“'If the KKK or any other group, if what they’re doing is within the law,' he told me, 'I would consider it an honor to have them use the platform and share the hope of Jesus with them.'"
- Jacob Wells, GiveSendGO founder, quoted by @chick_in_kiev
I'm proud to have contributed some comments to @chick_in_kiev for this article, which is excellent. In addition to the overlap b/w the Christian Right and the overtly racist right, we discussed the significance of the "sin flattening" she quotes @JeffSharlet on here.
It's really important to understand how that functions in evangelical subculture, serving as the foundation for gross false equivalence that serves to uphold the (white supremacist patriarchal) status quo, much like post-truth politics functions in authoritarianism in general
Here's an old thread I did on that. It looks a bit broken now, but you can still find the numbered replies:
Anyway, sin flattening is just one way theology--in this case, original sin, and, especially, total depravity--can be used as a refuge for bigotry, hate, and injustice, in this case by those who wish to appear "respectable."
"Oh, you're gay? Well hey, I'm a sinner too..."
Scale that attitude up into a platform like GiveSendGo, and you can see how founder-siblings Jacob Wells and Heather Wilson justify fundraisers for racist terrorists and murderers by saying, essentially, "We allowed an LGBTQ fundraiser too!" (That fundraiser has raised $0.)
Apropos of all this is, too, how white evangelicals and other conservative Christians understand the notions of harm and fairness. GiveSendGo won't allow fundraisers for abortions because that would be directly funding harm. But funding the KKK? Just fine and dandy! No harm there
As we watch social media companies continue to flounder over how to deal with hate speech and conspiracy theories, it's worth noting that this is also why an ethos of "free speech absolutism" online, far from promoting and preserving democracy, ultimately serves to undermine it.
GiveSendGo has been successful at continuing to fund hate so far, perhaps in large part thanks to the pervasive Christian supremacism of our society and its espoused theological raison d'être.
And hey, @stripe, you need to stop coddling Christian extremists - cut GiveSendGo off
Even as I'm encouraged that the press is beginning to take the kid gloves off when dealing with conservative Christian theology and white evangelical subculture, taking note of e.g. how harmful purity culture is, we need to keep the pressure on civil society in this regard.
That which is Christian must no longer be treated as untouchable. When Christians do harm with their Christianity, they must be held accountable.
Key point: declaring authoritarian, bigoted believers "fake Christians" is counterproductive; it reinforces Christian supremacism
There are many interpretations of Christianity. Some of them are evil. Christians can be good people or terrible people, just like everyone else. Christians are capable of atrocities, and all you do by pretending otherwise is help cover their tracks when they do so. So stop that.
Here are several articles you can read making this case in more detail, all by me except the last one linked:
.@chick_in_kiev's GiveSendGo exposé in @thenation is not only a must-read, but is also a perfect illustration of how to report on harmful Christian theology without denying, erasing, or downplaying that it is genuine Christian theology
Thanks again, @chick_in_kiev for reaching out to experts like me and @JeffSharlet to help explain that theology instead of tossing it aside as not "real" Christianity. It's so important for the future of American civil society and democracy to get this right!
Optimism is not my strong suit. It honestly comes quite unnaturally to me.
But I think we're starting to see a real shift in American discourse on conservative Christianity in a democratic direction.
My latest (just dropped) on @RDispatches is apropos:
Look at this utterly bizarre projection, from a puritanical obsessive who is clearly the one wanting to control others in this situation. But perhaps most disturbing of all is the utter lack of empathy. And there are plenty more examples of this out in T*RF land
Or maybe I’m just too much of a Xennial to get it?
Looks like almost no one even read it yesterday, and it’s probably just as well that it flopped. But I am really curious to get other people’s perspectives, especially but not only those of other trans folks.
My alma mater, Heritage Christian School in Indianapolis, recently wrote to parents, alumni, and supporters, asking them to contact their representatives to oppose the Equality Act.
This video also describes @TheElizaRose's experience being told by the physiology teacher, Mr. Stephen Terry, that all women have one fewer ribs than men. She talks about her cognitive dissonance and how she concluded that God did not want her to be a doctor.
I’m so glad to see that legal action is being taken against right-wing Christian colleges and universities with anti-LGBTQ policies. They should not have federal funding.
Win or lose, this lawsuit exemplifies a powerful shift in the conversation.
Evangelicals—with their institutional deep pockets and powerful lobbying orgs, many SPLC-designated hate groups—are finally losing control of the narrative.
“In my case, I rarely, if ever, had the support of USA TODAY’s top editors. When the fall out from each column left me vulnerable to social media attacks and harassment, USA TODAY never offered public, institutional support.”
“On two occasions I was asked to edit a piece on young black golfers, but warned not to use language that would alienate white audiences.”
This should be just as scandalous for @USATODAY as language on not alienating “our core white audience” in a job ad was for @NewfieldsToday