Frances Fox Piven

                                                         U.S. Midterms Postmortem.

The Christian Right and the Club Q Massacre

             Once again, Colorado Springs becomes a site of Right-Wing violence.

The US Military-Industrial-Complex

                                         Purveyor of White Supremacy around the world.

The American Anti-Imperialist League

                                                                     Some history.

American Apocalypse

 

I was able to take a lot of what has been happening in recent U.S. politics in stride—including Trump’s election in 2016—seeing it as a pendulum swing (with some anomalous, extreme edges) that, sooner or later, would swing back, until I read Matthew Avery Sutton’s book, American Apocalypse (2017). 

 

Sutton demonstrates that the great Right-Wing revanchement that began to gain visibility in the late 1970s and took off with Reagan’s election in 1980 was about 150 years in the making. White Evangelicals first set their sights on dominating American churches during the Second Great Awakening (early 19th century), but towards the end of that century they decided to add the Federal government to their list of targets. They are now deeply entrenched there (even though there are signs that their grip on the churches isn’t what it was even ten years ago), and they are spreading through State and local governments. 

Living in Colorado Springs, I have been careful to distinguish the theologico-political atmosphere here from other parts of the state and the country as a whole. But I’m afraid that the rest of the U.S. is beginning to look more like the Springs than I was previously willing to admit. And now the Donald is planning his Second Coming.

 

In the U.S., white Supremacy, apocalyptic Christianity (which, like it or not, has historical roots in the primitive Jesus movement), militarism and imperialism (which, ironically, formed the crucible from which the Jesus movement emerged)—are not going away anytime soon. That’s bad news not only for this country but for the rest of the world.

 

Until you've read Sutton's book, you will not realize how deep the roots of White Christian Nationalism run in these United States. Nor will you recognize the ways in which agencies of the Federal government are part of the problem (an example can be found here).  

Tracking Trump's Endorsements

                                                                                Here.