Mixing religion and government is the same terrible idea it has always been. Ironically, the harder the evangelicals try to use the legislatures and courts to achieve what they failed to accomplish from their pulpits, the more people they alienate. A mind-set dominated by magical thinking just can't quite grasp the fact people do not want someone else's religion imposed on them, and they're not going to passively submit to it.
Someone doesn't have to go to church to necessarily think that they are "righteous" or in with god or whatever label they want to use to consider themselves ... while at the same time being bigoted, chauvinistic, white supremacist and/or anti-LGBTQ+. I think it needs to be remembered that a given individual THINKING they are religious or aligned with religion 𝗛𝗔𝗦 𝗡𝗢 𝗡𝗘𝗖𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗔𝗥𝗬 𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗔 𝗖𝗛𝗨𝗥𝗖𝗛.
And it wouldn't surprise me if a considerable count of such people constituted the "basket of deplorables" which Hillary Clinton so accurately described during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Let's face it: that Jesus fellow gets in the way of what the GQP want. Especially when he says things like this...
"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger to you and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' They will also answer 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' He will reply, 'Truly I tell you, what you did not do for the least of one of these, you did not do for me.' Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
-- Matthew 25:41-46
I suspect they know Jesus is talking to the GQP. Feed, clothe, welcome and look after the poor, the homeless, the immigrant, the sick and imprisoned? That's just not in the GQPs wheelhouse. Little wonder they're skipping services.
(Even the Old Testament has YHVH telling his followers that they are not to mistreat immigrants...and why)
It seems to me like it's always been so with the religious Rightwing-nuts. Remember, back in 2015/16 they had a whole plethora of religious bigots and dingbat candidates to support in the GOP primaries... They briefly flirted with some of them, then dumped them all for the thrice-married, narcissistic, foul-mouthed pussy-grabber who hasn't cracked open a Bible in decades (or anything else that doesn't have his name on/in it.)
It's important to remember that many people who consider themselves Christian do not actually attend church at all. They don't even get the dubious moral guidance of a priest or pastor who has studied the Bible and Christian theology. Instead they're just picking and choosing the parts of the faith they or their family patriarch deems important. It can get even more twisted than what the church teaches. Especially when they believe that it doesn't really matter how they behave. So long as they accept Jesus, they're guaranteed a place in heaven. They have no pastor or priest to say, yes, but you haven't really accepted Jesus if you make no attempt at all to live as he instructed. Christianity is supposed to come with obligations to at least try to be somewhat Christlike. But these independent Christians... They're just... Christian because they said so.
“This Republican Party would be less pious and polite. But it might be able to win more elections”
Less polite than “fuck your feelings”? Oh, they mean Bull Connor level of politeness. What the author is describing is a party openly white nationalist
It doesn’t matter if they go to church or not, they’re fucking everything up for everyone and proud of it. They use god as this unquestionable authority in order to get away with it. The folks in charge of the GOP have always used Christianity to garner unearned respect and power. Trump isn’t special in his corruption and bad behavior, hell, he isn’t even special in his openness about his corruption and bad behavior. I don’t even understand how anyone could mention charisma in reference to him, his voice is grating, he has poor timing during speeches and jokes, he mumbles and stumbles over everything, he’s just good at doing the “say parts of sentences to allow the listener to insert their own thoughts into your speech” thing. But even that’s so obvious it’s irritating. I think a lot of why the GOP voters don’t go to church anymore is that society has begun to accept that weekly church going is not necessary, you can get your religion on the internet at your convenience and you get to shop around for the church thinking you like the most. It doesn’t count as going to church if you choose when to watch and maybe you watch six sermons in a day and none another day. You’re not tithing, you don’t have to bring in a hot dish, there’s no glad handing your pew mates, it’s a free for all.
It's the "seldom or never" bit that I think is muddying the waters. There's a big, big difference between 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘰𝘮 attending church- whatever that means; it's a fuzzy enough word on its own that it could mean anything from twice a month to once every ten years- and 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 attending church. Why even include the "seldom" in "seldom or never" when you already have a "sometimes" option? This survey is just badly thought out.
For example, one might go to church for every religious holiday, for weddings, funerals, and whenever some more churchy family member invites them along, but because they don't go to weekly services, or on any particular schedule, answer "seldom." Still, they might be a complete zealot, and simply take issue with the pastor/priest/whatever, or find little value in the church community, or some other reason. All of those people are in the "seldom or never" category, even though they very much are practicing believers- and because of that, we have no way of knowing how big the "never" category really is.
Setting any religious beliefs they may have aside, in favour of fascism. Christo-fascists. It's not the religion, it's the control over others. Christian belief is delusional, insane.
The *overall* large drop in religiosity in the US over the past 5 years -> across the board drops in religiosity in Dems, GOPers, and Independents.
IMO big drops in church attendence may result in big social changes in the next generation or two, as "unchurched" children grow to adults having significantly different information sources and experiences. But for *this* generation of voting adults, it's as Hemant says. We should expect zero change in political views and voting patterns as they stop going to church. It's the same conservatives, they just decided to spend their Sunday mornings differently.
What happened to my other comment? To whit: If christians believed in family values they wouldn't have voted for Trump ... or Boris, or Berlusconi, or Gingrich, or Rekers, or Hastert or.....................
"Why go to church and sit through all the Jesus bullshit when right-wing media outlets serve up the same anti-LGBTQ, anti-abortion, anti-social justice, anti-sex, anti-public school, anti-science, anti-”woke” red meat without the boring parts?"
Mixing religion and government is the same terrible idea it has always been. Ironically, the harder the evangelicals try to use the legislatures and courts to achieve what they failed to accomplish from their pulpits, the more people they alienate. A mind-set dominated by magical thinking just can't quite grasp the fact people do not want someone else's religion imposed on them, and they're not going to passively submit to it.
Someone doesn't have to go to church to necessarily think that they are "righteous" or in with god or whatever label they want to use to consider themselves ... while at the same time being bigoted, chauvinistic, white supremacist and/or anti-LGBTQ+. I think it needs to be remembered that a given individual THINKING they are religious or aligned with religion 𝗛𝗔𝗦 𝗡𝗢 𝗡𝗘𝗖𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗔𝗥𝗬 𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗔 𝗖𝗛𝗨𝗥𝗖𝗛.
And it wouldn't surprise me if a considerable count of such people constituted the "basket of deplorables" which Hillary Clinton so accurately described during the 2016 presidential campaign.
The god is power. The religion is authoritarianism. That's all that is behind the Christian veneer they've put up.
Morning, breakfast clubbers.
Let's face it: that Jesus fellow gets in the way of what the GQP want. Especially when he says things like this...
"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger to you and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' They will also answer 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' He will reply, 'Truly I tell you, what you did not do for the least of one of these, you did not do for me.' Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
-- Matthew 25:41-46
I suspect they know Jesus is talking to the GQP. Feed, clothe, welcome and look after the poor, the homeless, the immigrant, the sick and imprisoned? That's just not in the GQPs wheelhouse. Little wonder they're skipping services.
(Even the Old Testament has YHVH telling his followers that they are not to mistreat immigrants...and why)
THIS. https://scontent-ord5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/351301490_1365242660707310_8997842140644358567_n.jpg?_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=8bfeb9&_nc_ohc=tgmRu6gS_jMAX93qqfm&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-2.xx&oh=00_AfAjqG9rKKTCZ7zkbDofWWoMJpcVgORaNWeawnQFVnCxqA&oe=64833BA8
It seems to me like it's always been so with the religious Rightwing-nuts. Remember, back in 2015/16 they had a whole plethora of religious bigots and dingbat candidates to support in the GOP primaries... They briefly flirted with some of them, then dumped them all for the thrice-married, narcissistic, foul-mouthed pussy-grabber who hasn't cracked open a Bible in decades (or anything else that doesn't have his name on/in it.)
It's important to remember that many people who consider themselves Christian do not actually attend church at all. They don't even get the dubious moral guidance of a priest or pastor who has studied the Bible and Christian theology. Instead they're just picking and choosing the parts of the faith they or their family patriarch deems important. It can get even more twisted than what the church teaches. Especially when they believe that it doesn't really matter how they behave. So long as they accept Jesus, they're guaranteed a place in heaven. They have no pastor or priest to say, yes, but you haven't really accepted Jesus if you make no attempt at all to live as he instructed. Christianity is supposed to come with obligations to at least try to be somewhat Christlike. But these independent Christians... They're just... Christian because they said so.
“This Republican Party would be less pious and polite. But it might be able to win more elections”
Less polite than “fuck your feelings”? Oh, they mean Bull Connor level of politeness. What the author is describing is a party openly white nationalist
It doesn’t matter if they go to church or not, they’re fucking everything up for everyone and proud of it. They use god as this unquestionable authority in order to get away with it. The folks in charge of the GOP have always used Christianity to garner unearned respect and power. Trump isn’t special in his corruption and bad behavior, hell, he isn’t even special in his openness about his corruption and bad behavior. I don’t even understand how anyone could mention charisma in reference to him, his voice is grating, he has poor timing during speeches and jokes, he mumbles and stumbles over everything, he’s just good at doing the “say parts of sentences to allow the listener to insert their own thoughts into your speech” thing. But even that’s so obvious it’s irritating. I think a lot of why the GOP voters don’t go to church anymore is that society has begun to accept that weekly church going is not necessary, you can get your religion on the internet at your convenience and you get to shop around for the church thinking you like the most. It doesn’t count as going to church if you choose when to watch and maybe you watch six sermons in a day and none another day. You’re not tithing, you don’t have to bring in a hot dish, there’s no glad handing your pew mates, it’s a free for all.
It's the "seldom or never" bit that I think is muddying the waters. There's a big, big difference between 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘰𝘮 attending church- whatever that means; it's a fuzzy enough word on its own that it could mean anything from twice a month to once every ten years- and 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 attending church. Why even include the "seldom" in "seldom or never" when you already have a "sometimes" option? This survey is just badly thought out.
For example, one might go to church for every religious holiday, for weddings, funerals, and whenever some more churchy family member invites them along, but because they don't go to weekly services, or on any particular schedule, answer "seldom." Still, they might be a complete zealot, and simply take issue with the pastor/priest/whatever, or find little value in the church community, or some other reason. All of those people are in the "seldom or never" category, even though they very much are practicing believers- and because of that, we have no way of knowing how big the "never" category really is.
https://scontent-ord5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/351772226_940428550344496_235143434831480276_n.jpg?_nc_cat=103&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=5cd70e&_nc_ohc=Lled3XNoUlQAX9no66x&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-2.xx&oh=00_AfAWhtgK0a6hH8wSYix_pOzMsjXjSdxPpHen1LFKTZaTQQ&oe=64831F80
Setting any religious beliefs they may have aside, in favour of fascism. Christo-fascists. It's not the religion, it's the control over others. Christian belief is delusional, insane.
The *overall* large drop in religiosity in the US over the past 5 years -> across the board drops in religiosity in Dems, GOPers, and Independents.
IMO big drops in church attendence may result in big social changes in the next generation or two, as "unchurched" children grow to adults having significantly different information sources and experiences. But for *this* generation of voting adults, it's as Hemant says. We should expect zero change in political views and voting patterns as they stop going to church. It's the same conservatives, they just decided to spend their Sunday mornings differently.
The Church of Republicanism lets you customize your religion, so you only pray for what you need.
What happened to my other comment? To whit: If christians believed in family values they wouldn't have voted for Trump ... or Boris, or Berlusconi, or Gingrich, or Rekers, or Hastert or.....................
"Why go to church and sit through all the Jesus bullshit when right-wing media outlets serve up the same anti-LGBTQ, anti-abortion, anti-social justice, anti-sex, anti-public school, anti-science, anti-”woke” red meat without the boring parts?"
Nailed it...the Ron DeSantis platform!