Thread by @SallyAlbright

This is for people like me- Non-Brogressive Liberals who want to get Democrats elected.

It’s time to stop accepting the Evangelical Xtian Republican framework of social issues.

We need to stop calling them “hypocrites” and start calling them what they are: straight up liars.
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First of all, they aren’t Christians. American Evangelical “Christianity” stopped being about the teachings of Jesus a long time ago. (Some would argue it never was.)

Today it’s just a protest movement against cultural modernity.
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Pretending their ideology is based on the Bible conveys a legitimacy they do not deserve. They like a few lines from the Old Testament and the passages in Revelation about “The Rapture” that only appeared recently.

Everything else is made up to justify their bigotry and hate.
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Evangelicals and racists long for the days when women and black people knew their place, and they want to use the government to turn back time. Subconsciously or otherwise, their end game is a world where women stay home, and POC are invisible unless and until they are useful.
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(If you are an Evangelical who considers yourself a Christian and this post makes you defensive and angry, I make no apologies.

Do NOT "NotALL" me. You ARE the problem.

It’s time for to decide which kind of Christian you want to be. Because most of you just aren’t.)
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Evangelicals are not hypocrites. They are liars.

There is no need to bother with the ones who lie to themselves.

They are not persuadable. They will never vote with us.

But we have to take their electoral power away.

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By allowing Evangelicals to pretend they have noble intentions, we allow the rest of the Republicans, the “good kind” who like to think they aren’t racist and sexist, to dismiss them as a necessary evil to keep the GOP in power.
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Evangelicals are the engine that powers the Republican party.

They are the ones who volunteer.

They are the ones who knock doors and drive people to the polls.

They are the ones who consider tithing to the RNC their biblical duty.
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Evangelicals are GOP’s most reliable voters. They will walk through fire and rain to vote against the Hillary Clintons and Barack Obamas and all the down-ballot candidates who stand for gender equality and racial justice that threaten their way of life and world view.
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The rest of the GOP might prefer that their party not hate on women and black people, but it’s not a priority for them. They know without Evangelicals, there would not be a Republican party to keep their taxes low.

We have to raise the stakes.

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When we say, “Pence only cares about fetuses, he doesn’t care about people after they are born” we are perpetuating the lie that Evangelicals even care about fetuses.

They don’t. They care about punishing sinners (women only), and keeping women in the home.

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Because that’s what the so-called “pro-life” agenda is really about: keeping women down.

If women can’t plan their pregnancies, they can’t fully participate in the workforce. Then they can’t compete with men for promotions or tempt the husbands of SAH “traditional” wives.
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Saying “Trump is a hypocrite, he says his immigration policy is about law but he doesn’t care about Europeans who overstay their visas” perpetuates the lie that it was ever about the law.

It’s about racism, and that’s all it’s ever been about.

We need to call that out.
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By letting them frame the discussion, we allow the other Republicans to pretend Evangelicals are well-intentioned but misguided, and therefore it’s okay to let them do their thing because they deliver the GOP majorities that will cut taxes and roll back regulations.
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It’s time to make them uncomfortable.

It’s time to tie the bigotry and racism around the necks of everyone who votes Republican and hold them responsible.

The best ones will have to reject it, and finally turn away.

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What happened in Alabama with Doug Jones was amazing.

Make no mistake, black women brought us that victory. Full stop.

But GOP turnout was low. Many Republicans decided that sending Roy Moore to Washington was a bridge too far, so they voted 3rd party or just stayed home.
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Candidate-wise, there is no one like Roy Moore. Even Joe Arpaio is not Roy Moore.

Roy Moore combines the bigotry and hate of Arpaio with the religious fervor of Santorum or Pence and the power of Bernie Sanders or Ron Paul to weaponize a cult-like following of true believers
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We are unlikely to encounter that perfect storm in future candidates.

But those traits are the defining characteristics of the Evangelical movement.

If we can run against that the way we ran against Roy Moore, we can divide their party and beat them.
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So going forward, don’t say, “Pence only cares about people until they are born.” Say “Pence hates women.”

Don’t say, “Trump ignores the law when it comes to undocumented “Illegal” immigrants who are white.” Say, “Trump doesn’t want Latinos here because they are POC.”

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Most Evangelicals and racists will never change.

But maybe if we call them out and force the rest of the GOP- and anyone who votes with them- to take ownership of their bigotry, racism, and hate, some of them will reject it.

And then we can take our country back.

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Adding a PS:

For 20 years, Republicans have talked about how to reach 5 Million "Missing Evangelicals" who do not vote. I admit I didn't investigate that closely, but I mostly discounted it as wishful thinking. A comforting myth.
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They didn't turn out for Romney or McCain. They didn't turn out for W, who is one of them. They didn't turn out in 2004, which was basically a referendum on marriage equality. What was it going to take? Why were they staying home?
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In 2016, they showed up. What it took was Trump. They didn't vote out of a sense of civic duty, and they didn't even show up to support their professed doctrine of "family values."

They showed up for Trump and his agenda of racism and hate.

Speaks volumes.
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