Christian Nationalists have been chipping away at secular freedoms for decades. They are laser focused on their goals. They are willing to ally with whoever is willing to push their theocratic agenda. Corporations are willing to ally with whatever gets them their profits. They are serving their oligarch owners. MAGA Republicans are willing to ally with whoever lets them hold onto power. Pushing down women and minorities has strengthened their hold on the worst of their party.
Trump somehow embodies the values of these seemingly disparate groups. Greed, lust, hate, ignorance, misogyny, control, abuse, he's got it all.
These forces coming together are an absolute nightmare to the average secular American citizen who just wanted to live life undisturbed. Hopefully enough people are paying attention and will keep our governance from driving off a cliff.
Christian Nationalists have been chipping away at secular freedoms for decades.
Ball really got rolling in the early 80s with Jerry Falwell and the "Moral Majority". Christian right married itself to Reagan and the GOP and have been a constant driving force since then... this is my understanding at least.
Once churches starting using technology to cast a wider net for profits, they started attracting even more corruption. Grifters are definitely going to flock to "easy" money.
Theocrats are having a pretty good run with censorship. The 1980-90s "parental warning label" on music albums were spurred on by "improper" language/ideas. Rap music spurred a lot of panic around this time. Some stores refused to carry product that had the labels. In the 2000s, public radio/TV profanity regulations were easier to push due to the Jackson/Timberlake "wardrobe malfunction" as well as the Howard Stern radio show (among other factors).
I don't necessarily disagree with some regulations for public use broadcasting, but it can be a slippery slope. As we are seeing now with public funded libraries.
Besides censorship, I think a lot of the most twisted use of religion stems from "prosperity gospel". Enforcing the idea that wealthy people have been "chosen by God" for success is wrong on so many levels. Treating poverty as a moral failing often leads to dehumanizing people.
Religion is like alcohol. Partake in it every once in a while is fine and can even be used to develop healthy, long lasting relationships and communities. But once you start using it every single day, or all day every day, it begins to have serious negative impacts on your judgement.
Internalized misogyny is a thing, though. There are unfortunately plenty of women who do think that men are inherently better and that they, the women, don't deserve rights. Because that's what they've been taught all their lives.
It took me years to realize this! Many people want to be racist and say mean things, but they can't when our leaders say it's wrong. But if our leaders are saying these things, they feel more comfortable saying them too. Trump in power (or even just in the spotlight) makes their behavior seem ok in their eyes.
Nah it's multiple factors. A large portion of the country only watches fox "news" and they've been lying and omitting details for stories to paint a certain picture for decades. That large portion of Americans have a warped view on what is actually happening in this country.
Decades of unchecked brainwashing dumb Americans funded by evil billionaires have caused this.
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u/Fabulous-Mud-9114 6d ago
Simple: Racism.