White xtian nationalists love the Constitution the same way that they love the Bible: as a convenient old-timey document to unscrupulously comb through for evidence to support whatever they've been told to believe (which is supposedly derived from said document, but really comes from a handful of 20th-century evangelical leaders like James Dobson and Phyllis Schlafly).
#evangelical #exvangelical #whitechristiannationalism #trump #fascism #cognitivedissonace #logicalfallacy
(1/8)
They use both to make themselves feel special. They (and their country) are "chosen." They are lone warriors protecting God's legacy from hordes of evil.
Just as fiercely as we fear the ravages of the climate emergency and rising fascism, they fear the "sinners" who reject patriarchal control and submission to authoritarianism.
Growing up as a right-wing extremist, those fears were stoked DAILY. I truly felt it was my duty to save souls, save the unborn, and save America.
(2/8)
We dreamed of overturning Roe v Wade and DEI nonsense. What better gift could we give a stranger than saving them from themselves?
I was taught to pity women who had jobs or lacked children, and people who rejected heterosexuality or their assigned gender.
And my entire sense of reality was based on these kinds of convictions.
I could not see the contradictions.
(3/8)
When you're steeped in it, and it's all you know, everything else is UNTHINKABLE. You cannot imagine abandoning your faith for a life of sin. You look at people on the outside and they seem *so unbelievably selfish.*
You have been taught to sacrifice everything... and it still never feels like enough.
It's not vindictiveness. You are barely conscious of the racism and sexism, because the justifications you've been spoonfed are so internalized.
(4/8)
It's the deepest form of paternalism: you know what is best for everyone else, and you have to force them to see it by forcing them to live your way.
Like trying to build a nationwide reeducation camp, akin to the boarding schools for Indigenous children or conversion camps for gay kids.
And this is the *greatest good you are able to imagine* within the stunted confines of the imagination you've been groomed to inhabit.
(5/8)
So of course you cling to the Constitution and the Bible in the piecemeal way that keeps all the contradictions at bay. There is no questioning, because every single part is essential; you cannot dismantle the mantle you wear.
(6/8)
The way my parents talked about Catholics and Democrats and gay people and divorced people and everyone else outside of our incredibly tiny bubble told me that one step outside of our belief structure meant an eternity of torture. No one else "really" believed, no one else was "really" saved.
The greatest evils are done by those most convinced they are saviors.
(7/8)
By the way, the authoritarian household abuse also makes you think that violent correction can be "loving" and that you cannot know or trust what is good for you, except through your leaders and your beloved literature.
There's a reason the Trump Bible contains the Constitution. They literally treat it as a holy document. The "founding fathers" were ordained by God Himself.
(Side note: never use the "founding fathers" term, it's intrinsically tied to this exact paternalism.)
8/8
@nat I had a very similar upbringing. I appreciate your courage to share about your past on this platform. It is heartening to know that there are others that escaped religious trauma - makes me feel less alone.
It is so fucking depressing seeing friends/families kids growing up in church, knowing what they’re being exposed to, knowing what they’re being told to believe about themselves.
Nat Oleander
k3ym𖺀