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In light of yesterday's violent display of Christian nationalism at the Capitol, what should we watch for from the Christian Right in 2021?
And how can we effectively direct our advocacy and activism?
If you're asking those questions, read my latest: https://religiondispatches.org/as-we-survey-the-damage-of-yesterdays-violence-what-will-christian-nationalist-politics-look-like-in-2021-new-report-offers-clues/
And how can we effectively direct our advocacy and activism?
If you're asking those questions, read my latest: https://religiondispatches.org/as-we-survey-the-damage-of-yesterdays-violence-what-will-christian-nationalist-politics-look-like-in-2021-new-report-offers-clues/
This article explains some of the Christian symbolism present at yesterday's insurrection attempt, including the Christian flag I was forced to pledge allegiance to ever day in Christian elementary school--after the pledge to the US flag and before the pledge to the Bible
It also points to an important new document from @AmericanAtheist, the annual State of the Secular States report that the organization has been producing annually since 2018. Many key battles in the area of church-state separation are won and lost at the state level.
You can get a copy of the report here. Don't forget to check out the individual scorecard for your own state as well: https://states.atheists.org/
Here are some highlights from what happened yesterday and @AmericanAtheist's projections:
Pro-Trump terrorists displayed explicitly Christian symbols
and anti-choice, QAnon, and right-wing Christian slogans like “The Children Cry Out for Justice” and “Jesus 2020.”
Pro-Trump terrorists displayed explicitly Christian symbols
and anti-choice, QAnon, and right-wing Christian slogans like “The Children Cry Out for Justice” and “Jesus 2020.”
The people behind the viral "Jesus 2020" phenomenon claimed it was apolitical.
They were lying, as I pointed out back in September: https://religiondispatches.org/christian-right-claims-to-be-above-politics-are-bogus/
They were lying, as I pointed out back in September: https://religiondispatches.org/christian-right-claims-to-be-above-politics-are-bogus/
For a quick primer on the Christian flag and the pine tree flag, see this commentary by Kimberly Winston, which also quotes podcaster and coiner of the hashtag #exvangelical @brchastain: https://religionunplugged.com/news/2021/1/6/some-history-behind-the-christian-flags-at-the-pro-trump-capitol-coup
Back to my article: The release of @AmericanAtheist's report is a timely reminder not only of the serious threat that Christian extremism represents to American democracy, but also that the spectacular drama that’s been unfolding on the national stage is only part of the story.
To be sure, state-level culture warring did slow down in a year defined by protests for racial justice, a criminally negligent federal response to the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, and right-wing extremism in the streets, for example: https://religiondispatches.org/behind-a-recent-stunt-in-idaho-lies-a-dangerous-theocratic-movement/
There was “little room for the typical ‘culture war’ or ideological bills meant to advance a religious agenda and undermine the separation of religion and government [in state legislatures],” the State of the Secular States report notes.
But with the pandemic, some state legislators saw in conducting business remotely new opportunities for avoiding public scrutiny, something the report’s author, @AlisonMGill1 worries “may have a lasting impact.”
And don't worry, those typical culture-wars bills will be back.
And don't worry, those typical culture-wars bills will be back.
Some things I appreciate about @AmericanAtheist's report include its framing in terms of advocacy for religious equality and its clear-eyed focus not only on authoritarian Christians' targeting of children for indoctrination, but also the mechanisms they use.
Yesterday's right-wing Christian coup attempt gave us a stark illustration of the emphasis radical Christians put on reaching the youth, which anyone who grew up in evangelical spaces could tell you is very much a thing, and show you the scars to prove it. But I digress...
So much happened yesterday that few people noticed newly minted Illinois Congresswoman @Miller_Congress saying "Hitler was right on one thing. He said, ‘Whoever has the youth has the future.'"
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/chicago-politics/illinois-congresswoman-says-hitler-was-right-on-one-thing/2409325/
Surprise surprise, she has stellar Christian Right bona fides
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/chicago-politics/illinois-congresswoman-says-hitler-was-right-on-one-thing/2409325/
Surprise surprise, she has stellar Christian Right bona fides
She is also now forever dubbed "Hitler lady" in my mind, and I think it would just be a crying shame if that label were to gain wider currency and stick, or maybe even trend as a hashtag.
#HitlerLady - make it trend if you think @Miller_Congress should resign over her remarks.
#HitlerLady - make it trend if you think @Miller_Congress should resign over her remarks.
But back to that sterling Christian nationalist pedigree @Miller_Congress brings to the House of Reps.
She and her husband attend a Christian Church (the denomination). He's an elder. She included her Sunday school and Vacation Bible school teaching on her campaign website.
She and her husband attend a Christian Church (the denomination). He's an elder. She included her Sunday school and Vacation Bible school teaching on her campaign website.
Miller is, or at least at some point was, affiliated with an organization called Illinois Christian Home Educators, on whose website she and her husband are identified as "saved by grace" and "born again"
https://iche.org/person/chris-miller
https://iche.org/person/chris-miller
And yes, I just now entered this page in the @internetarchive's Wayback Machine, you know, just in case
Our lack of homeschooling regulation, which allows racist and Christian nationalist indoctrination as well as physical and sexual abuse to proliferate under the aegis of homeschooling, is one of the key issues @AmericanAtheist's 2020 State of the Secular States report addresses.
Importantly, Birchers and theocrats affiliated with the Council for National Policy have moved to exploit pandemic conditions for recruitment and radicalization via homeschooling, as @herong and I both documented last year:
https://www.politicalresearch.org/2020/04/17/mission-destroy-public-education-rebrands-under-covid-19 https://www.prismreports.org/article/2020/3/24/homeschooling-during-covid-be-aware-of-outreach-by-evangelical-homeschooling-organizations
https://www.politicalresearch.org/2020/04/17/mission-destroy-public-education-rebrands-under-covid-19 https://www.prismreports.org/article/2020/3/24/homeschooling-during-covid-be-aware-of-outreach-by-evangelical-homeschooling-organizations
But homeschooling is not the only way that Christian extremists target youth. They work to undermine public schools through voucher programs, as well as to infiltrate public schools. And of course they promote harmful anti-LGBTQ legislation and conversion therapy.
Conversion therapy is something that, by the way, frequently happens in the corrupt, abusive, and often explicitly right-wing Christian "troubled teen" industry, as @DJSugi explains. Please follow her and support her work: https://www.damemagazine.com/2020/12/17/conversion-therapy-is-abuse/
. @AmericanAtheist's State of the Secular States report contains much more, and I encourage you to read it if you want to be ready to fight the Christian Right in 2021.
I probably don't have to convince you of this after yesterday, but they are not going to just go away
I probably don't have to convince you of this after yesterday, but they are not going to just go away
As for me, while I do get paid for my written work, those fees alone do not pay the bills. I must stress that I could not do the work that I do without the support of readers like you.
If you can spare even a few dollars a month, that helps me immensely: https://www.patreon.com/cstroop
If you can spare even a few dollars a month, that helps me immensely: https://www.patreon.com/cstroop
Thanks for reading! I'll end this thread here.
#TrumpOutNow #CoupAttempt #ChristianNationalism #ThursdayThoughts #ThursdayMotivation #HitlerLady #EmptyThePews #ExposeChristianSchools #Resist
#TrumpOutNow #CoupAttempt #ChristianNationalism #ThursdayThoughts #ThursdayMotivation #HitlerLady #EmptyThePews #ExposeChristianSchools #Resist
