Those days are long gone.The current fundie movement has its roots in the schism of the Baptist Church and the formation of the Southern Baptist Church which was expressly split off over the issue of the promotion of slavery.Who is it that does not believe in getting vaccinated? Who is it that denies climate change? Who is it that is consistently bigoted, homophobic and hate filled? Who is it that lacks formal education beyond high school? Who is it that centers their belief system around what a televangelist is telling them (often to send more money so he can upgrade his Learjet?)
I remember these people well during the W. Bush years, but they are morphing into something even more sinister and grotesque than they were.
In addition to shrinking as a share of the population, white evangelicals were also the oldest religious group in the United States, with a median age of 56. “It’s not just that they are dying off, but it is that they’re losing younger members,” Jones told me. As the group has become older and smaller, Jones said, “a real visceral sense of loss of cultural dominance” has set in.
White evangelicals once saw themselves “as the owners of mainstream American culture and morality and values,” said Jones. Now they are just another subculture.
From this fact derives much of our country’s cultural conflict. It helps explain not just the rise of Donald Trump, but also the growth of QAnon and even the escalating conflagration over critical race theory. “It’s hard to overstate the strength of this feeling, among white evangelicals in particular, of America being a white Christian country,” said Jones. “This sense of ownership of America just runs so deep in white evangelical circles.” The feeling that it’s slipping away has created an atmosphere of rage, resentment and paranoia.
QAnon is essentially a millenarian movement, with Trump taking the place of Jesus. Adherents dream of the coming of what they call the storm, when the enemies of the MAGA movement will be rounded up and executed, and Trump restored to his rightful place of leadership.
“It’s not unlike a belief in the second coming of Christ,” said Jones. “That at some point God will reorder society and set things right. I think that when a community feels itself in crisis, it does become more susceptible to conspiracy theories and other things that tell them that what they’re experiencing is not ultimately what’s going to happen.”
Opinion | The Christian Right Is in Decline, and It’s Taking America With It
White evangelicals can't tolerate becoming just another subculture.www.nytimes.com
Our forefathers and mothers gave us a right good blueprint for the freedom to participate in our own rule, and for generations this nation eventually gave slavery the boot for all who live within our borders.
The Democrat Party has adopted the omeurta motto of "f.u." on steroids which is going to end badly for its perpetrators. May you come to regret your leadership's serious assault on conservative America, your assault on people who are Christians who know Christ as God's son and saviour of devoted believers who believe every red letter printed word that explain God's dear Kingdom so well. I'd lay off those who believe in the Lord who will someday return to resurrect the dead and make glad those who build the Kingdom with their whole hearts.
