You guys... He...he signed *the covers* pic.twitter.com/bLQzVN9vcB— Sarah Cooper (@sarahcpr) March 8, 2019
Some things I've read this past week that I want to pass on to you:
It’s only recently dawned on me that most folks in the North don’t understand the historic role of the church, and especially the Southern Baptist Convention, in the South as a front for white nationalist culture. It’s called “slaveholders’ religion” for a reason...— Shalini Tripathi (@shalinitripathi) March 9, 2019
I grew up in the South, and moved to NYC as an adult, so I’ve lived in both places, and talking to both Republican and Democratic voters up North, I’ve realized the only reason they’re shocked by the vulgarity of Trump is because they’ve never interacted with Southern church— Shalini Tripathi (@shalinitripathi) March 9, 2019
culture. If they had, like I did, Trumpism would just seem like a very normal and natural outgrowth of GOP policies since Goldwater. The majority of GOP voters I encountered in the South are “conservative religious” voters, ie, descendants of that white nationalist slaveholders’— Shalini Tripathi (@shalinitripathi) March 9, 2019
religion. That’s why those Moral Majority and Values Voters folks promote morally repulsive candidates like Roy Moore and Trump - they’ve always been the descendants of white nationalists. I feel like there should be more discussion of this peculiar aspect of this history!— Shalini Tripathi (@shalinitripathi) March 9, 2019
Steve Benen, "This Week in God, 3.19.19":
John Fea, a historian at Messiah College, told the newspaper, "The fact that people are bringing Bibles to him says a lot about them."
When the man who embodies all 7 deadly sins—lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride—is signing Bibles it means that it is time to reevaluate your religion.— Ryan Knight 🇺🇸 (@ProudResister) March 8, 2019
Bradley Onishi, "At CPAC the President Got the One Thing He Needed":
Evangelicalism's moral militancy on abortion is a political shield from the complexities of the democratic process. When I went into the voting booth as a single-issue voter, I knew my mission was to vote anti-abortion down the ballot—from president to school board. This meant I didn't have to engage with any of the other issues facing my country and my community during any given election. I could shut my brain off and go to sleep at night without worrying about immigration policies, funding for child cares, or new initiatives for stem cell research. My single-issue voting was a shield from having to wade into the messy details of democratic life. It kept me from having to think critically about any other part of the political spectrum.
Evangelicalism's political shield is also a moral excuse. When you center abortion at the cost of all other issues, you center the unborn whose lives are supposedly at stake. The unborn become angels who must be protected at all costs, which means the rest of us—the born and bodied—are of secondary concern at best. Harrowing pictures of families at the border, stories of underfunded school districts, rising economic inequality—these issues can be whisked away without concern or debate. The bodies of Dreamers, of immigrants, and even at-risk children are no match for unborn angels.
Alan Blinder and Elizabeth Dias, "Trump Surveys Tornado Damage in Alabama, and Signs Some Bibles, Too":
"This is Alabama, and although not overly common, it is also not rare for citizens to give politicians their Bibles to sign," said Angi Stalnaker, a Republican political consultant in the state.
I grew up in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, and still live in my home state of Arkansas.
I have NEVER in my life heard of ANYONE giving a politician a bible to sign.
