Training materials produced by the Florida Department of Education direct middle and high school teachers to indoctrinate students in the tenets of Christian nationalism, a right-wing effort to merge Christian and American identities. Thousands of Florida teachers, lured by
For the intelligent, critical thinking ones sure. Of course the rest of their education is designed to prevent that whenever possible.
I like to think of myself as reasonably intelligent and self-aware, but it took me about 15 years after moving out of my childhood home to fully break free of the indoctrination I'd received.
the jesus you're talking about is no longer a thing to them. white republican jesus hates poor people, loves guns, and never tips the waitress (because they see NO contradiction in bleating 'pull yourself up by the bootstraps' while simultaneously preventing anyone from pulling themselves up by their bootstraps).
"but how can they just change what jesus is all about?" you might be asking
the more important question is: when is everyone going to stop assuming that christofascists need anything to make any sense?
Moore, who has been an outspoken critic of many evangelicals' embrace of Trump, argues that this has led him to conclude that American evangelical Christianity is now in crisis.
I’m a millennial who raised in an evangelical home. This isn’t something that is happening “just now” it was this way for decades, if not centuries, before I was ever born.
I have more than a few memories of pointing out to adults that their politics, speech, and behavior were at odds with scripture, only to be called a heretic to my face, as a kid. They are literally the scribes and pharisees that Jesus rants about for the entirety of Matthew 23.
I think it’s safe to say that the vast majority of people who call themselves “Christian” are not remotely followers of Jesus, his teaching, or his philosophy. They’ve just stolen his brand for personal gain.
But also this isn’t a sudden change in doctrine, it’s like a century in the making in its current form, but the groundwork is as old as it being a state religion. Nothing is incapable of being corrupted by the powerful
While he had some bangers he also had some pretty bad takes too: slaves obey your masters/not changing the Exodus rules for slavery, faith healer bs, substitutionary atonement, etc.
Not to undermine the ickiness of the slavery thing - because it is still very much fucked up - but it was a very different paradigm than chattel slavery. Slaves were considered a member of a household rather than property*, and were not generally born into slavery or trapped in slavery. So “slaves obey your masters” is almost literally meant the same way as “children obey your parents”… that is, “be loyal to the head of the household.”
And the “substitutionary atonement” thing is totally not scriptural at all. That’s one of those things that Catholics just added because they felt like it… along with the heaven/hell afterlife and a whole slew of other stuff. Jesus was very clear about how people are expected to behave and the consequences/rewards of being shitty or righteous, respectively.
* Except when buying a wife or concubine. They were absolutely property… albeit it property with special rights and privileges.
Don't be surprised at this shit. After all, this is a country that 'pledges allegiance' in school. That's that whole country, not just Florida. And that's to say nothing of the flag worship.