Thread by @timethief

#Populism Poses Dangers to Democracy. It Does the Same to Christian Witness. How polarizing narratives corrupt our hearts and redefine our faith. christianitytoday.com/ct/2021/septem…

"The plot of the populist story is simple, unchanging, and melodramatic: Life consists of a perpetual struggle between “common people” and the elites who exploit them. The former are noble, virtuous, and righteous;

the latter are corrupt, arrogant, and self-serving. The key to eradicating social ills and injustices lies in helping the people recognize their true enemies and mobilize to defeat them." ...What populist rhetoric adds to the mix is fear, outrage, and an all-consuming urgency.

We should hear alarm bells any time a politician promises to help Christians “take our country back.” Embedded in such promises is a proposal to exchange cultural power for political support.

Why do Christians sometimes support political authoritarianism? It must be acknowledged that many Christians tend toward religio-moral authoritarianism, and this may play a role. The Problem of #AuthoritarianReactionaryChristianity
politicaltheology.com/the-problem-of…

#Politicalauthoritarianism in established democracies involves weakening popular sovereignty, centralizing power, undercutting the rule of law, threatening fair elections, limiting freedom of speech, misusing state power to weaken political opposition,

manipulating the criminal justice system, and eroding civil rights protections. In multiple countries, #conservativeChristians have demonstrated active support for such #politicalauthoritarianism.

#Politicalauthoritarianism among #Christians often appears to be activated, or intensified, by a strongly negative reaction to modernity, democracy, and pluralism, to cultural, moral, political, cont'd

and legal changes in democratic societies which progressive forces treat as great advances for progress, but traditionalist Christians reject.
#movingforward

When a negative reaction to social change hardens into a posture of Christian disdain for modernity and democracy, it can be fairly named reactionary. It is the combination of authoritarianism and reaction that defines much of what has gone wrong with Christian politics.

I urge you to read the full article from which the extractions were taken: The Problem of Authoritarian Reactionary Christianity By David Gushee
October 27, 2022
politicaltheology.com/the-problem-of…

#Christiannationalism, the most obvious manifestation of this movement, links church and state (“God and country”) and attempts to impose conservative social and political values and policies on society.

Rather than fostering democracy, Christian nationalism promotes #authoritarianism, and in some cases, #fascism. ... #farrightpoliticalextremism merged with #farrightChristianity is an example of Christian symbols being used

as religious justification for violent actions in support of #antidemocratic #Christiannationalism and #whitesupremacy. Contact Sharon to request a free PDF chapter of your choice, to request a presentation, or to order bulk copies of her books. sharondelgado.org/2022/07/18/chr…

theguardian.com/us-news/2023/f… Banning ideas and authors is not a ‘culture war’ – it’s fascism These laws have been represented by many as a “culture war”. This framing is a dangerous falsification of reality.

The concepts these laws centrally target include addressing #structuralracism, intersectionality and #criticalracetheory.