Right-wing pastor reckons ‘uncircumcised people’ are trying to ‘steal’ the US
Self-proclaimed ‘prophet’ Hank Kunneman of One Voice Ministries (Instagram/hankkunneman_
A right-wing pastor and self-proclaimed “prophet” has made his intentions clear. He’s going to defend the United States against uncircumcised people.
Hank Kunneman of One Voice Ministries went on a bizarre political rant about the upcoming midterm elections during a Sunday worship service he was leading on 6 September, claiming that “uncircumcised, uncovenanted people” are trying to “steal” the United States, a statement that then quickly veered into attacks on transgender people, Muslims and LGBTQ+ inclusion.
“I am not going to let uncircumcised, uncovenanted people try to steal this nation that was dedicated to Jesus Christ, the God of my covenant!” Kunneman declared.
He then urged his followers to vote in the midterms, telling them to oppose “these people walking into our bathrooms dressed as a woman but you’re a dude!”
“Men, get out of women’s sports, you uncircumcised philistines!” he continued, before adding: “Islam, this nation belongs to the God that we’re in covenant with!”
The comments appear to conflate biblical references to circumcision with modern right-wing talking points about transgender people, immigration, religious identity and Christian nationalism. While Kunneman specifically invoked Islam, his use of “uncircumcised” also draws on biblical language in which not being circumcised could be used as a signifier of outsiders or people viewed as spiritually estranged from God.
It is also worth noting the rather obvious contradiction in the rhetoric. Muslim people are typically circumcised, making Kunneman’s attempt to connect “uncircumcised” people and Islam particularly nonsensical.
But the underlying message is less mysterious. Kunneman is presenting America as a nation belonging to Christians and portraying a collection of what he perceives to be outsiders, such as trans people and Muslims, as threats who need to be defeated politically.
The same white Christian nationalist ecosystem has repeatedly embraced conspiracy theories about “replacement,” DEI, immigration and LGBTQ+ people, often presenting inclusion as evidence that Christians are somehow being pushed out of the United States.
Hank Kunneman on LGBTQ+ people
This isn’t Kunneman’s first foray into bizarre reasoning against LGBTQ+ people and minority groups either.
He has previously falsely claimed that Jesus used anti-gay slurs and promoted the repeatedly debunked conspiracy theory that schools provide litter boxes for students who identify as cats. School districts and journalists have rejected this claim, but it continues to circulate in right-wing spaces.
Now, apparently, the culture war has expanded to include foreskins.
Kunneman’s message appears at its core to be a call for his followers to treat the midterms as a battle over who supposedly “belongs” in America, with trans people, Muslims and other groups cast as enemies of a country he insists was specifically dedicated to his version of Christianity.
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