America’s White Male Republican Evangelical Magical “Thinking” Racist Problem Is ALL of Our Problem

[farminator3000]

Last edited Wed Jan 9, 2013, 10:40 AM - Edit history (1)

edit#1: Duh! forgot link-
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/frankschaeffer/2013/01/americas-white-male-republican-evangelical-magical-thinking-racist-problem-is-all-of-our-problem/

here is an opinion, in which an ex-Republi-drone DESTROYS his ilk.

the site is "patheos, hosting the conversation on faith", but give the guy a chance, he's RIGHT ON!!

The American political process is being hijacked by a reckless, whining dangerous gang of psychologically damaged white men who are far right ideologues. I used to be one of them. It’s time to tell the truth about our white male problem.

-skip-

It’s not considered polite to mention race anymore. But I’m going to mention it anyway. We have a white problem.

I’m a 60-year-old white male father and grandfather. I’m the father of a son who served in the Marines. I own a gun. I have handwritten notes from George Bush Sr, Jr, Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford both to me and my late evangelical leader father Francis Schaeffer expressing gratitude for our contributions to the “fight” for traditional values and the Republican “cause.” Been there, done that!

I spent my youth not only as part of the Republican Party but helping to organize the culture wars that have come near to destroying our country. I changed my views as I describe in my book Crazy For God. I have worked with the very kind people who are now the hard-core Republican right. I may not be one of “them” any longer but I bring an insider’s knowledge to the table.

-skip-

The fear is of a world in which white (mostly) evangelical Republicans lose power… forever. The country has moved on but the safe Republican gerrymandered districts have not. These folks are literally living in a fools paradise whose time has come and gone.

***

i'm not exactly a 'christian', but this dude is kickin' some BUTT!
edit #2: ( i am a Quaker, actually. militant rastafarian quaker. so watch out!)


and some comments are kinda funny-

Lock Ledger says:
January 3, 2013 at 11:12 pm

Frank, you sound nuts.


threeten2yuma says:
January 3, 2013 at 9:48 am

Frank, Frank, Frank . . .

This is one of the most asinine things you’ve ever written . . . but thank you for sharing with us.

[niyad]

1. could you provide the link to that article?

[farminator3000]

3. done!

whoops! enjoy...

[NYC_SKP]

2. Hmmmm. OK, here's a link:

.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/frankschaeffer/2013/01/americas-white-male-republican-evangelical-magical-thinking-racist-problem-is-all-of-our-problem/

I suppose it could be said of any demographic that there's a fear of losing power.

No reason white male republicans should be an exception.

...

[WhoIsNumberNone]

4. Frank Schaeffer's been around for quite some time

He's done guest shots on Mike Papantonio and Thom Hartmann, he's written books, he even did an interview with one of my business associates once. He knows what he's talking about because he speaks from experience.

[brewens]

5. I may have seen that guy on Booknotes on C-Span2. I know I've seen his book discussed

somewhere anyway.

These "angry white male" types have it all backward. Trying desperately to enforce and cling to their rule only makes what they fear more likely. Rush Limbaugh went off on some point about blacks expecting a whole lotta payback when Obama was elected. That's exactly what these guys want to hear.

Had these kind of white males gotten over the racist crap and been willing to give everyone a fair deal by now, they wouldn't have anything to fear.

[Romulox]

6. Is there ANY evidence that any of this claptrap applies to 18 y.o. Adam Lanza?

You know, the son of the investment banker?

[farminator3000]

10. he could've easily grown up to be the next Santorum!

if he hadn't had a complete psychotic breakdown.

or Liebermann!

[Romulox]

11. Right. But what about the crap about him "feeling his power slipping away"? Doesn't apply.

Not even a little. Most of these mass shooters are well off and coddled, in fact.

[farminator3000]

12. i think it applies somewhat, even though he says he's talking about, basically, the House

the congressmen are coddled, for one thing. also-

he says in ¶ 3 that he doesn't mean young white males like lanza,

I’m not talking about the white young male mass murderers we’re afflicted with carrying assault rifles courtesy of the NRA. I’m talking about the white far right males who hijacked the 112th Congress and are set to destroy the 113th.

BUT i'd say this part below kind of applies to lanza (potential psychiatric hospital) , or holmes (kicked out of school), or columbine, and probably the majority of cases- check out this story-
http://www.democraticunderground.com/101651889

or the Bath school massacre (with dynamite) from way back- they're all people like this- (just skip the 'white' and 'guns' parts)

from OP-
Simple palpable hatred drives these people to willful ignorance. The white males insisting on carrying guns (in a country where violent crime is way down!) are scared, not of muggers but of the fact that their imaginary reality is coming unstuck.

the guy in Detroit gets screwed by an insurance co., the guy in Bath is losing his farm...

[SpartanDem]

7. Umm...why are only white male eveganicals a problem?

Last edited Wed Jan 9, 2013, 11:37 AM - Edit history (2)

I'd say regardless of sex white evangelicals are a problem as plenty of women are their enablers. This is a group of people that have consistently been on the wrong side of history and this is particularly true for its adherents in the South. Let's not forget the largest Protestant denomination in the country the Southern Baptist was founded in opposition to slavery and severely opposed the civil rights movement.

I recently finished reading Sword of Lord which is a history of fundamentalism in America by Andrew Himes whose grandfather was a prominent fundamentalist preacher John R Rice a contemporary of the likes of Bob Jones. While not all evangelicals are fundamentalist their histories are tied closely-Himes defines fundamentalist as "evangelicals who are angry about something". He devotes a lot time discussing the history of races issues in the book. He recounts personal stories of racism while growing up, like seeing people walk out of a church rather have services with a black person. Reading the hate that some these people preached and not just from thier pulpit, but over the airwaves you can not, but see how little these people have changed. The racism is only more thinly veiled today and of course for gays there is no veil on the hatred

http://www.amazon.com/Sword-Lord-Fundamentalism-American-Family/dp/1453843752

[farminator3000]

9. you are right on that one!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022147702

like her?

my wife's dad has that book, i've been eyeing it.

if you want another perspective on that mindset try this:
The Complete Stories is a collection of short stories by Flannery O'Connor. It was published in 1971 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. It comprises all the stories in A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Everything That Rises Must Converge plus several previously unavailable stories.

Complete Stories won the 1972 U.S. National Book Award for Fiction.[1] Internet visitors named it the "Best of the National Book Awards"[2] as part of the Fiction Award's 60th anniversary celebration in 2009, voting on a ballot of the best six award winners selected by writers associated with the Foundation.[3]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Complete_Stories_%28O%27Connor%29

i've never read anything that exposes 'fundamentalists' with such uncompromising power, grace, and lack of pity!

[hfojvt]

8. "it's not considered polite to mention race any more"

that may be true in some circles, but in the liberal blogosphere it is one of the surest ways to get on the greatest page.

We like to mention race all the frigging time. When the rain falls, we mention race. When there is a dought we mention race. When the wind blows we mention race. When the sun sets, we mention race. Whenever anything bad happens, it must be racism.

Okay, sometimes it is sexism too, but Frank played that card as well. Sometimes homophobia too, but thank goodness most of the most public homophobes are white males.