As the Benighted States of Amerika lurches ever-closer to a full-blown theocracy with the election of Mike Johnson as House Speaker, a timely reminder: be careful what you wish for:
As the Benighted States of Amerika lurches ever-closer to a full-blown theocracy with the election of Mike Johnson as House Speaker, a timely reminder: be careful what you wish for:
One has to wonder if he has read the whole book? Or if he has the background to understand what he is reading?
ReplyDeleteDegree in Business and a law degree. Not good.
Bob Altemyer, who has done a huge amount of work on authoritarianism, in his fascinating and frustrating book on the subject The Authoritarians points out that his research shows that most fundamentalists have read very little of the bible.
Chris Hedges, (M.A. Harvard Divinity School) and a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist reports that fundamentalist pastors don't like to discuss the bible with him. Strange that.
Chris Hedges does not suffer fools gladly, Anon. Hence, their reluctance to engage with him.
Deletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%22If_This_Goes_On%E2%80%94%22
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link,. Anon. Most apt. Also, I cannot help but think of Margaret Atwood's sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, The Testaments. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Testaments
DeleteI have to, rather guiltily, admit I have read niether though the Handmaid's Tale ins on my bookcase.
DeletePersonally, I thought The Testaments was more interesting, informed as it obviously was by the current theocratic trends in the U.S.
DeleteAmerica has had an issue with theocracy ever since the pilgrims first arrived on Americas shores; well nearly!
ReplyDeleteThe Pilgrim Fathers! term was not mainstream until 200 years later.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pilgrim-Fathers
Considering that a small percentage of these fundamentalists landed at Plymouth they have had an undeniable effect upon todays USA.
In recent history Ronald Reagan realised the blind obedience and 'admirable' organizational powers of this group of people and put them to use in his successful elections.
The rest as they say is history as various groups worldwide have used this formulae to disrupt and destroy moderate progressive governments.
Israel where they are educated from grade school to believe they are the chosen and superior people of the world to Hamas who contends it is the party of God and now , in the USA, where Christian Nationalism is becoming the norm.
All this occurs whilst the voting majority brain dead voters vote for the party they see as the ones to expand their bi weekly pay packets! with little thought to issues beyond their three car garage , curling club or five star winter vacation in a warm climate.
We get what we deserve!!!
TB
A trenchant and insightful analysis, TB. Thank you. In so many ways, the electorate is its own worst enemy.
DeleteAn fascinating discussion of "Religion & the USA" is Andersen, Kurt. (2017). Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History. Random House.
ReplyDeleteIn some ways it seems as close to theocrasy as Iran.
Actually he writes about the mad religious nuts in the North and the licentious English "gentry" recreating large landed estates in the South.
I had not realised the number of really weird Christian or Quasi-Christian cults the US has seen over the centuries and which still infest the country
I shall definitely look into the book, Anon. If it is at my library, I shall put a hold on it. Thank you.
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