Is Douchelini in Jail Yet??

[Casey Pelous]

Sensitive Snowflake Triggered!

It would be a shame if that portrait just kept getting posted and re-posted all over the internet. Yep. A real shame.

 

[Free]

It would be a shame if that portrait just kept getting posted and re-posted all over the internet. Yep. A real shame.

Let's Streisand effect the shit out of this.

 

[Argent Stonecutter]

Jeeze, he doesn't actually look that good.

 

[Free]

 

[Free]

My fave so far.

 

[Soen Eber]

Why Do So Many Christians Adore Trump So Much? A Psychiatrist's View PART ONE

TL;DR: Children raised in authoritarian households do authoritarian.

The guy's a pretty thoughtful speaker and his vids are short, with a lot of education to back it up. Part 2 is coming up within a week.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Why Do So Many Christians Adore Trump So Much? A Psychiatrist's View PART ONE

TL;DR: Children raised in authoritarian households do authoritarian.

The guy's a pretty thoughtful speaker and his vids are short, with a lot of education to back it up. Part 2 is coming up within a week.

I wonder how he explains the difference in support for Trump between Black and White Christians:

https://www.axios.com/2024/10/28/god-gap-church-religion-race-harris-trump

 

[Beebo Brink]

I wonder how he explains the difference in support for Trump between Black and White Christians:

The role conservative religion plays in black and white cultures is very different. For whites it was often authoritarian and repressive; at the very least it was a means of enforcing conformity. For blacks, however, it was a safe haven from racism, a place where black people derived a pride of place that was denied them in white society. It was also at the forefront of the civil rights movement. You could organize there under the cover of church activities.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

The role conservative religion plays in black and white cultures is very different. For whites it was often authoritarian and repressive; at the very least it was a means of enforcing conformity. For blacks, however, it was a safe haven from racism, a place where black people derived a pride of place that was denied them in white society. It was also at the forefront of the civil rights movement. You could organize there under the cover of church activities.

The video, though, concentrates on how evangelical Christianity encourages authoritarian parenting styles, with an emphasis on rigid rules and little room for questioning parental authority or the church's dogma Is this unique to white evangelical churches?

After watching the video, I was left wondering if there wasn't a much simpler explanation -- for a variety of reasons, Trump has a particular appeal for the kind of people who are also likely to be white evangelicals, with one of those main reasons being his racism. White evangelical church leaders are also likely to find his transactional grifting approach to things mutually advantageous.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

When I was in Arkansas I worked on a number of progams around the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s around the 40th anniversary of events, including interviews in Arkansas and Mississippi.

Churches were heavily involved on both sides. White evangelical churches were recruiting grounds for the Klan, with a number of clergy serving as organizers for local chapters.

Black churches served as locations for Freedom schools and as bases of operations for coordinated sit-ins and marches.

Going further back to the first post-Civil War churches founded by freed slaves, churches in black communities served as a network to resist oppression. White churches in the South served as devenders of slavery and then as centers of oppression.

So I am entirely unsurprised at the differences in support for MAGA by black and white churches. Same as it was with Jim Crow, voting rights, and desegregation.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

When I was in Arkansas I worked on a number of progams around the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s around the 40th anniversary of events, including interviews in Arkansas and Mississippi.

Churches were heavily involved on both sides. White evangelical churches were recruiting grounds for the Klan, with a number of clergy serving as organizers for local chapters.

Black churches served as locations for Freedom schools and as bases of operations for coordinated sit-ins and marches.

Going further back to the first post-Civil War churches founded by freed slaves, churches in black communities served as a network to resist oppression. White churches in the South served as devenders of slavery and then as centers of oppression.

So I am entirely unsurprised at the differences in support for MAGA by black and white churches. Same as it was with Jim Crow, voting rights, and desegregation.

My hypothesis is that the political affiliations of members of different churches probably follow from the type of person who is likely to be a member of that particular church rather than from the doctrines and practices encouraged a particular church.

That is, members of white Evangelical churches who are Trump supporters support Trump for the same reasons they're members of white Evangelical churches, not because they're members of that church.

Similarly, members of Islamic fundamentalist congregations are highly unlikely to be Trump supporters, no matter how much the authoritarian doctrines and parenting practices of those congregations may resemble those of white Evangelical groups.

 

[Beebo Brink]

My hypothesis is that the political affiliations of members of different churches probably follow from the type of person who is likely to be a member of that particular church rather than from the doctrines and practices encouraged a particular church.

That theory probably makes more sense to people in Britain and Europe, where religion is quite frankly not as pervasive anymore. And very recently, that is probably applicable to people and churches in urban areas.

It is not nearly as nuanced, however, when it comes to understanding rural/small town America, especially in the South. White evangelicals are inextricably linked to white racism, which is why there is white Baptist branch and a black Baptist branch. And within the small white communities, church membership was central to prospering; there was no room for atheism, regardless of whether or not you believed in god. So it becomes chicken and egg: if you are raised as a white racist in a white racist church, you stay in that church. Breaking away means the loss of family, friends and community.

 

[Beebo Brink]

The video, though, concentrates on how evangelical Christianity encourages authoritarian parenting styles, with an emphasis on rigid rules and little room for questioning parental authority or the church's dogma Is this unique to white evangelical churches?

Ooops, forgot to address this question. It's not necessarily unique to the white evangelical churches, but it is significantly more predominant and institutionalized than in other Protestant sects. I can't speak to Methodist, Lutheran denominations, but it is not a part of Episcopalian or Unitarian church culture.

 

[Noodles]

The role conservative religion plays in black and white cultures is very different. For whites it was often authoritarian and repressive; at the very least it was a means of enforcing conformity. For blacks, however, it was a safe haven from racism, a place where black people derived a pride of place that was denied them in white society. It was also at the forefront of the civil rights movement. You could organize there under the cover of church activities.

Basically, black groups recognize that Church is more about community and caring and helping. Not "Live in fear of God constantly, please rapture me Sky Daddy" like white folks.

 

[Noodles]

The video, though, concentrates on how evangelical Christianity encourages authoritarian parenting styles, with an emphasis on rigid rules and little room for questioning parental authority or the church's dogma Is this unique to white evangelical churches?

I think it kind of just echos back a bit to Beebo's comment about Fear Authority vs Communal Membership being the motivation.

The authoritarian parenting for White Christians will be way more fear centric. Do this because I am your parent and God says you must respect the authority blah blah blah.

But the Black Christian, may still have some authoritarian style parenting, but its more, "that's stupid and rude and you should not do that in that way." Sort of, don't be a fool because it harms others.

Like, it's still kind of the same general idea of "Fear the Authority", but for white Christians, the Authority is a sort of "chain of command" that includes the parents. For black Christians, the authority is God and the community.

I don't know if that makes sense.

 

[CronoCloud Creeggan]

Ooops, forgot to address this question. It's not necessarily unique to the white evangelical churches, but it is significantly more predominant and institutionalized than in other Protestant sects. I can't speak to Methodist, Lutheran denominations, but it is not a part of Episcopalian or Unitarian church culture.

I can speak for Presbyterians, at least midwestern mainline Presbyterians. It is not part of Presbyterian church culture either.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

My hypothesis is that the political affiliations of members of different churches probably follow from the type of person who is likely to be a member of that particular church rather than from the doctrines and practices encouraged a particular church.

That is, members of white Evangelical churches who are Trump supporters support Trump for the same reasons they're members of white Evangelical churches, not because they're members of that church.

Similarly, members of Islamic fundamentalist congregations are highly unlikely to be Trump supporters, no matter how much the authoritarian doctrines and parenting practices of those congregations may resemble those of white Evangelical groups.

Yes, very much. The churches were centers of respective communities to organize. I would not say that they caused members to have a particular ideology, but that they were one part of a larger social structure that served to organize and legitimize the ideology of their members.

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

Ooops, forgot to address this question. It's not necessarily unique to the white evangelical churches, but it is significantly more predominant and institutionalized than in other Protestant sects. I can't speak to Methodist, Lutheran denominations, but it is not a part of Episcopalian or Unitarian church culture.

Speaking for Lutherans, at least the ELCA and LCMS... I was raised Missouri Synod (LCMS). It was, to me, very authoritarian, with an emphasis on fearing God and obeying the Church and parents without question. I had since moved to the ELCA, which I found to be a lot less so, aligning pretty well with the Episcopal Church.

 

[Jopsy Pendragon]

Catching up here, just helped me fit another puzzle piece into this whole 'humanity' mess.

Churches act as 'friend or foe' identification systems. For the empowered, it demonizes the 'others' that don't willingly and gratefully take a lesser position in service of their 'hegemony'. For the disenfranchised, it demonizes the more powerful, and provides a union for -some- modicum of protection against them.

In either case there's the carrot and stick. "Please god and he'll protect you from THE OTHER, displease him and you'll be abandoned to fend for yourself against them". What differs seems to be the degree that they do it. The more real the threat from 'the other' the more they focus on 'pleasing god'. The less of a threat 'the others' are, the more the church focuses on fearing the wrath of god or fear of Satan.

So regardless of the words (God is Love Eternal!), no matter which side you're on, the Judeo-Christian-Islamic mess seems to be codified around grooming and controlling membership by indoctrinating them with paranoia and the threat of conditional love from their community being denied them. All so they're too busy scapegoating others and blaming themselves to ask whether their leadership is really concerned about their own wellbeing, or just their own.

 

[Essence Lumin]

Ooops, forgot to address this question. It's not necessarily unique to the white evangelical churches, but it is significantly more predominant and institutionalized than in other Protestant sects. I can't speak to Methodist, Lutheran denominations, but it is not a part of Episcopalian or Unitarian church culture.

The Unitarian church that I grew up with has these principles and follows them to the best of its abilities. They also embrace many world views as long they are in line with their beliefs below.

1. The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
2. Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
3. Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
4. A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
5. The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
6. The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
7. Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

Learn more about Unitarian Universalists from a variety of beliefs and backgrounds: Atheist/Agnostic, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Humanist, Jewish, Muslim, Pagan, and more.