(LifeSiteNews) — A controversial report published by a liberal non-profit founded by a Jewish intellectual appears to be part of a larger effort to cancel the phrase “Christ is King.”
On Thursday, March 13, the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) released a 20-page study titled “Thy Name in Vain: How Online Extremists Hijacked ‘Christ is King’.”
The NCRI was founded in 2018 by Joel Finkelstein, a research fellow at Rutgers who previously worked for the Anti-Defamation League. The NCRI purports to expose “the spread of hostile ideological content” online by working to “identify and forecast cyber-social threats.”
Finkelstein co-authored the paper with Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson, along with 11 other academics, the majority of whom are Jewish. Peterson has vociferously defended the paper on social media.
The study claims that the term “Christ the King” has been “weaponized” by “political extremists” who are using it to advance “exclusionary and hateful narratives.”
“Extremists in America have begun distorting the meaning of the phrase and [are] leveraging it as a coded symbol … to destabilize American politics, inflame tensions within civil society, and encourage hatred towards minorities,” it reads.
To support its thesis, the report includes screen shots of X posts published by Catholic influencers Candace Owens, Jack Posobiec, and Nick Fuentes, among others.
Owens was fired from The Daily Wire last year for having promoted the phrase. Daily Wire host Andrew Klavan argued that was an “antisemitic trope” and that it was being “spit at” Ben Shapiro, who is Jewish.
Bishop Joseph Strickland is also mentioned in the study. He is inaccurately described as a “former” Catholic bishop.
While Strickland was dismissed from his post as Bishop of Tyler, Texas in November 2023 he has not been excommunicated or defrocked from the priesthood.
Johnnie Moore appears to be the study’s only Christian co-author, as Peterson has not stated that he believes Christ is the savior of mankind. An Evangelical, Moore previously served as the head of the U.S. Commission on International Freedom. He also worked at Liberty University in Virginia. In 2017, he received a “medal of valor” award from the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish organization.
Moore has taken on an active role in promoting the NCRI’s study on social media. He has defended it in the face of massive blowback from Owens, Posobiec, and dozens of other Christians.
“The term CHRIST IS KING … is being hijacked by antisemitic extremists to manipulate Christians,” Moore claimed Thursday.
‼️I need to warn you about something! The term CHRIST IS KING has been a declaration of shared Christian values for generations, but shocking research by @ncri_io at @RutgersU compiled in a report I co-authored with Dr. @jordanbpeterson demonstrates that this iconic phrase is… pic.twitter.com/crYbYwT0BA
— Rev. Johnnie Moore ن (@JohnnieM) March 13, 2025
Far from being a “neutral” third-party research center, the NCRI is tied to several left-wing groups and has promoted many Deep State talking points since its inception.
In 2021, Finkelstein appeared on 60 Minutes to criticize “misinformation” about COVID shots and mask wearing. His group also alleged that “Russian propagandists” were to blame for the “disinformation” taking place.
In 2019, the NCRI partnered with the radical anti-Defamation League (ADL). A press release issued at the time explained that they were going to “produce a series of reports that take an in-depth look into how extremism and hate spread on social media.”
The ADL is a Jewish pressure group that has defamed Traditional Catholics and attacked the Latin Mass for many years. Finkelstein worked as a Research Fellow for the ADL from 2018 until 2020. Moore himself has served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the ADL in Los Angeles. Moore has also worked with the ADL’s Middle East Task Force.
The NCRI has been supported by other left-wing and Zionist groups. Mint News reports that it has received over $1 million from the Israel on Campus Coalition (ICC), a group that seeks to spread Zionism at U.S. colleges. The Grayzone has also found that the NCRI listed George Soros’ Open Society Foundation as an affiliate until it deleted that section from its website in 2021.
The NCRI’s current website includes a list of strategic advisers. Princeton Professor Robert George is among them. George is a Catholic and has ties to many influential groups and prominent Catholics involved in politics in Washington D.C. He has spent many years promoting Catholic-Jewish dialogue.
A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, George seems to have met Finkelstein during his college years, as Finkelstein attended Princeton. Finkelstein also served as a visiting scholar for Princeton’s James Madison Program, which is lead George.
George shared an article on his X account this week calling on Catholics to “stand in solidarity with our Jewish brethren.” Although he didn’t share the NCRI report, he dd share an essay written by Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York. The essay was published one day before the NCRI study was released. It rebuked “those on social media who call themselves Christians but spread hate against Jews.” The timing of the article’s publication raises the question of whether it was coordinated to amplify the NCRI’s message.
One day before the NCRI report on Christ the King was released, an essay written by Cardinal Dolan was published on Bari Weiss’ website. It condemned “those on social media who call themselves Christians but spread hate against Jews.” That article has since been re-shared by the… pic.twitter.com/FJzE6DXP4Q
— Stephen Kokx (@StephenKokx) March 14, 2025
Owens has been one of the loudest voices pushing back against the NCRI’s report. On her podcast yesterday, she bluntly stated that it was “funded by Jews to make Christians war with one another during the Lenten season.”
Candace Owens: “This was a study funded by Jews to make Christians war with one another during the Lenten season.” https://t.co/HgQDcUx04y
— Stephen Kokx (@StephenKokx) March 14, 2025
Taylor Marshall noted that the phase Christ is King is “anti-Talmudic” while telling Owens in a follow up X post that the NCRI’s “attack” is similar to how the devil tempted Christ in the desert while he fasted for 40 days.
Yep. The Gospel this past Sunday was a reminder to steel ourselves against this attack.
✝️
— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) March 14, 2025
Conservative influencer Jack Posobic also hit back against the report with a string of X posts.
“They’re trying to get Christ is King labeled hate speech. It’s so clear what is going on here,” he said.
They’re trying to get Christ is King labeled hate speech
It’s so clear what is going on here pic.twitter.com/IdSxLvMmAI
— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) March 13, 2025
The Woke Lite has launched an attack on Christians and the phrase Christ is King during Lent
It is not a coincidence
It’s completely coordinated
— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) March 13, 2025
Scores of other social media users published “Christ is King” themed posts as well, including Gab CEO Andrew Torba and activist Dave Reilly.
Christ is King https://t.co/HAU1bm5ewd
— Andrew Torba (@BasedTorba) March 13, 2025
Good Morning!
CHRIST IS STILL KING! pic.twitter.com/Ic77JiZ1dP
— David J. Reilly 🇺🇸 (@realDaveReilly) March 14, 2025
The phrase “Christ the King” has its roots in Pope Pius XI’s 1925 encyclical Quas Primas. In that document, the pope explains that “rulers and princes are bound to give public honor and obedience to Christ” because “his kingly dignity demands that the State should take account of the commandments of God and of Christian principles, both in making laws and in administering justice, and also in providing for the young a sound moral education.”
