'Don't question my faith,' Rep. Crenshaw snaps at young girl

Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) responded harshly to a young girl's question about his Christian faith at a Montgomery County Tea Party fundraiser Monday, Newsweek reports.

"[Y]ou lied about being a Christian," she reportedly said, according to Newsweek. The first part of her question is not audible in the original video Club for Growth Vice President Scott T. Parkinson shared on Twitter.

The questioner then read a quote from Crenshaw's March 2020 appearance on Jocko Willink's podcast: "The important thing is that we have societal hero archetypes that we look up to. Jesus is a hero archetype. Superman is a hero archetype. Real characters, too."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

The questioner said she couldn't "wrap my head around this."

"I can help you," Crenshaw responded testily. "Put a period after 'Jesus,' and don't question my faith."

One person can be heard on the video saying "Wow!" in disbelief. Another exclaims, "You moron!" while still another adds, "You don't talk to a kid like that!"

Crenshaw's comments on the podcast appears to have its source in the thought of clinical psychologist and author Jordan Peterson.

"I have a whole chapter [in my book, Fortitude] on heroism — and frankly I got some of that philosophy from you — on how to build hero archetypes," Crenshaw said in an appearance on Peterson's podcast earlier this month.

Peterson has referred to Jesus as the ultimate hero archetype but remains agnostic on the questions of Jesus' divinity and resurrection.

Ironically, this incident took place the night before some Christians celebrate the Feast of the Confession of St. Peter. The feast commemorates the Apostle Peter's declaration that Jesus is "the Christ, the Son of the living God" in response to Jesus' question "Who do you say that I am?"

Crenshaw is a Methodist.

Explore More

Grayson Quay was the weekend editor at TheWeek.com. His writing has also been published in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Modern Age, The American Conservative, The Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.