The Sickness of Christian Politics & Christian Nationalism

[andydp]

This popped up in my feed. The word "terrifying" pops right up.

Christian Nationalism in a Nutshell

Christian Nationalism” is a perversion of both wholesome Christianity and healthy patriotism. It’s an unholy union of a particular way of doing religion with a specific belief about what kind of nation America should be. In this way of thinking, governmental power would force citizens to live within a narrowly defined framework of religion, ethics, and morality. Only adherents of this specified religious nationalism would be counted as properly “religious” and appropriately “patriotic.”

I saw this mindset demonstrated recently by a member of my community in a column in our local newspaper. In light of our Constitution, his recommendations are breathtaking.

“Here is a sample for public schools (K-12 and Paris Junior College): first, start daily with the Lord’s Prayer, second is the Pledge of Allegiance to the USA, Texas and Christian flags. Post on the main entrance wall The 10 Commandments, Cross of Christ and the 49 Commands of Christ that identify 49 character qualities of Him for us to identify with. Have boys taught by men, girls taught by women . . .”

This agenda may be appropriate for a private Christian school and the writer is within his First Amendment rights to advocate in the public square for what he believes.  By the same token, I am guaranteed my right to protest his proposal and advocate strongly against it.

charlottevaughancoyle.com/2022/01/christian-nationalism-in-a-nutshell/?fbclid=IwAR0Xl1IlaJp4B-y9WNHmq0L7Br0jonlcy7Ac1fEzGd0r7cy42k3sTL8uRQ4

[LFC]

We'll find out soon if an utterly twisted Christianist and full blown proponent of The Big Lie becomes the Republican candidate for governor here in PA.

Mastriano, a state senator, has not only ridden the wave of this radicalized movement, he has openly embraced it. He spoke at the December 12, 2020, Jericho March on the National Mall, which promoted the stolen election lie and pledged to rally a spiritual army to overturn the election results. Earlier this year, he announced his run for governor at a Christian nationalist event at which a shofar was blown, an increasingly commonplace occurrence as a symbol of Trump’s victory over satanic forces, otherwise known as our democracy. As Brian Kaylor and Beau Underwood detail in their newsletter, A Public Witness, Mastriano has been campaigning at events like Pennsylvania For Christ, whose organizers claim their goal is to “reestablish the kingdom of God in PA,” and Patriots Arise for God, Family, and Country, where he pledged, “in November, we’re going to take our state back. My God will make it so.”

[pnwguy]

May 16, 2022 16:26:39 GMT LFC said:

We'll find out soon if an utterly twisted Christianist and full blown proponent of The Big Lie becomes the Republican candidate for governor here in PA.

Mastriano, a state senator, has not only ridden the wave of this radicalized movement, he has openly embraced it. He spoke at the December 12, 2020, Jericho March on the National Mall, which promoted the stolen election lie and pledged to rally a spiritual army to overturn the election results. Earlier this year, he announced his run for governor at a Christian nationalist event at which a shofar was blown, an increasingly commonplace occurrence as a symbol of Trump’s victory over satanic forces, otherwise known as our democracy. As Brian Kaylor and Beau Underwood detail in their newsletter, A Public Witness, Mastriano has been campaigning at events like Pennsylvania For Christ, whose organizers claim their goal is to “reestablish the kingdom of God in PA,” and Patriots Arise for God, Family, and Country, where he pledged, “in November, we’re going to take our state back. My God will make it so.”

The state of my birth is getting nuttier by the week.  I return for a visit this Thursday, and I'm curious to see the yard signs around. If Shapiro wins his primary, maybe the fear of Jewish Space Lasers will shake the Keystone State.

[LFC]

"Oh my god" is apparently the new n-word.

According to Fox 4 News, a substitute teacher at an elementary school in Arlington, Texas allegedly shouted the N-word in front of students while arguing with a sixth grader over whether the use of the phrase "oh my God" is offensive.

"One mother, who didn't want FOX 4 to use her name, says her son told her after school on Friday. She says the boy was not in the classroom during the interaction but relayed to her what his friends who were there witnessed," reported Macy Jenkins. "FOX 4 spoke with a Swift Elementary school teacher off-camera who also did not want her name used. She says she happened to be in the hallway Friday afternoon when she noticed a commotion from a nearby classroom."

"'One of the kids in the class blurted out ‘Oh My God!’ And he replied, ‘Don't say that.’ And they were like, ‘Why can’t we say oh my God?’ And he said, ‘That’s using Jesus’ name in vain,’' the mom said," continued the report. "They also told FOX 4 that’s when the substitute told the kids, 'It would be like me saying the n-word.' The teacher who stepped in to intervene says after hearing from the students, she approached the substitute who she says then added, 'yes I said n***er, and I’ll say it again.'"

According to the report, Arlington ISD has fired the substitute. "The district does not condone the use of any offensive, derogatory or inappropriate language in educational learning environments," said the district in a statement.

[goldenvalley]

May 16, 2022 18:56:52 GMT LFC said:

"Oh my god" is apparently the new n-word.

According to Fox 4 News, a substitute teacher at an elementary school in Arlington, Texas allegedly shouted the N-word in front of students while arguing with a sixth grader over whether the use of the phrase "oh my God" is offensive.

"One mother, who didn't want FOX 4 to use her name, says her son told her after school on Friday. She says the boy was not in the classroom during the interaction but relayed to her what his friends who were there witnessed," reported Macy Jenkins. "FOX 4 spoke with a Swift Elementary school teacher off-camera who also did not want her name used. She says she happened to be in the hallway Friday afternoon when she noticed a commotion from a nearby classroom."

"'One of the kids in the class blurted out ‘Oh My God!’ And he replied, ‘Don't say that.’ And they were like, ‘Why can’t we say oh my God?’ And he said, ‘That’s using Jesus’ name in vain,’' the mom said," continued the report. "They also told FOX 4 that’s when the substitute told the kids, 'It would be like me saying the n-word.' The teacher who stepped in to intervene says after hearing from the students, she approached the substitute who she says then added, 'yes I said n***er, and I’ll say it again.'"

According to the report, Arlington ISD has fired the substitute. "The district does not condone the use of any offensive, derogatory or inappropriate language in educational learning environments," said the district in a statement.

It's no equivalent but in the long ago age of my childhood I was taught that OMG was taking the Lord's name in vain which violates a Commandment.  I still cringe when I hear the phrase thrown around even though I know that isn't what the Commandment actually meant.

[LFC]

May 16, 2022 16:26:39 GMT LFC said:

We'll find out soon if an utterly twisted Christianist and full blown proponent of The Big Lie becomes the Republican candidate for governor here in PA.

Yep, the sicko won.

[LFC]

Excellent coverage of the toxicity of Christianism in politics. If you want to cut straight to the super insanity jump to 7:00 and watch pastor Greg Locke go full metal utter nutter politician.

BTW he apparently gave up his tax-free status for that rant. Good! Any church involved in politicking needs to do the same. It shouldn't really bother them, right? After all "God(tm) will provide." Funny but I realized when I watched this particular video that he seems to have taken public speaking lessons from Sam Kinison.

A couple of weeks ago, Pastor Greg Locke of the Global Vision Bible Church told his congregants, "You cannot be a Christian and vote Democrat in this nation."

"I'm to the place right now [that] if you vote Democrat, I don't even want you around this church. You can get out!" the hate peddler, who in February threatened to expose six witches in his church, continued. "You get out, you demon! You get out, you baby butchering election thief!"

After his divisive comments, a religious freedom group — Americans United for the Separation of Church — filed a complaint against Locke and his church, according to Raw Story. In the complaint, the group said Locke "clearly told his congregants to vote against the Democrats, from the pulpit of his church," which "violates the law and we ask for an investigation into Locke's conduct under 26 U.S.C. § 7611."

But no investigation will be needed after the perpetually angry pastor reacted to the complaint with a long vicious rant that included screaming to his congregation that he was giving up his IRS tax-exempt status. "IRS – we don't need your stupid tax-exempt status! I renounce 501c3 communism!" An amped-up version of the ol' you can't fire me I quit routine.

Here's the video of the Christian's tirade, but be warned, it's toxic to say the least.

[LFC]

The Constitution doesn't allow a religious test to be a lawmaker but this creepy zealot would.

Colorado GOP Guv Candidate Doesn’t Want Non-Christian To Be His Lt. Guv

Republican Colorado gubernatorial candidate Greg Lopez declared during a debate on Saturday that he would only pick a Christian to be his running mate–Muslims, Jews and atheists need not apply:

• Lopez also wants to do away with the popular vote and establish a Colorado electoral college system that would serve Republicans the governorship on a silver platter.

[pnwguy]

Not sure whether to post this here or on the Guns topic.

www.thebulwark.com/doug-mastriano-christian-nationalism-and-the-cult-of-the-ar-15/

[goldenvalley]

May 31, 2022 23:11:45 GMT pnwguy said:

Not sure whether to post this here or on the Guns topic.

www.thebulwark.com/doug-mastriano-christian-nationalism-and-the-cult-of-the-ar-15/

This is creepy and chilling.  Those guys live in an alternative universe.  Sadly we share a planet with them.

[pnwguy]

Jun 1, 2022 13:38:33 GMT goldenvalley said:

May 31, 2022 23:11:45 GMT pnwguy said:

Not sure whether to post this here or on the Guns topic.

www.thebulwark.com/doug-mastriano-christian-nationalism-and-the-cult-of-the-ar-15/

This is creepy and chilling.  Those guys live in an alternative universe.  Sadly we share a planet with them.

And sadly, they are determined to make the planet less inhabitable for sane humans.

[LFC]

The sickness of Christian politics is not, of course, not limited to America. This priest spoke up contrary to the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church. Since they are a propaganda arm of the Kremlin that shit don't fly.

A Russian priest now faces up to 10 years behind bars for declaring that troops waging war on Ukraine are going to hell.

The charges against Ioann Kurmoyarov, a former priestmonk of the Russian Orthodox Church and doctor of theology, come as the Kremlin seeks to stifle dissent over the war, with numerous high-profile musicians and writers recently charged under a new law against spreading “false information” about the Russian military.

Kuromaryov has been charged under the same law, according to the independent news outlet Baza, which reported that he was detained in St. Petersburg on Tuesday as investigators conducted a raid in which they inexplicably confiscated some of his religious items. Mediazona confirmed his arrest, citing the press service of the regional courts.

The charges against him stem from a video he posted on social media in March responding to Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyev’s claim that even if the war in Ukraine leads to a nuclear strike, Russians will “go to heaven.”

“I would like to disappoint everyone who believes in this ‘fake,’” Kuromaryov said, adding that those who “unleash aggression” do not wind up in heaven. “Ukraine did not attack Russia,” he said. “You will not be in any heaven, you’ll be in hell.”

[AnBr]

[LFC]

They now have real power in America and they'll use it to persecute anybody they hate, which is everybody not like them.

A small but growing minority of white evangelicals are embracing Christian nationalism, and they just achieved two longstanding goals with U.S. Supreme Court decisions on abortion and school prayer.

Even as the number of white evangelicals have shrunk in population, and their median age has been climbing, the high court has helped this influential minority grab power despite a Democratic trifecta in the White House and Congress, reported NPR.

"This is the most disproportionate power that the Christian Right has had in my lifetime," says Robert Jones, CEO and founder of the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute.

Six in 10 Americans say abortion should be legal, but the court just struck down the 49-year-old Roe v. Wade ruling and justice Clarence Thomas signaled a willingness to end same-sex marriage protections, although seven in 10 support that right -- and the religious right has reacted to the loss of their so-called "moral majority" by grabbing for even more power.

"White evangelicalism rejects pluralism – completely," said Tim Whitaker, creator of a group called The New Evangelicals. "They do not see themselves as coexisting with other religious views or other sexuality ethic views. They see it as a spiritual battle and they are on God's side."

"When they start getting a taste – a small taste – of just making room for other viewpoints, that's perceived as a loss of power," Whitaker added, "and then they campaign on that."

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), one of the most outspoken Christian nationalists in the House, complained just two days after the abortion ruling that Christians were exerting a power they should have had all along.

"The church is supposed to direct the government," Boebert said at a Colorado church. "The government is not supposed to direct the church. That is not how our founding fathers intended it, and I am tired of this separation of church and state junk. It's not in the Constitution."

The Constitution does, in fact, explicitly prohibit the establishment of any specific religion in the First Amendment, and Timothy Head, executive director of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, said that was done to prevent the government from interfering with religion.

Remember that Bimboebert won her primary by 30 points. She may seem fringe to us but she now fits very comfortably in the Republican mainstream.

[andydp]

[pnwguy]

Turn the other cheek now means switch to the other ammo clip

[pnwguy]

I grew up in the evangelical world, so I've read a few of Schaeffer's father's books in my youth.

Frank has been a lone voice in the wilderness for decades. I've followed his activism, writings, and interviews for years. This video is a good summary.

[goldenvalley]

"Big Time God Business" interesting turn of phrase. And I think he is right. But he hurts his credibility with that hairstyle...yeah I'm a lookist because I know people made snap judgments based on appearance. People will write him off and turn away from the video before hearing it al.

[LFC]

Prepare for violence or inciting violence in the name of Jeebus. Christian nationalism is here and is seeking to turn America into a theocracy.

Christian nationalists are excited about the possibility of violence as the post-Roe future comes into view, much to the alarm of experts who study the religious right.

The Supreme Court's decision overturning abortion rights emboldened right-wing extremists, who are already preparing for a brutal assault on individual rights and democratic self-governance, according to a New York Times column by author Katherine Stewart.

"Breaking American democracy isn’t an unintended side effect of Christian nationalism," wrote Stewart, who has reported on the religious right for more than a decade. "It is the point of the project."

Stewart noted with alarm that speakers at annual Road to Majority Policy Conference, including keynote speaker Donald Trump, explicitly endorsed dominionism -- a belief that "right-thinking" Christians had a mandate to take over government and society -- and used violent rhetoric against anyone who stood in their way.

"Although metaphors of battle are common enough in political gatherings, this year’s rhetoric appeared more violent, more graphic and more tightly focused on fellow Americans, rather than on geopolitical foes," Stewart wrote. "Speakers at the conference vied to outdo one another in their denigration of the people that Mr. Trump was evidently talking about. Democrats, they said, are 'evil,' 'tyrannical' and 'the enemy within,' engaged in 'a war against the truth.'"

The movement's leaders see the end of abortion rights as the start of a new and more personal attack on individual rights, and they aim to pit Americans against each other to ensure compliance.

"Indeed it is personal," Stewart wrote. "Much of the rhetoric on the right invokes visions of vigilante justice. This is about 'good guys with guns' — or neighbors with good eavesdropping skills — heroically taking on the pernicious behavior of their fellow citizens. Among the principal battlefields will be the fallopian tubes and uteruses of women."

[LFC]

Doug Mastriano, the Republican candidate to be PA's governor, is another sick and twisted Christianist. He comes from a military background which is doubly scary. Gawd we have some real mental cases in our military, clearly too often in very high positions like Mike Flynn.

As reporting by the New Yorker, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Word & Way and Paul Rosenberg at Salon has shown, there is something going on in Pennsylvania that is transforming politics in the state, and maybe on a larger scale as well.

Mastriano, a retired Army strategist and intelligence officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, appears to have a disturbing understanding of the relationship between metaphor and reality when it comes to biblical narratives. He suggested to an interviewer that today's Christians should emulate the warriors of Old Testament Israel.

"God can intervene in history," he said, adding that such interventions are carried out by "a man or a woman," such as the biblical Queen Esther (who got authorization from the King of Persia for the Jews to kill all their enemies); and the prophet Gideon (who led 300 soldiers against a far greater force).

Mainstream media generally describe Mastriano as an "election denialist" and a "Christian nationalist." He unconvincingly denies the latter, but he and his supporters are also more complicated than the label usually suggests. He is well known for having spoken at the Jericho March in December 2020 that unsuccessfully called for the Electoral College to switch its votes to Donald Trump. He was also slated to speak at the "wild protest" on Jan. 6, 2021, organized by "Stop the Steal" activist Ali Alexander, along with the likes of Roger Stone, theocratic activist Lance Wallnau and Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz. And of course, promoting the Big Lie has been central to his politics since Trump's election defeat.

But there's more.

Some religious leaders who back Mastriano's campaign say they are in direct communication with God, see themselves as God's army, and see Mastriano as a general in their war for the world.

Mastriano's core support is a fusion of QAnon, the far-right Patriot movement and the revivalist New Apostolic Reformation — which views him as a military and political leader in advancing the biblically prophesied end times. We see this in his role in the Jericho March during the run-up to Jan. 6, and more recently when he joined members of the "Shofar Army'' in a ceremony of "spiritual warfare" on the Gettysburg battlefield, and as the headliner at a conference, Patriots Arise.

[LFC]

These people are a combination of insane and staggeringly stupid. But yeah, let's give them to keys to running America ... into the ground.

A Georgia roadside attraction that became such a beacon for online conspiracy theorists it got The History Channel to take crackpot shots at it, is now devastated after an unknown person or persons blew up part of the structure Wednesday morning.

Local reports said several of the site’s four pillars were blown into rubble after those living nearby heard a massive explosion around 4 a.m. The area NBC affiliate WYFF News 4 reported the Georgia Bureau of Investigations and Elbert County Sheriff’s office found that an explosion damaged part of the structure. Investigators told reporters that so far the information suggests the perpetrators used an explosive device.

The Elbert County Chamber of Commerce wrote on its website the granite guidestones are located seven miles north of the town of Elberton. The stone slabs contain 10 messages written in archaic languages such as Sanskrit, Classical Greek as well as modern languages like English, Russian, Hindi, Chinese, Arabic, and Hebrew. Some suspect the messages were created as guidelines for living after an apocalypse.

The blocks are also oriented to the major dates in the solar and lunar cycles, much like the ancient British Stonehenge, though the American version was only constructed in the 1980s. The site was commissioned by a man who went under the pseudonym R.C. Christian, according to local videos talking about the site. Not much is known about who helped commission or finance the guidestones, nor their intent of the construction.

Who could hate what amounts to a roadside attraction? Well, there’s some on the religious right who think the stones are somehow evidence of satanic worship. Kandiss Taylor, a far, far, far-right candidate for Georgia governor who recently lost the Republican primary with just 3.4% of the vote (though she has still not conceded) made bringing “the Satanic Regime to its knees” by demolishing the Georgia Guidestones a major part of her supposed platform. She was, of course, ecstatic to see the roadside attraction go boom.

[LFC]

Bill Bennett? I remember this assclown from the Reagan days.Another religious sicko who has gone so far down the rabbit hole he can't even grasp the simplest of realities if it threatens his religion/political party.

A Fox News panel discussion Wednesday featured a former secretary of education suggesting that what’s missing from efforts to prevent mass shootings are exorcists.

Former Reagan Cabinet member Bill Bennett said that more needs to be done on various fronts to recognize warning signs in troubled individuals and prevent them from gaining access to firearms.

“I think you could strengthen red flag laws. Certainly people need to pay attention to them. It’s hard when parents aren’t doing their job for any red flag to make up for it. Also, the police need to pay more attention, and the schools need to pay more attention,” Bennett told Bret Baier.

The 21-year-old suspect who allegedly killed seven and injured dozens more at a Fourth of July parade outside Chicago had a history of worrisome behavior. Yet despite a suicide attempt and threatening to kill his family, he was approved for a state gun permit after his father signed his application, and the suspect legally bought online the semi-automatic rifle police believe he used on Monday.

“I’m not sure we are going deep enough,” Bennett continued. “Yeah, I think you need police. You need parents for sure. You need schools. You need to clean up social media. You need all that. But you know, you may need an exorcist, too.”

“Before your audience shakes its head on that, if you look at these boys, these men, these young men, they have deeply spiritual problems. Deeply. Few go into the labyrinthian caves of the internet way down, and I don’t recommend it. It’s ugly stuff,” Bennett said, echoing Tucker Carlson’s Tuesday lament about the influence of social media, video games, and porn on young men. “Where are the ministers? Where are the rabbis? The priests?”

“I don’t want to suggest something that would seem farcical to a lot of your audience, but I do think that the domain of religion ought to be involved here,” Bennett continued.

[goldenvalley]

Jul 7, 2022 16:33:18 GMT LFC said:

Bill Bennett? I remember this assclown from the Reagan days.Another religious sicko who has gone so far down the rabbit hole he can't even grasp the simplest of realities if it threatens his religion/political party.

A Fox News panel discussion Wednesday featured a former secretary of education suggesting that what’s missing from efforts to prevent mass shootings are exorcists.

Former Reagan Cabinet member Bill Bennett said that more needs to be done on various fronts to recognize warning signs in troubled individuals and prevent them from gaining access to firearms.

“I think you could strengthen red flag laws. Certainly people need to pay attention to them. It’s hard when parents aren’t doing their job for any red flag to make up for it. Also, the police need to pay more attention, and the schools need to pay more attention,” Bennett told Bret Baier.

The 21-year-old suspect who allegedly killed seven and injured dozens more at a Fourth of July parade outside Chicago had a history of worrisome behavior. Yet despite a suicide attempt and threatening to kill his family, he was approved for a state gun permit after his father signed his application, and the suspect legally bought online the semi-automatic rifle police believe he used on Monday.

“I’m not sure we are going deep enough,” Bennett continued. “Yeah, I think you need police. You need parents for sure. You need schools. You need to clean up social media. You need all that. But you know, you may need an exorcist, too.”

“Before your audience shakes its head on that, if you look at these boys, these men, these young men, they have deeply spiritual problems. Deeply. Few go into the labyrinthian caves of the internet way down, and I don’t recommend it. It’s ugly stuff,” Bennett said, echoing Tucker Carlson’s Tuesday lament about the influence of social media, video games, and porn on young men. “Where are the ministers? Where are the rabbis? The priests?”

“I don’t want to suggest something that would seem farcical to a lot of your audience, but I do think that the domain of religion ought to be involved here,” Bennett continued.

Try anything but banning the sale of military style weapons...

[pnwguy]

From today's NYTimes

The Far-Right Christian Quest for Power: ‘We Are Seeing Them Emboldened’

Political candidates on the fringe mix religious fervor with conspiracy theories, even calling for the end of the separation of church and state.


By Elizabeth Dias
July 8, 2022


Three weeks before he won the Republican nomination for Pennsylvania governor, Doug Mastriano stood beside a three-foot-tall painted eagle statue and declared the power of God.

“Any free people in the house here? Did Jesus set you free?” he asked, revving up the dozens before him on a Saturday afternoon at a Gettysburg roadside hotel.

Mr. Mastriano, a state senator, retired Army colonel and prominent figure in former President Donald J. Trump’s futile efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 election results, was addressing a far-right conference that mixed Christian beliefs with conspiracy theories, called Patriots Arise. Instead of focusing on issues like taxes, gas prices or abortion policy, he wove a story about what he saw as the true Christian identity of the nation, and how it was time, together, for Christians to reclaim political power.

The separation of church and state was a “myth,” he said. “In November we are going to take our state back, my God will make it so.”

Mr. Mastriano’s ascension in Pennsylvania is perhaps the most prominent example of right-wing candidates for public office who explicitly aim to promote Christian power in America. The religious right has long supported conservative causes, but this current wave seeks more: a nation that actively prioritizes their particular set of Christian beliefs and far-right views and that more openly embraces Christianity as a bedrock identity.

Many dismiss the historic American principle of the separation of church and state. They say they do not advocate a theocracy, but argue for a foundational role for their faith in government. Their rise coincides with significant backing among like-minded grass-roots supporters, especially as some voters and politicians blend their Christian faith with election fraud conspiracy theories, QAnon ideology, gun rights and lingering anger over Covid-related restrictions.

Their presence reveals a fringe pushing into the mainstream.

“The church is supposed to direct the government, the government is not supposed to direct the church,” Representative Lauren Boebert, a Republican representing the western part of Colorado, said recently at Cornerstone Christian Center, a church near Aspen. “I’m tired of this separation of church and state junk.” Congregants rose to their feet in applause.

A small handful of people who espouse this vision, like Ms. Boebert, have recently come to power with the blend of Christian messaging and conspiracy theories that Mr. Trump elevated. Others, like Mr. Mastriano, are running competitive races, while most have long-shot campaigns and are unlikely to survive primary races.

The ascension of these candidates comes amid a wave of action across the country that advances cultural priorities for many conservative Christians. The most significant is the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and end the constitutional right to an abortion — on top of its recent series of decisions allowing for a larger role of religion in public life, such as school prayer and funding for religious education. States have also been taking action; many have instituted abortion bans. A Florida law prohibits classroom instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in early elementary school, and Texas has issued an order to investigate parents with transgender children for possible child abuse.

Some of the candidates see the Supreme Court’s recent string of decisions as a sign their mission is succeeding. In Georgia, Kandiss Taylor got only 3.4 percent of the vote in the Republican primary for governor. “I’m glad the SCOTUS decided to join me on the FRINGE! Jesus, Guns, & Babies,” she said in a tweet, referring to her own campaign platform.

Declaring the United States a Christian nation and ending federal enforcement of the separation of church and state are minority views among American adults, according to the Pew Research Center. Although support for church-state integration is above average among Republicans and white evangelicals, many Christians see that integration as a perversion of faith that elevates nation over God. The fringe vying for power is still a minority among Christians and Republicans.

Like Mr. Mastriano, some of the candidates pushing that marginal view already hold lower-level elected positions but are now running for higher office where they would have more power, said Andrew Seidel, a vice president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

“We are seeing them emboldened,” Mr. Seidel said. “They are claiming to be the true heirs of the American experiment.”

At the Patriots Arise event, Jenna Ellis, a senior legal adviser to Mr. Mastriano and the former co-counsel for the Trump campaign’s effort to overturn the 2020 election, told the audience that “what it really means to truly be America first, what it truly means to pursue happiness, what it truly means to be a Christian nation are all actually the same thing.”

At Mr. Mastriano’s victory party on primary night, which included Sean Feucht, an evangelical worship leader who led outdoor events in defiance of pandemic restrictions, he announced that his faith was going on offense. “If I read articles where you’re attacking Christians and painting us in a particular picture that is hateful and intolerant, we won’t have the time of day for you,” Mr. Mastriano said, to cheers.

Mr. Mastriano also said, “My campaign has no place for hate, bigotry and intolerance.” Asked in an email to explain his views and thoughts on representing non-Christians in Pennsylvania, Mr. Mastriano did not respond.

The fight over Christian power in America has a centuries-long history, dating to the country’s origins, and it is again in sharp relief as the makeup of the nation shifts. For generations, the United States has been made up mostly of Christians, largely white and Protestant. In recent years, Christianity has declined at a rapid pace, as pluralist and secular values have risen.

Since the Jan. 6 attack, which blended extremism and religious fervor, the term “Christian nationalism” is often used broadly to refer to the general mixing of American and white Christian identities. Historically, however, Christian nationalism in America has also encompassed extremist ideologies.

In the 1948 presidential election, for example, a fringe political party called the Christian Nationalist Party nominated Gerald L. K. Smith, a pastor with pro-Nazi sympathies, and adopted an antisemitic, anti-Black platform that called for the deportation of people with whom it disagreed.

Mr. Trump gained power in large part by offering to preserve the influence of white evangelicals and their values just as many feared that the world as they knew it was rapidly disappearing.

The fact that Mr. Trump, whom they saw as their protector, is no longer president intensifies feelings for many conservative Christians that everything is on the line. About 60 percent of white evangelical Protestants believe that the election was stolen from Mr. Trump, according to a Public Religion Research Institute survey conducted late last year. White evangelicals are also the most likely religious group to be believers in QAnon, according to the survey. QAnon refers to a complex conspiracy theory involving a Satan-worshiping, child-sex-trafficking ring, and the F.B.I. has previously warned that some of its adherents could turn violent.

Across the country, candidates have attempted to appeal to voters by championing Christian identity in policymaking.

In Arkansas in May, State Senator Jason Rapert, who founded a group called the National Association of Christian Lawmakers in 2020, lost the Republican primary for lieutenant governor with 15 percent of the vote. The group offers model legislation, like prohibiting abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy and requiring the display of “In God We Trust” at public schools.

In Oklahoma, Jackson Lahmeyer, lead pastor of Sheridan Church, made a long-shot attempt to unseat Senator James Lankford, who has embodied traditional social conservatism. Mr. Lahmeyer lost, but got 26 percent of the vote. “Our Constitution is built upon the Bible,” he said in an interview. He said that he did not advocate a theocracy and that he supported the separation of church and state, which he said “had nothing to do with the church staying out of the affairs of the state.” He also said that “trying to remove Christianity, which this nation was birthed upon,” from public schools had “absolutely” led to the rise in school shootings.

In Wisconsin, State Representative Timothy Ramthun is significantly trailing in a bid for governor that emphasizes his Christian faith and a promise to decertify the 2020 election. He created a 72-page report of what he sees as evidence of election fraud, and called his push to fight it “Let There Be Light” after words attributed to God in the Bible. In an interview, he described his efforts as a Christian act of truth-seeking. “I don’t lie,” he said. “I work for the Lord first and foremost.”

In a livestream on Rumble, a video site popular with the far right, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia, urged followers to be proud of “Christian nationalism” as a way to fight “globalists,” the “border crisis” and “lies about gender.” “While the media is going to lie about you and label Christian nationalism, and they are probably going to call it domestic terrorism, I’m going to tell you right now, they are the liars,” she said.

Around the country there are active efforts to leverage the growing religious fervor in the American right into voter turnout. That includes more typical Republican voter outreach efforts, but also new groups mobilized since President Biden took office.

In California, Freedom Revival, which started late last year and has used worship to mobilize evangelicals to see Christian morality as the foundation for governance, targeted conservative Christians with voter guides of its California primary endorsements of “freedom-loving candidates” who stand for “traditional values.” Endorsements included those for Anthony Trimino, a businessman who felt divinely called in church to run for governor to bring “Christian, moral, biblical values to Sacramento,” and who did not qualify for the general election; and Sheriff Chad Bianco of Riverside County, who has previously defended his past membership in the Oath Keepers, an extremist group, and who did win.

“We continue to support law enforcement officials who recognize and behave as a shield of the people against drunken tyrannical rule,” Brittany Mayer, one of Freedom Revival’s founders, said in an email.

A sense of religious grievance is deepening in the ultraconservative wing of the Southern Baptist Convention, the country’s largest Protestant denomination, a contingent that is increasingly allied with right-wing political causes like the extreme push to punish women for abortion. At a conference in Memphis this spring, Rod Martin, one of the founders of the Conservative Baptist Network, described objections to Christian nationalism as simply a plot by Democrats.

“Let’s demonize patriotism by calling it nationalism and associating that with Hitler. Ah, now let’s call it white nationalism,” he told the gathering, imitating how he saw people on the left. “Then we’ll call it Christian nationalist so we’ll make it sound like you are the ayatollah. It is all designed to demonize you.”

Young male pastors, he predicted, would increasingly adopt the Christian nationalist label in defiance: “They are not saying they are theocrats; they are saying they are deplorables.”

In a sign that political operatives see opportunity to capitalize on that feeling of persecution, the next day a second conference was held in the same auditorium with an explicit purpose to mobilize the constituencies these pastors represent.

Chad Connelly urged attendees to scan a QR code on the screen so he could connect their churches to precinct poll-watching efforts, and said his group, Faith Wins, worked with 312 churches in Virginia to register 77,000 new voters ahead of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s win. Mark Meadows, former chief of staff for Mr. Trump, described the importance of America as a Christian nation in personal terms, with a story of how his 11th great-grandfather escaped religious persecution on the Mayflower. “You may never see the fruit of your labor, but I can tell you this: God will use your obedience to change this great nation,” he said.

Rick Green, who leads a group called the Patriot Academy that runs “biblical citizenship” training programs in hundreds of churches to instill the belief that America was founded on Christian values, told the audience he saw “a window of opportunity right now to convert millions of Americans to the principles of liberty and to biblical values” because of “the chaos and insanity of the last two years.”

In some places there are signs that conspiracy theorists and far-right activists are embracing an explicitly Christian nationalist identity.

Andrew Torba, who founded Gab, a social media platform popular with extremists, and is from Pennsylvania, wrote on the site that he endorsed Mr. Mastriano as part of his own efforts to build “a coalition of Christian nationalists at the local and state levels to help pioneer a grass-roots movement of Christians in PA to help take it back for the glory of God.” Mr. Torba has written about building Gab as “a parallel Christian society on the internet.”

The day after a mass shooting in Buffalo, where a white man was charged with killing 10 Black people after posting a racist screed online, Mr. Torba posted on Gab, “The best way to stop White genocide and White replacement, both of which are demonstrably and undeniably happening, is to get married to a White woman and have a lot of White babies.”

So-called replacement theory is the notion that Western elites want to “replace” and disempower white Americans.

“Jesus Christ is King of Kings and we are going to lawfully, peacefully and democratically take back this country and our culture in his name,” Mr. Torba wrote in an email response to a request for comment. “There is absolutely nothing you or any of the other powers and principalities can do to stop us.”
Events at times use violent rhetoric and imagery.

The Patriots Arise event, where Mr. Mastriano spoke, opened with a video of conspiracy theories related to QAnon that prophesied that “control systems” including “media propaganda, the child trafficking and the slave economy” would “crumble down.” A robotic voice-over forecast a “great awakening,” and an image of a guillotine blade accompanied the promise of “executions, justice, victory.”

When Mr. Mastriano finished, a man in an American flag cowboy hat and shirt presented him with a long sword, inscribed with “For God and country.”

“Because you’ve been cutting a lot of heads off,” explained Francine Fosdick, a social media influencer who organized the event and whose website has promoted a QAnon slogan. “You are fighting for our religious rights in Christ Jesus, and so we wanted to bless you with that sword of David.”

He raised the gold hilt in his right hand. “Where’s Goliath?” he asked.

[Bact PhD]

This could have been put in the March Towards Fascism thread just as easily. (bold mine)

www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/07/09/controversy-teachers-dumbest-colleges/

Larry Arnn is president of a small but influential Christian college in Michigan who has become a key education adviser to Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R). Last week, at an invitation-only reception, Arnn repeatedly denigrated teachers, saying, among other things that they “are trained in the dumbest parts of the dumbest colleges in the country,” and that “anyone” can teach. Lee offered no pushback. WTVF NewsChannel5 in Nashville obtained video of the event, and now both men have come under criticism.

Although such sentiments are not exclusive to Arnn (people across the political spectrum have belittled teachers), his comments have resonance at a time when the Christian right — with the Supreme Court’s ultraconservative majority on its side — is gaining ground in a movement to erase the separation between church and state and push Christian values into the public sector.

Hillsdale College — which Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas called “a shining city on a hill” and which hired his activist wife, Ginni Thomas, to help establish a full-time presence in the nation’s capital — has became an important force in that movement under the leadership of Arnn, who has allied himself with former president Donald Trump. The college has helped launch dozens of “classical” charter schools across the country (Hillsdale doesn’t own or operate the schools but trains faculty and staff and shares curriculum) — and, now, at Lee’s invitation, Hillsdale is helping to open at least 50 charter schools in Tennessee….

The charter schools use a Hillsdale K-12 curriculum that is centered on Western civilization and designed to help “students acquire a mature love for America.” A Hillsdale K-12 civics and U.S. history curriculum released last year extols conservative values, attacks progressive ones and distorts civil rights history, saying, for example: “The civil rights movement was almost immediately turned into programs that ran counter to the lofty ideals of the Founders.” Hillsdale College itself offers a “classical liberal arts core” to its students; the website lists more than 30 authors and thinkers that students will encounter — nearly all of them White men.

In Florida, where Hillsdale has helped opening a growing network of affiliated charter schools, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has welcomed Arnn, and Arnn, in February, called DeSantis “one of the most important people living,” the Tampa Bay Times reported. Hillsdale helped create new K-12 civic standards for Florida public schools and is partnering with the state’s Department of Education to help train teachers on those new standards. Some teachers who underwent the training told the Miami Herald that Christian and conservative ideology ran throughout the material.

A better organization and huge expansion, *with backing by state governments*, of what has been going on more quietly since the 1970s.—the indoctrination of an entire segment of young people with elements of Christofascism.