The Growing Threat of Homegrown Religious Extremism
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The Growing Threat of Homegrown Religious Extremism
THE SUSPECT IN THE MINNESOTA MURDERS, Vance Luther Boelter, has been charged, for now, with second degree murder. He allegedly killed two people, Melissa a…
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"Sure, centuries ago, Christians had committed atrocities in the Crusades and during the Inquisition”
Actually the far greater atrocities were committed by Christians in the New World. Columbus got his final financial boost from Isabella of Spain upon the promise that he would convert all he found to Christianity. When he landed (most likely on San Salvador) in October of 1492 he brought about the largest and most consequential family reunion in human history, The result was utterly catastrophic for the Native American populations in South, Central, and North America, and much of that devastation was done in the name of converting the heathen in the process of taking their land and the natural resources therein.
Indeed, ever since ’the kingship descended from Heaven' in ancient Sumer, power hungry men and some women have used religion as a controlling mechanism. After all, one can oppose a king, but not a god. There have always been very good political reasons for the Divine Right of Kings.
When I was a ElHi student at a predominantly protestant independent school outside Philadelphia, one of the hymn we regularly sung during morning chapel was “Onward Christian Soldiers’ One of the following lines was ‘marching as to war”. I didn’t think much about it then, but much of the history of organized Christianity has been a form of conquest, even against each other as during the wars of the Reformation.
So I would be cautious about supposing that homegrown religion fanaticism is something new here. It has just been a bit underground.
I thought I would share a selection concerning Trump and religion from a 2017 Substack post. I would love to get feedback on this and all my posts.
https://charles72f.substack.com/p/the-tribe-has-spoken
Religion. Back in the early 1980’s, evangelicals were riding high. Held in thrall by a coterie of coiffed, tanned, pompous prophets like Jerry Falwell, Jimmy Swaggart and the divine duo Jim and Tammy Fae Bakker, evangelicals were convinced that God had chosen them to lead our country out of its sinful malaise. And it certainly seemed that way. Blessed by the almighty, their farming and energy-based communities were thriving (remember “let a Yankee freeze in the dark?”), while the debauched cities on both coasts were miasmas of crime, drugs, corruption and godlessness. The Moral Majority had been a driving force behind the election of Ronald Reagan, who, if not religious himself, at least had a wife with faith in astrology. Best of all, a cruel and mysterious plague was decimating the ranks of homosexuals.
But things did not turn out as prophesied for evangelicals. Over the past four decades the carnal coastal cities have prospered to a degree that can only be described as miraculous while the oil and ag economies are struggling. A black man was elected president TWICE. The opioid plague is mostly ravaging non-urban communities. And gays can now get married! We all know that the hand of God works in mysterious ways, but this is ridiculous.
So should it really be so surprising that evangelicals swooned when a coiffed, tanned (well, oranged) blowhard emerged from the hell of New York City like the beast from Revelations, promising to Make America Great Again? Oh, Rapture! Finally, a true prophet! Sure Falwell, Swaggart, and Baker were frauds, but this guy’s the real deal! He says what’s on his mind! He’ll drain the swamp! He’ll build a wall! Jesus may have abandoned us, but Trump will put us back on top!
When Trump fizzles out, evangelicals will probably just find a new prophet. Or, here’s a thought; they might consider doing something completely different and become Christians..