Those bloody, dastardly Republicans. When they are not out silently praying in front of abortion clinics or blocking Transwomen from Girls’ Restrooms, they are convincing themselves that the United States was meant to be a Christian Nation. That is the subject of Salon’s Amanda Marcotte’s latest salvo against her biggest hobgoblin: Christian Republicans. Christian Republicans and President Donald Trump. Poor Amanda. Does she read her own articles? Or, as our Lisa calls them “her insane rants”. Let’s dive into this latest insane rant, shall we?
Early this morning, Salon posted Miss Marcotte’s “How Republicans convinced themselves America was meant to be a “Christian nation””.
Since Amanda is totally self-absorbed, she lets us know from jump how Christians ruined her life. The opening paragraphs:
As a progressive black sheep who has drifted politically from my lily-white Republican family, I have ample opportunity to witness the damage that the MAGA movement has been doing to people I once considered reasonable-if-conservative. Most of it sadly predictable: People who denounced Bill Clinton’s gross-but-consensual affair now make excuses for Donald Trump’s sexual assaults. There’s the willing participation in conspiracy theories they know full well are nonsense. And, of course, when utterly unable to make any sense of their own political “beliefs,” the fallback of dumb “let’s go Brandon”-type jokes.
What has genuinely surprised me, however, is the way a bunch of folks who were previously not very religious have become all about Jesus. Maybe not enough to go to church, mind you, but enough to start littering their social media posts and other communications with Bible verses and the sentimental religious imagery. Not too long ago, many of these folks used to mock the showy piety of the fundamentalist neighbors. I fully blame the MAGA movement, of course.
Amanda is her own category of oppression – She was born into a “lily-white Republican family”. I would weep for her. But I don’t look down on my people. My family and friends are mine. Even if they vote for Marxist Commies, bless their hearts. Those who are Christian keep their own council. Marcotte is limited in her circle. I have Commie friends who post Bible verses to support their positions on Social Media. Maybe MAGA is responsible for that. Maybe those who used to “mock the showy piety of” their fundamentalist neighbors have been convicted and are now believers. Amanda is intellectually incurious.
Now, a few words about this next bit. Miss Marcotte relies on a polling firm, the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) for this date. While the PRRI asserts they are non-partisan, a look at their funders (The Atlantic, The Roper Center (Cornell), The Brookings Institute) shows a different story:
In 2010, the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) polled Republicans about their views on conservative Christianity and the Tea Party movement, which we now can see was a precursor to MAGA. Back then, only 31% of Republican or Republican-leaning voters identified with conservative Christianity. Fast-forward 13 years and the landscape has dramatically shifted. PRRI polling shows that a majority of Republican voters don’t just align themselves with conservative Christianity, but with Christian nationalism. Fifty-four percent of Republicans mostly or completely agree with sentiments such as “Being Christian is an important part of being truly American” and “God has called Christians to exercise dominion over all areas of American society.”
Amanda is naive and/or has never worked in market research if she doesn’t understand how polls and answers get skewed.
But Amanda believe the polling:
These numbers likely are not the result of millions of Americans suddenly finding Jesus, but about the way that Trump and the MAGA movement have cemented the GOP as an ethno-nationalist party, instead of merely a conservative party. Which is to say, now that they’re a tribe they need ways to define their tribal identity. Religion offers one aspect of that identity. (Whiteness, too, though most will rarely, if ever, so say out loud.) This is why polls show over 40% of self-described “evangelicals” don’t even go to church. “Christian” has morphed from a faith tradition to a marker of ethnic/political identity.
Not only have a lot more people found their faith, but many more are no longer hiding their light under a bushel. Tribal, no. Whiteness, no. Contrary to what Amanda thinks, we want people of all faiths and races. As Trump said:
After three years of Biden, the Black community understands even more. The Hispanic and Asian Communities have gotten it also. MAGA types don’t want a Christo-fascist nation. We want a nation based on the Constitution. And, based on Judeo Christian precepts. Which brings Marcotte to some of HER troublesome MAGE henchmen: David Barton and Nick Fuentes. Those men are running laps in Amanda’s head. ONLY. Just because they get ink, clicks or airtime doesn’t mean the “listless vessels are listening or reading.
And finally, Amanda excuses are ignorance with her own absolution for us:
As I wrote about yesterday, there is simply no way to square the Christian nationalist ideology with traditional American values like equality, free speech, and freedom of religion. It is, of course, perfectly fine for people to be Christians, just as it’s fine if people identify as Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Wiccan or a worshipper of Odin. But what these trends suggest is that, for Republican voters, the idea has taken root that being a “real” American requires calling yourself a Christian. But, as the Fuentes example shows, that necessarily means marginalizing non-Christians, who are now over a third of Americans.
Thank you, oh gracious Marcotte the Wise. Being a real American only requires faith and adherence to our Constitution. Miss Marcotte is a myopic egomaniac.
Why to read this short article past headlines: I bring in polling data, deep knowledge of GOP propaganda and an understanding of how Trump fits into this.
It is a story of how the Christian successfully exploited Trump’s fascist tendencies.
— Amanda Marcotte (@AmandaMarcotte) December 13, 2023
Finally, Miss Marcotte doubts that Donald Trump is a Christian. As a Christian, I don’t care. Trump believes in and follows the Constitution. Abraham Lincoln was not a professed Christian either. Amanda Marcotte is an egoist who cannot see past her own resentments and prejudices. Pity really.
Featured Image: Kaitlyn Hensler/flickr.com/cropped/Creative Commons
Cameron says: There are days I wish she was as oppressed as her fantasies suggest.
A reader says: Short answer: it wasn’t.
Longer answer: many of our Founding Fathers had varying views of religion. Some were devout, mostly Protestants. Some were Deists. And some didn’t have any religious beliefs to speak of at all. They had the opportunity to make the US A “Christian” nation much in the same vein as England with the Church of England, but they chose not.m to. As I understand it, the main reason was due to all the variations of religion already present within the US. Remember: the Pilgrims fled because they weren’t allowed to worship as they wanted. Same with the Anabaptists. And the Mennonites. And the Quakers. I could go on but you hopefully get the idea. (I learned all this in my public school, FYI!)
So exactly what kind of “Christian” are we talking about here? There are many Protestants who don’t consider Catholics Christian. And some denominations literally believe that if you don’t believe as they do, you’re not truly saved. *cough* Southern Baptists *cough* So who gets to decide what kind of “Christian” nation we are?
This also forgets about the myriad of other beliefs that were present at our founding and/or are present today. What about Jews? Or Muslims? Or Hindus? Or Buddhists? Or Mormons? Etc, etc. Do they not get to be considered American if they are not the exact right kind of Christian? And who gets to make the laws in a specifically Christian nation? Are people punished if they don’t believe a certain way?
I could go on. But the fact that our Founding Fathers didn’t create a state church and an official religion speaks volumes. They had seen what had happened throughout history when people wielded religion in dangerous and destructive ways and they wanted no part in it. Oh the shocker: learning from actual history, even if it doesn’t confirm your beliefs!
So we are not a Christian nation. We may be a country founded on some Christian principles and ideas, but many of those are also shared by other religions. I personally am glad we’re not a Christian nation, because again, what kind of Christian? And I want zero part in the radical, dominionist, hypocritical, hateful beliefs touted by some of my supposed fellow believers. I have zero doubt Jesus would have some words for them, starting with maybe not being a racist, lying, cheating, boastful, bullying, mean person like Trump. If you truly believe he’s a Christian and that he believes in everything Jesus taught… well, bless your (supposedly) Christian heart.
Darleen Click says: Our founders did not create a federal/nation state church, but they allowed the states to exercise religious prerogatives AND not one founder believed that religion was unimportant. As John Adams said “Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
Cluebat: Adams wasn’t talking about paganism, Islam or Hindus.
This is because they truly believed that only people who had internalized Judeo-Christian (IOW Biblical) values and principles of self-restraint, responsibility and accountability could be counted on to behave according to those values with minimal government interference. Individual responsibility/accountability with the concurrent duty to others as moral equals regardless of their societal status is pretty much uniquely Jewish/Christian. If you understood how revolutionary Judaism was in the ancient world this wouldn’t be a surprise.
Or maybe you know that but are so infused with TDS you can’t get past it.
Pity.
This is not the first time the lovely Miss Marcotte has trashed her own family, having previously told us that she and Marc Faletti, her POSSLQ, don’t feel like visiting her family in the Lone Star State, because they’re all a bunch of MAGAts.
If you look at her Salon article list, the vast majority of the articles are about the evil Donald Trump, even though he’s been out of office for almost three years. Like so many on the left, she is convinced that if he is elected again in 2024, he will establish a fascist, authoritarian dictatorship, despite the rather obvious fact he didn’t do that during his first term.
However much it is being said that Republicans are becoming more religious, actual attendance at church seems to be falling, not rising. 🙁
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