https://apnews.com/article/trump-rededicate-america-250-prayer-gathering-e65950eac5f7aed8be529333cbd301b3?utm_source=copy&utm_medium=share

I loathe the Christian nationalist movement.

#USPolitics #ChristianNationalism #USCulture #Christianity #Religion #Protestantism #DonaldTrump

Holiday Season Shifts: Faith's Diminishing Role, Economic Debates Spark Discussions

Many Americans celebrate holidays without religion. Debates grow about the economic cost of federal holidays. What does this mean for you?

#HolidayTraditions, #SecularHolidays, #EconomicImpact, #FederalHolidays, #USCulture

https://newsletter.tf/us-holidays-less-religion-economic-talk/

Fewer Americans are linking holidays to religion. Some leaders say federal holidays cost billions, but others say businesses still work and sales increase.

#HolidayTraditions, #SecularHolidays, #EconomicImpact, #FederalHolidays, #USCulture
https://newsletter.tf/us-holidays-less-religion-economic-talk/

Pondering the assertion that in the US, since the McCarthy era, the propaganda has been "Capitalism = Good, Comunism = Evil"...

It makes me wonder if that's part of the reason why Prosperity Doctrine (the Prosperity Heresy) got such a huge hold on the US churches.

For those of you in the back, there, Prosperity Doctrine is the belief that God wants his People to be Rich, and being Rich is a sign of God's blessing. Based on various verses which say that God wants to "bless" his people -- and interprets that as blessing them with riches. It completely ignores all the other bits of the Bible which talk about the wickedness of wealthy men, and of course "thou shalt not covet" and "it is harder for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven".

#USPol #USCulture #Christianity

https://bbc.com/news/articles/cr717nglye0o

Seriously, I do not think that the Washington press dinner shooting was staged by the Trump regime.

That some intelligent people think otherwise shows how deeply Trump and other right wingers have degraded public discourse in the USA.

#DonaldTrump #USPolitics #USMedia #USCulture #ColeThomasAllen #WhiteHouseCorrespondentsDinner

When you read stuff like this, it’s good to keep in mind that all of this is a choice.

Why Being Middle-Aged Sucks So Much for Americans (and No One Else)
https://www.vice.com/en/article/why-being-middle-aged-sucks-so-much-for-americans-and-no-one-else/

#aging #americandream #unitedstates #individualism #uspolitics #usculture

🧵 1/2

https://thepointmag.com/examined-life/behind-the-hood/

I've been thinking about the hoodie recently.

>>... no other garment is so charged, or so fraught, in this country as the hoodie. <<

My own dislike for the garment makes me uncomfortable. How much of my distaste springs from ugly prejudices about race, class, and age buried within me?

Then I start to wonder how much of my agonized reflection is not only an ultimately futile attempt to suppress my own aesthetic responses but also an unproductive focus on the individual psyche rather than on the structures of society.

Working with lots of young men in hoodies prompted these thoughts, as did...

#USCulture #Hoodie #Fashion #HistoryOfDress #Race #Class #Age

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/apr/10/pete-hegseth-christianity-iran-war-crusade?CMP=share_btn_url

Good overview by Julia Carrie Wong of the strain of Christianity animating Pete Hegseth.

Wong mentions that the "contemporary Christian nationalist movement in the US unites Christians from disparate denominations. Hegseth represents the Reformed/Calvinist wing, which is distinct from the charismatic evangelicalism practiced by figures such as the White House “faith office” adviser, Paula White-Cain. A third camp are Catholic Integralists, who want to integrate church and state; adherents include Steve Bannon and the Project 2025 architect Kevin Roberts."

I can't decide which of these three groups is the most dangerous. I do find all of them loathsome.

To obviate misunderstanding, I am aware that a large number of Christians from diverse traditions and denominations consider Christian nationalism to be a perversion of their religion.

Image: James Kerr/ Scorpion Dagger

#Christianity #PeteHegseth #ChristianNationalism #USPolitics #USCulture

https://www.ncronline.org/opinion/distinctly-catholic/mark-silk-history-term-judeo-christian

Excellent article telling how the term "Judeo-Christian" migrated from liberal inclusiveness to right wing bigotry.

Image: Social Welfare History Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries

#JudeoChristian #Religion #USHistory #USCulture #Christianity #Judaism #Islam #USPolitics #Politics #RightWing #NCCJ #NationalConferenceOfChristainsAndJews