Thread by @mhbx

@JYSexton 1/ I was in the thick of these books and moments being described in this thread at the time.
A young Theology student at what turned out to be a standard fundamentalist school that turned into this movement hard.
This book in particular was seminal for me.

@JYSexton 2/ But in my case, it had the opposite effect, it opened up a world of thought greater than the limited "Bible is God's Word" frame of reference. Eventually I could not reconcile that small frame with the larger frames of ... well everything..including science, thought, human

@JYSexton 3/ experience in all of its complexities and etc.

For anyone reading this thread who may wonder if this is exaggerated or somehow a slanted telling...be assured that @JYSexton is telling it straight and as comprehensively as I have ever seen.

What he is revealing here is

@JYSexton 4/ essential understanding to the waves and winds of our times. It addresses one of the mysteries that has puzzled many in this Trumpian era
. Why are evangelicals so enthrall to Trump
. How is Trump using these evangelical institutions for his political purposes.
. And most

@JYSexton 5/ And most puzzling,
. How is it that Trump, for all his anti Christian behaviours, obvious lack of any actual Christian bona fides,
how does Trump command their allegiance?

And the corollary puzzle:
How is it that the stalwart "40%" as so unshakable?

@JYSexton 6/ The answer, as seen in this thread, is that it is beyond any intellectual ascent, though that is there...
but the foundation of it is this deep religious bedrock that has at is root this deep self-certain fundamentalism, and a belief in its absolute righteous & "rightness" of

@JYSexton 7/ how it understands the world, and their place in it. Both as "soldiers for Christ", and as the misunderstood by the world. A condition that, like all fundamentalist systems, only strengthens their resolve. Like concrete, it continually is getting harder for decades.

@JYSexton 8/ Trump is an idiot &, as has been well articulated by many, the worst president in virtually any category you might care to address. But that is in governance and actually being a public servant.
When you understand he has a different purpose and mission, then the confusion

@JYSexton 9/ resolves and the motives become clear.
Trump retains this stalwart "40%" for exactly the reason I call them "the believers". He has figured out what they believe (it is this thread), & has figured out how to make himself their champion.

They get recognition and a place in

@JYSexton 10/ seat of power, and he gets the power.

This is one among the many reasons @JYSexton is pleading for us to understand what is the underlying substrate of what is going on at all these levels.

It is not a pejorative to call this strata the American Taliban.

@JYSexton 11/ This is a fundamentalist movement in the most fundamental of terms and definitions.

One of the essential qualities of any fundamentalism is
1. its book -- specifically the book God gave them
2. its absolute certainty that they alone understand what the book says.
3. And thus

@JYSexton 13/ are emboldened, rather, Called By God, to defend the book & thus defend "god".

And in the defense of god, there is no excess.

Including violating everything their book, the Bible, teaches.

(@TimothyDSnyder does a nice job of making this point. Here threadreaderapp.com/thread/1267654…)

@JYSexton 14/ These syndromes are easy to see when we look, with "Christian" superiority at the Taliban and see how they treat people in contradiction to the teachings of Islam, as most non-fundamentalist Muslims will assert.

It is less easy to see the exact same syndromes in our own

@JYSexton 15/ fundamentalists....In no small part because it seems they are "the same as us, just Christians who believe in the Bible...".
Again, @JYSexton is unpacking this notion.

And this is why this movement and its deep substrate is so anti-american, & why it is so pro-trump.

@JYSexton 16/ Closing this with another angle on this conversation.

Dostoevsky, in his Grand Inquisitor, captures all of this in an amazing essay.
Essentially it is Christ coming back to earth & being told he is unwanted...

@JYSexton 17/ The Church is in control now, & you, Jesus, are no longer needed. In fact go away or we'll crucify you again. Or , rather, in those days of the inquisition, Burn you at the stake.
The point is clear. The reference sublime.

bit.ly/36SoUJS