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Tag: Christian nationalism

An image of a woman silenced with the words For Our Daughters introducing a piece on why Christian nationalism is unhealthy and we should speak out against it.
Why This Page Speaks Out on Politics: For Our Daughters (and Others)

Why This Page Speaks Out on Politics: For Our Daughters (and Others)

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Every so often, there will be someone who comments on the AS Facebook page—usually not someone there in good faith, as it turns out—why is a page about spirituality posting about politics? The short version of the answer to this question is that this page was set up to call people to be assertive about unhealthy versions of spirituality, including Christian nationalism, which has gone fully political. I plan to use this post to unwrap this and other aspects of…

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A trans rights are human rights flag to introduce how anti-trans rhetoric plays on men's fears about " mutilation "
When Anti-Trans Rhetoric Plays on (Men’s) Fears about “ Mutilation ”

When Anti-Trans Rhetoric Plays on (Men’s) Fears about “ Mutilation ”

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Something I’ve been noticing a lot lately when trolls come in with anti-trans rhetoric is HOW MUCH the word “ mutilation “ comes up. Mostly this comes up with male right-wing trolls commenting on trans concerns, but I even saw a woman who identified as (conservative) Christian recently try to say that the Bible was against “ mutilation “ clearly suggesting that gender-alteration surgeries to help people feel more like themselves were somehow morally not okay. As you’ll see if…

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Fascistic Christian Nationalism as a GOP Platform?

Fascistic Christian Nationalism as a GOP Platform?

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One of the key reasons I founded this Assertive Spirituality project was the disturbing turn of the Republicans, in the 2016 election and beyond, toward embracing the ideals of fascistic Christian nationalism as their party platform. I believe the evidence of this ought to seem disturbing—it very much is a threat to healthy democracy in the US. It can also easily be confusing, though, so in this article I plan to unwrap how some of this rhetoric works, and why…

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An image of a white person's index finger punching a profit button to introduce an analysis of conservative religious rhetoric defending unhealthy capitalism
When Capitalism Gets Confused with God

When Capitalism Gets Confused with God

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This week on the AS Facebook page I posted a meme that no longer seems controversial to me at all. It’s about how the plots of the classic Christmas narratives It’s a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol are critiquing predatory capitalism. And yet, when I posted it, it stirred up a firestorm. The conservative responses that came in helped me remember why such an idea would have been controversial to the right-leaning people I grew up with, and helped…

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Why Religious Differences Become So Fraught

Why Religious Differences Become So Fraught

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So this week I had several interactions with members of the AS audience that reminded me just how many stress responses get caught up in discussing religious differences. And since I literally teach theories in my university communication classes that explain why this is, I thought it may be helpful to delve deeper into this in today’s blog posts. At a time when polarization is high and there’s a lot of trauma around religious differences, I hope this can help…

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A picture that says "student loan repayment" to introduce a piece on loan forgiveness as a conservative devil term
When (Loan) Forgiveness Becomes a Conservative (Christian) Devil Term

When (Loan) Forgiveness Becomes a Conservative (Christian) Devil Term

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There’s been some gold out there in the reasonable world the last few days since the student loan forgiveness policy was announced, especially in responding to the conservative Christian rhetoric critiquing the policy. In the remainder of this piece, I hope to build on these excellent critiques that are already out there as well as some previous pieces here. In so doing I plan to discuss the details of why at least some conservative Christians are decrying student loan forgiveness…

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A picture of a US flag and a cross to introduce a piece about the fascistic rhetoric behind unhealthy Christian nationalism
Unpacking “Christian Nation” as a Fascistic God Term

Unpacking “Christian Nation” as a Fascistic God Term

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Okay, so the last couple of weeks’ blog posts about LGBTQ+ inclusivity and abortion bans as fascistic (see here and here respectively if you want to catch up). That coming in the midst of the crucially important January 6 hearings in Congress and the upcoming 4th of July holiday has been a thing.  Not to mention the recent Supreme Court decision allowing to door to open to the Religious Right’s Holy Grail of “(Christian nationalist) prayer in schools.” All of…

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Girl with Pride Flag to introduce blog post on Putin and the Culture Wars
Putin and the Culture Wars: An Analysis

Putin and the Culture Wars: An Analysis

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Okay, so right now as I write this Russia, and specifically its leader Putin, are still invading the Ukraine, who is fighting back. As historian Heather Cox Richardson (along with others) have been pointing out, most American politicians, even those in the GOP, have been rolling back their support for Putin over the course of his invasion of Ukraine, but there are still some key politicians who are supporting Putin. As others have pointed out over at MSN.com, even the…

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Photo of the dictionary definition of Evangelical to introduce an article about the demonization of deconstruction
When Conservative Christians Demonize Deconstruction

When Conservative Christians Demonize Deconstruction

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This past week an intense Twitter war has been raging between conservative Christians (mostly white Evangelicals) and their critics over the nature and value of those who are “deconstructing.” In this blog piece, I plan to unwrap some of the messaging these white Evangelicals—mostly men—have been using to demonize those who claim the term deconstruction by those who have been leaving white Evangelicalism, especially since the 2016 election in the United States. Specifically, I’ll be looking at the rhetoric of…

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Picture of social security cards introducing an article about why entitlement (program)s get seen as a threat
When Entitlement (Program)s Get Confused with “Pride”

When Entitlement (Program)s Get Confused with “Pride”

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This week I saw an image from a dating profile whose owner identified as politically conservative as well as Christian. Here’s what it said: “…if you voted for Joe Biden do not hit me up..I don’t date liberals that feel they are entitled..I believe in hard work, self accountability, and God!!!!!” There’s a lot going on here, and there’s no way I will have time to unwrap all of it in this post, but I wanted to discuss how these…

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