Fundamentalism's voice of protest continues to weaken. Evangelicals
and Catholics are allies now. The seeds planted by Francis Schaeffer and watered
by Chuck Colson – and the architects of Vatican II have come to fruition. For
good or ill we've come a long way from Chick tracts and Hislop's The Two Babylons. The last bastions of
anti-Catholicism are today found in connection with Ulster and the (equally
dubious) heritage of Ian Paisley.
More than a few commentators have attempted to make this
point. This one dates from the dawn of the Trump administration. Over four
years later things have definitely changed. There's a strange energy in the
air, people are energised to be sure. Some might think the notion that the
Christian Right is in decline is ridiculous. They can certainly make their case
that the movement is thriving.
https://www.christianpost.com/news/museum-of-the-bible-unveils-magna-carta-exhibit.html
The Evangelical community was excited when in 2017 the Green
family (of Hobby Lobby fame) opened the Museum of the Bible in Washington DC.
For many it communicated a powerful message regarding the Bible and its place
in American society and culture. While they would have preferred it to be
located on the National Mall itself, the fact that it sits nearby (with a top
floor view) is pregnant with symbolism.
The move by Francis was surprising but it also makes sense.
The anti- Vatican II Traditionalist movement is growing within Catholicism –
particularly in the West and it has allied itself with Right-wing political
forces that seek to counter Francis on almost every front.
https://www.thedefensepost.com/2021/07/14/poland-abrams-tanks/
Poland's ruling PiS continues to pick up a lot of negative
press coverage in Europe but you'd hardly know it in the United States as
Warsaw continues to forge close ties with Washington. Unlike the other powers
within Europe and even some of Poland's fellow members in the V4 bloc, Poland
is fully on board with Washington's agenda vis-à-vis Russia.
Biden isn't being aggressive enough toward Cuba, or so it is being argued. Even though it's likely the US is playing a part in the current unrest, there are calls for a more direct intervention. The Right is portraying Biden as weak, indecisive and perhaps guilty of moral and ideological equivocation.
There has been a steady stream of such stories in recent days.
The Anti-China campaign is in full swing. It has become so normative to see
this kind of reporting it hardly raises an eyebrow anymore. But it should. In
fact there should be a good deal of ire and even outrage.
When considering the recent government sanctioned UFO reports, one is left wondering if a leak wasn't imminent. Was this damage control, an attempt to head off a 'scoop' brought by some whistleblower? Or was pressure building in some corner of the bureaucracy and finally it was agreed that the report would be released.
And released it was but what has been interesting is that it
has been utilised by the American military-industrial establishment (and its
media assets) as a means of propaganda and scare-tactics.
https://www.vcyamerica.org/crosstalk/2021/06/14/u-s-flag-under-attack/
Every once in awhile I grit my teeth and listen to an episode
of this radio programme that represents a fusion of John Birch Society-inspired
ideology and Protestant Fundamentalism. Not everything on the show is bad but
most of it is and some episodes are certainly worse than others.
This episode (linked above) was one of the bad ones. The
entire discussion is rooted in a false premise and as such the whole discussion
goes off the rails.
https://www.npr.org/2021/06/24/1009882751/the-battle-over-teaching-critical-race-theory
While the interview is less than pleasant to listen to, it
nevertheless is warranted. I was pleased to note that some have picked up on
the fact that the current Critical Race Theory frenzy is little more than hype
and it also represents an attempt by Right-wing forces to generate a new wave
of Tea Party-type hysteria. The parallels are obvious it was refreshing to hear
someone else take note of it.
The legacy of George W Bush is being slowly rehabilitated. In many circles it is already complete. The dismal state of the country and world by the end of his presidency has been forgotten and re-written and he's been transformed into cute and bumbling Grandpa George.
But that's not what he was. He tore the Middle East apart,
sowed cancerous seeds within American society and its judiciary, used
technology for evil means and left behind a legacy of war, mass death, torture,
kidnapping, assassination and the like. He was and is a monster and yet he was
the darling of the American Evangelicals – one of their own. It's a testimony
to the sad and degenerate state of American Christianity.
Like so many other ministries, Come Over and Help is experiencing what I can only call a downgrade. There are many little things I've noticed over recent years but a couple of glaring examples has driven me to go public in my condemnation and I can no longer recommend them as a ministry to support.
https://greenwald.substack.com/p/trump-doj-obtained-data-on-schiff
Greenwald rightly calls out Democratic hypocrisy regarding
the issue of government spying. The tools which they helped to create and
endorse were turned against them. These are the same tools that violate the US
Constitution, undermine free speech and democracy, and the same tools they used
to violate international agreements – and yes, spy on not just citizens but
people within the government – and even political figures in other governments.
