Thread by @RevvyWolfprints

If you haven't read the #1776Commission report, please do. If you (like me) grew up with conservative Christian education, a lot of this will be very familiar to you, just now at the national level. If you didn't, you need to know that this is what kids are being taught.

That said, it's a very intimidating 45 page read, and I fully understand not wanting to waste your time reading this crap, so I'll be posting some highlights to this thread.

Starting off strong with well-known language to inspire patriotic/nationalistic pride. "Americans are always the good guys" will hold as theme through the whole document. #1776Commission

Translation: a history of those principles which justifies every action taken or not taken, because we are only allowed to display positive and unwavering loyalty to the United States. #1776Commission

The city on a hill is a Christian nationalist idea, similar to the Christian idea of being the "salt of the earth." Basically it means that the United States is supposed to be such an amazing country, that every other country should want to be like us. #1776Commission

Note the framing here. This phrasing puts the colonists on the same side as the Confederates, and the Union on the side of King George. #1776Commission

The conservative Christian narrative is that the Union, like King George, was overstepping its bounds, creating unfair pressure (on the institution of slavery) and oppressing the South without consideration for its cultural and economic value. #1776Commission

In case you missed it, the U.S. government is telling you that asking for social justice or anything else on the liberal agenda is an "unrealistic hope" and going too far. #1776Commission

Translation: "Good citizens don't acknowledge that the United States has ever been on the wrong side of history." This is American supremacy at it's clearest. #1776Commission

This is a variation of the Christian idea of "imperfect people being used by a perfect God" which Christians use as an excuse to ignore some of the horrible things done by Biblical figures. #1776Commission

I know if you've never been part of conservative Christianity some of these points may seem like a stretch, but I promise you the Christian right is not missing these connections, especially not when they are being made by the Trump administration, which they view as a savior.

For anyone who's counting, we have now reached the end of the introduction. We new begin section 2, The Meaning of the Declaration.

This is a set up. "You're just like everyone else, but actually better because you're American" mirrors the church teaching that "You're just like everyone else, but actually better because you're Christian" False humility feeds the belief of supremacy. #1776Commission

Another common theme in this document is pretending like indigenous American populations didn't exist. #1776Commission

This feeds American exceptionalism - "we are the best of history because we made it work when the few who tried, couldn't do it." It's also not really true, but I'll leave those details to actual historians. #1776Commission

1. This is not unique. 2. This is a weird point to make. 3. This is a personal pet peeve. You don't celebrate your birthday one the day you were conceived. The United States's birthday is actually October 19, 1781. #1776Commission

Remember when I said that pretending indigenous American populations never existed was a theme of this document? Here's some more indigenous erasure for you. #1776Commission

This paper would have you believe John Jay was just innocently generalizing, but his exclusion is clear. He "freed" children of slaves only subject to lengthy apprenticeships, and tried to prohibit Catholics from holding office. #1776Commission

Translation: "Multiculturalism is the enemy, and tolerance of other customs, cultures, and beliefs will lead to the failure of the republic." #1776Commission

I'll leave it to historians to say if this is true. Even if it is, the US more than made up for it with ideas like manifest destiny, the white man's burden, and, more recently, international "promotion" of democracy. #1776Commission

This appears innocuous, if ironic given the source. But it's a reference to the Christian fight against relativism. They believe without god there are no morals or truth at all, and therefore atheism is synonymous with literal evil. #1776Commission

This is pure conservative Christian doctrine, specifically relating to the idea from Romans 1 that divine truth is clearly visible through nature, and therefore there is no reasonable excuse to not believe, painting nonbelievers as exclusively unreasonable. #1776Commission

If only they actually believed this.... #1776Commission

Just in case you thought they were ACTUALLY saying all people are equal. They are telling you that God distributes virtue unevenly, so you can still be both American and Christian if you're racist! #1776Commission

The "unimagined forms" of inequality referenced here is in fact religious tolerance. The Christian right views any attempt at separation of church and state as oppression. This phrase puts not teaching the Bible in school on par with tyranny and slavery. #1776Commission

This is a foundational view of conservative Christians, similar to the white man's burden. They believe it is their god-given responsibility to share their superior religion and government with the rest of the world. They view tolerance as negligence. #1776Commission

This is why the Christian right is adamant that religion must be taught in every sphere of life - differences cause conflict, which undermines the republic. The only way to avoid this is consistent indoctrination. #1776Commission

See also: "While God's principle's are true and eternal, they are taught through flawed men. For true understanding, we must turn to the Holy Spirit/prayer/God's appointed leaders." Yes, this parallel will be recognized by the religious right. #1776Commission

We are now entering section 3: A Constitution of Principles

Here on earth, as opposed to in heaven, where all things will be made perfect, which clearly means in alignment with American ideals. One more step in line with Christian nationalism and supremacy. #1776Commission

Also, I haven't been able to easily find what speech that Churchill quote was from, but I'm pretty sure he was talking about fighting Nazis.

This is a door opened for conservative Christians to step in and say that it was in fact a miracle, ordained and supported by god. The paper doesn't explicitly have to say it, because the religious right knows how to recognize the lingo and fill in the blanks. #1776Commission

There are many such doors in this document, so that most people will miss them, but the religious right can easily fill in their beliefs, and see it as the Trump administration agreeing with them. #1776Commission

The United States did not invent the idea of a constitution. Ours was not the first constitution of a general government, or written constitution, and drew ideas from Britain, ancient Greece, contemporary Poland, and others. #1776Commission

For more info about this, read this perspective by Kim Lane Scheppele, professor at University of Pennsylvania.
constitutioncenter.org/learn/educatio…

Sound familiar anyone? 🤔 #1776Commission

This phrasing very clearly signals a parallel between the Constitution and the Bible, divinely inspired but physically written down by imperfect men. #1776Commission

Translation: "The point is to enable Christian supremacy." It's no secret that Christians cry oppression when faced with any limitation of their ability to force their beliefs on others, and this line tells them they are correct to do so. #1776Commission

The section on the bill of rights places 3 above the others (religion, speech and press, and bearing arms), while notably not mentioning others including assembly, unreasonable search and seizure, due process, and excessive bail. #1776Commission

Despite the fact that ALL rights in the Constitution are supposedly self-evident, undeniable moral truth, the ones that are currently seen as part of the leftist agenda are not mentioned. #1776Commission

Section 4: Challenges to America's Principles.

This is the myth that other countries hate us because of our superior government, in much the same way that Christians expect to be persecuted because of their religion. #1776Commission

Anti-Communism and the Pro-Life Movement have not amended the Constitution, but the government wants you to think of them as established and accepted fact, on par with the hard won fights for abolition, women's suffrage, and civil rights. #1776Commission

This feeds the Christian narrative that there is an eternal struggle between god and his people and evil powers, notably including earthly powers, outlined in Ephesians 6. #1776Commission

This consolidates every challenge into one overarching evil, attacking what they see as God's chosen country. Any challenge is therefore aligned with evil, justifying any force necessary to beat it in to submission. #1776Commission

"Stand back and stand by." #1776Commission

It's worth mentioning that the religious right is completely incapable of separating the idea of the United States from the founders as individuals. The founding fathers are demi-gods to the religious right, though they would never label them as such. #1776Commission

...you mean the ideals that you have spent 10 pages telling me are divine, eternal, undeniable, truth? #1776Commission

Now it's going to tell you why the founding fathers weren't really THAT even though they owned slaves. Slavery is wrong. It was wrong then, and it's wrong now, and the refusal to acknowledge that truth is disgusting. #1776Commission

It's hard explain the esteem the founding fathers are given by conservative Christians. They are on par with the prophets and disciples of the Bible. They are demi-gods, and can do no wrong, which is why they find it so important to find ways to justify slavery. #1776Commission

The founding fathers, like the prophets, are believed to be inspired by God directly. Like the disciples they risked everything to follow God's calling. That's why challenging the Constitution is unthinkable, it's barely a step below the Bible. #1776Commission

There's nothing that I can add to this. The US government in 2021 is still trying to justify the 3/5 compromise and fugitive slave clause. #1776Commission

Or at least we're going to say they did, because we have to now, but the fact remains that the founding fathers bought and traded in human beings, and allowed the practice to continue when they were setting the rules of the country. #1776Commission

Translation: "We allowed for the enslavement of black people to ensure the freedom of white people, and that was an acceptable trade." #1776Commission

This makes it sound like the founders all but ended slavery, and it came back just before the Civil War. That is false. Slavery was part of the United States from the very beginning. #1776Commission

Technically correct, but framed in such a way that people will see whatever they think of as divisive (aka "identity politics") as originating from these unamerican ideas, rather than taking responsibility for the legacy of white supremacy. #1776Commission

Right from the start the reader is told Progressivism belongs to the "elites" which the Christian right already sees as the enemy - those people who think they're better than us but lucky for us, they don't know Jesus so they'll get what they deserve. #1776Commission

This is just a terrible analogy all around. #1776Commission

The Christian right thinks all Progressives believe in relativism and post-modernism and, essentially, do not believe that truth is real. They use this to justify anything, because they believe the other side basically has no beliefs at all. #1776Commission

I can't even tell you how often I was warned about the dangers of post-modernism, and how the erosion of the very idea of truth would bring about the downfall of everything except the Christian nation. #1776Commission

This is literally just conspiracy theories, in an actual document produced by a government task force. #1776Commission

The religious right works SO hard to convince you that Fascism is actually a leftist idea. It teaches that Fascism and Communism are basically the same thing, trying to tie Fascism to the liberals. I admit for a long time I didn't understand the difference. #1776Commission

The modern version of Manifest Destiny - it is our Christian, American duty to teach the rest of the world how to be like us - free and Christian. #1776Commission

Never will you see mentioned how long the US debated whether to join the fight, or how we rejected Jewish refugees. The narrative is that we took pity on poor struggling Europe and lent our strength, and then it was over because the US is too powerful to oppose. #1776Commission

This equates American soldiers to the disciples, in that their very presence brought the light of truth and freedom to the poor, oppressed people. A savior complex at its finest. #1776Commission

If you want to actually understand Communism, there's plenty of books out there from people more qualified than me. But don't take the religious right's word for it. #1776Commission

Translation: "The left is fundamentally anti-American. Academia is anti-American." Many view colleges as nothing more than places to brainwash/entice smart young conservatives into the liberal agenda. No, I'm not exaggerating. #1776Commission

And here the conservative Christians fill in the blank: "whereas America was built on the fundamental truth of the Bible." #1776Commission

A return to the foundational idea that you cannot be even a decent person without god. This is a call for America to "return to God" which the religious right has been part of for years. But now they see it coming from the federal government. #1776Commission

This is the closest I have ever seen conservative Christians come to admitting that systemic racism is a real problem in the United States. #1776Commission

Do you see how this phrasing opens the door to doubt? It won't say that it WAS consistent with the founding principles, only SEEMED to be. To people taught that everything on this earth will try to deceive them, this distinction is clear. #1776Commission

Yes, they are telling you that racial minorities receive preferential treatment. Yes, they are telling you that white people are now oppressed in the United States. #1776Commission

They want you to believe that social justice is an anti-American idea, and is actually leading to reverse racism, reverse sexism, etc. And people believe it, because this is what they are taught by people they trust. #1776Commission

Section 4: The Task of National Renewal
Before even reading this section, conservative Christians will interpret this as the need to bring the US back to Christianity, which they see as their task, on par with abolition, suffrage, and civil rights. #1776Commission

The words "patriotic education" should strike fear in anyone who sees them. The religious right will only accept a view of America of "reverence and love" which necessarily means not permitting any criticism, regardless of its validity. #1776Commission

Conservative Christians believe they live in a world that wants to stamp out their beliefs. Therefore teaching kids is a primary task, because it ensure their beliefs live on. This very cleverly marries American nationalism and supremacy into that fear. #1776Commission

See above. This feeds their idea that they cannot trust schools or anyone else to properly teach their kids, they must first lay the foundation lest their kids be sucked into worldly (or liberal) temptations. This is why homeschooling is so revered. #1776Commission

This also gives convenient excuse for discrimination against anyone they think can't properly raise a family: LGBTQ+, nonChristians, disabled people, single parents, working parents, etc. #1776Commission

Translation: "Teach kids to love the US like they love God; without doubt or question, because their lives literally depend on it." Let me emphasize: This is Christian nationalism, and THIS CREATES TRAUMA. #1776Commission

Translation: "You are right not to trust to the schools. Any criticism of the US is anti-American." There is no room for complex discussion about good and bad things in history. There is only the good, and pointing out the bad makes you the enemy. #1776Commission

Just in case you thought I was exaggerating about the anti-intellectual anti-university sentiment. Anyone who disagrees with them and is college-educated is easily written off as having been brainwashed by liberal academia. #1776Commission

Section 5: Conclusion

I really feel like this speaks for itself, to be honest. #1776Commission

The conclusion doesn't add much new, so before we proceed to the appendices, I want to add some of my own thoughts on the takeaways from this document. That was a lot of tweets, so here's a reminder of the main points.

The United States has always been on the right side of history. You could expect nothing less from a Christian nation, therefore it's true because it must be true. Criticizing, including asking for improvements, makes you anti-American, and therefore easily dismissed.

It draws tiny parallels between Americans and Biblical figures, creating links in minds already conditioned to believe in Christian supremacy. This ties the nation to their religious beliefs, so they will defend their idea of the US with the same fervor they defend their religion

And in both cases, because they expected to be persecuted, because they have been told everyone will hate them because they're better than everyone else, they find attack everywhere, from "the war on Christmas" to reverse racism.

Appendix 1 is just the text of the Declaration of Independence. It seems kind of unnecessary to me, but whatever. #1776Commission

Appendix 2: Faith and America's Principles
Reminder: The religious right only believes in the separation of church and state when it comes to other religions. To them, our heritage as an explicitly Christian nation in sacred. #1776Commission

See above. They want to establish as fact that Christianity is a critical part of being American, and that governance without religion will lead to the failure of the nation. This is Christian nationalism and supremacy. #1776Commission

Christianity did not invent secular law. But they need you to believe that Christianity invented modern democracy in order to justify the US's attempts to violently force our ways on the rest of the world. #1776Commission

As a side note, I am not a historian. There are lots of pieces breaking down the historical inaccuracies of this, and I will try to link some of them at the end. I am focusing on the white/Christian supremacist propaganda, but this appendix especially is also wildly inaccurate

Notice how they never entertain the idea that "man's natural yearning to pursue truth about God" might lead them to anything other than Christianity? This is Christian supremacy. #1776Commission

I can't pin it down to a sentence to screenshot, but this appendix talks about historic religious oppression in such a way as to frame "religious diversity" to mean different denominations of Christianity. Any other possible belief is excluded. #1776Commission

This too frames anyone who is not religious, and specifically Christian, as unAmerican for not exercising their rights *correctly* Let me remind you this is a report published by a national commission of the federal government. #1776Commission

Remember when I said the founders are demi-gods? The question of whether or not the founders were right to do something is never entertained, only what their intent was. Their word is law, and questioning it is anti-American. #1776Commission

This is literally just a theology lesson from the government. #1776Commission

Christians have also stood against every aspect of social progress in the nation's history, but we must feed the narrative that Christians, like the United States, are always the good guys. #1776Commission

On page 27 we get the first acknowledgement of any kind that religions other than Christianity exist. #1776Commission

The narrative here is that pursuing "shared morality" can only ever lead to Christianity, and therefore any who are not Christian are inherently immoral, for not recognizing this truth. #1776Commission

Translation: "Your faith and your country are under attack by evil people." The assumed answer to the question asked here is to convert the rest of the nation to Christianity. #1776Commission

And here the illusion of separation of church and state falls apart. You cannot be an American without religion. And in case it was somehow unclear, the next paragraph specifies "biblical faith." #1776Commission

Appendix 3: Created Equal or Identity Politics
To be clear, to conservative Christians "Identity Politics" is oppression, because it challenges their multiple positions of privelege #1776Commission

Because conservative Christians have a persecution complex, they are unable to recognize the privilege they hold. Instead they claim that identity politics has made them victims of the minorities. #1776Commission

Yes, they are equating social justice advocates to slavery apologists. That is the level of oppression they believe they are facing. Although clearly untrue, it puts into perspective their militaristic tendencies. #1776Commission

To be very clear, despite their enormous power and privilege, Christian nationalists believe they are facing an existential threat, and need to fight (yes, literally) for the survival of their beliefs. #1776Commission

Just in case they weren't clear enough about it the first time #1776Commission

The rest of this appendix is mostly along the same lines, painting "identity politics" as anti-American for daring to challenge the status quo. I encourage you to read it, as the authors smartly hid their more over statements in the appendices. #1776Commission

Appendix 4: Teaching Americans About Their Country

"Transcendent knowledge" means religion. This will now spend several more pages saying that academia is a liberal ploy to indoctrinate your children with anti-American anti-Christian propaganda. #1776Commission

This is a clearer summation of their anti-intellectual anti-multiculturalism beliefs than I could ever write. #1776Commission

As before, I urge you read at least the appendices yourself. While the main document is largely coded dogwhistles, the appendices are much more overt. #1776Commission

My friends, we have reached the end, both of the document, and of the Trump administration. I am ready to leave the bullshit of both behind me. That said, I will try to add more resources to the end of this thread, and I am happy to answer questions as best I can.

Thank you to anyone who read this. I know it's long, but these ideologies won't disappear just because the Trump administration is over. And people need to understand what is being taught in the conservative Christian world. #1776Commission

I highly recommend this piece by @C_Stroop examining especially the educational practices leading to radicalization. And while you're at it, check out her other work regarding Christian supremacy and the #exvangelical experience religiondispatches.org/where-were-the…

I also highly recommend this thread by @DrIbram author, historian, and anti-racist scholar.

https://twitter.com/DrIbram/status/1351350153601552384