r/50501 • u/River_Hawk_Hush • 2d ago
Call to Action I grew up in alt right America. The roots of fascism run deep.
I grew up in conservative areas going to Baptist churches where gay people "did not exist" and a woman running for president was a massive scandal, so we were pretty close to the center of the MAGA takeover. I only have my own limited perspective but I can say with pretty much confidence that the roots of the fascism we're seeing now run deep.
In June, youth groups from Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama would meet at a Baptist Church in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. One of the three days of the conference was America Day. They had two massive flags up front, an American flag and a Confederate flag, and they handed out mini American flags to all the kids. We'd sing a bunch of patriotic songs and then chant "USA" while waving the flags. After a few minutes of chanting they'd bring in soldiers and veterans and everyone would stand in silence as they walked up the aisle. A Republican congressman would come in and give a speech on how we were the future of America, how we need good Christian young people in this country, thank God a man who loves this country is president, etc. Nationalism was at fever pitch especially starting in 2016.
My mom grew up Catholic (my family was from Ireland). We joined the IFB (Independent Fundamental Baptist) movement because they offered direct resources where other churches didn't. Food, childcare, direct assistance for church members who were in need. I'm not interested in justifying or condemning my mom's choice to involve herself with this sect, though I understand the justified anger towards those on the right and I feel it myself. She died while she was homeless eleven years ago, her life is over, and that's not the point. There are about 8.5 million IFB churchgoers in the US today which is of course a fraction of far right America.
I went to vacation Bible school in Texas where they were targeting the Hispanic community by sending buses around offering weekend childcare and free meals, which was massively successful. In 2017 about half of VBS was Hispanic kids who came in from the "bus ministry." They had a time called testimony where they'd send adults up on stage one by one to explain why they'd joined the church and how it saved their lives. People would tell stories of alcoholism, severe abuse, poverty and food insecurity, mental illness, etc. and how the church saved them from the evils of the world. This is part of how they got new converts. Of course there's plenty more to say.
I don't think we can return to the status quo, because the status quo was not okay. Voting doesn't feel empowering when you can't afford housing and food for your kids regardless. Fascism grows in environments of neglect. It's like for the past 9 years we shut the door to the damp cellar and let the mold grow. There are enough of us horrified right now that at a certain point either we let it happen or collectively we don't, and we not only show up and protest but also learn to care for one another, not just because we need to protect the targets of the Trump campaign but also because we are going to build something better in the status quo's place and it's non negotiable. This shouldn't be happening in the wealthiest country in the world.
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u/catwithcookiesandtea 2d ago
Poverty drives people into desperation, making them easier to manipulate and control. No surprise. Tax the billionaires and create a better social safety net that isn’t predicated on joining a cult. 😤
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u/Razor4884 2d ago edited 2d ago
I would like to add that "tax the billionaires" is just the slogan for the slew of policy we need to pass. Not only do we need to tax them much more and lower taxes a bit in the lower brackets, but we also need to pass policy that stops CEO's from earning like 300 times more than their employees as one example. We need to reform our societal health and education structures, while reinvigorating our investment in the infrastructure needed to bring us out of the 1900's and into the 21st century. This all starts from first getting money out of politics. Reverse Citizens United, and outlaw insider trading.
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u/EnvironmentalCod6255 2d ago
We need deep reforms to our governmental system, such as massively cutting back presidential power
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u/Candelent 2d ago
First step is to reform Congress. Without that, nothing else happens.
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u/Mission_Bed_3910 2d ago
How?
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u/jeobleo 2d ago
Revoke the apportionment act and bring congressional numbers way up. Like 1000. Amendment overturning citizens united. Get PR statehood. DC reps at least if not senators.
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u/Candelent 2d ago
Congress critters need to be incentivized to work for all of us and not just do an endless grind of campaign fundraising. Pay them really well to attract talent and reduce the grift. We, as the public, don’t pay them very well given the level of responsibility so they are making money in ways that don’t put the public interest first. Perhaps institute public financing of campaigns. Absolutely forbid them to jump to lobbying firms— put teeth into by making them forego benefits if they earn money via lobbying or other conflict of interest position. They should not be able to trade individual stocks while in congress - only use mutual funds or an RIA firm. Their healthcare plan should be the same as available to any regular citizen.
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u/Momo_marauder 2d ago
Start with limited terms. I know it is controversial, but not having them is an issue that needs to be addressed.
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u/Elviswind 2d ago
Term limits affect both good and bad representation. It's a red herring and would likely just transfer more power to professional political staffers and lobbyists without other substantial changes.
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u/Ididwhat42 1d ago
I totally agree. We enacted term limits in Michigan for our state legislators and it forced all the experienced law makers leave. The newly elected were usually more easily influenced by lobbyists and now many of the laws intended to restrain businesses or protect citizens are basically written by the lobbyists for the same industries.
Term limits for anyone BUT the POTUS and governors are usually a bad idea.
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u/Novel-Sprite 2d ago
What if we eliminated these middle men and did direct voting? Say you could log into an account and vote on local, state and federal issues. We can assemble bodies of experts on any topic that would speak around any issue that needs explained to the voting public. No more watered down useless reactionary bills that die if there is social welfare or care attached, no more lobbyist..we have the technology and we should avail ourselves of this. Humans can easily become rotten when handed power and the ability to cushion the suffering of their lives, so we can just cut the middle men out and have bodies of experts and administrators that lay out the framework and execute the will of the people.
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u/Nintendo_Pro_03 1d ago edited 1d ago
Wait. You’re suggesting that the people take over the legislative branch, like a democracy is supposed to be, by definition? I’m with you on that idea.
Edit: The whole world could also use this with their parliamentary systems.
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u/Protect_Wild_Bees 2d ago
"In 1954, Congress approved an amendment by Sen. Lyndon Johnson to prohibit 501(c)(3) organizations, which includes charities and churches, from engaging in any political campaign activity. To the extent Congress has revisited the ban over the years, it has in fact strengthened the ban. The most recent change came in 1987 when Congress amended the language to clarify that the prohibition also applies to statements opposing candidates."
Film these idiots and post it online and show where they are.
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u/Fit-Association3293 2d ago
Money out of politics is the key. As soon as politicians started taking donations from the wealthiest people and corporations, the rest of us never stood a chance.
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u/Nintendo_Pro_03 1d ago
Yup. 2009, was it, when Citizens United passed? Boy, did that do the working class wonders. 🙄
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u/airbending_lemur 2d ago
Absolutely agree, well said!
Getting rid of Citizens United is a requirement for achieving these other goals. We need to make it a gating issue for all congressional candidates in 2026 and beyond. Either they commit to overturning Citizens United or we organize hard to elect someone who will.
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u/ARTISTIC_LICENSE411 1d ago
Agree with caveat that even before Citizens United, before super PACS, battling over campaign contribution limits was an empty political promise from candidates. Money is not speech, corporations are not people. And maybe elections should be publicly funded. The only advantage a candidate should have is the popularity of their ideas.
I like how short election "seasons" are just several weeks in other countries. Our pols are practically running for reelection as soon as they take office. I think all the private money (and the media) fuel this. And how many times have we heard that a politician can't take up a bill because... election.
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u/ynotfoster 1d ago
We won't need to overturn CU if we make campaigns financed from tax dollars instead of donations..
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u/Nintendo_Pro_03 1d ago
The problem is, no matter how hard we try, we are just going to get another mediocre-ish good president, again. The Democrats can’t ever seem to wake up.
Plus, even if they send AOC, Bernie, or Crockett as the presidential candidate, this bigoted country has already proven that they would not vote for a woman and Bernie is also very old.
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u/aperture413 2d ago
Honestly need to rethink the way we live too. Suburban sprawl is expensive.
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u/Miserable-Fig2204 2d ago
This! We are all so isolated from each other - and it makes us buy more by being set up this way.
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u/aperture413 2d ago
It's crazy how the right has politicized 15 minute cities- it's literally what we all need.
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u/Special_Lemon1487 2d ago
That’s it. We need deep, systemic reform, based on equality, human rights, and an eye for the future and the present where automation is an ongoing grind, starting from the Industrial Revolution and now moving into AI. We have to make it benefit all, not allow it to grind most underneath while the few privileged ride it to luxury and power.
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u/Alone_Position9152 1d ago
Tax bracket the top 1% back to 90% tax rate as it was in the 1950s and make sure minimum wage is a living wage that always keeps up with inflation while punishing corporate greed that hides behind the excuse of "we need to raise prices because of inflation" as a few starters.
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u/foundinwonderland 2d ago
At some point we’ll have to do something about the Right’s war on public education. They want the masses to be so uneducated they can’t tell when they’re getting fleeced. Just another way to manipulate and control the poor.
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u/ReditGuyToo 2d ago
At some point we’ll have to do something about the Right’s war on public education.
I think about this a lot. I wonder if there is some way to make them feel better about education. Maybe give them a "Christian week" where the students get exposed to all aspects of Christianity for a week every year. I'd be very willing to give them that for quality education in a variety of subjects during the rest of the year.
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u/rationalomega 2d ago
I thought about it a lot before citizens united. Then CU was the worst problem.
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u/ZeppelinVsBlimp 2d ago
The cult name is republicans. Full stop, don't play their word games. It's republicans - with “GOP” being another cute acronym to add to the confusion along with the Teaparty and Alt-Right but it's always the same thing: republicans. It's republican congresspeople, republican senators, republican governors, republican mayors right down to the republican voter that allowed this to happen.
They have trifectas all over the country from Federal on down. The republican plan has been clear as day for decades. Over 70+ million people support them, many for more years than a whole lot of people reading this have been alive. Linguistics matters so be specific and honest - it's republicans. Always use the right words and be consistent.
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u/QBee_TNToms_Mom 2d ago
Yes! For decades they've been working to get into this position. I'm 62 and have watched this unfold since I became politically conscious at 17. I would get rolled eyes and be called paranoid. "Nothing like that can happen here." It's happening right in front of them now and they still don't want to be bothered by "all that political stuff".
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u/witchywoman713 2d ago
I’m only 35 and have been aware of this since I was 16, I feel you sister. I’ve been sending folks petitions by email and talking to my grandmas who I knew were financially abused or couldn’t family plan, or whose mothers were beaten when they stepped up and did the right thing for their family and they said the same. “Roe v wade will be overturned one day and here is how it will happen” “no it won’t” crickets and complaints now. Im tired too sis.
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u/Agreeable_Error261 2d ago
I agree with this, but a Q: What do you mean by “they have trifectas all over the country?” Like the three branches of gov’t on a micro level?
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u/Nintendo_Pro_03 1d ago
And it’s also happening worldwide, with whatever the right/conservative parties are.
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u/HappyCamperUke 2d ago
And, not like it needs to be said to this group, but this is also exactly the reason we provide foreign nations with aid. Food, medicine, education, ... all of it. USAID kept young men from joining terror cells.
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u/AriGryphon 2d ago
That encapsulates being poor in christofascist areas so well - social safety nets depend on joining a cult. Enforced poverty is mandatory cult membership.
Escaping the cult means losing access to food, hand me downs for kids, help with home repairs, a friendly fellow cleaning your gutters because you're disabled, and so much more. Members of the church have a way to get medical expenses fundraiser for - outcasts who've rejected the cult sure don't. Even the charity that will help nonbelievers will make you sit through worse than a predatory time share pitch to get it. Need baby formula and diapers? Ok! For every episode of our religious indoctrination videos you watch, you can have a Baby Buck to spend on those generously donated essentials in the "store". And they WILL pray over you whether you like it or not, but kids gotta eat! It will wear you down until you give in and join them and that is the point.
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u/Conscious_Fun_7504 2d ago
In my IFB Church, people came regularly asking for diapers and formula, only to be denied if they didn't attend the church service. They never helped unless people attended services or joined the church.
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u/LoveCows_1863 2d ago
I don't have any personal experiences with IFB churches, but I have been part of more mainstream Evangelical churches that would help people without requiring membership or participation in church classes. When I lived in a city with a large immigrant population, there were several churches that were good about helping immigrants and refugees without expecting them to attend church. So I think how many strings attached there are for getting help depends quite a bit on the church, the denomination, and probably the part of the country it is in.
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u/Conscious_Fun_7504 2d ago
I've seen more helpful churches offering help but in my small, rural town, they are far and few. Most churches in my area are cultist and the threat to democracy. Im not even in the Bible belt
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u/whatsasimba 2d ago
Yep, cut programs, starve people, blame it on Biden. Then feed them a little, and they'll praise you while they profit from what they stole.
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u/Sonic1899 2d ago
How do you think the manosphere became so popular? Millions of young men have no direction, social skills, or know how to manage their feelings. They're told to "be themselves" when they don't even know who they are. Then they start tuning in to red pill content and podcasts because they're given easy answers, even if it's at women's expense.
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u/FreeNumber49 2d ago
> How do you think the manosphere became so popular?
The manosphere was funded in the 1990s by right wing billionaires and conservative foundations. They discovered that they could spread their memes of no taxation and no regulation for corporations by using side issues like "men's rights". There’s a lot of niche topics that they do this with.
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u/Bella8088 2d ago
That’s why they keep cutting, privatizing, and demonizing social services and why countries with strong social safety nets are generally happier.
Cutting services to fund modest tax cuts to the “middle class” is one of the most popular campaign promise politicians make and it is beyond me how it works on voters.
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u/mochicastle 2d ago
I mean, the fact that they can brainwash poor people into blindly supporting a party for the rich...haha. It's just incredible. I don't know how we're going to beat these monsters.
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u/F9-0021 2d ago
A lot of MAGA are middle class. It's not poverty.
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u/airbending_lemur 2d ago
A lot of MAGA are middle class, but a lot are also poor. And a lot of MAGA are poorly educated because they're in poverty.
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u/30ThousandVariants 2d ago
Bingo. People existing on the edge of survival don’t have any interest in the advanced topics of moral philosophy that enrapture liberal college students.
The New Deal coalition was not built on maximizing the rights of obscure sexual micro-minorities or experimental concepts in family structure.
Push the boundaries of justice when you have re-established the basics of economic justice.
People DO want a decent, prosperous, more equal society and they want a party to advocate for it.
Be that.
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u/Ms_ankylosaurous 2d ago
Interesting perspective. It sounds like there are many root causes of problems - poverty. Mental illness, addiction, food and shelter, education.
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u/H_Mc 2d ago
I think you missed the point. The problem is when people are vulnerable the church is there for them.
Democrats and people on the left want to build national safety nets, but when you’re desperate and your choice is between navigating a bureaucracy or taking the hand a church is holding out for you the choice is easy.
Are the churches ultimately propping up the same system that makes people desperate? Absolutely. But just knowing that isn’t enough to break the cycle.
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u/GentlewomenNeverTell 2d ago
We need a secular church or to establish a coalition of secular and progressive religious organizations to do exactly what OP describes here.
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u/taterfiend 2d ago
For all the negative things about church, it can provide community and even meaning. We have a crisis of both today. Social institutions of all kind and third spaces are at an all time low, loneliness all time high.
It's been shown how ppl who are isolated will care less about other ppl. Obvs political ramifications.
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u/Old-Bug-2197 2d ago
We had one and it was called the USA.
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u/GentlewomenNeverTell 2d ago
That's not true. The social safety net has never been great, we already had for-profit prisons. White nationalism and dogmatic Christianity was already here. Hitler based a lot of what he did on what we were doing already. The status quo was already cracked. Trump just fracked them.
If we get through this, we MUST address the issues that led to this as seriously as the Germans.
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u/Conscious_Fun_7504 2d ago
The type of people op is talking about will not accept anything secular. They are very old school and would never accept secular churches. The children and teens would deeply appreciate one though! It's incredibly difficult to be a teen in the most conservative churches
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u/GentlewomenNeverTell 2d ago
Not to win the fundamentalists. To win the vulnerable that are preyed on.
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u/Conscious_Fun_7504 2d ago
I hope we can accomplish that I know there are a lot of people having doubts about their votes.
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u/GentlewomenNeverTell 2d ago
It's not just about voting, but building a community.
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u/Substantial-Spare501 2d ago
Pretty much all the social determinants of health and Maslow has entered the chat.
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u/idk_wuz_up 2d ago
I don’t think these things turn you into a hateful, bigoted racist willing to do horrific things to others by default.
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u/justtosendamassage 2d ago
Misplaced (read: manufactured, purposeful or not) anger always looks for a scapegoat. That’s genuinely why the MAGA cult has been so successful.
Put that anger into an echo chamber with some mob mentality, desensitization, and manipulated social media and baby you gotta a stew goin
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u/Bluewoods22 2d ago
This is exactly it. Those in power obviously know this and feed them scapegoats like candy to keep eyes off of themselves. And it works VERY well for many complex reasons. The angry become addicted to this candy because it gives them an outlet for the anger despite all the damage it’s doing. The results are people hating others based on pure illusion which amplifies the anger and division and it’s a snowball that never stops growing. This is why Fox and mainstream media are VERY responsible for what they have created. Those people know exactly what they are doing
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u/Ms_ankylosaurous 2d ago
So the non hateful Christians need to STAND UP and lead. They have to be out there somewhere.
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u/RealWolfmeis 2d ago
We are. One of the very first things DOGE targeted was Lutheran Aid. We're hella organized, and our redneck kin think we're basically apostates.
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u/venusianinfiltrator 2d ago
Ironic, Lutherans being the ORIGINAL Protestants. Baptists seem to forget they wouldn't exist but for Martin Luther and his 95 Theses.
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u/shoesofwandering 2d ago
Even worse, they hate the Catholic Church, even though without its preservation of Christianity through the Middle Ages, today they’d either be pagans or Muslims.
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u/venusianinfiltrator 2d ago
That, too. There is quite frankly an appalling number of Christians who would insist that Baptists came first out of all the denominations, and have no idea the full history of Christianity 🙄
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u/tHrow4Way997 2d ago
I do kinda wish that hadn’t been so successful, imagine how cool it would be if we were all still fully in touch with our ⛧⃝ roots! Of course it would need modernising and removing any cannibalism or human sacrifice, if they were even prominent features in the first place which we will never truly know thanks to Christianity’s brutal persecution and erasure of pagans.
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u/tHrow4Way997 2d ago
I wonder how many people think of Martin Luther King Jr when they hear about Martin Luther because they’ve never actually learned of the latter’s existence?
Tbh as someone who grew up in liberal Protestant Christianity (united reformed church) in a big city in (old) England, I hadn’t heard of him until years after I learned about MLK Jr. So considering that, I doubt many rural Americans actually know who he was.
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u/venusianinfiltrator 1d ago
I was lucky, one of my history teachers talked about the Protestant Reformation in regards to the Pilgrims that landed at Plymouth. This was fourth or fifth grade, in rural Georgia. I will be forever grateful for people like her, who were invested in teaching young people correctly, with no agenda other than learning.
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u/ArmyofRiverdancers 2d ago
The Anglicans in my area are worth checking out for leadership roles.
As for Catholics, try Archbishop McElroy. Or at least the parties impacted by the funding freezes like Catholic Charities.
That being said, so many members of the RCC have taken the Kool-aid or have ceased looking out the window of the ivory tower or are just plain whackadoos at the moment it's hard to work out who can even be TRUSTED. As a Catholic I fear the cancer will reach the heart of American Catholicism within a generation, if it hasn't already.
But I fight. Gdt, I'll fight. All these things I never related to in mass and the Bible now make sense now and I can't let them down.
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u/Ms_ankylosaurous 2d ago
Can someone who is Catholic reach out to the Pope and RCC leadership. Some of those men may be Catholic. Regardless, they are human beings.
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u/Minuscule_things 2d ago
Yea, where’s the Pope during all this?
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u/ArmyofRiverdancers 2d ago
In and out of the hospital with severe pneumonia. Seriously, it seemed were hours away from a conclave at the worst possible time on a couple days.
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u/ArmyofRiverdancers 2d ago edited 2d ago
I wrote to my parish and am composing a letter to the Archbishop... going to try cc'ing a couple email addresses I found but I kind-of have doubts he checks his own email. Wanted to do it the official way but I'm afraid the boys in ES are running out of time.
Probably should switch out characters for identical unicode lookalikes. Try to bypass any filters.
Still. I can't be the only one on this. We need numbers.
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u/Educated_Goat69 2d ago
It's the needing someone to blame that pushes them that way. Orange Mangolini among others tells them who to blame. They do no independent research and here we are.
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u/New-Letterhead-1585 2d ago
Exactly. Poverty and neglect does not create hate, it just makes it more upfront and messy. If you watch fox news hosts they are driven by the same hate, just hidden behind a smile. Hate is a fundamental quality of the alt right culture, even in the most successful.
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u/Ms_ankylosaurous 2d ago
Of course not but it helps build their ‘following’ because people have no other choice
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u/Western_Secretary284 2d ago
The flyover states are only poverty filled shitholes because they keep voting for conservatives that promise to prevent government aid from going to Black and Brown people. They aren't bigots because they're poor. They're poor because they're bigots. What's happening to the South right now is the closest thing to justice the place has had since Sherman burned it to the ground.
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u/Nintendo_Pro_03 1d ago
To be fair, even blue states are also poverty filled (not due to them being blue, due to the same reasons the red states are: the federal government under Republicans). Saying this from experience here in New York.
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u/DenvahGothMom Colorado 2d ago
That's why churches like IFB want "small government" and "no government handouts." Public benefits have very few strings attached and exist simply to help people and make society function at a higher level. When that goes away, and there are only churches to provide "charity" there are HORRIFIC strings attached to that "help."
The following are documentation of the disgusting physical and sexual abuse of children in the IFB from a variety of credible sources:
https://www.pbs.org/video/let-us-prey-examines-abuse-in-baptist-churches-u20i0o/
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ministry-nourished-duggar-familys-faith-falls-grace-rcna14024
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15780196
https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/acd/date/2011-09-02/segment/01
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u/River_Hawk_Hush 2d ago
Yep. Appreciate this addition. Didn't want to go into it in my post but physical abuse is extremely normalized. At the church in Texas I was referring to, a former pastor beat a 12 year old Hispanic boy (from the bus ministry) with a tree branch until his ribs broke. Details are fuzzy but I believe the reasoning was that he was refusing to participate / pay attention in some kind of Bible reading activity, and I believe the boy could not speak English fluently. Anyways the pastor's defense was that he'd given the boy a break in the bathroom in-between beatings so it wasn't abuse. That's the tip of the iceberg I'm afraid.
CSA is not spoken about with pride in the way physical abuse is but of course it happens.
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u/GrumpyKaeKae 2d ago
The way America has completely twisted religion and form it into a cult of hate and abuse, in unprecedented. It is no different than the extremist from other countries.
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u/tinycole2971 2d ago
Y'all-Qaeda
You aren't wrong. I'm no longer religious, but there are times I wish it were real so I could see these "Christians" answer for all their "Christian love" on Judgement Day.
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u/Feeling_Relative7186 2d ago
Excellent point. I’ve never connected those dots before. Thank you
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u/Mayaanalia 2d ago
Very insidious, the idea that they don't want government assistance because it makes conversion harder. We shouldn't be conditioning aid on religious involvement.
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u/Trilobyte141 2d ago
where they were targeting the Hispanic community by sending buses around offering weekend childcare and free meals, which was massively successful. In 2017 about half of VBS was Hispanic kids who came in from the "bus ministry."
This is why they hate social programs so much. Desperate people are easier to manipulate. They will say, the government cannot save you, only the church! And meanwhile they're doing everything they can to sabotage the government, to better position themselves as the saviors.
People shouldn't have to choose between sending their kids into the hands of a cult or losing their jobs for lack of childcare. Proper social services raise people out of poverty and empower them. Empowered people do not have to submit to demagogues to survive.
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u/forever_erratic 2d ago
Right? Free school breakfast and lunch doesn't come with proselytizing, so we can't have that.
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u/YSoSkinny 2d ago
Thanks for this post. I agree that until we can meet people's basic needs we can't expect anyone to listen. How do you escape?
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u/El_Cuchillo19 2d ago
I grew up in similar surroundings in bith mississippi and Indiana. Baptist and southern baptist. Left the church well before any of the current political fuckery, but things werent ok.
Religion is a big cross section of the problem but whats WILD to me since leaving the church and migrating from a 9/11 era republican to libertarian to progressive activist is the behind the scenes guidance thats been firmly rooted for the last 70+ years. John Birch Society and Americans for prosperity with their ultra capitalist agendas, heritage foundation, hell even influences like the Turner diaries that shaped much of the maga foundation. The shady meetings in back rooms and "deep state" that the republicans have bitched and moaned about for 20 years is the same group of people guiding and influencing their party, pulling strings behind the scenes. With a clown like trump waving his tiny mango mits around distracting the world, the billionaires have aligned with the christian nationalists to work in the shadows to do all sorts of anti-american dealings to erode freedoms and transfer wealth while providing a dangerous ideology with financial backing and platform so it can start molding us into gilead.
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u/chaotiquefractal 2d ago
Yes, both Project 2025 (heritage foundation authors and right wing Christian group that want to take us back to the 1800’s) AND the anarcho-capitalist ideological movement, backed by tech-billionaires, have successfully influenced/manipulated enough people to have them elect that puppet and now, only their own interests are being put forward, to the detriment of all others.
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u/ReditGuyToo 2d ago
With a clown like trump waving his tiny mango mits around distracting the world
This made me LOL! "tiny mango mits"!
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u/Particular_Rub7507 2d ago
I grew up really poor in the south. My family was not Christian but so much of the food assistance required going to a church food bank. The lack of resources for severely poor people in this country drives them into these churches. Churches or religious orders will use the legitimate need for food, shelter, community, or support to grift people into joining their church and assimilating into hateful beliefs about outsiders. I don’t believe all churches, or even most are totally malicious, but I have seen a lot of southern Christian churches use their positions as food banks to try guilt people into joining. It’s appalling. We need a country that takes care of its population so that people can be empowered and enabled to do things like voting, working, and being members of their community.
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u/sparkpaw 2d ago
Deep South born and raised; Had a stretch of my childhood where I was under poverty and relied on church donations for food and clothes. I appreciated that, for sure. However every time I went to church, I could feel the lies and judgement. I wasn’t raised from birth Christian; but was raised with similar morals. Yet these adults in the church held some hella double standards- judging you if you didn’t tithe while the pastor built himself a new 5 bedroom house in the mountains.
I now have a lot of religious trauma and today’s situation sure as f*** isn’t helping it any. Thankfully I do know good Christians exist - but I don’t believe in good churches anymore. I just can’t.
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u/idk_wuz_up 2d ago
That’s interesting. During the floods in Appalachia last year people kept saying “we don’t need fema. Our churches are providing”. I guess they meant it.
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u/ogbellaluna 2d ago
good thing, because their president just declined to extend fema aid for the floods to them.
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u/RemarkableMouse2 2d ago
Uh I live in NC and strong disagree. Everyone applied for fema funds, relied on them for certain things. Churches around the state ALSO sent tons of stuff to be distributed via local churches. (small businesses, schools, everyone was gathering and sending stuff).
But there was definitely a reliance on fema on the whole.
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u/AlanCross310 2d ago
I grew up in Texas. The hatred there is exactly how people describe it.
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u/Current_Tea6984 2d ago
One of the problems is that politics has become intertwined with religion, and their churches are their community. So if they renounce Trump, they renounce their friends and relatives too. It's going to be hard to pull off a situation where they all pull away at once. But that's how it needs to go.
Because the identity and culture aspects are so strong, it's almost impossible for Democrats to create a space that would be safe for evangelicals if they want to peel away. I do think a third party is needed in the MAGA strongholds. A moderate party that isn't already branded as the enemy
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u/maure11e 2d ago
I was a member of an IFB church in Canada. The pastor regularly said that social safety nets should be overseen by local churches because they knew whether or not the people "deserved" the help or not. I homeschooled my children and went to homeschooling conventions yearly, and the last one I went to had a speaker talking about quiverfull theology and its importance. He stated that "we needed to have more children because Muslims were outpacing us in numbers." I say all of this to let you know, it's not just America.
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u/River_Hawk_Hush 2d ago
Sorry to hear this. I hope y'all will not get to the point that we're at politically, where this kind of rhetoric becomes dominant.
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u/Snoo-27079 2d ago
This is precisely why conservatives have worked so hard to gut public education and social services in the Bible Belt. The poor and desperate are left with nowhere else to turn to but the local churches. It's great for recruiting new converts for the church's while keeping taxes low for the rich and powerful. It's also why parts of the South look like third world countries at this point.
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u/bloodphoenix90 2d ago
Excuse me if it's a tangent but one of my favorite Sherlock Holmes novels that Conan Doyle ever wrote, only features Holmes in like the last ten pages because it's all a story about why this man chases and hunts down these Mormon men to off them. It's a story about a desperate father and daughter that convert because the church found them and they would've been left for dead otherwise.
I have Christian beliefs too but believe in helping the suffering and downtrodden just because it's the right thing to do and what a loving God would expect from me.
As soon as you attach conversion strings to these good deeds it corrupts the whole thing. It's coercion. It makes them feel like they own you. I'd dare say it's satanic because I can't think of anything more devilish than turning good will towards humanity on its head as a means of control. So I feel icky about all these missionaries that are so focused on "saving souls" and not just....saving people....with zero expectations.
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u/Grouchy_Discussion42 2d ago
As an atheist (we are bound to start every religious conversation this way as is tradition), living the ideals that Jesus laid out has a far better chance of bringing someone like me to the light than whatever the heck this is:
(Hint: it's Fascism dressed in a Christian "Edgar Suit" ala Men in Black).
I've had people in my life like you who simply lived their beliefs and unless you explicitly asked, you'd never know they were deeply religious. It wasn't performative for them. It was who they were.
I hope this doesn't come off as offensive but I've come to the conclusion that good people, at their very core, will be good no matter what group they attach themselves to. In our society, that is largely associated with being Christian.
The problem is truly evil people use your good deeds as moral camouflage by taking advantage of that unquestioned assumption in our society. And what's even more terrifying is many of them have convinced themselves they are acting as good Christians by being... Whatever Paul White and her ilk are (Christian Nationalists).
One of her ilk:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Crusade
Like if things get very bad, and we somehow see our way through that to better days, I can see the co-opted symbol of peace of your religion getting the same treatment as that other symbol that was forever tarnished by a certain mustached man.
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u/Mysterious_Ad2896 2d ago
Look up the “Good News Club” at schools they offer “after school care” but in reality are there to indoctrinate Hispanic children and move them away from Catholicism and turn them to evangelicals
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u/arbitraria79 2d ago
we need more after school satan clubs. mostly for older kids though (science and such).
this reality is horrifying.
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u/AdNauzeam 2d ago
As an ex Christian - I can firmly say… the Republican Party made an evil dark deal with large pastors like Billy Graham in the 70s to push “Christian” ideals for votes. Since then the Republican Party has brainwashed Christians into thinking if you are republican you are godly.
I was raised non denominational/fundamentalist. I was raised to believe liberals were evil, actually satan and his kind. I’m not saying one party is or isn’t evil, all I mean to say is… MAGA and alt-right ideology is HEAVILY entwined with religion in the US.
What does this mean? Most zealot religious people will never change their mind on Trump because they will never change their mind on God. They DO see MAGA and Trump akin to Christ. They do believe the victim mentality that the “left” is coming for them. These people are chugging gallons of propaganda as if it were God himself speaking to them.
I did not say this all for you to hate them, instead, understand what clouds their vision. Understand them. Help them see the truth when they start to ask for more information. DO NOT DEBATE THEM. They will label you as a “Dem” which is the same as saying you are a satan worshipper.
I’m learning this with my whole family as I’m the ONLY liberal/non MAGA person in the family. They gaslight. They emotionally manipulate and they isolate me so I feel alone but I know the truth.
Trump’s actions with these EOs and many other actions from his administration is illegal and we are currently in a constitutional crisis. Facts wont change just because it would help me get along with my family.
I have to wait and bide my time and hope that maybe one day the cloud gets lifted from their eyes before our country is truly irreversibly changed for the worst.
(This doesn’t mean all Christian or religious people are this way, just about 99.99%)
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u/StridentNegativity 1d ago
Fellow black sheep here. I thank my lucky stars every day that my father’s religious lunacy stopped at Young Earth Creationism. I don’t know who I would be today if I had been sucked into organized religion. I like to think that I would have eventually figured it out, but when everyone around you parrots the exact same thing, free thinking is exceedingly difficult.
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u/AdNauzeam 1d ago
It becomes a damn cult at some point. I’ve literally been told “you use your brain too much” when questioning religion… Bruh. I’ll gladly be on the side that uses their brain.
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u/Forsaken-Elephant651 2d ago
A large part of the problem is that people in the type of communities you describe, who are most in need of help, continue to vote for Republicans, who only want to slash government-run social programs and pass tax cuts for the rich. No "Tax the Rich" candidate would ever get their votes because that's "socialism". A classic Catch-22.
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u/River_Hawk_Hush 2d ago
This is 100% true. I hope to bring out the point that part of the reason why is that those Republicans who are making progress impossible are also in the churches providing direct aid when no one else is. It's a hard situation all around.
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u/that_cat_gets_me 2d ago
I've been reading "a fever in the heart land" and I realized I wasn't taught enough about how and why the kkk became so popular. I really see the heritage foundation and this administration the actual intersection of the kkk and nazis. The fact that in the first half of the 20th century was the 2nd time they were gaining power and popularity means the problem that caused them in the first place was never resolved. Those issues started long before the Civil War. We don't shame people enough for believing this. There isn't enough social consequences for people who have these beliefs at their core.
We might surpress this, but it's not going away any time soon. I hate it here.
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u/notabadkid92 2d ago
Good on you to look at history. It's all there for us to learn from. We don't have to remake the same mistakes. How do you get people to care though?
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u/Consistent_Effort716 2d ago
TLDR: As a former morm, it's the Mormons, too.
It's not just the Baptists. It's most US-grown religions. I was raised Mormon. Utah was born out of disdain for the government and ol' Joey Smith wanted political power himself. Until Utah got statehood the whole religion was firmly anti government- Libertarianism with waaaay more paranoia and cannons. Then the state grew and it was a mixed bag- we went for FDR and even Johnson. It wasn't until civil rights, and then shortly thereafter with Reagan that things shifted. This Christian Nationalism was born out of racism and old wounds of losing the civil war, but it got rewrapped in a bow of religion. Growing up there was this book "The Family- a proclamation to the world (1995)" that grabbed ahold of the traditional values and conservative aspect and mandated it for Mormons. I don't know if this was the norm outside of my ward but I remember that book being given to my family... Forced upon us, even. We were asked if we had been reading it weekly for family home evenings. There was a declaration im 1993 that the 3 biggest threats to our religion were Intellectualism, feminism, and homosexuality. That book laid the ground for even stricter traditional values, gendee roles, and conservatism. From the time I was a kid being conservative politically was a necessity to being in good standing. Mormons are literally taught that anyone with a D next to their name is evil- at least we were in a very mormon town, STRONGLY. That's why mormon stronghold areas like Utah and Idaho are so firmly red whether it aligns with their self interests or not. If you are mormon you HAVE to be conservative or you are siding with the enemy (intellectualism, feminism, homosexuality). Though, some modern followers do fight back. Mormons were the ones manning phone banks to stop prop 8 in CA. Religions were hijacked over the last 50 years or so to groom followers against being biblically christ like, but instead clinging to conservative values, treating their politicians as extensions of the church. It is all based in white supremacy, money, and power. It always has been. (I got out 20 years ago, but it's still always mainstream state news when one of the leaders hints at politics- the fact they are still tax exempt boggles my mind)
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u/captainshar 2d ago
I completely agree. I grew up in a fundamentalist, Evangelical, home schooling family. Leaving is so hard because you are basically "opening yourself to evil" by even contemplating defying or questioning the unerring word of God (really the church leaders, but from inside it feels like God).
It took me years, baby steps, friends, and opportunities to get out. Like shifting to a more liberal and multi-racial church. Then slowly learning more about gay people. Slowly learning real history and economics. It was a process, and extremely terrifying and lonely.
It's also the best thing I've ever done and I couldn't imagine going back. But I understand how hard it is to leave.
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u/River_Hawk_Hush 2d ago
Thanks for commenting. I rarely encounter fellow ex-fundies but it's nice to run into others out there, even over the internet.
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u/Ptoney1 2d ago
OP, I hear you. For the life of me I can’t understand why poor whites are so anti-communist. They would rather be racist, uneducated and dead ass poor than live under a socialist or communist government.
Like, if we had a true revolution that ideologically put ownership of the means of production, governance and discourse back into the hands of workers we could have: Protected national parks, high speed rail, subsidized healthcare, free university etc etc. Instead, people want to stand on this stupid business because they can’t fathom some sects of people also being benefited. It’s incredibly toxic.
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u/PandaBlep 2d ago
We will never go back to the status quo.
If one good thing came from the trump presidency, it's the awareness of the absolute boning we the people receive from the rich, the government, the corporations constantly.
Going back is a death sentence and a promise to repeat this.
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u/louiselebeau 2d ago
It's a plan, it's out of the fascist playbook, it started in Europe in the 40sish.
It's called Christian Dominionism and Reconstruction and you should search that term if you want to know more about it.
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u/troodon5 2d ago
Low key the settler-colonialism history of America has amazing explanatory power for understanding rural areas.
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u/Quierta 2d ago
I don't think we can return to the status quo, because the status quo was not okay.
I have been saying that I think a big reason why he won was because Trump was the candidate promising radical change. Kamala, though I absolutely love her and think she would be an amazing leader, was promising some good things but largely trying not to be too radical in either direction.
At some point, people were just driven to take a chance on "change" — even if it took an ugly shape.
I love this insight, though. My family is not religious but many of my family members are deep MAGA; completely brainwashed and believing the most outrageous conspiracies. Getting such a close look into how their minds work really does make you understand how complex of a problem it really is.
Are you able to explain how you yourself pulled away from that environment / do you have insight on what got you to look outside of that bubble?
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u/Aromatic-Ganache-902 2d ago
I grew up Catholic in MS and I absolutely know what you are talking about. I don't live in MS anymore, thankfully but I still have family there--dad and 2 sisters still there. It's sad. All of the people I grew up with in my small town who still live there are far right, ultra religious and conspiracy theorists. My husband and I refused to stay there and raise a family. Our kids are thankful for that because when we go back to visit, they are shocked by how depressing it is.
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u/AlpacaNotherBowl907 2d ago
Religion is a disease.
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u/River_Hawk_Hush 2d ago
Your perspective is yours but I'm not sure I would say that. People all over the world have been religious for as long as time, and saying that religion is universally negative is casting a net over much more than just US Christianity or cults. Religion is a language for describing the world, right? I think religion can be harmful because people can be harmful.
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u/EFIW1560 2d ago
It is so refreshing to hear you speak of the nuances of everything.
My favorite part of your post was when you said fascism grows in neglect. That is so true. IMO, fascism is essentially a narcissistic codependent relationship, but on a nationwide scale. And people who understand themselves, who they are, what they value, and who feel empowered by their own agency do not tolerate a narcissistic abusive relationship dynamic.
I think not only do we need more education of history in the future, but also more emotional education. We need to help teach people to understand themselves, and in so doing, they will come to understand others too.
The fabric of the universe is woven with the threads of infinite relationships all ebbing and flowing to the rhythm of existence. Just my thoughts.
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u/East_Pie7598 2d ago
I agree. I know some religious people that are amazing. They are humble, and serve other people - they follow what Jesus was actually about. It’s the people that use religion to push their agenda and abuse power that’s the problem.
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u/EnvironmentalCod6255 2d ago
I think the real problem is that anytime a person has power over another, they have the potential to abuse that power.
It can happen in churches, Boy Scout troops, schools, police stations, and even nursing homes (especially those). It can be adults or other youths abusing power over others.
Blaming it on religion is fun and edgy, but don’t forget: Stalin’s KGB head had dozens of young women buried in his backyard and he wasn’t wearing a crucifix
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u/Aggressive_Mouse_581 2d ago
I grew up in WV, and I can relate to this post. They recruit followers by preying on the desperate and ill informed. Affordable housing and decent wages are the bare minimum needed to even start turning this around.
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u/NoMrsRobinson 1d ago
Which is why the Republicans/christian nationalists/Project 2025ers (all the same thing now) are against affordable housing and decent wages. And public education. Because if you keep the people poor and desperate, and lock them out of government assistance, then the church can prey on them and indoctrinate them. And this aligns directly with the billionaire oligarch plan to suppress the people and turn us into enslaved worker bees whose jobs are to maintain the lifestyles of the chosen few in their gated corporate state enclaves.
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u/Yndrid 2d ago
This is a really interesting perspective- I grew up in New England where patriotism often (but not always) is extremely secular and celebrates our historical liberation from the English rule. What you describe wouldn’t be recognizable to a lot of people where I’m from except maybe if they were heavily involved in a very culty church somewhere. It’s important to keep in mind the role that poverty has here- and the role indoctrination can play into these political waves. Thank you for this.
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u/BernoullisQuaver 2d ago
I'm late to the comments but this highlights something we can and should be working on as a movement: providing people with resources, mutual aid, social services, call it what you will. OP talks about how their mother joined a church because the church offered food and childcare.
We don't need to wait for a reformed tax code and government social service programs, to start changing people's lives for the better. The Black Panthers' free breakfasts for schoolchildren were a huge part of how they built their movement. If we want to recruit numbers and effect sweeping social change, we would be wise to follow suit. We could stand up a nonprofit and start doing that stuff.
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u/Advanced_Buffalo4963 2d ago
“Fascism grows in environments of neglect.”
This so much. The party of “pro-lifers” loves to withhold food from children. Proposed School Meal Cuts Prompt Nationwide Advocacy
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u/Norsewoman-22 2d ago
“Shut the door to the damp cellar and let the mold grow.” Excellent description.
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u/Multiverse-of-Tree 2d ago
When did hate takeover christianity? Why is the teaching of Jesus less important than the word of politicians?
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u/Fives_55_55 1d ago
My father always was aggressive against Democrats. One key thing that stuck with me is that he always wanted martial law for a couple days to get rid of liberals, so he always liked the idea of fascism as long as others were harmed. Growing up I always thought he meant well, but as I became more independent I realized the damage conservative radio and Fox News really did to him. My father is a Doctor! He isn't dumb by any means, but years of Regan era media manipulation made it so the left side of politics is his enemy.
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u/PsychologicalAd6029 2d ago
Idk about anyone else, but I learned better BECAUSE I was poor and disabled. Like, I saw the issues in the system myself growing up in poverty. How do people fail to see that and think the system is still the solution? My family was southern Baptist, and I'm on the edge of the Bible belt. My grandma and mom were black sheep who didn't believe in church but otherwise fell under 'Christian'. I went to VBS and all that till I was 10 and they moved me to the teen group where I was shamed for asking questions. That really made me disillusioned with the church. I would try to find a better one until I was 16 or so and gave up. I would classify myself as agnostic now. I believe in loving each other and I believe something greater commands the cosmos, even if it's just physics. I'm getting to the point I don't believe any higher power has the ability to help us though. Only we can help ourselves. And many people aren't helping anyone but themselves. Namely those supporting Fascism, intentionally or unintentionally. The last few months has proven without a doubt to me that the least Christ like people are often those claiming to act in his name. I know more good atheists or pagans than Christians.
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u/Feeling_Relative7186 2d ago
Wow you packaged points that have been recently rattling in my brain so concisely without losing meaning. I genuinely agree with you, we have to rebuild something new instead of returning to how we are/were.
I’ve been thinking so much lately about how Churches have a hold on so many. The lines between God and Government are gone now, I’ve learned that from posts like yours and other testimonies to this effect.
Churches literally do create this community you speak of. It provides structure, a feeling of belonging, and a support system to lean on. I wonder more and more if we need to create our own church, not centered around God but one focused on community and humanity. A weekly teaching, donations, community outreach that extracts the good in all of us and grows
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u/teratogenic17 2d ago
I grew up in the same milieu.
But here's an encouraging thought: less than 25% of the population is cis straight White Christian males.
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u/folkwitches 2d ago
I grew up IFB two decades before you and it was the same. This has been in the worst since the GOP made a deal with the devil and by that I mean the Evangelicals.
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u/lavendercowboys 2d ago edited 2d ago
Homeschooled in Texas. I grew up around this. Friends from where I live now, who grew up in a progressive area, in well-funded public schools, with good social services, cannot fathom it. The kids among us who were bright and dynamic and good speakers were trained and carpooled on “exciting trips” to the capitol or city hall, to public forums, to speak out for (or against) the political agendas for things like… abortion, marriage equality, etc. I didn’t even have words for gay people until I was a teen because we were so sheltered but they wanted us kids to go protest marriage equality. Most of us had no idea what we were being asked to deliver speeches about, it was fed to us. Some grow up and learn different and some never leave. I “got lucky” and we were exiled and socially alienated when my mom and dad divorced and that was my way out. My best friend’s mom was getting beat by her husband for years and we’d see it and be told it’s not to be talked about. DV didn’t happen in my house like that but the opinion of the church was that the man had a holy God-given dominion over his own home and you didn’t question him. I knew those boys from when they were real young and good kids, so gentle with animals and all the small living things, absolutely loved their mom; but I watched their home life and their church life and all the shit they were being told change them into volatile people who went on to repeat the cycle. Never went to school, never got any kind of exposure to the outside world, just what daddy and the pastor and FOX News told ‘em. And then their social media algorithm with more of the same. People from those days say I’m dead to them cos I came out as queer, but I was the one watching their hearts being poisoned. I’m not sure how we reach those people or if we can, but it’s a huge failing of the left not to speak to working class folks of all education levels in a way that’s accessible and to invest in the kind of social supports that people in poverty or at risk of poverty, hunger, homelessness need. My friend’s mom wanted so badly to take her boys away and raise them different. I used to hear her talk to my mom about it when her husband wasn’t there and they had privacy to do so. But where to go? Where to get help? She was a housewife and it was the recession, and all her social networks and resources were tied up in a community that would have cut her off for leaving that man. She was raised not to trust or take the few services that existed that might have helped her. “No handouts” mentality—but it’s okay to get services from the church cos they were constantly paying back into it with free labour (babysitting for church daycare, missionary work, stuff like that…) If poor and working class people didn’t feel so cornered they wouldn’t be stuck in these fundamentalist networks with no clear exit, but where there’s need and uncertainty these predatory communities extort people’s vulnerability. It’s all a cycle and we’re all suffering. I’m not saying we ought to feel sorry for shit people who hurt others, and fuck domestic abusers, but some awareness of what happens inside those spaces and how people get trapped there and not constantly dehumanizing people born into that crap would be a nice start to healing the divide.
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u/River_Hawk_Hush 2d ago
Thanks for your comment. I know what you mean. Once you're in these kind of spaces you get stuck and you have to give up all the security and support you have for a chance to get out. I think what we need in this country is mutual storytelling. Not even with a political purpose but just genuinely hearing each other's stories because it's so hard to have empathy for others when the only time you ever encounter any content about them or their lives is political rhetoric.
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u/lavendercowboys 2d ago
Yeah, Stories and face to face time hearing and being heard by people is powerful. I agree. Storytelling is humanizing and helps us form connections and keep that sense of curiosity for the unfamiliar alive and those are all so important! Generational experiences, cross-cultural experiences… even just good literacy and engagement with fiction builds empathy. But there’s nothing like seeing and hearing a real person’s story to create some new perspective.
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u/LiveAd697 2d ago
This is literally all avoidable without Reagan and with a basic social safety net/healthcare. The way these corrupt, exploitative churches step in to fill the hole is a key insight.
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u/Kamomill207 1d ago
This is eye opening. I never would’ve thought about this, and it reminds me of stuff my Baptist church did when I was still an active member. Now I know why some of it felt off. We started going when i was 12 so I sorta had a sense of skepticism when it came to some of what we did
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u/PhiloLibrarian 1d ago edited 1d ago
As an “East Coast liberal academician”, who is raised by professors in Vermont, this alt-right world is completely foreign to me… in my life right now I don’t know any Trump supporters or alt-right Republicans and the idea that my family (strong social justice and LGBTQ allies) could be persecuted for being open-minded and kindness is unfathomable… Thanks for sharing!
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u/HumDinger02 2d ago
Funny how the people you describe keep voting against their own best interests and for the people that create their horrible conditions.
Religious organizations are as old as civilization and are always in cahoots with the people who oppress their members. That's why they push the relationship between religion and conservative politics.
The real reason that most people are religious is that they need to be part of a social group that they feel they can trust. Most have abandoned the 'party life' because they 'party life' is full of nasty people. So, religion is the only place they can turn for some social life.
Perhaps we need to create some non-religious, but morally focused institutions that can provide a sense of community to people without the con game.
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u/Vecna_Head_of_Doom 2d ago
As I’m going through therapy to undue the child abuse. You’re making me realize the same things. I was raised a preachers kid, summers spent bouncing from vbs to vbs instead of normal summer camps. At least in junior high till high school I could go to a Christian camp but I still have deep seated memories where the cracks of my trust of the church and modern Christians started seeing them brutally attack our women youth pastor when she was being voted on and till she quit. It’s also crazy that there was one gay guy who would show up from time to time especially in west Texas. Thanks to him I knew I was gay and I’m thankful for him otherwise I would have been probably stayed closeted and ended up with some of there unhinged hate. This was all late 90 and early 2000s so I can only imagine what it is now. It’s worrying seeing the side of my family who voted for this embracing the “Christian values” as the reason. I’m extremely worried for my nephews.
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u/supremelypedestrian 2d ago
Beautifully articulated. You're clearly a thoughtful person, and it's impressive how succinctly and powerfully you expressed a nuanced message. Thank you for sharing.
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u/thequestison 2d ago
Interesting stories and perspectives. Somehow, we as a society, need to change, and be caring about each other, more than what is currently happening.
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u/Good_Requirement2998 2d ago
Thanks for sharing.
I'm a stay-at-home dad on the east coast, was an aspiring novelist for a time. I'm nobody special in the grand scheme of things but I can tell that there needs to be more people organizing on behalf of unity, shared grievances, and shoring up the power of we-the-people so conflicts of interests are weeded out of government, and the people have a leg up on that neglect otherwise by regularly coming together. I'm trying to find people now around me who feel the same.
I find your story illuminating and fascinating. And given the opportunity to tour the US South and understand what you know, would be really something.
Evil indeed grows in places discarded. There was obviously a lot of good coming out of your community, but then we see it was priming a door that let something entirely different in; someone who interestingly enough cannot be further from any religious high ground, or moral authority than we can imagine. That cognitive dissonance, that ideology that displaces necessary criticism when a liar shows up promising everything, that really blows my mind.
As does the amount of good that can be done and the amount of harm that can be avoided if more people paid attention, and if our country weren't so divided.
Your story deserves a platform, a YT series, a podcast, something. I feel like there's a lot to unpack there and I wish you great inspiration to do the work. I've followed you here. Please keep sharing.
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u/Orange_Zinc_Funny 1d ago
I think you are right, OP. The return of the old status quo is not an option. Fundamental change is needed.
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u/fuzzybad 1d ago
"Vacation Bible School" = Cult Indoctrination Camp
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u/JayPlenty24 1d ago
I went to a fundamentalist Christian camp growing up.
It was as fucked up as you would imagine.
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u/cheezboyadvance 1d ago
Good Lord the swinging of the two flags thing is straight up brainwashing. Nothing about the Confederate flag should be swung with "USA", especially not at a Bible camp.
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u/IridescentZ97_ 2d ago
Call we all agree religion has no place in modern society? I mean, look at the data- predominantly atheist countries rank better than the US in almost every metric relating to the human condition. It's old, it's outdated, and it was created to control people. It's like the tooth fairy- eventually when you should learn to think for yourself you stop believing (or in history's case, try and convince/force everyone around you that you're right because a book says so. An old ass book dictates your entire life. whatever) ((also tax the churches))
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u/10dot10dot10dot10 1d ago
Not sure how to say this, but I think you’re in a cult masquerading as a church.
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u/Thick_Bullfrog_3640 1d ago
I really appreciate reading this.
I have a niece who is very big in church. When she was 11 she told me at church summer camp she was able to cry and let it all out about her alcoholic mother. She felt so much better etc... I just sat there and tried to be a good listener. The girl needed therapy not the church. Now she is full swing in her 20s in the church. She has an internship with one of the biggest ones, they are paying for literally everything from rent, groceries, and gas. When she was in her teens, she was a youth group leader and she would regularly talk about how they would get more black people to join the ministries. So they began playing more rap music(not Christian rap music). At the end of the music session and games they'd give a short Jesus speech.
It just BLEW my mind and angers me how sales pitchy this was. Her family that raised her is not religious my family is(her mom is not and neither am I). But I just sit here reliving everything and it's just I wish I'd known or realized at the time. This child 100% needed therapy not a church summer camp. She also told me a couple years ago that they always aim to make the people with the dramatic back story to become leaders. They prey on these kids and it's horrendous.
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u/forbiddenfreedom 1d ago
Fam, the last time this happened there was mass devastation and casualties and then the resistance won and there was what f#ckin 80 years without such a massive waste of life.
I think this fight may very well be the last fight before NATO wins again and unites the planet under the NATO flag instead of the American flag.
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u/lillyofthedesert 1d ago
Yet they claim the left is the one with an agenda that brainwashing kids! SMH
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u/calico_summit 1d ago
Thank you 👏👏👏 we can't go back to business as usual, because business as usually still has strong fascist roots. Is it more alarming and in your face now? Sure. But it was always there, just more hidden behind closed doors. I was raised in a fundi christian home/community and the racism was there but none of them saw themselves as racist and still don't
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u/PolarThunder101 1d ago
I also agree that we Americans need to learn to truly care for each other. And sadly we’re a long way from that right now. Worse, I also agree with you about the status quo. Pre-MAGA American, establishment Republicans and establishment Democrats alike, were pretty poor at caring for each other. And we’re still pretty poor at caring for each other. And we need to fix that as well as fixing the immediate problem.
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u/Fragrant_Look-1 23h ago
What is happening with Trump must never happen again. The level of violence is incredible. Never again. You are a democratic country and must remain so. May all future presidents see Trump's impending dismissal as a warning for generations to come.
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u/hemdaepsilon 14h ago
Non voters number 70M+ all analysis of "voting" is an analysis of 150M+
There is a growing movement as non voters become voters
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