Why trump's core don't turn against him. (Frank Schaeffer)

[magicguido]

Last edited Sat Dec 19, 2020, 02:01 PM - Edit history (1)

Skip to 4:43

[Mme. Defarge]

1. This is important.

Back in the late ‘80’s or early’90’s I went to a lecture given by a nationally known Episcopal priest and author, whose name I’ve forgotten, who spoke on the worldwide phenomenon of the rise of fundamentalism of many kinds and the dangers it posed. And here we are.

[RVN VET71]

7. Made me think of Bishop Pike who died 1969

He was an iconic figure of the time. May have been excommunicated because his beliefs were really more 21st than 20th century. I admired his courage and intellectual curiosity.

Fundamentalism -- my view -- gives the simple minded the easiest vision of life and reality imaginable. It's all in The Book, after all. So there's no need to fret and worry and, God help you, think about things. If the fundies can swallow the story of Trump being God's "Chosen One," they'll swallow anything. Their minds are lost to reality and only a few will ever come back from the fundy delusion.

[Duppers]

15. Yes 👍

Your 2nd paragraph described my late mother perfectly. She was as programmed as they come...and a "Simple Simon" who voted for Republicans all her life.

[Cracklin Charlie]

2. Been wondering about Frank.

Can’t watch right now, but is he wearing a bathrobe?

[Kitchari]

3. Yes, he explains that he makes art in the early morning

And is still in his bathrobe. Visually not great, don't know why he didn't clean up before recording. Apparently he was inspired--it seems to be unscripted and spontaneous

[Cracklin Charlie]

9. Hes a bit of a horse of a different color.

And that’s okay.

[Kitchari]

11. I like him, too

an important message

[thucythucy]

4. One concrete step we can take, in light of this,

is to cut off or substantially limit the government funding that goes to the leaders of these sects.

I remember how, after eight years of Clinton, and with the prospect of four years under Gore, evangelical mega ministers were concerned because Clinton had substantially limited all the "faith based initiative" programs started and funded by Reagan/Bush. These were often little more than ways to funnel tax dollars into mega churches in the guise of providing social services.

These programs have been hugely augmented by Trump. Since the kGOP has now become a haven for "deficit hawks" we can closely examine these programs and in many cases cut them off entirely.

This also means building a government funded social infrastructure to replace the right wing evangelical shell game. One reason evangelical leaders oppose any sort of government social services is that they threaten their own control of their congregations. I've often heard it said, especially in the deep south, that if there's a chance you might fall or remain in poverty the best thing to do is to join a church. The churches provide transportation, food security, sometimes even medical services, as long as the recipients support their right wing agenda.

A crackdown on the use of religious exemptions that fund political activity would also be a step in the right (that is correct) direction.

All this would have to be nuanced enough to not abuse legitimate First Amendment protections. But then we also need to get back to a clearer understanding that a main purpose of the First Amendment was to prevent the establishment of any religious doctrine by the state. Federally funded "faith based initiatives"--whether of the right or the left--often directly contradict that basic constitutional imperative.

[Kitchari]

5. At about the 5-minute mark he gets to the essential message

Evangelicals are raised to be delusional and to only believe the Bible, and they want America to be a theocracy. There is no talking them out of it, and sane people need to vote them out of power.

[enough]

6. Right on. Worth watching the whole thing. NT

[Old Crow]

8. Finally starts to address the topic at the 4:43 mark.

A lot of preliminary rambling for five minutes prior.

[mdbl]

10. He makes any effort to deal with evangelicals sound futile

they are delusional and led by leaders that take advantage of them, using faith to make money. They should all be taxed.

[cp]

12. Yes

Thank you

[Warpy]

13. It largely is. He calls them "certainty addicts," which is very close to the truth

Most are rigid personalities that absolutely can't cope with a rapidly changing world, which is why they like to move to largely closed communities in the middle of nowhere in Idaho, Montana, Arizona, and a few other states. where they live apart and raise large batches of children in ignorance.

People like these have been with us since this country was founded and they generally haven't been a huge problem. They became one when Reagan politicized them. They have always been largely unreachable.

The only hope I see out there is that gawd speaking through televangelists assure them that Dumdum would be reelected and that heaven in their image would be created on earth and that most are feeling incredibly betrayed right now. They don't quite know who betrayed them, that blond lady on TV promised them victory victory victory and angels from Africa, where are they? I'm hoping to see a retreat from politics since that blond lady had to be talking about victory over sin, right?

I imagine a few will act out violently, as they already are. Fewer still will snap out of it. Most will go on, cognitive dissonance making them deny they were ever really that wigged out in the first place, how could anybody think gawd's will would be achieved by a bunch of grubby politicians, how silly!

I agree that religion that has turned into corporate empire needs to be taxed. Heavily.

[pbmus]

14. Religiosity....