In a lengthy statement, David Rothkopf sets out his concerns with the acceptance among some liberals and progressives of the overtly religious language employed by James Talarico and Andy Beshear in their Democratic campaigns.
Rothkopf is alarmed at this application of religious language and its acceptance by members of the Democratic coalition.
#ChristianNationalism #religion #Democrats #JamesTalarico #AndyBeshear
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https://davidrothkopf.substack.com/p/heaven-and-hell-in-american-politics
He's concerned that, though what Talarico and Beshear espouse runs directly counter to the Christian nationalism animating MAGA, their appeal to religion threatens the church-state wall as much as Christian nationalism does.
As a Jew (though a secular one with a family heritage of repudiating religion), he's also troubled by the Christian-specific language of Talarico and Beshear.
#ChristianNationalism #religion #Democrats #JamesTalarico #AndyBeshear
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These are valid and serious concerns, of course. At the same time, it has to be said, they ignore the centrality of religious discourse in American politics and the way the Trump's fascist movement has occupied center-stage precisely by promoting Christian nationlism.
From where I stand, to fail to address that dominance directly, by wresting religion away from the hands of fascist movements, is to yield to those movements.
Whether we like it or not, religion is part and parcel of American political life and long has been. And no one is better equipped to challenge the toxic Christian nationalism of MAGA than those who stand within the Christian tradition but who recognize that MAGA is offering a perverted, twisted, demonic version of Christianity.
This is especially important for those living in red states like Texas and Kentucky.
It's much easier to live in the milieu of the pluralistic, Democrat-living culture of the coastal regions, and to look askance at religion-saturated discourse in political life. Those living in the red heartland do not have that luxury, however. We've long seen that civil rights movements sparked by members of Black churches are an engine for radical democratic change in our society.
We don't have the luxury of feeling superior to people like John Lewis, Stacy Abrams, Raphael Warnock, William J. Barber — or James Talarico — as we exclude anyone but secular, anti-religious folks from our Democratic coalition. It would be political suicide, in fact, for us to behave in that way. Even though the elite "liberal" media outlets of the coastal regions turn up their nose at discussions of the role of religion in political life.
"I think I've always felt as a political scientist, understanding religion is key to understanding American politics writ large."
~ Melissa Deckman, CEO of Public Religion Research Institute this weekend
#ChristianNationalism #religion #Trump #MAGA #evangelicals
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https://www.weekendreading.net/p/mapping-christian-nationalism
Weekend Reading Live with Melissa Deckman of PRRI
"The theological divide among Christians in America writ large, including in the pro-democracy movement, is substantive, deep, often bitter, and frequently personal (raise your hand if you’ve been called a heretic), and it lies at the heart of our politics, too. ...
I like what James Talarico is doing. I don’t see it as politicizing his faith. I see it as articulating his politics as a person of faith."
~ Holly Berkley Fletcher
#ChristianNationalism #JamesTalarico
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https://hollyberkleyfletcher.substack.com/p/big-thoughts-about-the-big-tent
"In the week that Trump was inaugurated, there was one person in this country who had anything worthy, notable, substantive to say. It was very hard to find a Democratic elected official—who’s supposed to be leading the charge—who had something really potent to say. People were scattered. They didn’t know what to do."
~ Michael Wear
#ChristianNationalism #Trump #MAGA #Democrats #religion #MariannBudde
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https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/what-do-liberalism-and-religion-owe
"The corporations were on our side last time—now, even they’re showing up at the inauguration. And it took a little woman, Bishop Budde, at the Washington National Cathedral, and all of a sudden, ‘Oh, there is something that could be said in this moment!' She was drawing from sources that went beyond whatever the short-term political calculus was."
#ChristianNationalism #Trump #MAGA #Democrats #religion #MariannBudde
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"She didn’t have to look to the Democratic candidates’ platform or what the talking point was to come up with some kind of rhetoric. She was drawing from a deeper well."
#ChristianNationalism #Trump #MAGA #Democrats #religion #MariannBudde
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William Lindsey 
