Christian Conservatives Face Reality: Increasingly, They Stand Alone

[Demovictory9]

https://dnyuz.com/2024/09/13/christian-conservatives-face-reality-increasingly-they-stand-alone/

On a recent Tuesday afternoon, Sam Brownback, the former governor of Kansas and a champion of socially conservative causes, asked a small crowd of his fellow Christian voters if they were feeling discouraged.

Inside this church in Grapevine, Texas, nearly every hand shot up.

The response might seem mystifying: These voters had won huge victories, most notably in overturning Roe v. Wade, which had guaranteed the constitutional right to abortion.

_____

But with the presidential election closing in, hope suddenly felt thin. Powerful efforts to “suffocate” their values seemed to be everywhere, Mr. Brownback said to widespread agreement.


______


By all indications, conservative Christians are poised to vote again overwhelmingly for former President Donald J. Trump in November. But now, they are facing the reality that many of their views are not widely held, and that to advance their goals nationally they need power at the highest levels — power that Mr. Trump suddenly seems less inclined to give.

In that way, the coming election feels like a referendum on the role of conservative Christianity in American public life. And some conservative Christians worry that it is a race that is harder and harder to win.

The country is growing more secular and pluralistic by the year, with regular church attendance declining. Many leaders in the Republican Party, their political home for decades, have gone silent about their opposition to abortion rights and same-sex marriage. And, Mr. Trump, the man once considered to be their strongest champion, is publicly distancing himself from their causes, even as he attacked Democrats in the presidential debate for their support of reproductive rights.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. And avoiding Buyers' Remorse at any cost.

[BrianTheEVGuy]

2. I love this for them

They sold out on all of their fake “values” for power, and still won’t get what they want.

Couldn’t happen to nicer people.

[yardwork]

14. Agreed. These people are so annoying.

[bullimiami]

3. Maybe they should be a little, just a tiny bit introspective?

What about their goals, policies and choices don’t appeal to a majority?

Of course they blame their deep flaws on everyone else.

[Think. Again.]

4. christian conservatives facing reality...

...is one helluva multi-faceted oxymoron.

[MagickMuffin]

5. Well the decline is probably related to the sexual assaults

Several churches right here in DFW had their leadership resigning because they are assaulting women. So, that probably why no one wants to attend your churches, where you can prey without regret until you get caught.

[Gore1FL]

6. We know them by their fruit. nt

[LastDemocratInSC]

24. In this case that means rotten apples.

[pat_k]

29. Precisely.

From TX State Rep. James Talarico's sermon on Christian Nationalism below.

. . .
He told us we would know them by their fruits.

Jesus includes.

Christian Nationalism excludes.

Jesus liberates.

Christian Nationalism controls.

Jesus saves.

Christian Nationalism kills.

Jesus started a universal movement based on mutual love.

Christian Nationalism is a sectarian movement based on mutual hate.

Jesus came to transform the world.

Christian Nationalism is here to maintain the status quo.

They have co-opted the Son of God. They've turned this humble rabbi into a gun-toting, gay-bashing, science-denying, money-loving, fear-mongering fascist.
. . .

If this was truly a Christian nation, we would love all of our LGBTQ neighbors. If this was truly a Christian nation, we would make sure every child in this state and in this country was housed, fed, clothed, educated, and insured.

If this was truly a Christian nation, we would never make it a Christian nation because we know the table of fellowship is open to everybody, including our Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, and atheist neighbors.
. . .

The closest thing we have to the kingdom of heaven is a multiracial, multicultural democracy where power is truly shared among all people. Something that's yet to exist in human history.
. . .

When someone asked Jesus to name his most important commandment, he cheats and gives two -- two that he says are related. The first is to love God. The second, he said, "Is like it: love they neighbor as thyself." It's like it because when I recognize the divine image in myself, I can't help but recognize it in my neighbor; whether they're Christian or not, whether they're religious or not. In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus specifically defines neighbor as some different from us, racially, economically, politically, religiously. God loves diversity; God loves variety. Just look around this beautiful planet of ours.
. . .

God is so much bigger than our human categories. God is not a Presbyterian. God is not a Christian.

God it not a noun at all.

God is a verb.

God is not a being.

God is being itself.

God is love.

And that's why Jesus is against anything that gets in the way of that love between neighbors, including religion.
. . .

That's why he says sinners will get to the kingdom of heaven before religious people do. Sorry to everyone here. I know you came all this way.
. . .

The kingdom of God inverts the power dynamics of "all the kingdoms in the world."

True strength is vulnerability.

True status is equality.

True wealth is sharing.

And we as Christians are called to realize that kingdom "on earth as it is in heaven," not by force, but by faith.

Jesus asked us to have the faith of a mustard seed, trusting that by living and dying for love we give birth to a better world.

That's not easy to do.
. . .

Christian Nationalists are more committed to the love of power than the power of love.

And it exposes a lack of faith because the opposite of faith is not doubt. Doubt is a healthy part of any faith.

The opposite of faith is control. When we stop trusting God, when we stop trusting love, we start taking control for ourselves.

Christian Nationalists want to control what we read, who we marry, where we travel, when we have children. They want to control our minds and our bodies.

"O ye of little faith."
. . .

[Girard442]

7. It's all because the poll numbers are down.

If they were up, they'd be shouting "Hallelujah" even while Donnie was reading aloud from "Mein Kampf."

An open-face peanut butter sandwich is more reflective than they are.

[pat_k]

8. Christian Nationalists. Call them what they are.

I have nothing against conservatives who have true Christian faith. Unfortunately the term "Christian Conservative" is often used to refer to people who are in fact Christian Nationalists whose words and actions are antithetical to true Christian faith. It's time to be clear with our terms.

Texas State Rep. James Talarico is a riveting speaker on the cancer on the faith that is Christian Nationalism.

[yonder]

9. Hitched their boxcar to the Hellbound Train and the conductor has done punched their ticket.

[hatrack]

10. To paraphrase British WWI Ace Mick Mannock on the Red Baron's death . . .

"I hope they roast all the way down".

Boo Fucking Hoo.

[NameAlreadyTaken]

11. How sad for them. Anyway,

[Trenzalore]

12. No one is going into their churches and telling them what to do

[kysrsoze]

13. Given they worship a false idol, and aren't actually Christians, they reap what they sow.

It's their own fault; all their hypocritical, mean-spirited, un-Christian-like behaviors and attitudes that are pushing the rest of the country toward secularism.

Pat_K nailed it. They are Christian Nationalists (a.k.a. - fascists).

[rurallib]

15. "with regular church attendance declining." Well there is some good news

[Sky Jewels]

22. It's embarrassing how far behind other "advanced" nations we are

when it comes to the decline of religion. Hopefully the pace will continue to speed up. I can’t understand how any modern person still believes these STUPID fucking stories about magical beings.

[Stardust Mirror]

16. "their values"?

What would those values be, exactly? What are "Christian values"?
And, after you list those, show how those specific values are being "suffocated".

Let me try... patriarchy, authoritarianism and racism
Cuz "loving your neighbor" is only being "suffocated" by these same Christians

[lindysalsagal]

17. The drug of religion is wearing off. The fun is over. The thrill is gone.

Payoffs aren't outpacing losses. Boo-hoo.
Just like the orange menace, attempting to promote religion through democracy will be their downfall. They should have stayed the hell out of politics.

[Permanut]

18. The "Christian Conservatives" described in this article are neither.

Both of my parents were conservative Christians; they're gone now, but they would have nothing to do with, as my Dad would say it, "whoever the hell these people are".

[Lonestarblue]

19. I don't care what anyone's religion is, but I think it should be private or shared only with people with similar views.

No beliefs of one faith should be implemented as the law of our land, as our Founders deliberately prevented the establishment of a state religion with the First Amendment. The only reason white evangelicals are complaining that their values are being suffocated is because they expect the majority to live according to their dictates and the majority, in the great Tim Walz’s words is saying, “Mind your own damn business.” No one stops them from living by their beliefs. No one forces abortion or same-sex marriage on them. They need to learn that they do not have the right to force others to behave as they want. If they feel suffocated because they can’t impose their will on other people, too damn bad.

[Biophilic]

20. These were not good people to begin with.

I don't care what so called good works they performed or how chastely they live their lives. These are people that want to have power over other people and want to be able to tell others how to behave and what to believe. That is not a good person. They worship power not love. They yearn for control not a bountiful life for all. They want what they want and screw the others. Basically, they want to be in control of others. Nope, not good people.

[wildflowergardener]

21. So sad

Boo hoo I feel so sad for them.

[NNguyenMD]

23. They are much more powerful starting an uncommitted movement..

Of their own, and uncoupling themselves from any one party.

[drmeow]

25. Fascists who claim to be Christian Face Reality: Increasingly, They Stand Alone

[thucythucy]

26. They have already disproportionate representation in the Senate,

the Supreme Court, and the Electoral College.

In a true democracy they'd have so much less power, because they truly are a rather small minority.

They should be overjoyed to have the power they already have, but no, they want even more control over the lives of all the rest of us.

[tanyev]

27. Oh the poor dears.

Jesus specifically said, "My kingdom is not of this world." Practice your faith however you want, but don't use politics to impose your belief system on people that don't subscribe to it. It's that simple.

[polichick]

28. Thank goodness people are turning away from cults dressed up as religions.

[DontBelieveEastisEas]

30. "The country is growing more secular and pluralistic by the year": And has been since its founding. nt

[Palpatine]

31. It is curious

that Americans are becoming aware of something called "Christian nationalism" just as it is becoming apparent that Christianity as such is on the way out. The U.S. is well on its way to becoming as post-Christian as Europe is now. Historians speak of a "Christian consensus" in American culture -- and they do not speak of it as existing at any time after 1950. The decline in traditional religious belief since then has been dramatic, epochal, and, most importantly, IRREVERSIBLE. Fewer than 50% of Americans now attend church, and that number will not increase in your lifetime or mine. At least 25% of the Millennial generation identify as atheist or agnostic, and Generation Z appears to be the same only more so. There will never again be a "Great Awakening" in America, at least not one that is Christian in content, and I see no other religion now existing as having that much potential. Except, of course, for the One True Church, the Church of the SubGenius. Praise "Bob"!