I have a lot of thoughts to flesh out later, but this is one of the more disturbing things I’ve read in awhile: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/09/us/evangelicals-trump-christianity.html#click=https://t.co/QgU3e9hmOg

I started this read this with a deep well of compassion: this kind of epistemology isn’t limited to rural Iowa, it’s in every place (though less mono-culturally).

About the time the guy started talking about Obama taking away his rifles and high-capacity magazines, somehow in the context of a discussion about Christianity - you realize you’re seeing something entirely different and uniquely American happening

I don’t think “this isn’t really Christianity” talk is very helpful, it’s essentially what conservatives have said to Christians like me for a long time now, and I’m not sure how it helps to use evangelicals own hate-keeping back at them

But Christianity has always had to struggle with syncretism (we’re syncretistic with Judaism, after all) - and though it has succumbed to nationalism various times in its history, the American white nationalism might be particularly virulent

I lament this stuff, that’s my first thought: I spend my life as best I know how, trying to offer witness of Jesus to folks who rightly see that all our discipleship is mediated - but it’s been mediated by truly anti-Christian stuff (nationalism, gun culture, racism, homophobia)

And it’s not encouraging to have to start the conversation over again and again because of this kind of false witness - to peel the cobwebs of white supremacy off the Savior again and again and try to point my friends to him

I don’t do this because