The man who prosecutors have charged with assassinating Melissa Hortman, a Democratic Minnesota state representative, and her husband Mark Hortman, once said in a sermon that his religious awakening came when he was 17 years old, working next to a man who 'talked about God all of the time' at a vegetable canning factory. Over the next four decades of alleged shooter Vance Boelter's life, while working in the food industry, local government, and private security, his religious worldview appeared to incorporate fringe theological ideas that are often associated with so-called charismatic Christianity and Christian Nationalism, a movement that's captured the American religious right, has been seen as a key driver behind the January 6 Capitol riot, and currently enjoys an outsized influence on current Trump administration personnel and policy. Charismatic Christianity is a broad movement of evangelical Christians who are associated with belief in modern supernatural experiences, like...
learn more
