Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Christian nationalism closes in on tolerance, secularism and democracy

OK lawmaker calls LGBTQ people ‘filth’ following 
beating death of bullied nonbinary teen

An Oklahoma state Senator is facing criticism after he reportedly referred to LGBTQ people as “filth” following the unexpected death of a 16-year-old nonbinary student a day after being beaten up at school.

“I represent a constituency that doesn’t want that filth in Oklahoma,” Sen. Tom Woods, R-Westville, can be heard saying during a legislative forum when asked about the death of nonbinary teen Nex Benedict and legislation allegedly targeting the LGBTQ+ community, according to audio recorded by the Tahlequah Daily Press.


Oklahoma hater Tom Woods

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Megachurch Pastor: Attending Same-Sex Weddings Is 
“Celebrating Stepping Into Fury Of God’s Judgement”

“The most loving thing you could possibly do would be not to go, and to condemn the relationship; that is loving. It’s not loving to help somebody celebrate stepping into the fury of God’s judgment.  
“It is a blasphemy against God, as is transgender life and homosexuality, as well. That is the message to give in love.” – John MacArthur, when asked about the pastor fired last month from his American Family Association radio show for saying that Christians should feel free to attend same-sex weddings.
There you have it, rationality fans, properly aimed hate is an expression of love in the rage- and hate-driven minds of elite Christian nationalists.
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A psychology research article suggests that empathy can be gained or lost depending on what people are experiencing: “Observational learning processes influence the extent to which a person empathizes with the pain of another individual. In our study, female participants observed empathic or non-empathic reactions of others and later provided empathy ratings themselves. Observing empathic reactions of others resulted in an increase, whereas observing non-empathic reaction resulted in a decrease of participants’ homegrown empathy. These changes can be explained by observational reinforcement learning and are reflected by the neural processing of empathy in the anterior insula and its functional connectivity to the temporoparietal junction. Our findings show that empathy can be socially transmitted and observational learning can explain the plasticity of empathic reactions in different social environments.”

Assuming that data can be replicated and confirmed, one can envision what people are learning from hateful, bigoted, callous Christian nationalism.
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NBC News reports about what could be the signals children pick up from Christian nationalism and how they plausibly act in accord with those signals of hate and intolerance:
OWASSO, Okla. — At least 40 students at Owasso High School walked out Monday to protest what they describe as a pervasive culture of bullying with little accountability, which they believe led to a student’s death at their school.

Nex Benedict, 16, died Feb. 8, a day after a fight in a bathroom on the school’s West Campus. In body camera footage from a police officer’s interview with Nex, he described how three students “jumped” him after he threw water on them because they were bullying him and his friend over the way that they dressed. 

Nex’s mother, Sue Benedict, previously told The Independent that Nex told her he faced bullying due to his gender identity. Friends said Nex was transgender and primarily went by he/him pronouns at school but also used they/them pronouns, which Nex's family also used. Several other friends said Nex preferred he/him pronouns. In the body camera footage, when the police officer asked Nex if he ever reported the bullying to the school, Nex said, “I didn’t really see the point in it.”
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From the Self-Righteous Haters Files: 
Kat, surprisingly not institutionalized for mental disease, allegedly made these remarks about the satanic evil that pervades Washington DC and democrats:
People who stole the election will “hang on meat hooks in hell right next to Hitler. .... 150-foot angels” will kill her critics.
Why not? God talked about him all the time. No matter what you think about him, he picked him, he anointed him, and he appointed him. You know what he says about him? He’s an all-American boy who’s all for America.

So yes, there are powerful plans that are going to happen. Yes, I am his prophet. Yes, I am his revelator. I revelate heaven all over this world and will continue to do so.

They’re [God’s avenging angels?] about to waste this place. Waste every evil being, every demon, every evil principality, every power.” – Self-proclaimed prophet Kat Kerr, holding the staff she uses to ward off hurricanes.

They’re about to waste this place. Waste every evil being, every demon, every evil principality, every power.” – Self-proclaimed prophet Kat Kerr, holding the staff she uses to ward off hurricanes.
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This kind of deranged Christian nationalist hate is not new. Berkeley News reported in Sept. 2022: 
When the Conservative Political Action Conference convened in Texas last month, state Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick took the stage and surveyed the culture war issues that define today’s Republican agenda: hostility to immigration and transgender rights, and deep commitment to gun rights as a defense against government tyranny.

But in folksy, pastoral tones, he cast these intense issues as subordinate to a higher mission. America’s heritage as a Christian nation is in jeopardy, he warned, and as proof, he cited a recent Gallup Poll that found 67% of liberals believe in God, compared to 95% of conservatives.

In this crucible, “we have to be ready for battle,” Patrick admonished the audience. “We have to be ready for the fight because we are not in a fight any longer of Republicans and Democrats of the old days. We’re in a fight of lightness and darkness. We’re in a fight of powers and principalities. ”

For those fluent in the language of conservative evangelical Christians, Patrick’s message was unmistakable: The midterm elections this fall and the presidential election in 2024 comprise a battle pitting God against Satan — with liberals doing the work of Satan.  
Until recently, such apocalyptic appeals would have been seen as extreme and confined to the political fringe. But in a series of interviews, UC Berkeley scholars described the increasing power of hard-right American Christians, almost all of them white, who have been radicalized by 50 years of social change and demographic change — and by the dramatic decline of their own churches.
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Politico reports, incorrectly calling authoritarian Christian nationalist elites conservative:
Trump allies prepare to infuse ‘Christian nationalism’ 
in second administration

Spearheading the effort is Russell Vought, president of The Center for Renewing America, part of a conservative consortium preparing for Trump’s return to power

Spearheading the effort is Russell Vought, who served as Trump’s director of the Office of Management and Budget during his first term and has remained close to him. Vought, who is frequently cited as a potential chief of staff in a second Trump White House, is president of The Center for Renewing America think tank, a leading group in a conservative consortium preparing for a second Trump term.

Christian nationalists in America believe that the country was founded as a Christian nation and that Christian values should be prioritized throughout government and public life. As the country has become less religious and more diverse, Vought has embraced the idea that Christians are under assault and has spoken of policies he might pursue in response.

One document drafted by CRA staff and fellows includes a list of top priorities for CRA in a second Trump term. “Christian nationalism” is one of the bullet points. Others include invoking the Insurrection Act on Day One to quash protests and refusing to spend authorized congressional funds on unwanted projects, a practice banned by lawmakers in the Nixon era.
The Christian nationalist Taliban is not going to let any stinking human law stand in the way of God’s infallible Sharia Law with all the “love” (known as hate to normal people) it is anxious to unleash on the evil ones.

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