SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Calls for atonement today on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. - not to mark Yom Kippur, but calls by Christian leaders urging what they call Esthers to make amends. We're going to turn now to NPR domestic extremism correspondent Odette Yousef. Odette, thanks so much for joining us.

ODETTE YOUSEF, BYLINE: Sure thing.

SIMON: The organizer of this event called for a million women to gather at the Mall. How do they use the term Esthers? What's that?

YOUSEF: So to understand this, we have to look to the Hebrew Bible. This is a reference to the Book of Esthers, which tells the story set in the fifth century BCE of Esther, the Jewish wife of the Persian king. And according to this story, Esther became aware that one of the King's courtiers was organizing a pogrom against the Jews. And she's urged by her relative, a man named Mordecai to use her position of influence to thwart that plot, and she does. So today's rally is happening on the Jewish Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, and it's calling on Christian women, the Esthers, and the men in their lives, the Mordecais, to fast and pray and gather on the Mall for the deliverance of the nation. And really, Scott, this is the national culmination of dozens of state-based rallies that were held back in the spring at state capitals under the tagline, don't mess with our kids. And those had attendance that ranged from the hundreds to the thousands.

SIMON: And what do they want to communicate with that slogan - don't mess with our kids?

YOUSEF: Yeah, it's not very specific, right? And I think maybe that's by design to sort of roll in people who've been activated around several disparate issues in the last few years. So we're expecting the Moms for Liberty types, who've built influence through anti-LGBTQ campaigns. We'll also likely see people who want to see a national abortion ban. And then there are people who believe in the Qanon conspiracy theory. I spoke with Matthew Taylor. He's a senior scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian and Jewish Studies, and he says that these narratives that inspire fear over children being abused can be dangerous.

MATTHEW TAYLOR: The way that they are ratcheting up the rhetoric about the threat to children, in and of itself, I think, is dangerous in the way that it creates a permission structure that says, we have to do whatever we can to stop this group because otherwise, our children will suffer or die because of them.

YOUSEF: So it'll be interesting, Scott, to see how this energy that was really developed in the last four years at the local level, with these school board fights and library fights, translates when it comes together nationally in these weeks before the election.

SIMON: And who organized this event?

YOUSEF: The organizers are Jenny Donnelly and Lou Engle. Both of them are connected to a network known as the New Apostolic Reformation or NAR. And the NAR is a collection of nondenominational charismatic churches and leaders. Some of them call themselves prophets and apostles. And this network has been very closely tied in with President - former President Trump. And Taylor, the religious scholar that we heard from earlier, says that when Trump became president, he played a key role in sort of shifting the seat of power within the religious right to emphasize this NAR network.

TAYLOR: The last four years has in many ways completely changed the landscape of the religious right in America in the Trump era to the point where many of the most active religious leaders in our politics right now are people that 90% of the country have never heard of.

YOUSEF: So, again, this event isn't explicitly political, but Taylor says that in 2020, there were similar gatherings that they held in D.C. ahead of that election, and that helped build energy for Trump, and after election day, that energy was directed towards Stop the Steal efforts, and, of course, ultimately January 6. You know, political violence researchers this time don't expect another January 6 at the Capitol. But there is closer attention now to the narratives that are unifying Trump supporters and the question of where that energy will go if he loses.

SIMON: NPR'S Odette Yousef - thanks so much for being with us, Odette.

YOUSEF: Thank you.

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