There is no horror that cannot be, and has not been, justified in the name of religion. Nothing ever better illustrated the disconnect between religion and morality quite like the evangelical's unconditional love for the most grotesquely immoral President in our history. Donald Trump played the evangelical preachers for the fools they are, and won't hesitate to throw them under the bus once they are of no further use to him.
Goliath was a pagan blasphemer who oppressed and murdered innocent people for the benefit of the king of Gath.
David was an innocent who picked up the sword and became… a Jewish polytheist who oppressed and murdered innocent people for the benefit of the king of Gath before he became king of Israel. Christ Almighty, David even carries Goliath’s sword, if you think the writer of I Samuel is too subtle.
The lesson of David and Goliath isn’t what you think it is. It’s that David became Goliath through his picking up the sword.
The abyss looks back.
“they don’t give a damn about the criminal indictments, the Hitleresque rhetoric, the adoration of international fascists, the selfishness, or the embrace of ignorance.”
You’re giving them too much credit. They do give a damn and they love him for it. They have embraced violent authoritarianism wholeheartedly. They would love to force their religion on children in public schools. They would love to see the LGBTQ community suppressed, tortured by conversion therapy, or killed. They would love to see dissent punished, protests punished, women and minorities put in “their place“ and a white male dominated hierarchy reign in America again with Jim Crow 2.0 apartheid upheld by civic and state violence.
Goddamn-what a nightmare. Part of me says this bastard CAN'T possibly win the presidency but then the other part of me knows that this bastard will do ANYTHING to regain the presidency and if he should win he would burn this country down. We can be sure that all the multitude of right wing websites will publish the most extensive list of lies and trash to push their fat donnie into the oval office. It is a true goddamned nightmare. I have an elderly sister and brother who have never not voted repuke. I just sent them a response to their glowing christmas letters telling them in the most profane, vulgar way to fuckoff and never let me hear from them or about them. By the standards of this world they are both good people but I don't see them that way. You can be the strongest saint but if you support trash like trump-then you are trash too. I WILL discard anyone and any company in my life that doesn't HATE trump. Family, friends, anyone they are gone.
Does that mean he's going to knock himself out with the stone he slings?
Here's my theory on this whole mess: Evangelicals have been waiting forever for their savior to return and rejigger everything in their favor ... except that he has yet to show up, mostly because he never existed in the first place. Enter Donald Trump. He IS here, he DOES want to at least pander to those same evangelicals and pretend to give them what they want, and they are so damned HUNGRY for that that they uncontrollably run to him. He will do for them what their non-existent deity can't.
Which makes me wonder if what we're really looking at is CHRISTIAN Nationalism or just plain nationalist fascism. Either way, it's screwed up and, as I've said before, it must be fought, tooth and nail.
Diapered Don as “David and Goliath?” A brat raised by millionaires, who inherited millions--how does that make him a “David?” An amoral, self-serving bully who places his interests above all others is no David. And let’s face it--the CONservative claims of Repugs are empty BS, too. They ARE the Pharisees. And to make Diapered Don a replacement for Jesus is the height of heresy, meriting a condemnation atop a fiery woodpile. But let’s face it--at least Diapered Don isn’t Jewish, right?
Yes Joe this is all the obvious he is a Republican lol
This was my response to her:
I find this response from you a bit disturbing. Given the unwavering support and devotion for trump you have shown in other posts and comments, the fact that you acknowledge the threat he is to democracy (not just Democrats, but actual democracy) is troubling. That would mean that you support dismantling the government of the people, by the people, and for the people that Lincoln spoke of a century before we were born. It means you support the authoritarian and dictatorial ambitions of the Republican party, which has been taken over completely by white christian nationalists. It mens you suppport the end of freedom in this country.
When they speak of freedom, they only want freedom for themselves. they want to usher in the theocratic Republic of Gilead from "The Handmaid's Tale". They want to eliminate the First amendment. To them, freedom of religion is the freedom to be a conservative Christian. And nothing else. To them, freedom of speech can only apply to them, and never to anyone who disagrees with them. Freedom of the press? Trump has said out loud that he would like to imprison journalists who criticize him. freedom of assembly? January 6 was "peaceful" and lawful to them, while a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest outside the White House was dispersed by tear gas so Trump could have a photo op. Petitioning the government? Only if you are one of them. Any legal action brought against them is a "witch hunt" or a "political hit". The 22nd amendment would go away too, as he would likely declare himself prisident for life, and declare Don Jr. as his successor.
Trump would do everything he could to completely dismantle the social safetey net (you wouldn't get any Social Security), public schools (only the wealthy would be able to teach their kids how to read), and environmental regulations (your horses would choke under a permanent smog bank with no safe water to drink). I may have been a bit hyperbolic about the likely outcomes, but not by much.
Are you really ok with the possiblity that I would go to prison because of social media posts I have made that are anti-Trump? He is already directly quoting "Mein Kampf", that is the sort of regime he wishes to rule over. And your unwavering devotion to the man welcomes that.
Her only response to that was the "wow" emoji. It is all about power to them, and the ability to punish those with whom they disagree for that disagreement alone.
“He’s the only savior I can see.” - Cydney Hatfield
So many questions, so many.
Why do you need a savior? I mean, you have Jesus right? Plus, what do you need an earthly savior. What do you need saving from? How is your life measurably better before Trump was a corrupt politician? What is wrong with the strides Biden has made in our economy and such?
What has Trump done to earn this savior label? How has he saved anyone? What did he do to make your life better? Anyone’s life besides his own? I guarantee Ms. Hatfield did not benefit from the tax cuts he enacted as president, they only benefitted the extremely wealthy. His tax policies have caused me great frustrations and struggles, I’m sure she’s not so much better off than I am.
It really does seem like the base is so focused on hurting other people that they don’t care about their own well being. She claims she tries to do good and prays every night (which the letter might be true) but simply by voting and supporting Trump and the GOP is so clearly bad it’s laughable she thinks she tries to do right. Maybe for her and hers, but not really for society. They deserve what they get with this Nazi wannabe movement, but I fucking don’t and the majority of the country do not. Yes, they’re a minority, they’re just obnoxiously loud and violent.
Or, they're just being temporarily practical or bandwagoning; thinking Trump will win. Drop most of these folks in an alternate US where DeSantis is at 61% and Trump is at 12%, and I bet a lot of them flip. People like to be seen as backing the winner. That may be all Trump is; a Dutch Tulip Bubble. And when he's gone, the bubble pops and all these conservatives wonder how all those other conservatives (not them!) fell for it.
Well I don't really care about that as much as 'out of the GOP.' I'd much rather have these decent people stay at church and forsake Trump, than forsake church and stay with Trump.
But so far, Trump's hate-filled authoritarian rhetoric has not caused any change in political affiliation. I do wonder what will happen when Trump exits politics and someone else tries the same message. I would like to think that without his particular draw (charisma? Popularity?), many conservative evangelical young people won't be interested in hating on immigrants, the poor, liberals, etc. Won't want to support Putin or Kim Jong Un. Won't insist every lost election is a fraud. I really doubt any other current conservative politician can pull off the message he's sending. DeSantis is certainly failing at it. But, I guess we will have to wait until 2028ish to see about that.
"they don’t give a damn about the criminal indictments, the Hitleresque rhetoric, the adoration of international fascists,"
I disagree. They give a damn, they actually fantasise about a nazi America.
"He said he supported Trump because he was the most Jesus-like candidate in the race."
Did he found an unknown gospel ? I never read the bible but thanks to those here who did and some documentaries, I know that Jesus never married. The grifting is a 50/50 toss since he, from the synoptic gospels, lived from others charity.
It has all the hallmarks of a cult, unfortunately a very widespread one. And like most cults, the true believers™ will believe anything and for that matter say anything. I mean, Don Jr said his father wasn't on the Epstein list when he obviously was and it was pointed out numerous times, but do the true believers take any notice? Of course not. Given the number of people that seem to have joined up, it's quite worrying. At least Jim Jones only had a few hundred.
It is hardly surprising that the same bunch of absolute suckers who fell for the likes of Joel Osteen, Kenneth Copeland, and the ludicrously blatantly named Creflo 𝘋𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳, would also swallow Cheetolini's con job. Hook, line, sinker... 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘦. They'll believe any old flim-flam man who tells them what they want to hear, panders to their hate, promises them riches, assures them of their own holiness and superiority... it doesn't matter if any of it is ever delivered. They've never seen a cent of the wealth they were promised by their pastors, and it's never stopped them from attending church; why should it be any different with a President and a voting booth? They have literally been trained, their whole lives through, to take everything they hear at face value. Trained that to ever question anything the man on the big stage tells them is to be wicked and sinful.
Evangelical Christianity has accomplished everything it ever dreamed of since the first prosperity-preaching pastor took up the microphone. It has raised the perfect population of marks- devoid of all capacity for critical thinking, pumped full of grievance on a hair trigger, and utterly convinced that paradise lies just beyond the next hill, if only they'll sit through the next sermon.
"Because he gave them the judges they wanted—something any other Republican would have done—they don’t give a damn about the criminal indictments, the Hitleresque rhetoric, the adoration of international fascists, the selfishness, or the embrace of ignorance."
This is what I wrote in my essay on the insurrection three years ago. This is not exactly news, is it?
Then there is this, an alternative thought, and the one that I lean towards. It’s not that his supporters couldn’t see who he is. They could see him very clearly, and unfortunately for the rest of us, LIKED what they could see. I made the same observation about Franco in Spain, a stupid little man with the charisma and imagination of a rutabaga. 200,000 dead Spaniards did not detract much from his support. And the trains in Spain mainly, plainly ran on time.
As a Catholic acquaintance of mine wrote, the religious reich uses the unborn as a shield to protect themselves from any criticism or blowback for everything else they want to do. He wrote: “Because instead of defending the unborn, they have devoted their time and energy to defending every lie, cruelty, sadistic act, racist remark, misogynist bullying, sexual assault, kidnapping, call for violence, and criminal act he has committed. They voted for him this time, not because those things were bugs, but because they were features. If they had really only supported the prolife stuff and not all the other filth. they would have spoken against the other filth. They never did. They either remained silent or, as was far more often the case, they passionately supported it.”
These kinds of Christians are perhaps the worst kinds of people in society. They are highly anti-intellectual and politically driven, morally bankrupt and have the IQ of a potato. They are filled with hate and pretending that hate is actually love in disguise. Which brings to mind this quote:
"Piety is not the lessons they bring to the people but the mistake they bring to the lesson."
For whatever reason, humans seem to have evolved to be religious primates, though like sexual drive there seems to be a wide spectrum in the individual religious impulse. Organized religions institutions have justly been criticized for historically being instruments of oppression, rigid enforcement of traditional norms, support for nationalism, and downright physical violence and abuse. But what the Trump cult shows is that the breakdown of those institutional structures alone won’t lead to philosophical enlightenment and political liberalism. People untethered to organized religion seem about as likely to become more radical extremists as to become religious skeptics or disbelievers.
There is no horror that cannot be, and has not been, justified in the name of religion. Nothing ever better illustrated the disconnect between religion and morality quite like the evangelical's unconditional love for the most grotesquely immoral President in our history. Donald Trump played the evangelical preachers for the fools they are, and won't hesitate to throw them under the bus once they are of no further use to him.
“Trump is our David and our Goliath,”
Goliath was a pagan blasphemer who oppressed and murdered innocent people for the benefit of the king of Gath.
David was an innocent who picked up the sword and became… a Jewish polytheist who oppressed and murdered innocent people for the benefit of the king of Gath before he became king of Israel. Christ Almighty, David even carries Goliath’s sword, if you think the writer of I Samuel is too subtle.
The lesson of David and Goliath isn’t what you think it is. It’s that David became Goliath through his picking up the sword.
The abyss looks back.
“they don’t give a damn about the criminal indictments, the Hitleresque rhetoric, the adoration of international fascists, the selfishness, or the embrace of ignorance.”
You’re giving them too much credit. They do give a damn and they love him for it. They have embraced violent authoritarianism wholeheartedly. They would love to force their religion on children in public schools. They would love to see the LGBTQ community suppressed, tortured by conversion therapy, or killed. They would love to see dissent punished, protests punished, women and minorities put in “their place“ and a white male dominated hierarchy reign in America again with Jim Crow 2.0 apartheid upheld by civic and state violence.
Goddamn-what a nightmare. Part of me says this bastard CAN'T possibly win the presidency but then the other part of me knows that this bastard will do ANYTHING to regain the presidency and if he should win he would burn this country down. We can be sure that all the multitude of right wing websites will publish the most extensive list of lies and trash to push their fat donnie into the oval office. It is a true goddamned nightmare. I have an elderly sister and brother who have never not voted repuke. I just sent them a response to their glowing christmas letters telling them in the most profane, vulgar way to fuckoff and never let me hear from them or about them. By the standards of this world they are both good people but I don't see them that way. You can be the strongest saint but if you support trash like trump-then you are trash too. I WILL discard anyone and any company in my life that doesn't HATE trump. Family, friends, anyone they are gone.
𝑇𝑟𝑢𝑚𝑝 𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝐷𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝐺𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑎𝑡ℎ...
Does that mean he's going to knock himself out with the stone he slings?
Here's my theory on this whole mess: Evangelicals have been waiting forever for their savior to return and rejigger everything in their favor ... except that he has yet to show up, mostly because he never existed in the first place. Enter Donald Trump. He IS here, he DOES want to at least pander to those same evangelicals and pretend to give them what they want, and they are so damned HUNGRY for that that they uncontrollably run to him. He will do for them what their non-existent deity can't.
Which makes me wonder if what we're really looking at is CHRISTIAN Nationalism or just plain nationalist fascism. Either way, it's screwed up and, as I've said before, it must be fought, tooth and nail.
Diapered Don as “David and Goliath?” A brat raised by millionaires, who inherited millions--how does that make him a “David?” An amoral, self-serving bully who places his interests above all others is no David. And let’s face it--the CONservative claims of Repugs are empty BS, too. They ARE the Pharisees. And to make Diapered Don a replacement for Jesus is the height of heresy, meriting a condemnation atop a fiery woodpile. But let’s face it--at least Diapered Don isn’t Jewish, right?
This is not surprising at all. I posted this article (https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/former-trump-white-house-insiders-call-2nd-term/story?id=105998679&fbclid=IwAR0VDWp_rmwMFf7Jc8Y4k0MaDBYE1jaLDyhMFbjfjm-xctCrc2CHp1aG9sQ) to Facebook, tagging an old high school classmate with MAGA tendencies.
This was her comment:
Yes Joe this is all the obvious he is a Republican lol
This was my response to her:
I find this response from you a bit disturbing. Given the unwavering support and devotion for trump you have shown in other posts and comments, the fact that you acknowledge the threat he is to democracy (not just Democrats, but actual democracy) is troubling. That would mean that you support dismantling the government of the people, by the people, and for the people that Lincoln spoke of a century before we were born. It means you support the authoritarian and dictatorial ambitions of the Republican party, which has been taken over completely by white christian nationalists. It mens you suppport the end of freedom in this country.
When they speak of freedom, they only want freedom for themselves. they want to usher in the theocratic Republic of Gilead from "The Handmaid's Tale". They want to eliminate the First amendment. To them, freedom of religion is the freedom to be a conservative Christian. And nothing else. To them, freedom of speech can only apply to them, and never to anyone who disagrees with them. Freedom of the press? Trump has said out loud that he would like to imprison journalists who criticize him. freedom of assembly? January 6 was "peaceful" and lawful to them, while a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest outside the White House was dispersed by tear gas so Trump could have a photo op. Petitioning the government? Only if you are one of them. Any legal action brought against them is a "witch hunt" or a "political hit". The 22nd amendment would go away too, as he would likely declare himself prisident for life, and declare Don Jr. as his successor.
Trump would do everything he could to completely dismantle the social safetey net (you wouldn't get any Social Security), public schools (only the wealthy would be able to teach their kids how to read), and environmental regulations (your horses would choke under a permanent smog bank with no safe water to drink). I may have been a bit hyperbolic about the likely outcomes, but not by much.
Are you really ok with the possiblity that I would go to prison because of social media posts I have made that are anti-Trump? He is already directly quoting "Mein Kampf", that is the sort of regime he wishes to rule over. And your unwavering devotion to the man welcomes that.
Her only response to that was the "wow" emoji. It is all about power to them, and the ability to punish those with whom they disagree for that disagreement alone.
“He’s the only savior I can see.” - Cydney Hatfield
So many questions, so many.
Why do you need a savior? I mean, you have Jesus right? Plus, what do you need an earthly savior. What do you need saving from? How is your life measurably better before Trump was a corrupt politician? What is wrong with the strides Biden has made in our economy and such?
What has Trump done to earn this savior label? How has he saved anyone? What did he do to make your life better? Anyone’s life besides his own? I guarantee Ms. Hatfield did not benefit from the tax cuts he enacted as president, they only benefitted the extremely wealthy. His tax policies have caused me great frustrations and struggles, I’m sure she’s not so much better off than I am.
It really does seem like the base is so focused on hurting other people that they don’t care about their own well being. She claims she tries to do good and prays every night (which the letter might be true) but simply by voting and supporting Trump and the GOP is so clearly bad it’s laughable she thinks she tries to do right. Maybe for her and hers, but not really for society. They deserve what they get with this Nazi wannabe movement, but I fucking don’t and the majority of the country do not. Yes, they’re a minority, they’re just obnoxiously loud and violent.
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑇𝑟𝑢𝑚𝑝, 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝐷𝑒𝑆𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑎𝑑𝑣𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑎 𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑎, 𝑠𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑡 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒. 𝐼𝑡 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛’𝑡. 𝐴𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑡 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜.
Or, they're just being temporarily practical or bandwagoning; thinking Trump will win. Drop most of these folks in an alternate US where DeSantis is at 61% and Trump is at 12%, and I bet a lot of them flip. People like to be seen as backing the winner. That may be all Trump is; a Dutch Tulip Bubble. And when he's gone, the bubble pops and all these conservatives wonder how all those other conservatives (not them!) fell for it.
𝐼𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒’𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠, 𝑖𝑡’𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑤𝑖𝑡𝑐ℎ 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐽𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑇𝑟𝑢𝑚𝑝 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑝𝑢𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒, 𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒, 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑦
Well I don't really care about that as much as 'out of the GOP.' I'd much rather have these decent people stay at church and forsake Trump, than forsake church and stay with Trump.
But so far, Trump's hate-filled authoritarian rhetoric has not caused any change in political affiliation. I do wonder what will happen when Trump exits politics and someone else tries the same message. I would like to think that without his particular draw (charisma? Popularity?), many conservative evangelical young people won't be interested in hating on immigrants, the poor, liberals, etc. Won't want to support Putin or Kim Jong Un. Won't insist every lost election is a fraud. I really doubt any other current conservative politician can pull off the message he's sending. DeSantis is certainly failing at it. But, I guess we will have to wait until 2028ish to see about that.
"they don’t give a damn about the criminal indictments, the Hitleresque rhetoric, the adoration of international fascists,"
I disagree. They give a damn, they actually fantasise about a nazi America.
"He said he supported Trump because he was the most Jesus-like candidate in the race."
Did he found an unknown gospel ? I never read the bible but thanks to those here who did and some documentaries, I know that Jesus never married. The grifting is a 50/50 toss since he, from the synoptic gospels, lived from others charity.
"there will be retribution against all those who have promoted evil in this country"
Then Trump, MAGAts/white nationalists, the GQP and NatCs are in trouble.
It has all the hallmarks of a cult, unfortunately a very widespread one. And like most cults, the true believers™ will believe anything and for that matter say anything. I mean, Don Jr said his father wasn't on the Epstein list when he obviously was and it was pointed out numerous times, but do the true believers take any notice? Of course not. Given the number of people that seem to have joined up, it's quite worrying. At least Jim Jones only had a few hundred.
It is hardly surprising that the same bunch of absolute suckers who fell for the likes of Joel Osteen, Kenneth Copeland, and the ludicrously blatantly named Creflo 𝘋𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳, would also swallow Cheetolini's con job. Hook, line, sinker... 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘦. They'll believe any old flim-flam man who tells them what they want to hear, panders to their hate, promises them riches, assures them of their own holiness and superiority... it doesn't matter if any of it is ever delivered. They've never seen a cent of the wealth they were promised by their pastors, and it's never stopped them from attending church; why should it be any different with a President and a voting booth? They have literally been trained, their whole lives through, to take everything they hear at face value. Trained that to ever question anything the man on the big stage tells them is to be wicked and sinful.
Evangelical Christianity has accomplished everything it ever dreamed of since the first prosperity-preaching pastor took up the microphone. It has raised the perfect population of marks- devoid of all capacity for critical thinking, pumped full of grievance on a hair trigger, and utterly convinced that paradise lies just beyond the next hill, if only they'll sit through the next sermon.
How could they possibly 𝘯𝘰𝘵 fall for it?
"Because he gave them the judges they wanted—something any other Republican would have done—they don’t give a damn about the criminal indictments, the Hitleresque rhetoric, the adoration of international fascists, the selfishness, or the embrace of ignorance."
This is what I wrote in my essay on the insurrection three years ago. This is not exactly news, is it?
Then there is this, an alternative thought, and the one that I lean towards. It’s not that his supporters couldn’t see who he is. They could see him very clearly, and unfortunately for the rest of us, LIKED what they could see. I made the same observation about Franco in Spain, a stupid little man with the charisma and imagination of a rutabaga. 200,000 dead Spaniards did not detract much from his support. And the trains in Spain mainly, plainly ran on time.
As a Catholic acquaintance of mine wrote, the religious reich uses the unborn as a shield to protect themselves from any criticism or blowback for everything else they want to do. He wrote: “Because instead of defending the unborn, they have devoted their time and energy to defending every lie, cruelty, sadistic act, racist remark, misogynist bullying, sexual assault, kidnapping, call for violence, and criminal act he has committed. They voted for him this time, not because those things were bugs, but because they were features. If they had really only supported the prolife stuff and not all the other filth. they would have spoken against the other filth. They never did. They either remained silent or, as was far more often the case, they passionately supported it.”
These kinds of Christians are perhaps the worst kinds of people in society. They are highly anti-intellectual and politically driven, morally bankrupt and have the IQ of a potato. They are filled with hate and pretending that hate is actually love in disguise. Which brings to mind this quote:
"Piety is not the lessons they bring to the people but the mistake they bring to the lesson."
For whatever reason, humans seem to have evolved to be religious primates, though like sexual drive there seems to be a wide spectrum in the individual religious impulse. Organized religions institutions have justly been criticized for historically being instruments of oppression, rigid enforcement of traditional norms, support for nationalism, and downright physical violence and abuse. But what the Trump cult shows is that the breakdown of those institutional structures alone won’t lead to philosophical enlightenment and political liberalism. People untethered to organized religion seem about as likely to become more radical extremists as to become religious skeptics or disbelievers.
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