When two members of Congress shared images of their well-armed families gathered in front of Christmas trees recently, many assumed it was merely an act of provocation, a loaded gesture designed to exasperate opponents and excite supporters. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), responding to the photographs posted by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), asked on Twitter, “Tell me again where Christ said ‘use the commemoration of my birth to flex violent weapons for personal political gain’?”
Others, however, saw in the photos something worth emulating. A week into the controversy, the Republican mayor of Maury County, Tenn., Andy Ogles, posted his own fortified family portrait to Facebook, commenting with a line often (dubiously) credited to George Washington: “The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference — they deserve a place of honor with all that’s good.”
No matter their intended effect, the photos represent a tradition far older than our current penchant for political trolling — a tradition that, like it or not, is part of widely held interpretations of the upcoming holiday and the beliefs of many who observe it. That is the tradition of Muscular Christianity.
At the heart of both the outrage and the delight inspired by these Yuletide pictures was not just a surprising display of firepower, but an aspect of American religion that is unsettling to those outside while commonplace from within. They represent a shift inside one community that may have broader implications, as previously subtle influences of firearms on faith become impossible to ignore.
The photographs themselves draw on a trend that stretches back at least a decade. Nevada politician Michele Fiore shared a similar image in 2015, and even then it was far from an outlier. Starting in 2010, the Scottsdale Gun Club in Arizona invited patrons “looking for a fun and safe way to express their holiday spirit and passion for firearms” to pose for holiday photos with an arsenal that included pistols, AK-47s and grenade launchers. The “Santa and Machine Guns” event drew crowds and national media attention, resulting in hundreds of Christmas-card-ready tableaux that caused a stir when they appeared online.