One of the most disturbing elements of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol was how much Christian imagery was on display. You don’t have to watch too many video clips to see hats and flags and shirts with Christian slogans printed on them. There’s video of a group chanting “The blood of Jesus is covering this place.” There are photos of Proud Boys kneeling in prayer.

Guest Peter Manseau has been chronicling these images and stories on Twitter using the hashtag #CapitolSiegeReligion. It’s not a surprise Peter jumped into this project: He is the first-ever curator of American religious history at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington. At a time when we can’t visit museums, he’s been taking the curation work online.

He talked with host Mike Jordan Laskey about what he’s learned from this social media effort, and what American religious history can teach us about how we got to the present. In the second half of the show, they talked about Peter’s most recent book, "The Jefferson Bible: A Biography." It tells the fascinating story of Thomas Jefferson’s cut-and-paste job with the Gospels and how generations of audiences have responded to the work.

Learn more about Peter: http://www.petermanseau.com/

The compelling essay inspired by his book in The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/01/04/what-thomas-jefferson-could-never-understand-about-jesus

AMDG is a production of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.