CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM: A DANGEROUS MOVEMENT

[◊ Weezer ◊]

I am not sure what the silence here since tuesday means.  I did not plan to get into the multiple problems with trump with my original post.  I simply wanted to point out that if he gets into power, he will further the cause of Christian Nationalist, which is to eventually make us a Christian Nation.  But now that we are in opinions club, I feel free to let it all out.

 

Some of you may think I am over reacting, and am a terrible "liberal" (which has lost it's original meaning).  I am not a radical.  I am an independent voter and have been for decades.  I am a humanitarian and believe capitalism needs some controls, and that we need complete separation of church and state.  And I am not alone.  Check what Warren Buffet has to say about capitalism and how some are being squeezed out of the game.  Check what very conservative Republican Liz Cheney has to say about Trump and why he is such a danger to our democracy.   Googling it will bring up lots of information.

 

The Christain nation concept is about more than protecting and spreading Christianity.  It is about power, control and MORE MONEY IN THEIR POCKETS.  They have extremely wealthy people behind them.  The Koch brothers are at the top of the list.  They have a long term plan and the movement was started years ago.  They are gaining traction.  If American people do not wake up, it will someday be too late.  

 

Again I say, if you don't believe me, see what Warren Buffet and Liz Cheney have to say.  They are two extremely wealthy people who are in a position to know what they are talking about.  

[◊ Weezer ◊]

It just occured to me how "brillant" and sneaky their plan is.  Perhaps even comparable to what the the Catholics pulled off by combining Christianity with the power of the Roman government, who like the USA, was one of the most powerful nations in the world at that time.  Will we stick our heads in the sand and pretend it can't happen?

[TABA]

29 minutes ago, Weezer said:

 

I am not sure what the silence here since tuesday means.

 

It means I’ve been busy.  I will respond when I get a chance.  Of course others are welcome to chime in too.  

[TABA]

On 3/5/2024 at 9:46 PM, Weezer said:

Look at Mike Johnson, speaker of the house of represenatives.  Second in line for president if something happened to the president and vice president.  He is a flaming radical christian.

I see that Johnson is a Young Earth Creationist, and although that’s a position that you and I think is crazy, it’s unfortunately a view shared by a sizable chunk of the population.  There are varying degrees of religious fervor, of course.  Most Americans believe that a man was crucified in Jerusalem in the 1st Century CE and that he came back from the dead after 36+ hours and is still alive in 2024.  But most of those people do not try to enact harsh laws that infringe on personal liberty.  Johnson, however has supported laws criminalizing homosexuality and completely banning abortion.  I certainly find plenty to disagree with him about.   
 

But it’s one thing to have very conservative views, it’s another thing to get laws passed.  As I mentioned above, some Republican-majority state legislatures have been successful in passing restrictive laws, such as total abortion bans.  That’s undeniable.  I would vote against such laws if given a chance.  But what do I do when a candidate supports some policies I oppose and others I support?  Not many people are single-issue voters.  And these days I find very few politicians I can wholeheartedly support.  Both parties and their presidential candidates pledge to do nothing about social security, which is on track to go insolvent within 10 years.  They’d rather whip up panic against each other with culture war crap.  
 

On 3/5/2024 at 9:46 PM, Weezer said:

Radical christians have been gaining strength in local and state offices for years.  They are gaining strength in both branches of national congress.  And they are standing in line waiting to get appointed to multiple offices if Trump is re-elected.

If Trump is elected, I hope he disappoints his theocratic supporters, or that the Senate refuses to confirm the extremists.  Trump has no principles besides promoting himself, and he’ll double-cross anybody when it suits him.  Buyer Beware.

 

On 3/5/2024 at 9:46 PM, Weezer said:

Does it not concern you that 6 of 9 supreme court justices are Catholic?  Have you dug into Amy Barrett's background? 

It doesn’t bother me that so many justices are Catholics.  Sure, I’d prefer if they were Classical Liberal atheists, but there aren’t too many of those!  I would rather a justice be a Catholic who holds to the letter of the law and the Constitution than an atheist who legislates from the bench, of I had to choose.  I am interested in their judicial philosophy rather than their position on the virgin birth or trans-substantiation.

 

I haven’t studied Barrett’s background extensively.  I recall Diane Feinstein expressing concern about Barrett’s devout Catholicism during her confirmation hearings to be a federal judge.  Wikipedia reports that…

“Feinstein's and other senators' questioning was criticized by some Republicans and other observers, such as university presidents John I Jenkins of the University of Notre Dame and Christopher Eisgruber of Princeton, as an improper inquiry into a nominee's religious belief that employed an unconstitutional religious test for office…

 

… Barrett's nomination was supported by every law clerk she had worked with and all of her 49 faculty colleagues at Notre Dame Law school”

 

Now I know that Notre Dame is a Catholic school, but it’s not exactly the Spanish Inquisition.  So I am not alarmed by Barrett or her Supreme Court opinions, even if I share none of her religious faith.  There’s a lot more in her Wikipedia entry that I want to read, however. And for what it’s worth, Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi are both Catholics.  

I’m not trying to pooh-pooh Weezer’s concern about Christian Nationalism or theocracy in general.  I don’t think we should over- or under-estimate it.  It certainly bears watching.  And concerned citizens need to go out and vote, especially in primaries, which is often where elections are determined these days.  

[♦ Fuego ♦]

On 3/3/2024 at 4:34 PM, Weezer said:

Someone said if he can delay trials long enough to get elected, as soon as he is in the White House,  he can pardon himself.  I’m not familiar with the law enough to know if that is true. 

 

Apparently, yes, and all of his buddies as well. I heard it being discussed on YT among attorneys and thought to myself that no one (president, governor) should have the power to undo a conviction set by a court and jury without extenuating evidence, and then the courts would deal with it. As it stands, it is a kind of corruption of justice and should be changed, in my opinion.

[◊ Weezer ◊]

4 hours ago, TABA said:

 

.  But what do I do when a candidate supports some policies I oppose and others I support? 

 

 Both parties and their presidential candidates pledge to do nothing about social security, which is on track to go insolvent within 10 years.

  

I hear you!  It is sad when you wind up voting for the one who will do the least harm.

 

The social security situation could be helped, if not solved, by raising the amount of income that is taxed for S.S. purposes.  But that would mean rich people would pay more than they do now.  It would not change what people like you and I pay.  The same is true for income taxes.  Back in the 1950s and 60s, when our economy was booming with infrastructure being built, and G.I.s were getting an education with government funds, etc, It was all being paid for by income taxes.  Taxes on the very rich were up to about 75%(?).  They have fought that ever since, and now some pay fewer taxes than you and I.  Through lower taxes, and multiple tax loopholes, they are not paying their fair share.  Some wealthy coorportions pay NO taxes.  Greedy people never get enough.  They keep wanting a bigger piece of the pie, and the gap between the haves and have nots keeps growing.   The statistics on this is staggering.  People will eventually revolt.  The rich keep preaching the trickle down theory, but it does not work!  Money is actually being sucked to the top. And if you study the christain nationalist movement closely, that is exactly what they want.  Money is power!

[☆ moxieflux66 ☆]

On 3/5/2024 at 8:22 PM, moxieflux66 said:

Often you can get free trials (usually 7 days) of almost all the big channels. See if you can get one to watch the documentary and then cancel it afterward (or you have to pay). I've seen lots of good movies and docs that way. Just go to Vudu's website. 

I was wrong about this. So far you can only see this in theaters. Sorry. 

[webmdave]

May be of interest:

 

https://open.substack.com/pub/friendlyatheist/p/despite-threat-of-christian-nationalism?r=sn3d&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

[☆ moxieflux66 ☆]

Thank you Dave. Enlightening and disturbing. 

 

This line stood out for me: 

 

Only 45% of Americans have heard about it. Only 25% of Americans think it’s a problem. Even worse, those numbers are virtually identical to what they were in 2022.

 

[◊ Weezer ◊]

Thanks Dave for posting that!  

[◊ Weezer ◊]

On 3/10/2024 at 4:42 PM, TABA said:

I’m not trying to pooh-pooh Weezer’s concern about Christian Nationalism or theocracy in general.  I don’t think we should over- or under-estimate it.  It certainly bears watching.  And concerned citizens need to go out and vote, especially in primaries, which is often where elections are determined these days.  

 

The Christian Nationalist plan has been publically posted.  It is called PROJECT 2025.  Google it.  Their own abbrevated version  of the 900(?) page plan is the first to appear on the list.  The Wikipedia summary of it was listed next.  If you google it, I suggest reading both versions. 

 

Also Taba, I suggest doing more detailed research on Amy Barrett.  She reportedly belonged to some cult like group at one point.