commonly done for, say, Xmas=Christmas. We Regret The Ambiguity.
I've little doubt the mayor would be totally down with a Chinese Fascist event, as long as there was money or votes to be had from attending. Bear in mind though her one and only "qualification" for her job is that she was once a TV news anchor, so I fear that Fascism would be way, way too ideologically complex for her to get her head around. Prayers, laying-on of hands, casting-out Satans ... that's comfy, simpleton TV-actor stuff. Reading and understanding the writings of a Mussolini would be on another level entirely. And a Duce with a difficult Chinese accent? Forgeddabout it.
Thank you for explaining - I honestly wouldn’t have guessed - I was searching for the chinese connection in the article :D