1/ Trump has evangelical advisors who are—and we cannot overstate this—looking forward to the end of the world. Let us explain…
2/ According to many evangelicals, the Book of Ezekiel prophesies that Russia will join with Persia—now Iran—and its Arab neighbors to attack Israel. This battle would bring on the Rapture: God will take good Christians to heaven, and everyone left on Earth will suffer and die.
3/ Some evangelicals say they believe Trump is carrying out God’s End Time plans to bring about the return of Christ—beginning with war with Iran. bit.ly/2GkO8V4
4/ Not all or even most evangelicals believe in the literal truth of these sorts of prophecies, but those who do subscribe to this apocalyptic world view seem to be overrepresented among Trump’s religious supporters and advisers.
5/ Trump has surrounded himself with evangelicals who believe in this sort of biblical prophecy, and his administration regularly reflects that language back to them in its messaging. bit.ly/2GkO8V4
6/ Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is a master of such messaging. A few days after the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage, he said: “We will continue to fight these battles. It is a never-ending struggle. … until the Rapture.” bit.ly/2GkO8V4
7/ Many saw Trump’s controversial decision to move the American embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem as an appeal to evangelicals, who believe the move fulfills a biblical prophecy necessary in securing the Second Coming.
8/ The White House has hosted a steady stream of religious extremists since Trump took office, including San Antonio televangelist John Hagee. Hagee has been calling for war with Iran for more than 15 years.
9/ Among other things, Hagee has said that gays caused Hurricane Katrina, referred to the Catholic Church as the “great whore,” called Hitler a “half-breed” Jew, and said that Hitler was part of God’s plan to get the Jews back to Israel. bit.ly/2GkO8V4
10/ This is telling: Trump announced the killing of Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani just hours before appearing at the launch of his campaign’s Evangelicals for Trump coalition in Miami.
11/ As religious historian Diana Butler Bass put it, “When Iran gets into the news, especially with anything to do with war, it’s sort of a prophetic dog whistle to evangelicals.”
12/ All of this begs the question, should people with this vision of the End Times have so much power in the White House? bit.ly/2GkO8V4
13/13 Read @smencimer’s deep-dive into some of the key figures in Trump's influential inner circle of evangelicals: bit.ly/2GkO8V4
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The reviews for Greta Gerwig’s Barbie are in…and we can’t stop laughing at the guys mad that the movie is too “woke.”
@jackiefmogensen scavenged the bowels of Rotten Tomatoes for some truly golden one-star reviews of the film. Here’s a thread of some of our favorites. 🧵
(🧵) Since 1976, elections for Kentucky’s highest court have traditionally been, at least on paper, nonpartisan as mandated by the state Constitution.
Enter Republican Joseph Fischer.
For decades as a Republican legislator in Kentucky, Fischer has pushed bills to restrict abortion. He sponsored the state’s 2019 “trigger law” making the procedure a felony. which went into effect once the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade.
He was also behind House Bill 91, which would change the state Constitution to read that it “does not secure or protect a right to abortion or funding of abortion”—an amendment voters will decide on Election Day.
🧵: You don’t have to wait until after the midterm elections to know what many of the GOP have in mind.
A little-noticed budget document, the Blueprint to Save America, released by the Republican Study Committee, details the group’s priorities. Let's get into it 👇
Some context: Nearly 75% of GOP House lawmakers are RSC members, so these priorities are shared by a majority of the GOP caucus. From cracking down on trans rights to expanding gun rights, here's an overview of the 122-page manifesto.
The RSC wants to end birthright citizenship because, they argue, undocumented immigrants take advantage of it.
Inside Massachusetts' family separation disaster bit.ly/3flmrAf
When child protective services removes a child against the will of their parents, state laws typically require a hearing within days to ensure that the right decision was made.
In Massachusetts, these court dates are called “72-hour hearings.” bit.ly/3fljn77
But Massachusetts systemically fails to comply with its own legal statute, delaying 72-hour hearings well beyond that.
In one county, there were 338 cases with such hearings last year—and only one happened within three business days. bit.ly/3fljn77
@RewireNewsGroup@msjpauly Dozens of district attorneys across the country have vowed not to prosecute people who “seek, provide, or support” abortions.
But that promise is a hard sell to abortion providers weighing the risks of jail time. bit.ly/3Rwhl2K