'Toxic Christianity': the evangelicals creating champions for Trump 2
Ceci est la suite du sujet 'Toxic Christianity': the evangelicals creating champions for Trump.
DiscussionsChristianity
Rejoignez LibraryThing pour poster.
1margd
Trump's 'Christian Day of Visibility' tantrum is also a warning
Sarah Posner | April 4, 2024, 6:00 AM EDT
The former president's linking of “Christian visibility” and the election is similarly deliberate...in linking “Christian visibility” to the election results, Trump is doing more than feeding into his base’s outrage of the week. He is dangerously priming his voters for a repeat of his multipronged assault on the 2020 election results and the peaceful transfer of power. After all, in the minds of Trump loyalists, if Christians (that is, Trump’s loyal base of white evangelical Christians) show up on Election Day in unprecedented numbers, how could he lose?...
...A September 2023 Public Religion Research Institute survey found that “six in ten white evangelical Protestants (60%) say the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump, compared with 38% of white mainline/non-evangelical Protestants and white Catholics, 24% of Hispanic Catholics, 23% of religiously unaffiliated Americans, and 11% of Black Protestants.”..
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-christian-day-of-visibility-tr...
_____________________________________
Evangelical Protestants
Pew Research Center
https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/religious-landscape-study/religious-traditi...
Sarah Posner | April 4, 2024, 6:00 AM EDT
The former president's linking of “Christian visibility” and the election is similarly deliberate...in linking “Christian visibility” to the election results, Trump is doing more than feeding into his base’s outrage of the week. He is dangerously priming his voters for a repeat of his multipronged assault on the 2020 election results and the peaceful transfer of power. After all, in the minds of Trump loyalists, if Christians (that is, Trump’s loyal base of white evangelical Christians) show up on Election Day in unprecedented numbers, how could he lose?...
...A September 2023 Public Religion Research Institute survey found that “six in ten white evangelical Protestants (60%) say the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump, compared with 38% of white mainline/non-evangelical Protestants and white Catholics, 24% of Hispanic Catholics, 23% of religiously unaffiliated Americans, and 11% of Black Protestants.”..
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-christian-day-of-visibility-tr...
_____________________________________
Evangelical Protestants
Pew Research Center
https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/religious-landscape-study/religious-traditi...
2John5918
Donald Trump sells a Bible (YouTube)
3brone
The "devout catholic" when asked by an EWTN reporter what Easter means said. It is a time of forgiveness and no phoniness. This is right up the progressive driveway, no mention of Suffering, death, entombment, Resurrection or redemption. no sin, no Christ. This agnosticism is mirrored by recent Vatican documents which preach the same neutered gospel according to Joe "tolerate everything, applaud everyone, and never commit the heresy of making one uncomfortable. The great canceled American saint Archbishop Fulton Sheen said it best by defining tolerance as " an attitude of reasoned patience toward evil" No wonder he has been canceled by the gang, today he would say something like, "we ae not only patient with evil we refuse to label it as such for fear of not being inclusive and welcoming enough"....Next conclave please....JMJ....
4brone
Although progressives see Christian Nationalist gargons behind every icon. Resulting in an anti American attitude by Marxists here and in Rome, chill out comrades there is no "take over of the government" coming. What is coming however and maybe just intime to help save America from the real plain and present dangers facing her. The dreaded American Catholic springtime is growing, After decades of barreness since the American Church buckled after the innovations of Vatll American culture went down the drain with it. Now however most of the clowns are gone as is "the spirit of the council" fading into a distant bad dream. Proteges and a very unfertile soil still are in place. Courageous Bishops and zealous young priests are sowing the seeds and a re-blossoming has begun. Raatzinger calls us a creative minority,Bergoglio calls us backward. We choose to ignore him and home school our kids, send them to classical schools, trade schools. We will redeem this culture from within. You guys call this "Christian Nationalism" meaning we secretly want to "take charge". What you are really saying is what Catholics have fought in America since the begining, The same Anti Catholic bigotry the "Know nothings" of the 19th century spouted. We Catholics in America have always been perrenial outsiders to American government and power. The Marxists of today in Rome and Washington like the "know nothings" cannot prevent us from living our creed we know we cannot shape law or policy as opposed to Marxists who alwys try to impose laws and policys. These Catholics I'm talking about are not interested. We are to smart for that we have learned form centuries in America how to live the "Catholic Thing" in these United States. Our American Catholic forebearers are our models, inspirations, and intercessions, not tryants from the left or right, "Chistian Nationalist" = Catholic is an Oxymoron....JMJ....
5John5918
>4 brone:
There's no denying that there has been anti-Catholic bigotry in the USA, just as there was in my own native Britain. But do you overstate the case somewhat? You have had two Catholic presidents out of the last twelve (almost 17%, not bad considering 23% of the population are Catholic). The Catholic Kennedy dynasty have certainly not been "outsiders" in US "government and power". I know personally of a number of right wing Catholics who play a not insignificant behind-the-scenes role in Washington power brokering. The US Catholic bishops' 1983 pastoral message The Challenge of Peace: God's Promise and Our Response was certainly influential in both the USA and internationally. Catholics played a major role in the powerful Mafia and criminal gangs as well as the police in New York and Chicago, and presumably also elsewhere. And the increase of Hispanic, African and African-American Catholics in the USA potentially presents a new opportunity for the Catholic voice to be heard.
And just to repeat once again the obvious: there is no significant Marxist presence "today in Rome and Washington". The Church does not align itself with any political ideology, whether capitalist or Marxist, and virtually all US politics is emphatically right of centre.
There's no denying that there has been anti-Catholic bigotry in the USA, just as there was in my own native Britain. But do you overstate the case somewhat? You have had two Catholic presidents out of the last twelve (almost 17%, not bad considering 23% of the population are Catholic). The Catholic Kennedy dynasty have certainly not been "outsiders" in US "government and power". I know personally of a number of right wing Catholics who play a not insignificant behind-the-scenes role in Washington power brokering. The US Catholic bishops' 1983 pastoral message The Challenge of Peace: God's Promise and Our Response was certainly influential in both the USA and internationally. Catholics played a major role in the powerful Mafia and criminal gangs as well as the police in New York and Chicago, and presumably also elsewhere. And the increase of Hispanic, African and African-American Catholics in the USA potentially presents a new opportunity for the Catholic voice to be heard.
And just to repeat once again the obvious: there is no significant Marxist presence "today in Rome and Washington". The Church does not align itself with any political ideology, whether capitalist or Marxist, and virtually all US politics is emphatically right of centre.
6margd
>5 John5918: ICYMI, Catholic appointees dominate the current US Supreme Court:
CATHOLIC
John Roberts (Chief Justice)
Clarence Thomas
Samuel Alito
Sonia Sotomayor
Brett Kavanaugh
Amy Coney Barrett
JEWISH
Elena Kagan
PROTESTANT
Neil Gorsuch (Anglican, raised Catholic)
Ketanji Brown Jackson
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_Supreme_Court_of_the_United_St...
CATHOLIC
John Roberts (Chief Justice)
Clarence Thomas
Samuel Alito
Sonia Sotomayor
Brett Kavanaugh
Amy Coney Barrett
JEWISH
Elena Kagan
PROTESTANT
Neil Gorsuch (Anglican, raised Catholic)
Ketanji Brown Jackson
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_Supreme_Court_of_the_United_St...
8brone
What is present in Rome today is the priest who heads catechesis who recently said " its time to abandon the idea of making Rome a Christian city." Well Washington never was a Catholic city but we won't give up trying to make it one. America youre right is run by a "devout catholic" but he does not believe or support Church Teaching. The US today has a system set up in seminarys that is better than ever. Catholic higher educaation although alot are catholic wastelands, there are many orthodox Teaching schools in the US to choose who maintain their unique American Catholic identity. Catholic campus ministry is in a golden age in the US hundreds of non catholic schools all over the US can learn about Catholicism from these faithful kids. The Us is a global leader in adult catechesis I myself am involved in the RICA program it is no joke and it takes the better part of a year for all the candidates to go through the different ancient rites. US Orthodox women religious orders are arguably the most dynamic in the world. The US parish school system is still vibrant and growing its quality of education is superb. On May 19th US Catholics will pilgrimage to Indianapolis leading over a hundred thousand Catholics through the Steets of the US to revive Adoration of the Eucharist in Indianappolis on July 16th. Rome may give up on its citizens but we surely wont. I recently had a conversation with my Bishop, I told him how proud I was of the proession of hundreds of Catholics down the main street of his city on Good Friday. His comment was typically American, "these streets are our streets we pay for them, they think nothing of shutting down whole blocks all day for a used car (antique) show....JMJ.....
9John5918
>8 brone:
Good to hear that the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults is alive and well in the USA as it is in many other countries. I was involved with it when I was working in the UK forty-odd years ago. It is a fruit of the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, reviving an old custom of the early Church which had gradually declined and got lost since Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire in the 4th century CE.
The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, makes a number of recommendations. "The catechumenate for adults, comprising several distinct steps, is to be restored and to be taken into use at the discretion of the local ordinary. By this means the time of the catechumenate, which is intended as a period of suitable instruction, may be sanctified by sacred rites to be celebrated at successive intervals of time" (64). Even back then the Global South was ahead of the pack in some ways, as SS notes that "In mission lands it is found that some of the peoples already make use of initiation rites. Elements from these, when capable of being adapted to Christian ritual, may be admitted" (65). Also, "Because the use of the mother tongue in the administration of the sacraments and sacramentals can often be of considerable help to the people, this use is to be extended according to the following norms: a) The vernacular language may be used in administering the sacraments and sacramentals" (63). In 2022 a revised English translation of the rite's text was being prepared, but I don't know whether that is in use yet.
An interesting article from a couple of years ago (link) highlights some of the characteristics of the rite. "RCIA leads seekers into relationship with Jesus, not into a school... RCIA is a process of conversion for unbaptized persons... Conversion happens by encountering the entire mystery of Christ unfolding throughout the liturgical year... Initiation is a ritual process... Initiation is the responsibility of all the baptized... Becoming a disciple is not an acronym. We have a decades-long history of referring to the adult initiation process by the initials RCIA. This is unfortunate because it's insider vocabulary. And it’s too easy to think of those initials as an academic program to complete or an exclusive club to join instead of a relationship with Jesus Christ that changes everything..."
Good to hear that the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults is alive and well in the USA as it is in many other countries. I was involved with it when I was working in the UK forty-odd years ago. It is a fruit of the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, reviving an old custom of the early Church which had gradually declined and got lost since Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire in the 4th century CE.
The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, makes a number of recommendations. "The catechumenate for adults, comprising several distinct steps, is to be restored and to be taken into use at the discretion of the local ordinary. By this means the time of the catechumenate, which is intended as a period of suitable instruction, may be sanctified by sacred rites to be celebrated at successive intervals of time" (64). Even back then the Global South was ahead of the pack in some ways, as SS notes that "In mission lands it is found that some of the peoples already make use of initiation rites. Elements from these, when capable of being adapted to Christian ritual, may be admitted" (65). Also, "Because the use of the mother tongue in the administration of the sacraments and sacramentals can often be of considerable help to the people, this use is to be extended according to the following norms: a) The vernacular language may be used in administering the sacraments and sacramentals" (63). In 2022 a revised English translation of the rite's text was being prepared, but I don't know whether that is in use yet.
An interesting article from a couple of years ago (link) highlights some of the characteristics of the rite. "RCIA leads seekers into relationship with Jesus, not into a school... RCIA is a process of conversion for unbaptized persons... Conversion happens by encountering the entire mystery of Christ unfolding throughout the liturgical year... Initiation is a ritual process... Initiation is the responsibility of all the baptized... Becoming a disciple is not an acronym. We have a decades-long history of referring to the adult initiation process by the initials RCIA. This is unfortunate because it's insider vocabulary. And it’s too easy to think of those initials as an academic program to complete or an exclusive club to join instead of a relationship with Jesus Christ that changes everything..."
10brone
Global South/Global North Marxist buzz words/ What ever happenned to the Universal Church. Leftists always want to divide and separate and for anyone who cares about an acronyms the rite is not even called RICA anymore some progressive managed to change the meaning, never the less Americans bringing non-Catholics, pagans. former pornographers, and Holywood elites into the Church is astounding, everyday we hear of some well known figure entering the Church and learning her "rituals" as well as her dogmas....JMJ....
11John5918
>10 brone: Yes, we can definitely agree that the Church is universal, encompassing all, inclusive, seeking unity rather than division and schism, without political labels such as "Marxist" and "leftist" as the Church transcends secular politics. And of course the importance of rituals, which is a key element of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. Mind you, I'm less impressed to "hear of some well known figure entering the Church" than I am by the thousands of ordinary people in Africa and elsewhere entering the Church every Easter whom we never hear about.
I'm currently reading Evangelization of Cultures: Reflections on Inculturation by Bishop Rodrigo Mejia Saldarriaga. He has been a missionary for over fifty years in Congo, Kenya and Ethiopia. I haven't finished it yet, but I can highly recommend it from what I've read so far, and I think it does shed light on some of the issues we converse about in this thread.
I'm currently reading Evangelization of Cultures: Reflections on Inculturation by Bishop Rodrigo Mejia Saldarriaga. He has been a missionary for over fifty years in Congo, Kenya and Ethiopia. I haven't finished it yet, but I can highly recommend it from what I've read so far, and I think it does shed light on some of the issues we converse about in this thread.
12brone
As we approach the end of the Bergoglian disaster I agree we must stay close encompassing all as you say. No mattter what comes from the last days or years of this disastrous pontificate. In 2013 Bergoglio says "I want to make a mess" that he did indeed. He signed a document which he said, "Pluralism and the diversity of religions are willed by God". As far as contraception well that can be used "in certain cases". This set the stage for explicitly approving those committing adultery can recieve Holy Communion. Next comes the blessing of active hoosexuals condemned by Church teaching and the Bible. Hell is also empty according to Bergoglio saying, "it is not the logic of the Gospel" that someone should be "condemned for ever". He then allows an Idol to be worshipped in the Vatican Gardens and then blashphemes by allowing same Idol to be led in procession in St Peter's in which he presided over. Progressives as we know agree with all this anti-catholic catholicism and have gifted rhetoricians who continually ridicule Catholic Traditionalists who wish to correct and transform the world with "good stories" mimicking the language of the Faith. It took ten years to bring Tucho out of his erotic closet into the Catholic mainstream. Tucho is the perfect progessive he is , simple a good story teller (Kiss me on the mouth) one of his most famous. He is popular with the Galen Mafia and a consumate "word merchandiser", a creator of "good stories" although his stories are more seductive and much more effective than open hostile critics angainst Traditional Catholicsm....AMDG....
13John5918
>12 brone:
Hm. Some of those terms don't sound very "Universal Church" to me and give the impression of wanting "to divide and separate" (>10 brone:). Progressives, anti-catholic catholicism, Catholic Traditionalists, "good stories" mimicking the language of the Faith, to bring Tucho out of his erotic closet, the Galen Mafia... and of course the use of "Bergoglio" rather than recognising him as Pope Francis. Unifying or divisive?
Hm. Some of those terms don't sound very "Universal Church" to me and give the impression of wanting "to divide and separate" (>10 brone:). Progressives, anti-catholic catholicism, Catholic Traditionalists, "good stories" mimicking the language of the Faith, to bring Tucho out of his erotic closet, the Galen Mafia... and of course the use of "Bergoglio" rather than recognising him as Pope Francis. Unifying or divisive?
15John5918
>14 brone:
And yet most of the Catholics in the world, and indeed most of the non-Catholics too, recognise him as a prophetic voice trying to bring about unity in our polarised and fragmented world. Perhaps there are some who prefer division to unity? Contributing to or colluding with division is certainly easier than working for unity. The latter involves a level of self-awareness, self-criticism, humility and kenosis (emptying oneself) which can be difficult and painful.
And yet most of the Catholics in the world, and indeed most of the non-Catholics too, recognise him as a prophetic voice trying to bring about unity in our polarised and fragmented world. Perhaps there are some who prefer division to unity? Contributing to or colluding with division is certainly easier than working for unity. The latter involves a level of self-awareness, self-criticism, humility and kenosis (emptying oneself) which can be difficult and painful.
16margd
Meet the Media Prophets Who Preach Christian Supremacy. (52:43)
Plus, Journalism in ‘Civil War’
Brooke Gladstone (On the Media) | Apr 19, 2024
Former president Trump says he wants to make America pray again. On this week’s On the Media, hear how Christian nationalism is shaping American politics. { Gladstone interviews Matthew D. Taylor, https://icjs.org/people/matthew-d-taylor/, author of soon to be published book "The Violent Take It by Force" }
Plus, what the new film Civil War...
https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/episodesandarticles
------------------------------------------
Matthew 11:12 "and the violent take it by force"
https://biblehub.com/matthew/11-12.htm
------------------------------------------
Evangelical Leaders Condemn 'Radicalized Christian Nationalism'
Sarah McCammon | February 24, 20216:01 AM ET
https://www.npr.org/2021/02/24/970685909/evangelical-leaders-condemn-radicalized...
Evangelical Leaders Statement Condemning Christian Nationalism's role in the January 6th Insurrection
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScbvRNRgAcUo1UfZfxuBZHmv63FI8k2gnxxAaNV...
Plus, Journalism in ‘Civil War’
Brooke Gladstone (On the Media) | Apr 19, 2024
Former president Trump says he wants to make America pray again. On this week’s On the Media, hear how Christian nationalism is shaping American politics. { Gladstone interviews Matthew D. Taylor, https://icjs.org/people/matthew-d-taylor/, author of soon to be published book "The Violent Take It by Force" }
Plus, what the new film Civil War...
https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/episodesandarticles
------------------------------------------
Matthew 11:12 "and the violent take it by force"
https://biblehub.com/matthew/11-12.htm
------------------------------------------
Evangelical Leaders Condemn 'Radicalized Christian Nationalism'
Sarah McCammon | February 24, 20216:01 AM ET
https://www.npr.org/2021/02/24/970685909/evangelical-leaders-condemn-radicalized...
Evangelical Leaders Statement Condemning Christian Nationalism's role in the January 6th Insurrection
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScbvRNRgAcUo1UfZfxuBZHmv63FI8k2gnxxAaNV...
18margd
WIKIPEDIA:
"The Seven Mountain Mandate is part of dominionism.
The biblical base for the movement is derived from Revelation 17:1–18, wherein verse 9 reads, "And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains". The seven areas that the movement believe influence society and that they seek to influence are
family,
religion,
education,
media,
entertainment,
business, and
government.
They believe that their mission to influence the world through these seven spheres is justified by Isaiah 2:2 "Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains."
Followers believe that by fulfilling the Seven Mountain Mandate they can bring about the end times."
"The Seven Mountain Mandate is part of dominionism.
The biblical base for the movement is derived from Revelation 17:1–18, wherein verse 9 reads, "And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains". The seven areas that the movement believe influence society and that they seek to influence are
family,
religion,
education,
media,
entertainment,
business, and
government.
They believe that their mission to influence the world through these seven spheres is justified by Isaiah 2:2 "Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains."
Followers believe that by fulfilling the Seven Mountain Mandate they can bring about the end times."
19margd
Christian Right Observer Weekly (Volume 12)
CROW's 7 stories on the Christian Right that you need read this week.
CROW | Apr 19, 2024
1. Christian Right Leader Tony Perkins {President, Family Research Council} Remains Confident that, if Re-elected, Trump Would Sign a National Anti-Abortion Bill
2. Examining the Links Between Leonard Leo and the Catholic Hardliners Leading Project 2025
3. Good News! Newly Funded Project (U CT) Will Map Resistance to Christian Nationalism
4. A Rogues Gallery Meets in Florida {Peter Thiel, Bambi Francisco Roizen, “Christian Nationalist” and Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Education Ryan Walters (Bucks County, Pennsylvania), MAGA millionaire and aspiring oligarch Paul Martino (who has public education in his crosshairs), anti-(teachers) union Freedom Foundation President Aaron Withe, and James Lindsay, who the Southern Poverty Law Center identifies as “a leading voice in the reactionary anti-student inclusion, anti-LGBTQ, and conspiracy propaganda movements.”
5. NAR {New Apostolic Reformation*} ‘Don’t Mess With Our Kids’ Call to the Capitols Recap: Partners, Elected Officials, and the Movement’s Future
6. Million Women March: The Future Is the Esther’s Faceless Army
7. We Will Take Cities. We Will Take States. The Courage Tour and Lance Wallnau.
https://crownewsletter.substack.com/p/christian-right-observer-weekly-volume-fd1
* The New Apostolic Reformation is a theological belief and movement that combines elements of Pentecostalism, evangelicalism and the Seven Mountain Mandate to advocate for spiritual warfare to bring about Christian dominion over all aspects of society, and end or weaken the separation of church and state. NAR leaders often call themselves apostles and prophets. (Wikipedia)
CROW's 7 stories on the Christian Right that you need read this week.
CROW | Apr 19, 2024
1. Christian Right Leader Tony Perkins {President, Family Research Council} Remains Confident that, if Re-elected, Trump Would Sign a National Anti-Abortion Bill
2. Examining the Links Between Leonard Leo and the Catholic Hardliners Leading Project 2025
3. Good News! Newly Funded Project (U CT) Will Map Resistance to Christian Nationalism
4. A Rogues Gallery Meets in Florida {Peter Thiel, Bambi Francisco Roizen, “Christian Nationalist” and Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Education Ryan Walters (Bucks County, Pennsylvania), MAGA millionaire and aspiring oligarch Paul Martino (who has public education in his crosshairs), anti-(teachers) union Freedom Foundation President Aaron Withe, and James Lindsay, who the Southern Poverty Law Center identifies as “a leading voice in the reactionary anti-student inclusion, anti-LGBTQ, and conspiracy propaganda movements.”
5. NAR {New Apostolic Reformation*} ‘Don’t Mess With Our Kids’ Call to the Capitols Recap: Partners, Elected Officials, and the Movement’s Future
6. Million Women March: The Future Is the Esther’s Faceless Army
7. We Will Take Cities. We Will Take States. The Courage Tour and Lance Wallnau.
https://crownewsletter.substack.com/p/christian-right-observer-weekly-volume-fd1
* The New Apostolic Reformation is a theological belief and movement that combines elements of Pentecostalism, evangelicalism and the Seven Mountain Mandate to advocate for spiritual warfare to bring about Christian dominion over all aspects of society, and end or weaken the separation of church and state. NAR leaders often call themselves apostles and prophets. (Wikipedia)
20endaclon
>1 margd: What is it about evangelical Christian's that so frightens you and other progressive's? What evidence do you have that predicts a Trump assault on a peaceful transfer of power. Are you at all familiar with the recent hearings concerning the January 6th events? Perhaps it is best for all Christians to place their trust in God rather than any political party or political personality.
21margd
Not all Evangelicals. Some American Catholics also.
Read >16 margd:, >18 margd:, >19 margd:, etc.
As for the seventh "mountain" (government), read
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/conservatives-aim-to-restructure-u-s-gover... if you really want to know some of what liberals fear from Christian Nationalists.
Read >16 margd:, >18 margd:, >19 margd:, etc.
As for the seventh "mountain" (government), read
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/conservatives-aim-to-restructure-u-s-gover... if you really want to know some of what liberals fear from Christian Nationalists.
22John5918
>20 endaclon: Perhaps it is best for all Christians to place their trust in God rather than any political party or political personality
I agree with you completely. But surely the problem is that a lot of Christians are very emphatically placing their trust in a political party and/or political personality, and are conflating our faith with a particular political ideology?
I agree with you completely. But surely the problem is that a lot of Christians are very emphatically placing their trust in a political party and/or political personality, and are conflating our faith with a particular political ideology?
23margd
>6 margd: Catholics justices dominate US Supreme Court
Leonard Leo
Leonard Leo is Chairman of CRC Advisors {formerly known as Creative Response Concepts Public Relations} and Co-Chairman of the Federalist Society {conservative and libertarian legal organization that advocates for a textualist and originalist interpretation of the U.S. Constitution}.
Leo joined the Federalist Society over 25 years ago...
Leonard has assisted two presidential administrations on judicial selection as an outside advisor, and participated in the Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett Supreme Court selection and confirmation process as well as the outside coalition efforts in support of the Roberts and Alito U.S. Supreme Court confirmations.
Leo was appointed by President George W. Bush to three terms as chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.as chairman. He and was also a U.S. Delegate to the UN Council and UN Commission on Human Rights.
He and his wife have had seven children.
https://cicdc.org/speakers/leonard-leo/
Leonard Leo
Leonard Leo is Chairman of CRC Advisors {formerly known as Creative Response Concepts Public Relations} and Co-Chairman of the Federalist Society {conservative and libertarian legal organization that advocates for a textualist and originalist interpretation of the U.S. Constitution}.
Leo joined the Federalist Society over 25 years ago...
Leonard has assisted two presidential administrations on judicial selection as an outside advisor, and participated in the Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett Supreme Court selection and confirmation process as well as the outside coalition efforts in support of the Roberts and Alito U.S. Supreme Court confirmations.
Leo was appointed by President George W. Bush to three terms as chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.as chairman. He and was also a U.S. Delegate to the UN Council and UN Commission on Human Rights.
He and his wife have had seven children.
https://cicdc.org/speakers/leonard-leo/
24margd
The Real Origins of the Religious Right
RANDALL BALMER | May 27, 2014
...it wasn’t until 1979—a full six years after Roe—that evangelical leaders, at the behest of conservative activist Paul Weyrich, seized on abortion not for moral reasons, but as a rallying-cry to deny President Jimmy Carter a second term. Why? Because the anti-abortion crusade was more palatable than the religious right’s real motive: protecting segregated schools. So much for the new abolitionism.
...On June 30, 1971, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued its ruling in the case, now Green v. Kennedy/Connally ... The decision upheld the new IRS policy: “Under the Internal Revenue Code, properly construed, racially discriminatory private schools are not entitled to the Federal tax exemption provided for charitable, educational institutions, and persons making gifts to such schools are not entitled to the deductions provided in case of gifts to charitable, educational institutions.”
..The Green v. Connally ruling provided a necessary first step: It captured the attention of evangelical leaders , especially as the IRS began sending questionnaires to church-related “segregation academies,” including Falwell’s own Lynchburg Christian School, inquiring about their racial policies. Falwell was furious...
One such school, Bob Jones University—a fundamentalist college in Greenville, South Carolina—was especially obdurate...{(IRS) rescinded the school’s tax exemption.}
... hypothetical “moral majority” needed a catalyst—a standard around which to rally. For nearly two decades, Paul Weyrich, the late religious conservative political activist and co-founder of the Heritage Foundation, by his own account, had been trying out different issues, hoping one might pique evangelical interest: pornography, prayer in schools, the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution, even abortion.
...By the late 1970s, many Americans—not just Roman Catholics—were beginning to feel uneasy about the spike in legal abortions following the 1973 Roe decision. The 1978 Senate races demonstrated to Weyrich and others that abortion might motivate conservatives where it hadn’t in the past.
...leaders of the nascent religious right blamed the Democratic president for the IRS actions against segregated schools—even though the policy was mandated by Nixon, and Bob Jones University had lost its tax exemption a year and a day before Carter was inaugurated as president. Falwell, Weyrich and others were undeterred by the niceties of facts. In their determination to elect a conservative, they would do anything to deny a Democrat, even a fellow evangelical like Carter, another term in the White House.
...By 1980, even though Carter had sought, both as governor of Georgia and as president, to reduce the incidence of abortion, his refusal to seek a constitutional amendment outlawing it was viewed by politically conservative evangelicals as an unpardonable sin. Never mind the fact that his Republican opponent that year, Ronald Reagan, had signed into law, as governor of California in 1967, the most liberal abortion bill in the country. When Reagan addressed a rally of 10,000 evangelicals at Reunion Arena in Dallas in August 1980, he excoriated the “unconstitutional regulatory agenda” directed by the IRS “against independent schools,” but he made no mention of abortion. Nevertheless, leaders of the religious right hammered away at the issue, persuading many evangelicals to make support for a constitutional amendment outlawing abortion a litmus test for their votes.
...a Harris poll that suggested Carter would have won the popular vote by a margin of 1 percent had it not been for the machinations of the religious right. ... evangelicals, having helped propel Carter to the White House four years earlier, turned dramatically against him, their fellow evangelical, during the course of his presidency. And the catalyst for their political activism was not, as often claimed, opposition to abortion. Although abortion had emerged as a rallying cry by 1980, the real roots of the religious right lie not the defense of a fetus but in the defense of racial segregation.
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/05/religious-right-real-origins-107...
RANDALL BALMER | May 27, 2014
...it wasn’t until 1979—a full six years after Roe—that evangelical leaders, at the behest of conservative activist Paul Weyrich, seized on abortion not for moral reasons, but as a rallying-cry to deny President Jimmy Carter a second term. Why? Because the anti-abortion crusade was more palatable than the religious right’s real motive: protecting segregated schools. So much for the new abolitionism.
...On June 30, 1971, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued its ruling in the case, now Green v. Kennedy/Connally ... The decision upheld the new IRS policy: “Under the Internal Revenue Code, properly construed, racially discriminatory private schools are not entitled to the Federal tax exemption provided for charitable, educational institutions, and persons making gifts to such schools are not entitled to the deductions provided in case of gifts to charitable, educational institutions.”
..The Green v. Connally ruling provided a necessary first step: It captured the attention of evangelical leaders , especially as the IRS began sending questionnaires to church-related “segregation academies,” including Falwell’s own Lynchburg Christian School, inquiring about their racial policies. Falwell was furious...
One such school, Bob Jones University—a fundamentalist college in Greenville, South Carolina—was especially obdurate...{(IRS) rescinded the school’s tax exemption.}
... hypothetical “moral majority” needed a catalyst—a standard around which to rally. For nearly two decades, Paul Weyrich, the late religious conservative political activist and co-founder of the Heritage Foundation, by his own account, had been trying out different issues, hoping one might pique evangelical interest: pornography, prayer in schools, the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution, even abortion.
...By the late 1970s, many Americans—not just Roman Catholics—were beginning to feel uneasy about the spike in legal abortions following the 1973 Roe decision. The 1978 Senate races demonstrated to Weyrich and others that abortion might motivate conservatives where it hadn’t in the past.
...leaders of the nascent religious right blamed the Democratic president for the IRS actions against segregated schools—even though the policy was mandated by Nixon, and Bob Jones University had lost its tax exemption a year and a day before Carter was inaugurated as president. Falwell, Weyrich and others were undeterred by the niceties of facts. In their determination to elect a conservative, they would do anything to deny a Democrat, even a fellow evangelical like Carter, another term in the White House.
...By 1980, even though Carter had sought, both as governor of Georgia and as president, to reduce the incidence of abortion, his refusal to seek a constitutional amendment outlawing it was viewed by politically conservative evangelicals as an unpardonable sin. Never mind the fact that his Republican opponent that year, Ronald Reagan, had signed into law, as governor of California in 1967, the most liberal abortion bill in the country. When Reagan addressed a rally of 10,000 evangelicals at Reunion Arena in Dallas in August 1980, he excoriated the “unconstitutional regulatory agenda” directed by the IRS “against independent schools,” but he made no mention of abortion. Nevertheless, leaders of the religious right hammered away at the issue, persuading many evangelicals to make support for a constitutional amendment outlawing abortion a litmus test for their votes.
...a Harris poll that suggested Carter would have won the popular vote by a margin of 1 percent had it not been for the machinations of the religious right. ... evangelicals, having helped propel Carter to the White House four years earlier, turned dramatically against him, their fellow evangelical, during the course of his presidency. And the catalyst for their political activism was not, as often claimed, opposition to abortion. Although abortion had emerged as a rallying cry by 1980, the real roots of the religious right lie not the defense of a fetus but in the defense of racial segregation.
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/05/religious-right-real-origins-107...
26margd
>25 John5918: Like to hear more of that!
27John5918
>26 margd: Not my style of preaching, but if that's what moves the evangelicals, so be it.
28brone
Toxic Hinduism is flourishing in India, the extremist PM Modi is poised to continue his fascist government at the expense of Chistians and Muslims, Hundreds of Churches have been burned and thousands of people have been assualted and murdered under this Nazi's regime. The propaganda put out by the US State department on its annual Human Rights report does not even mention the word Christian or Muslim, Those of you confused about the term "gaslighting" this report and the reality of the abuses committed by "Hindu Nationalists" would explain it to the tee. Modi the PM is an extremist an activist for the RSS which supports the Joe Goebels propaganda of Minorities must be treated like the Jews were treated in Europe. So The devout Roman Catholic of America and his State Department do not even mention an assualt of a Christian or Muslim, Then again why should he the head of his own Church has not even peeped about the atrocities in India. Modi is also a friend of Bergoglio's. Nazi hearts would swell with pride if they only knew how a Hindu Nationalist, an American President, and the Head of th Roman Catholic Church swallow Goebels propaganda "when you tell a huge lie keep repeating it eventually people will believe it....JMJ....
29John5918
>28 brone:
Yes, thanks for raising the case of extremist Hindu nationalism. It has been very prominent in international (and US) news recently, eg here, here, here and here, and in the Catholic press here. In December 2023 the US Commission on International Religious Freedom expressed "alarm" at "India’s increased transnational targeting of religious minorities and those advocating on their behalf. Recent efforts by the Indian government to silence activists, journalists, and lawyers abroad pose a serious threat to religious freedom" (link), and has issued two more reports in March 2024 (link).
As for "Modi is also a friend of Bergoglio's", as far as I can see Modi met the pope in 2021, which is not unusual for a head of government, but I don't think that necessarily implies that they are "friends". In fact it is reported that one day before that meeting, the Vatican's Cardinal Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot released a message to Hindus that referred to the divisive nature of “hyper-nationalism” (link).
Yes, thanks for raising the case of extremist Hindu nationalism. It has been very prominent in international (and US) news recently, eg here, here, here and here, and in the Catholic press here. In December 2023 the US Commission on International Religious Freedom expressed "alarm" at "India’s increased transnational targeting of religious minorities and those advocating on their behalf. Recent efforts by the Indian government to silence activists, journalists, and lawyers abroad pose a serious threat to religious freedom" (link), and has issued two more reports in March 2024 (link).
As for "Modi is also a friend of Bergoglio's", as far as I can see Modi met the pope in 2021, which is not unusual for a head of government, but I don't think that necessarily implies that they are "friends". In fact it is reported that one day before that meeting, the Vatican's Cardinal Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot released a message to Hindus that referred to the divisive nature of “hyper-nationalism” (link).
