Katherine Stewart provides us with a startling introduction to an abhorrent form of “Christianity” in her book The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism. The origins of this faith system date back to the era of slavery when religious justification for the practice had to be provided. It would be in the Old Testament that God’s permission for slavery (and other horrible stuff) would be found. Slavery and the support of extreme property rights go together, leading to religious beliefs that support capitalism and its accompanying economic inequality: taxation is a form of theft, therefore it is evil; social welfare policies are not found in the Old Testament, therefore they are evil also; environmental regulations are against God’s will; women are to be sexually, socially, and economically submissive to men; nonbelievers are enemies who can and should be punished; democracy is heresy; physical punishment is the best way to obtain obedience from children, even infants; and so on.
Stewart points out that while many of these people consider themselves evangelicals, not all evangelicals are included in this movement, and some would not even agree that these people are actually Christians. These nationalists have nothing to do with the Jesus Christ described in the New Testament, so they really aren’t Christians in that sense. They are more like the ancient Hebrews who believed they had a covenant with God. For the religious nationalists, this old covenant has been replaced by a newer one in which they are God’s chosen people. Since they are neither ancient Hebrews nor Christians, perhaps religious nationalist is the best descriptor. In fact, the nearest analogy for them and their beliefs is the Taliban fighting for a form of theocracy in Afghanistan.
The nationalist movement would be born from pro-slavery theology, switch to maintaining segregation, then in the New Deal era begin collaboration with wealthy capitalists to oppose social legislation being pushed by Roosevelt. This alliance greatly benefited the nationalists, providing them with plenty of money to fund efforts they were already predisposed towards. The billionaires have been consistently assisting the movement ever since.
Stewart provides this perspective.
“Anyone who cares about what is happening in American politics today needs to know about this movement and its people. Their issues—the overwhelming preoccupation with the sexual order, the determination to unite the nation around a single religious identity, the conviction that they are fighting for salvation against the forces of darkness—have come to define the effort that has transformed the political landscape and shaken the foundations upon which lay our democratic norms and institutions, This is the movement responsible for the election of the forty-fifth president of the United States, and it now defines the future of the Republican Party.”
“Most Americans continue to see it as a cultural movement centered on a set of social issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage, preoccupied with symbolic conflicts over monuments and prayers. But the religious right has become more focused and powerful even as it is arguably less representative. It is not a social or cultural movement. It is a political movement, and its ultimate goal is power. It does not seek to add another voice to America’s pluralistic democracy but to replace our foundational democratic principles and institutions with a state grounded on a particular version of Christianity, answering to what some adherents call a ‘biblical worldview’ that also happens to serve the interests of its political funders and allied political leaders. The movement is unlikely to realize its most extreme visions, but it has already succeeded in degrading our politics and dividing the nation with religious animus. This is not a ‘culture war.’ It is a political war over the future of democracy.”
In accordance with their Old Testament leanings, a king seems to be the appropriate form of leadership once the existing form of government is overthrown. Was there ever anyone more likely to be impressed by being recognized as a God-chosen king than Donald Trump?
“’It is God that rises up a king,’ Trump evangelical advisor declared in a TV interview about her longstanding relationship with the president. After Trump won, Franklin Graham, son of the late Billy Graham and one of Trump’s most trusted evangelical advisors, declared, ‘God’s hand intervened’…Even former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said God ‘wanted Trump to become president’.”
“Whether by design or—more likely—the unfortunate accident of character, Trump seems pleased to play the role that his followers have assigned him. He is obliging them by behaving like a monarch—or, as some might say, a mad king…Trump demands military parades, threatens to punish his critics, refuses to cooperate with government investigations, and claims he is above the law.”
“…Trump’s king-like behavior seems far from troublesome. On the contrary, it may satisfy their craving for a certain type of political leadership. When God sends a ruler to save the nation, He doesn’t mess around; He sends a kingly king. And kings don’t have to follow the rules.”
To further their objectives, the religious nationalists required a complete rewrite of US history. They have assembled a number of lies, but the most fundamental is the false assumption that our country was originally formed as a Christian nation, but followers of a “social gospel” wrested it from the Christians. It is their duty to regain control of this original Christian nation.” The second great lie is that the principle of separation of church and state enshrined in the Constitution was intended to mean not that the state should by protected from religious incursion, but that religion was to be allowed to go about its business and be protected from any imposition by the state.
If one tells lies fervently and repeatedly, eventually some people will begin believing them, particularly when the lies match what people wish to be true. The nationalists, with their plutocratic funding, have made advances in perverting our historically democratic political and legal institutions. Stewart provides many examples to provide credibility for her concerns. The attack on public education, the attempt to provide state supported religious education, the collusion with conservative Supreme Court justices, the bible study classes organized for legislators and administrators at all levels of government, the attempts to rewrite history, the attempts to sow division between the two parties, and the collusion of our religious nationalists with Russia and Vladimir Putin in efforts to undermine democracy in the United States and in the European Union all deserve detailed discussions which hopefully will come in subsequent posts.
Religiously driven voters clearly own the Republican Party, and they are well aware of that fact. Consider this quote from one of the nationalist leaders.
“If you take the Evangelicals who are 27 percent of the electorate and you add to them 11 percent of the electorate that are frequent Mass-attending Catholics, folks, its 38 percent of the electorate, and 56 percent of the Republican vote nationwide. If that vote goes away, the Republican Party ceases to exist as a reliable political party.”
Much of the remainder of the Republican voters consist of self-serving oligarchs, white nationalists, anti-Semites, militia members, racists, misogynists, and status-threatened whites. The party has truly become a “basket of deplorables.”
Listen carefully to what Republican politicians say. There is little talk of policies, other than
voter restrictions; there is talk of maintaining power. Getting reelected is all that matters. Hopefully, you now have a better idea of why
they want to retain power.
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