We’re seeing this a lot lately in the media: the panic over white supremacists has given way to a larger threat, which is Christian nationalists (who are white supremacists but worse). We see a lot of tweets about “Christofascists” taking over the country and denying women their right to choose. Holier-than-thou pundits like David French are sending up warnings. According to MSNBC, America is under siege from Christian nationalists, but a new kind of atheism can help fight back.
America is under siege from Christian nationalists. Here's how atheists can help fight them. https://t.co/22x5ZXoybW
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) August 1, 2022
MSNBC opinion columnist Zeeshan Aleem writes:
There are two pressing crises tied to the state of religion in America today. A new style of atheism can help answer both of them.
The first crisis is rooted in an excess of religion. Christian theocracy is not far-off specter but an emerging reality in America. Fueled by a radically reactionary Supreme Court that is two-thirds Catholic, Thomas Jefferson’s already-dilapidated and graffitied “wall of separation” between church and state is crumbling. The overturning of Roe v. Wade means the lives of women across the country are being held hostage by a conservative Christian conception of life. Kennedy v. Bremerton permits school officials to publicly pray and make students feel pressured to join in. Carson v. Makin allows taxpayer dollars to be used to fund religious education. And at the state level, Republican-led legislatures have invoked Christianity as they pursue a systematic assault on transgender rights, while “abortion abolitionists” convinced some Louisiana lawmakers that people who get abortions should be charged with homicide.
…
My belief is that an energetic, organized atheist movement — which I propose calling “communitarian atheism” — would provide an effective way to guard against the twin crises of intensifying religious extremism on one end, and the atomizing social consequences of a plunge in conventional religiosity on the other.
“An organized atheist community can help agitate for and finance a secularist equivalent of the Federalist Society — the right-wing legal movement that helped populate the federal courts with hard right jurists and helped get us into this mess — to act as a bulwark against theocracy,” Aleem adds.
DiVErSiTy iS oUr StrENgTh
— Ghost of Honk (@LongVariant) August 1, 2022
One atheist to another, stop saying stuff like this.
— RUSSEL LISS (@TheRusselJ) August 1, 2022
Why do you hate religious freedom?
— Not Real (@UnwelcomeGhost) August 1, 2022
is the chistian nationalist in the room with you right now?
— Tony (@tbenitez12) August 1, 2022
But the church bulletin said the siege was scheduled for next month…
— Tyler (@tylerpeavler) August 1, 2022
Absolutely amazing to see MSNBC equating Christianity with “Christian Nationalism.”
— Arthur Boreman Once Held His Breath for 30 Seconds (@ArthurBoreman) August 1, 2022
Cry more. Let people practice their own religion and believe in the country
— ImSickOfUrCrap (@IAmSickOfUrCrap) August 1, 2022
Aren’t y’all tired of manufacturing false narratives?
— Megan (@megan_noone) August 1, 2022
I have no idea why MSNBC always comes in last place in viewership.
— Pancake Guy (@MarkFromCorp) August 1, 2022
We’ve seen your “new kind of atheism” and no one wants it pic.twitter.com/nWlsB3VLUv
— Thexx22 (@thexx22) August 1, 2022
This is some of that hate speech we hear so much about
— jimedO (@llanoflash01) August 1, 2022
I wish we were half as cool as you guys make us sound.
— Penny 🇺🇸 (@pennyelizabeths) August 1, 2022
Whenever someone in the comments asks what a Christian nationalist is, they post an old video of the KKK … who were a bunch of Democrats.
As an atheist, I want you to know that I’m with the Christian Nationalists and against *you*
— We were oomfies once, and young (@Sunni_Labeouf) August 1, 2022
The ratio on this garbage article is already becoming glorious
— Blesscanor (@blesscanor) August 1, 2022
Just like the focus-grouped “Ultra-MAGA” was a flop, so will be Christian nationalism. They’ll move on to another bogeyman soon.
Related:
Rep. Adam Kinzinger says ‘normal’ Christians need to call out the Christian Taliban https://t.co/1QiWj6c6WK
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) June 30, 2022
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