Radical Conservatism Is Killing American Religion
Category: News & Politics
Via: john-russell • 3 years ago • 53 commentsBy: David Atkins (Washington Monthly)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
How right-wing religious leaders are trying to conquer the world even if it means losing their souls.
byDavid Atkins June 19, 2021 | 3:49 AM Political Animal 
Religious leaders pray with President Donald Trump after he signed a proclamation for a national day of prayer to occur on Sunday, September 3, 2017, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
========================================================================
American organized religion is facing a downward spiral crisis of its own creation. The latest effort by conservative Catholic bishops to use abortion as a cudgel to deny President Biden communion is a perfect example of this self-sabotage:
The Roman Catholic bishops of the United States, flouting a warning from the Vatican, have overwhelmingly voted to draft guidance on the sacrament of the Eucharist, advancing a push by conservative bishops to deny President Biden communion because of his support of abortion rights.
The decision, made public on Friday afternoon, is aimed at the nation's second Catholic president, perhaps the most religiously observant commander in chief since Jimmy Carter, and exposes bitter divisions in American Catholicism. It capped three days of contentious debate at a virtual June meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The measure was approved by a vote of 73 percent in favor and 24 percent opposed.
It's honestly astonishing. President Biden is devout Catholic who attends church with uncommon regularity. He wears his faith on his sleeve and uses it to guide his moral decisions. He has suffered personal tragedies that would break many people, and somehow maintained an almost maddening optimism about America, his fellow human beings (even his Republican opponents) and the Divine itself. A religious organization suffering dramatic declines that was serious about maintaining its influence on this earth should be elated to have such a person as arguably the most powerful person in the world.
But not the leadership of the Roman Catholic bishops, which stands well to the political right of the laity. They aligned themselves strongly with Donald Trump, one of the most personally reprobate men imaginable, an inveterate avoider of church with a personality so far from that of the textual Jesus Christ that conservative Christians had to rationalize their support for him as an "imperfect vessel" or a modern-day Cyrus—the unbeliever who nonetheless helped the faithful. It would be difficult to imagine a more cruel, mean-spirited, narcissistic and vainglorious person than Trump, a more perfect icon of the seven deadly sins.
They took no action to attempt to sanction Trump despite his offensive personality and his heresies on nearly every point of Christian doctrine in the New Testament-including, notably, the death penalty. But they've decided to draw the line against Biden on abortion , an issue that famously does not actually appear in the Bible and requires tortured textual interpretations to justify doctrinal enforcement. This despite the fact that Catholics split their votes for Biden and Trump almost evenly.
The decision by the bishops to take greater offense to a fellow Catholic over abortion than, say, the abuse of migrant children or the the state murder of prisoners by a grinning philanderer illustrates their real motivations. The bishops are not acting in the interest of their faith or their flock; they're acting as agents of the warped moral morass that is American Conservatism, Inc. They are prioritizing control of women's bodies over every other spiritual or secular importance. In so doing, they are rapidly alienating at least half of what remains of the American church's adherents.
Relatedly, protestant pastors are struggling to control the growth of QAnon conspiracies in their congregations. The QAnon cult is partly just the latest gloss on Satanic panic and Great Awakening movements in the past. But it is also a form of apostasy, a bizarre heretical substitution of Donald Trump for the avenging Jesus of the Book of Revelation, come to punish the wicked in a fallen world, vindicate the ostracized true believers, and usher in the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. In the case of the Q faithful, the flaming sword of Jesus wreaking havoc against the devotees of the Antichrist has been replaced with the mass executions of Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and fellow liberals at Gitmo by secret military tribunals.
Much like the conservative Catholic bishops, QAnon adherents substitute their profane racial and sexual insecurities and temporal partisan allegiances for authentic spiritual connection and compassion. But the pastors of America's white evangelical churches largely have only themselves the blame: they have allowed their culture to become dominated by the hard right with little pushback. White evangelical America is now a very distinct subculture on social and economic issues from most of the rest of America, including even other Americans of faith. It was only a matter of time before lashing their beliefs to the altar of partisan culture wars would end up with the sacrifice of their faith itself to the golden idol of Donald Trump.
It is no surprise, then, that an increasingly progressive America has recoiled in horror, fleeing churches and abandoning the religious organizations that have set themselves squarely at war with multicultural democracy.
Religion could find a footing even in a socially liberal world where science and technology have supplanted so much of what was previously the mystery of the divine. Young generations beset by existential environmental and economic crises in the face of an intransigent political system have little secular grounding for hope in the future. Faith could provide some irrational courage in the face of despair, much as it has done for President Biden.
But that would require religious leaders to abandon the American revanchist conservative project. For the time being, however, it appears they would prefer to take a Hail Mary pass at an authoritarian theocracy to gain the world even if it means losing their soul—and their faithful—in the bargain.
Tags
Who is online
416 visitors
Where is Charlton Heston when you need him?
John, as is usually the case, you got that inverted.
oh look, the ghost of fascism past...
One would think you would've fixed that project problem by now but alas ...... you haven't.
Deflection, projection and denial - still all you got sparky?
You know why the American bishops didn't go after trmp? He wasn't Catholic. And somehow, I think that man would have gotten away with all of his bullshit if he were Catholic because he was anti-choice. They would have overlooked the numerous marriages and divorces, the adultery, the blasphemy and sacrilege even if he were Catholic.
Unfortunately some Catholic bishops are ultra conservative, although there are also some who are not.
On the local parish level my impression is that parish priests and pastors are generally more liberal or moderate. I know my parish pastor and priests are.
There are many many liberals and progressives in the Catholic community, but unfortunately some of the leaders of the Church are not.
The head of the Archdiocese of Chicago , Cardinal Blase Cupich, is a liberal.
the papists should probably keep their heads down and stfu, unless they think they can afford the attrition...
Considering most Americans identify and/or follow a particular religion, I highly doubt religion in America is in danger of being "killed." But one can always hope I suppose.
In U.S., Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid Pace
While that's a good thing, it's still a far cry to say religion in the US is being killed.
Yeah, well, too many at one time. They're messing with my Sunday brunch plans. Nobody's going to church and everybody's going to the Purple Onion for a fritatta and a Bloody Mary!
I completely agree. But, it's a start.
When I was a kid, my parents would take me and go to church, then to food. Had a hotel in town that had a huge spread every sunday. Every breakfast food imaginable on the buffet. $4.00 as I recall, all you can shovel in yer pie hole. Damn good food.
Every little bit helps.
I think they're just deathly afraid of their influence over the government and policy waning. They used to be large and in charge and essentially unquestioned. Now the old white Christian Patriarchy is experiencing severe erosion and when they try and influence politics and policy they get pushback and even occasional contempt. Since our founding Christianity has really only seen the establishment clause as keeping government out of religion, it's never seen it as keeping religion out of government. Only now are some taking that seriously and that has caused apoplectic panic among religious leaders.
I've actually had people tell me that separation is only supposed to keep government out of religion and not religion out of government. Which sort of defeats the entire purpose of separation.
I don't know why they even have a say, in ANYTHING.
Why would anyone of good faith ever want to be assassinated with such hateful lying hypocrites?
If that is not how rightwing fundamentalists see themselves, they need to change their evil ways...
Because, they are coming off as intolerant jerks!
Why would anyone want to be "assassinated" with anyone?
I'm certain JBB meant "associated". If he's using autocorrect that's probably what came up.
I am sure you are correct. I just had to laugh at the way it read and I was just ribbing.
I don't believe that you are close enough to JBB to "rib" him. You would have been better off just leaving the whole thing alone
Oh so no sense of humor allowed. [deleted]
Pffft! If we were any closer we'd be in back of each other.
Sure you were!
So Catholics are going to deny Biden the Eucharist because he is not explicitly pro-life? I guess they need to apply that standard to all Catholics then. On the plus side, there will now be enough unused Jesus wafers to feed a small starving country.
This article is not about whether or not God exists or whether religion has any worth.
Please stay on topic.
I tend to agree. There is a notorious lack of grace on the religious Right. When church leaders are constantly urging their flocks to be angry or afraid of this or that group of people in the world, they should not be surprised that it gets harder and harder to fill the pews. Church has transformed from a place that grants peace and comfort to one that inspires anger and anxiety.
Didn't the Pope tell the US Bishops to STFU?
Good for the Pope!
You have to wonder how the US Bishops justify this. What are they going to do to members of their flock that support abortion or have an abortion. Will they have to fill out an affidavit when they pass the platter on Sundays?
They don't know unless you confess it. Most people aren't going to confess their true beliefs in the confessional. I never did. I thought about it, but I didn't want to get into a theological debate with someone who probably has a pHD in theology.
So in essence the Bishops are trying a political play without addressing the members of their flocks that are sinners in believing in abortion or having an abortion.
Sounds about right for the Church.
The Catholic church is making a huge hypocritical mess of itself, especially since the Pope himself said there would be no banning of communion.
So I wonder what the Pope, the all head of the Catholic Church, will do if the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops do actually deny Biden communion. Do these pedophiles in Holy Robes think the Pope will do nothing to them? They may wish they had stuck to children who are easily manipulated.
Which of those priests are pedophiles?
I think he can censure them and if they keep up the bullshit they could be excommunicated
They can be censured, reassigned, demoted and defrocked.
So now you're coming to the defense of pedophile priests?
[removed]
It's a long back story but perhaps relevant...
Such hypocrites
Very interesting and telling that you managed to pull THAT out of this: "Which of those priests are pedophiles?".
Now, in your infinite wisdom, what priests, pedophile or not, did you manage to convince yourself that I defended????
SMMFH
Hypocrites all.
It is funny that your fan club voted the comment up when it clearly made no sense whatsoever.
Typical.
I think that President Biden should go on as always - he can still attend Mass and if he is denied the Eucharist then he can walk away & know that those that are judging him will be judged. Mass can be comforting in it's own right. Eating the body & drinking the blood is not the only way to be close to Jesus. I am sure he will continue on as a good Mass attending Catholic, praying as he does & let the self-righteous "Pharisees" get theirs in the end.
How dare you post something sane!
I'm sorry????
I'm not!!!! It was refreshing.
As a former Catholic I know how all that shit works. I am not a big Biden fan, but what they are doing to him is wrong and I think he should realize that the Eucharist is only a small part of his devotion.
I would go to Mass just for all the bells and whistles and the aerobics if someone asked me or if it was for a funeral or a wedding. I don't feel the need to partake in the Eucharist