I grew up in White evangelical culture and graduated from Wheaton College (IL), a conservative evangelical school. And there is NO WAY IN HELL White evangelicals will ever agree to a non-aggression pact. They are the single biggest demographic in the GOP. Many members of my extended family are die-hard Trumpies.
White evangelicalism is what happened to American Protestantism as it morphed to adjust to slavery in the south. It is deeply rooted in White male supremacy. I'm close to 70 now--I've been out of that culture for a long time. But from personal experience, I can tell you that White evangelicals absolutely must have an Other to demonize and feel morally superior to. In my life-time, the various Boogeymen included: secular humanists, hippies, feminists, LGBTQ, Muslims, immigrants, welfare recipients, New Yorkers, Californians, scientists and always, always, always Black people. (Black people are rarely directly named, but they are the source of White evangelicals' deepest fears and hatred. They have lots of euphemisms to explain their issues but it's mostly just regular old racism. )
White evangelicals have been longing for political violence my whole life-time. Trump and his henchmen are truly the White evangelical Messiah. Their faith is White Male Supremacy dressed up in the language of Jesus and patriotism.
I don't see us getting out of this cycle any time soon or without suffering.
You kind of lost me when you only named Trump as a source of ramping up perceived threat, and failed to mention all of the Democratic leadership, Far Left leadership, and media who have been screaming "Fascism!" and "Nazi!" for years.
Please look at yourself and how you have tolerated the dehumanization of Trump (who did go through at least TWO assassination attempts) along with his voters, and how that has led to actual violence.
Please also look at how Jewish people have been dehumanized by the Far Left , which has led to Governor Shapiro's house being set on fire while his family slept upstairs; two young Pro-Israeli people being murdered on the street by a "socialist"; and a group of Jewish people protesting on behalf of Israeli hostages being firebombed. Yes, I know there are antisemites on the Right as well, but they have not been excused and romanticized by the media in the same way the Far Left has been. "They just care about Gaza" my ass.
The Left has also OPENLY celebrated the murder of a Drug company representative and are fangirling for his killer, Luigi Mangione. How does this celebration of murder not increase political violence?
Please try writing this (without being "cancelled"): Trump is not a deranged Nazi or an authoritarian; we are not "losing" our democracy just because the Democrats didn't win; Israel is not committing genocide, and is in fact, trying to save themselves from one; Trump voters are not racist bigots who want to bring back slavery and turn all women into Handmaids - they are mainly working class people who feel betrayed by the Democratic party - because they HAVE been betrayed - both culturally and economically.
Can you write any of the above, Amanda? Because that would truly be an act of courageously supporting your words with actions.
AMEN! The need to continue getting invites to the right cocktail parties must be strong as almost all the articles talking about turning down the temperature so often have to include a dig at Trump, when the truth is he is a result of 20 years of political speech- remember Biden saying that Romney “would put you back in chains”?
There is something that the President can do about this that would cost him nothing and be all upside. "My Gift To Trump": https://tinyurl.com/mut4ujzr
Thank you for this. We need a hopeful next step. Your wisdom is always a gift.
I agree with every point in here and asking, "Do you want this cycle of violence to continue?" up to 10 times. Persistence and peace go hand in hand.
I grew up in White evangelical culture and graduated from Wheaton College (IL), a conservative evangelical school. And there is NO WAY IN HELL White evangelicals will ever agree to a non-aggression pact. They are the single biggest demographic in the GOP. Many members of my extended family are die-hard Trumpies.
White evangelicalism is what happened to American Protestantism as it morphed to adjust to slavery in the south. It is deeply rooted in White male supremacy. I'm close to 70 now--I've been out of that culture for a long time. But from personal experience, I can tell you that White evangelicals absolutely must have an Other to demonize and feel morally superior to. In my life-time, the various Boogeymen included: secular humanists, hippies, feminists, LGBTQ, Muslims, immigrants, welfare recipients, New Yorkers, Californians, scientists and always, always, always Black people. (Black people are rarely directly named, but they are the source of White evangelicals' deepest fears and hatred. They have lots of euphemisms to explain their issues but it's mostly just regular old racism. )
White evangelicals have been longing for political violence my whole life-time. Trump and his henchmen are truly the White evangelical Messiah. Their faith is White Male Supremacy dressed up in the language of Jesus and patriotism.
I don't see us getting out of this cycle any time soon or without suffering.
You are promoting political violence with your words. You are part of the problem.
You kind of lost me when you only named Trump as a source of ramping up perceived threat, and failed to mention all of the Democratic leadership, Far Left leadership, and media who have been screaming "Fascism!" and "Nazi!" for years.
Please look at yourself and how you have tolerated the dehumanization of Trump (who did go through at least TWO assassination attempts) along with his voters, and how that has led to actual violence.
Please also look at how Jewish people have been dehumanized by the Far Left , which has led to Governor Shapiro's house being set on fire while his family slept upstairs; two young Pro-Israeli people being murdered on the street by a "socialist"; and a group of Jewish people protesting on behalf of Israeli hostages being firebombed. Yes, I know there are antisemites on the Right as well, but they have not been excused and romanticized by the media in the same way the Far Left has been. "They just care about Gaza" my ass.
The Left has also OPENLY celebrated the murder of a Drug company representative and are fangirling for his killer, Luigi Mangione. How does this celebration of murder not increase political violence?
Please try writing this (without being "cancelled"): Trump is not a deranged Nazi or an authoritarian; we are not "losing" our democracy just because the Democrats didn't win; Israel is not committing genocide, and is in fact, trying to save themselves from one; Trump voters are not racist bigots who want to bring back slavery and turn all women into Handmaids - they are mainly working class people who feel betrayed by the Democratic party - because they HAVE been betrayed - both culturally and economically.
Can you write any of the above, Amanda? Because that would truly be an act of courageously supporting your words with actions.
Blue loon pointed at the Right as a cause and now you are pointing at the Left. That doesn’t lower the temperature. Instead, we need to focus on what we, as individuals, have in common. https://open.substack.com/pub/theliberalpatriot/p/how-everyday-americans-can-help-create?r=rdzzs&utm_medium=ios
AMEN! The need to continue getting invites to the right cocktail parties must be strong as almost all the articles talking about turning down the temperature so often have to include a dig at Trump, when the truth is he is a result of 20 years of political speech- remember Biden saying that Romney “would put you back in chains”?
There is something that the President can do about this that would cost him nothing and be all upside. "My Gift To Trump": https://tinyurl.com/mut4ujzr