Righteous Violence? What I Heard Inside the ‘Holy Wars’ Conference
Inside the Christian nationalist “Holy Wars” conference in Franklin, Tennessee
(Photo: Phil Williams)
By Phil Williams - Posted at Confront the Hate - Find the Hope:
Published October 27, 2026
FRANKLIN, Tenn. — As a child raised in a fundamentalist Christian home, I had often looked into the mirror and seen one of God’s heroic soldiers.I knew songs of Christian warfare by heart, and I belted them out as I marched toward imaginary battles in which I was often the victor, on other occasions melodramatically giving my life for the cause of Christ.
“Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before!”
Even more heroically, there was the “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”
“As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free, while God is marching on.”
Those childhood memories flooded my mind as I recently attended the Christian nationalist “Holy Wars” conference in Franklin, Tennessee. The gathering was sponsored by the CrossPolitic podcast, which is part of the Moscow, Idaho, network of Pete Hegseth’s spiritual adviser, Pastor Doug Wilson.
During the opening session, which drew about 800 people from across the country, my initial instinct was to view such battle hymns as spiritual metaphor, as well as a nod to the culture wars of the Religious Right.
Then, I started digging into the black swag bag that had been provided to those of us who had shelled out the $250 registration fee.
There was a lapel pen with a cross and American flag, which conference organizer Gabe Rench encouraged participants to proudly wear. There were brochures for Christian financial planners, Christian greeting cards, and a book on liberty that had been published by a firearms accessories company.
But what really captured my attention was a slick, one-page flyer from a new Nevada publishing company, Polemic Press, that touted a newly released book, Righteous Violence: Debunking Christian Pacifism.
The flyer offered the provocative question, “Is violence ever justified for the Christian?”
