Eli Crane, Congressional Christian Nationalist Caucus
Congressman Eli Crane tells his young followers that their political opponents are an evil enemy that works for The Devil.
Crane wants to use the power of the federal government to force Americans into observing his kind of religion.
Learn more about the Congressional Christian Nationalist Caucus
Eli Crane represents the 2nd district of Arizona in the U.S. House of Representatives. That district covers a huge area going from the south rim of the Grand Canyon, through Flagstaff, and over to the eastern border with New Mexico.
Congressman Crane is supposed to represent all the people living in his district, but he shows a special preference for Christians, promoting their religious agenda over the constitutional rights of everybody else.
Eli Crane has sponsored legislation in the US House of Representatives that would officially designate September 12 every year as The Day Of The Bible. H.J. Res 118 calls upon all Americans to “reflect on the enduring impact of the Bible on our shared cultural and historical identity”.
The Christian Bible does not represent a shared cultural and historical identity for Americans. It only represents the culture and history of 60 percent of our country. 40 percent of Americans are not Christians.
Why does Eli Crane want the US federal government to start telling people which religious books to venerate, and when to do it? What does he think makes it the business of the government to direct people’s decisions about religion?
Eli Crane is for Big Government programs, not to give people homes, not to feed the hungry, not to give medicine to the sick, but to preach religion at everybody.
As a member of the Congressional Christian Nationalist Caucus, Eli Crane wants to erase the diversity of American identity, forcing all Americans under the authority of Christian Nationalism. On The Day Of the Bible, the federal government of the USA would use its influence every year to coerce state and local governments across the nation to participate in a nationwide government program to encourage Christian religious worship. The federal government holiday would also advocate a Christian Nationalist pseudohistory through “programs and activities that highlight the Bible’s significance in our Nation’s past and present”, asserting falsely that the Christian Bible has been at the center of the history of the United States from the very beginning.
In fact, Christianity and the Christian Bible have been at the margins of American history from the very beginning. The founders of the United States wrote the Constitution in such a way as to keep religion out of government, because they were familiar with the long history of violence and persecution by Christian Nationalist governments in Europe.
The Bible is important to Christian Americans, of course, but 40% of Americans identify as non-Christian. In a democracy, government works equally for everyone, regardless of religious identity.
As a member of the Congressional Christian Nationalist Caucus, Eli Crane is working to undermine American democracy. He’s supporting efforts to replace freedom of religion with a Christian Nationalist theocracy, a harsh, unforgiving regime under which Christians will enjoy an elite status and use the power of government to force their religion on everyone else.
If Eli Crane really believes in the power of the Bible, why does he think it needs federal government support? If Eli Crane truly thinks that the Christian god is in charge of American history, why does Crane think that his god needs help from the US Congress? If Eli Crane actually had confidence in the persuasiveness of Christian doctrine, he wouldn’t seek to get special federal government laws to give Christianity elite legal status while repressing other religions.
It’s clear that Eli Crane doesn’t believe in freedom of religion. As a member of Congress, Eli Crane never lifts a finger to advocate for any religion other than Christianity. He has never supported a National Koran Day. Eli Crane has never demanded that Congress declare a National Torah Day. There is no legislation from Eli Crane to establish a National Baghavad Gita Day or National Kanjur Day. He has never written legislation to establish a National Day Of The Book of Mormon.
Eli Crane wants the federal government to help Christianity only. He wants the federal government to make religious decisions for Americans. Eli Crane simply doesn’t trust American voters, and he doesn’t trust Christianity to be able to survive on its own, without federal government subsidies.
Christian Nationalists like Congressman Eli Crane want to give undemocratic power to Christian churches with right wing ideologies, creating an America that is more religious and less free.
I wonder what Eli Crane would think if we used his National Bible Day to promote a different version of the Bible - The Demonic Bible. It’s a version of the Christian Bible, but with commentary offered from the perspective of a demon. There’s an angel in the Demonic Bible too, talking back to the demon, representing the perspective of conventional biblical interpretation.
Would Representative Crane support legislation pushing public schools teach from the Demonic Bible, or does he only support conservative, right wing versions of the Bible? You know the answer to that question. Eli Crane will never endorse legislation declaring a National Day of the Demonic Bible.
Eli Crane seeks an America dominated by blind faith and obedience to the federal government’s officially recognized religion. He wants bureaucrats to control people’s faith. He doesn’t think Americans should be allowed to figure things out for themselves. He wants Americans to submit to his religion and its god. Crane declared to a political rally organized by Turning Point Action in 2024:
“God is for you, but this story is not about you. Why is that important? I’ll tell you why it’s important, because once you understand that this story isn’t about you, and it’s about Him, and it’s about our lord and savior, it makes it really easy to quit worrying… and it makes it easy to wake up every single day saying, ‘All right, lord, this is what you’ve given me. What do you want me to do with it?’”
Eli Crane believes that his political enemies are not just people he disagrees with, but are servants of an evil spirit he calls The Devil. Eli Crane believes that people who disagree with his politics are evil, and consort with evil spirits. Crane told political activists at Turning Point Action:
“Why does every epic story that we all love have an enemy and a villain? Because yours does. John 10:10 is really clear about this, that the Thief has come to kill, steal, and destroy. Verse Peter 5:8 is also very clear about this. It says, ‘Be alert and of sober mind because your enemy The Devil prowls the earth like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.’ I know, because I see it too. We’re watching our country be devoured, stolen, killed and destroyed, and everythin that you see has a spiritual foundation to it. Once it gets up to us in Washington, it’s been in culture for a very long time. I tell you that, you young people, because this enemy that I speak of, he wants to destroy you too. He wants to take you out… He has a thousand different ways to take you out… You can help us save this country, but you do have to know you do have an enemy, and you have to act like it.”
With speeches like these, Congressman Eli Crane is encouraging the rise of a dangerous, violent political culture in America. Eli Crane tells his young followers that their non-Christian neighbors are in league with The Devil. He tells his followers to treat Democrats as a demonic enemy.
Is it any wonder, with Eli Crane as part of the Republican-controlled Congress, that we are now seeing the American nation split apart into warring factions, with the federal government sending the military into American cities, sending masked secret police into people’s homes, ripping parents away from their children, sending people off into prison camps without any due process of law?
With Congressman Eli Crane pushing young Americans to see their neighbors as their enemies, and doing it in the name of Jesus, the gloves are off, and it’s the American people who are going to get hurt.