The spread of fascism in the 1920s was significantly aided by the fact that liberals and mainstream conservatives failed to take it seriously. Instead, they accommodated and normalised it. torch.ox.ac.uk/article/no-thi…
Why we have to cut off the head of fascism again and again.
My thread yesterday about Hitler, his knowing that he would have to be a Christian hypocrite for political advantage, would also need influential Christian leaders to succeed. For Hitler, this was Gerhard Kittel, the German theologian. He proposed extermination of the Jews.
I briefly mentioned Jerry Falwell. Far right conservative activists Ed McAteer and Paul Weyrich we’re regarded as radicals. There group was to change the existing power structure, but they wanted to change what conservative meant. Weyrich was the man with the vision. He was
known as the “evil genius” of the 1980 manifesto “The New Right: We’re Ready to Lead.” They would establish themselves first as the opposition, then the alternative, finally the government. They would weaken existing institutions and eventually destroy them. First they would
“Liberal” “Liberal Hoax.” The conservative buzzword to denounce the left. We don’t mind, we reply with liberal quotes such as JFK. However, why is it a ridiculous thing for conservatives to say? Particularly conservative Christians??? Because the word is Biblical.
The King James Version of 1611 of the Bible contains the word liberal. In the American King James Bible also contained the word liberal. But why was this word so important to Christianity and particularly America? Particularly the King James Bible?
First, the King James Bible was the break from the Catholic Church. For the Puritans, Presbyterians and Methodists who came to America, this was important and important because of the vision for America. There have been comments that “Jesus was a liberal.” But these are not just
On April 12, 1922, Hitler gave a speech to a crowd in Munich proclaiming he was a Christian, “My Christian feeling directs me to my Lord and saviour as a fighter. As a Christian I have the duty for the truth and what is right.” His supporters believed him
They stated, “Hitler said it, I believe it, that settles it.”
Joseph Goebbels knew Hitler to be anti-Christian, in his diary entries, Hitler in reality wanted to destroy the churches. He saw Christianity as a symptom of decay, a strata deposited by the Jewish race.
From the very beginning in America, Christian nationalism was branded extremism. Particularly Massachusetts Puritanism. All churches were branded dens of sin and ungodly if they didn’t belong to Massachusetts Puritanism. The story can be traced back to Boston, England.
A loose-living minister was tired of being hauled before the towns strict Puritan magistrates. This minister believed he could behave how he wanted, and didn’t want to conform to the Churches rules. He believed individual churches should be autonomous and preach whatever they
like. He was asked to questioned by the law of the Church of England. He went into hiding and didn’t attend the hearing. 76 ministers who believed they should teach whatever they wanted left England for New England before 1640. In these churches in New England, the sermons
Part 2 of “The religious right in America is nationalist identity, it is not a faith expressed through practice.”
I wanted to extend on the thread I did yesterday to understand how religious nationalists are able to vote for a man like Donald Trump.
So first we must understand how a man who is the antithesis of Christianity, a religion that when PRACTISED means purity, humility and mercy, was able to not only get the vote of American Christians. We have to remember that Christian nationalism is based upon being born in
America. To be an American is to be a Christian. That’s it. It has nothing to do with the teachings of Christianity. Trumpism is among other things, a reactionary version of white Christian nationalism.
The religious right in America is nationalist identity, it is not a faith expressed through practice.
What I mean by this is a reflexive religion-nationalism. It has nothing to do with faith and doctrine. It is a Turk is a Muslim, a Russian is Orthodox and a Tibetan is Buddhist. You identify with this religion based upon where you are born. That’s why in America you get the
religious right that will make a comment like “I’m a Christian and a proud American.” In the same sentence. Then you look at their behavior that is not based on Christian doctrine. For the religious right it is nationalist identity only. It is also ex patria. Ex patria that puts