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1/ #ChristianNationalism vs. Civil Religion Redux
As @JohnDCarlson and @CTMathewes have rightly noted, Biden's inaugural address was a civil religious one grounded in Augustine's political theology.
As @JohnDCarlson and @CTMathewes have rightly noted, Biden's inaugural address was a civil religious one grounded in Augustine's political theology.
2/ Perhaps that is why so many #CourtEvangelials (ht: @JohnFea1) reacted with such outrage: here was someone who actually knew Scripture -- theology even -- who was --- gasp -- a Democrat.
3/ This is of course a logical -- even ontological -- impossibility in a sub-culture where American Christianity is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Republican Party.
4/ Adding to the embarrassment and confusion of the Christian Nationalist Cult, @ReverendWarnock became Senator Warnock, a man who speaks the prophetic Christianity of the Black Church. Which they simply denounce as "communism", as they did to MLK. Did I mention he's BLACK!?
5/ If you follow #ChristianNationalism on Twitter as I do, for professional reasons, you will have noted a rather ominous development: the merger of Christian Nationalism and the Lost Cause, as @JemarTisby rightly noted yesterday.
6/ What does that mean? As I explain in "American Covenant" and "American Babylon", American #ChristianNationalism is a blend of two stories: a Promised Land Story and an End Times Story.
7/ IOW: America as a New Israel and Americans as a Chosen People. This is the Scriptural underpinning of the right-wing version of American Exceptionalism.
BONUS: America's wars as Crusades, its enemies as Evil, all part of a cosmic struggle that will force 2nd Coming.
BONUS: America's wars as Crusades, its enemies as Evil, all part of a cosmic struggle that will force 2nd Coming.
8/ By contrast, the "Lost Cause" mythology portrayed the defeated Confederacy as a crucified Christ, who would "rise again", as would the South.
9/ Now for the punch line:
#ChristianNationalism Twitter and the #CourtEvangelicals (and Parler and Gab, too) are upping the ante:
America = Trump = Christ.
They will rise again. Together.
#ChristianNationalism Twitter and the #CourtEvangelicals (and Parler and Gab, too) are upping the ante:
America = Trump = Christ.
They will rise again. Together.
10/ The Golden Calf has become The Orange Beast.
