If It Feels Like We Are In A War, Its Because We Are
A Second Civil War Has Already Begun
Consider….just this year
On June 19, Trenton Abston allegedly stalked and attempted to confront and alledgedly kidnap Memphis Mayor Paul Young at his home with a Taser.
Also on June 19, Congressman Max Miller (R‑OH) reported being “run off the road” by an individual waving a Palestinian flag and directing antisemitic threats toward him and his family
On June 14, Vance Boelter targeted Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota—a clear act of religious-political violence.
On June 1, Mohamed Sabry Soliman used a homemade flamethrower and Molotov cocktails against participants in a pro-hostage solidarity walk in Boulder, CO.
On May 17, Guy Edward Bartkus detonated a car bomb at a Palm Springs fertility clinic, injuring four; he killed himself in the blast. His attack was driven by radical anti‑natalism.
In May, a man gunned down a pair of workers from the Israeli Embassy outside an event in Washington D.C.
In April, a man set fire to the Pennsylvania governor’s residence while Mr. Shapiro and his family were asleep inside.
Jamison Wagner launched an arson attack on a Tesla showroom in Bernalillo NM., in February and the Republican Party of New Mexico office in Albuquerque in March.
Political and ideologically driven violence (left and right) has been on the rise for a long time but seems to be picking up in frequency and intensity with every passing day. In 2024, the US Capitol Police’s Threat Assessment Section (TAS) investigated 9,474 concerning statements and direct threats against Members of Congress, including their families and staff. This is one of the highest number of threats recorded.
A Lawfare report describes a sharp rise in partisan extremist plots since 2016, including attempted attacks on Democratic offices, kidnappings, and shootings, motivated by conspiracy theories and election denialism.
Just Call It What It Is
The United States may not have a Mason-Dixon Line drawn in blood, nor states openly seceding, but to suggest that we are not already engaged in a civil war is to cling to a 19th-century definition of conflict. The evidence is mounting that America is tearing itself apart. We are already in a civil war. We just aren’t calling it that yet.
Well, let’s call it what it is…we are in a “civil war.”
Divides within the U.S. are no longer just spirited debates or disagreements within the traditional democratic parameters. They are deeply entrenched chasms that cut through families, institutions, states, counties, and communities. Political polarization has grown so extreme that bipartisan cooperation is now as rare as the Blanco Blind Salamander. According to a 2024 poll from the Institute of Policy and Public Service, shows 80% of Republicans and Democrats see the other party as not just wrong, but as a threat to the nation’s well-being.
This isn’t about differing policies on taxes or infrastructure. This is existential. Each side believes the other wants to destroy the country they love. Political opponents are now treated as enemies, not fellow citizens. And members of both parties are looking over their shoulders these days and increasing personal security.
Apocalyptic Visions and Divine Mandates
This ideological war has merged with religious fervor, especially within far-right evangelical communities. When some no longer view their political beliefs as opinions but as divine mandates, extreme action becomes justified. The white Christian nationalist movement, once fringe, has moved into the mainstream, infiltrating school boards, local governments, and even the halls of Congress.
Figures like Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson from Louisiana or Marjorie Taylor Greene in Georgia openly endorse the idea that America is a Christian nation under siege from secularists, immigrants, and “globalists.” The “spiritual warfare” rhetoric from independent charismatic “apostles and prophets” has become literal and widespread. In this context, politics is not just policy, it is salvation or damnation.
No middle ground, no compromise, no nuance.
Theocratic ideology, armed with modern media and growing militancy, is finding common company with paramilitary action much of which is steeped in white supremacy. A significant portion of these groups view themselves as God’s warriors in a cultural Armageddon. An example would be the Oath-Keepers.
However, perhaps more deadly are the individual, religiously radicalized Christian zealots such as Vance Boelter, who posed as a policeman at 3:00 in the morning at a Minnesota state representative’s home, and opened fire on Melissa Hortman and her husband, killing them….all in the name of God.
The radicalization of theological ideas such as “dominion theology,” “spiritual warfare,” “Seven Mountain Mandate” and religious devotion to an extreme gun culture within many churches, gives a green light for self-appointed Christian assassins to take matters in their own hands. Boelter isn’t the first and will not be the last “Christian hitman.”
Real-World Violence Is Already Here
What makes this an actual civil war isn’t just rhetoric—it’s the blood already spilled. The January 6th, 2021, attack on the Capitol was not a riot. It was an organized, ideological attempt to overturn democratic governance. It was a battle cry for a movement that sees violence as a legitimate political tool.
The threat didn’t disappear with Donald Trump leaving office. Armed militias like the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys have metastasized into a decentralized insurgency, encouraged by a mix of online radicalization, grievance politics, and religious zealotry. Bomb plots, attempted kidnappings, and politically motivated shootings, from the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh to the Buffalo supermarket massacre, are no longer isolated incidents. They are connected flashpoints in a larger, simmering war.
This type of violence has only increased since Donald Trump took office for a second term in January 2025. Pardoning the January 6th rioters only has encouraged more extreme behavior. Cynthia Miller-Idriss, Professor at American University and an expert on violent extremism, spoke on the rise of recent violence:
Practically speaking, the biggest problem that we're seeing is the use of language that demonizes the other. And this happens both on the Republican and the Democratic side, but particularly using language like describing the other as evil, as demonic, as an existential threat to the country, to the future of democracy, or as the enemy within, to use language that President Trump has used in his campaign period of time leading up to the election.
That's really the kind of language that can make it seem like someone feels like they have to take action, they're compelled to take what they think is heroic action or patriotic action.
Although political violence isn’t new in US history, the frequency of attacks is astounding. Miller-Idriss went on to compare the current violence with that of earlier eras:
We have a long, dark history of political violence, and we have had periods of time like this before, when you think about the assassinations of Martin Luther King or Kennedy, right?
The political assassinations of the 1960s is the kind of thing that we're seeing now. I think what's different is that this is part of an uptick that dates back about 20 years. We now see a 2000 percent increase in targeted violent plots over the past 20, 25 years. That's now three plots a day, according to data from the University of Maryland START Center.
That's different than what we saw 20 years ago. So we're in a cycle in which this isn't the only time we have had it, but we're definitely in a more dangerous and high-risk environment for political violence.
According to the FBI and Department of Homeland Security, the greatest domestic terror threat comes from white supremacist and anti-government extremist groups many of whom explicitly see themselves as soldiers in a war against a “corrupt” federal system. In the minds of many of these soldiers, this is indeed a civil war.
The (Dis)Information War: Weaponizing Reality
This civil war isn’t just being fought with violence and bullets only. It is being fought with bytes. America’s fragmented media ecosystem has created opposing realities. In one America, Donald Trump won the 2020 election. In another, he attempted a coup. In one version, vaccines are life-saving public health tools. In another, they’re a globalist plot for population control.
Disinformation is no longer a byproduct of war; it is the war. Social media algorithms reward outrage, while political leaders exploit it. Civility is punished. Radicalization is monetized. Compromise is a dirty word. The enemy are demonic.
When citizens cannot agree on the same basic facts about who won an election, whether climate change is real, or what counts as truth, governing becomes impossible. At that point, civil war isn’t on the horizon, it is already in our homes digitally.
Disinformation is false or misleading information that can distort our understanding of reality. It can lead to psychological disorientation because our minds are constantly trying to make sense of the world around us, and disinformation introduces a "fog of confusion.” Indeed, that is the intent.
Certain groups, such as older adults with lower digital literacy and young people without media education, may be particularly vulnerable to the negative impacts of disinformation. And it can distort our understanding of events, contributing to further polarization and societal division.
Truth and reality are always early casualties in any war and this one is no different.
What This War Looks Like
This civil war won’t have a Gettysburg or an Antietam. It won’t have any generals on horseback. It looks like a hundred acts of political violence, a million daily digital skirmishes, and a nation where people fear displaying bumper stickers for fear of being attacked in parking lots. It’s a war where school board meetings require armed security, and election workers resign due to threats against their lives.
There won’t be massive property destruction or bombs flying into your neighborhood. But the impact can still be devastating.
This war will have casualties: mental, emotional, and physical. Consider the toll this civil war is already taking on the well-being of Americans:
Increased Anxiety and Stress: The constant exposure to political conflict, uncertainty, and fear of violence can cause heightened anxiety and stress levels.
Depression and Hopelessness: Witnessing or experiencing violence can lead to feelings of despair, sadness, and depression.
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Direct exposure to traumatic events like violence can trigger PTSD symptoms, including nightmares, flashbacks, sleep disorders, and avoidance behaviors.
Emotional Exhaustion: The continuous barrage of negative political news and debates can lead to emotional burnout and fatigue.
Interpersonal Conflicts: Ideological differences can strain relationships with friends, family, and colleagues, causing emotional stress and even exacerbating existing mental health issues.
Scapegoating and Hatred: Collective stress can increase the tendency to blame others, leading to the scapegoating of specific groups and fostering hatred and prejudice.
Increased Emotional Reactivity: Daily political events and heightened tensions can lead to increased emotional reactivity and difficulty regulating emotions.
Violence and bullets may not be flying right outside your window daily, however, the political hostility, hate language, name-calling, intimidation, scapegoating, personal conflict and fear of being harmed is taking a toll. This civil war will produce its share of PTSD.
Where Do We Go From Here?
Denying that there is a war only gives it more power. It grows in the shadows of our denial, feeding off our belief that “it can’t happen here.” But it is happening. The question is no longer whether the U.S. is heading toward civil war. The question is whether we can find a way to pull back from its full eruption and devastating impact.
Doing so will require more than policy tweaks. It will require moral courage—by leaders who stop chasing viral clips and start defusing bombs of rage. It will require media reform, civic education, and cross-ideological dialogue. And it will require acknowledging the war for what it is before it becomes something that can no longer be contained.
In short it will require a group of leaders across the political spectrum to act like adults, stand up publicly and condemn the violence and advocate reforms that will lead us back to a civil society.
Those reforms must include strengthening our democratic institutions, bolstering the rule of law, deradicalizing our political culture, regulating social media algorithms to reduce intentional outrage and radicalization, reinvesting in cross-partisan community life, addressing economic inequality, rebuilding trust in our institutions, and reforming our electoral system to assure that big/dark money doesn’t continue to dominate politics.
This is an ambitious program that goes beyond mere policy or partisanship, but if we are going to back away from the abyss of civil war, it will take heroic and courageous leadership harkening back to great leaders of the past: Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Churchill.
Civil wars don’t start with declarations. They start with silence, division, and the steady normalization of hatred. And if you listen closely, the guns of “Ft. Sumter” have already been fired. Who will be the adults to stand up and call for a truce, and direct us in another direction?
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"A Second Civil War Has Already Begun" - It's a fact and Jan 6th was the 21st century Fort Sumter.
Hard to see a way out when big money, big guns, and spineless judges/politicians seem to be running everything and traditional Christian teachings are too "woke".