Last week, social media (at least, that side I’m interested in) was buzzing with hilarity at a conference announcement. The Kairos Christian Alliance had proudly advertised a weekend event, titled “Muscular Christianity”, and just the title was enough to clue everyone in on what it was going to be about: a domineering religion full of tough guys who were going to put women, Muslims, and brown people in their place. Little did we expect how cartoonish these people were going to be until we saw the poster.
It was going to be a bunch of white male dweebs strutting around, thumping their chests. These were all losers, and I hadn’t heard of most of them, except for Sean Davis, who was a founder of The Federalist, so I didn’t post anything. It looked predictably stupid. I figured I’d wait until after the conference and look for some reviews.
There weren’t any. This conference wasn’t at all newsworthy.
However, someone did an analysis of the speakers. She goes through each of the men on that poster, and they were, without exception, deplorable Christian nationalists who hate immigrants and think women should shut up, stay home, and take care of the kids. Follow that link if you’re curious about who they are.
For instance, David Schrock:
Conspiracy theories are also at the heart of some of the scheduled speakers, especially with David Schrock. Schrock is the editor in chief of Christ Over All. His X feed is filled with how to minister to Muslims, critical analysis of Islam and anti-Sharia laws in America, anti-vaccine posts, concerns that the church is too effeminate, and celebrations of the Southern Baptist Convention further restrictions on women in pastoral roles.
They’re all that pathetic. For a short summary of the whole group, consult this revised poster:
And here’s a more serious summary:
What we find in the speakers under the misleading title of muscular Christianity, is instead a MAGA Christian nationalism, whose men are the victims of progress, feminism, LGBTQ2SA, and democrats. The speakers are a convergence of conspiracy, racism, hate, extremism, and anti-LGBTQ2SA, hoping to mobilize Christian men to support their metapolitical movement. In the past when we have dismissed these movements it has been to the detriment of society, as distasteful as these groups are, they are having an impact. We may make fun of them, we may meme their posts, but we have to be aware and respond to them.
We do have to closer eye on these people, because the media won’t do it for us. These are jokers who have managed to work their way up into the highest levels of power.
A baker’s dozen. Are they going to release a calendar with shirtless pictures?
the knack this movement has is in winning primaries (either themselves or their appointed (anointed?)) through espousing this extremism, and then being guaranteed a general election win because of the media machine around them convincing people Democrats are ‘evil’.
One of the hassles of our election system these days is that when a Republican wins their primary, they come out of it ‘triumphant’. The party rallies around them every time. The losers ‘kiss the ring’.
When a Democrat wins a primary, they often come out damaged. Much of their money that should have been spent fighting the Republican was already spent just getting there, and the negative ads end up basically writing the opposition research for them. The imperfections pointed out become permanent turn-offs.
@ ^ acroyear : “..then being guaranteed a general election win because of the media machine around them convincing people Democrats are ‘evil’.
Yes – and not just the media machine but also the Purity Disunity Bothsiderist, OnlyUnicornist types who will undermine the ONLY real left wing option that the USA has because they think it isn’t left enough in a very horribly far reichwing nation where too many times their supposedly ideal choices would lose badly because you need to get enough people to vote for you and that means you have to reach outside your base to win elections. Ugly political reality.
Then there are the dishonest Trumpist and accelerationist trolls like specifically “beholder” that deliberately pretend to be one thing whilst working very hard to get the worst of the worst elected instead.
Divide and conquer is the oldest dirty trick in the book yet it works all too infuriatingly well too infuriatingly often.
The Left needs to unite behind the Democratic party and its nominees and give them full and enthusiastic support no matter who because the alternative is, well, we’re living in it now thanks to those who didn’t do that last time.
Plus in 2016 with Stein & Berniebros vs HRC. In addition to 2001 with Nader vs Gore.. ad nauseam.
History shows USAians who want anything good, any progress and leftwing policies and hope, simply must VOTE BLUE NO MATTER WHO like lives depend upon it because they do.
Not doing so has already killed so many from Alex Pretti & Renée Good to the hundreds of Iranian schoolgirls and the unknown number of unknown sailors in the small Central American boats blown up in extrajudicial illegal executions then (probably – almost certainly) defamed after their murders by the Trump tyranny that just killed them. Plus so many more.
Their blood is on the hands of all in the USA who could have voted for Kamala Harris and the Democratic party but did not do so.
If there’s ever another genuine chance in the USA which I doubt. VOTE BLUE NO MATTER WHO!
That is the ONLY ethical and rational political choice.
There should be zero tolerance for Bothsiderists and OnlyUnicornists and Thid party Spoilerists who attack and undermine the Democratic party ever again. We know what their bullshit results in.
At least NOT until the USA has a totally different significantly reformed governance system with preferential voting.
(Think I might possibly have mentioned this just once or thrice before here?)
Perhaps they should invite Eric Schmitt, MO senator, to their confab. Seems like he would fit right in.
The irony that “Muscular Christianity” references entirely something else — a primarily English movement with a strong undercurrent of “this is how we bring immigrants from the Empire into the mainstream” in the late 19th and early 20th century, especially as apparent in UK approaches to the then-just-forming Olympic movement — has escaped these clowns. (All apologies to Emmett Kelly actually sincere.)
But that would have required them to read, or even be aware of, some of the extensive academic literature on the relationship between “leisure activities” and “social movements” before they began their branding efforts, and that’s Just Not Done. That would require, like, acknowledging that anything outside their own tiny, cramped awareness even exists.
What a serious summary says: “a MAGA Christian nationalism, whose men are the victims of progress, feminism, LGBTQ2SA, and democrats.”
What PZ said: “These are jokers who have managed to work their way up into the highest levels of power.”
And Trump isn’t afraid to use them.
@2 – acroyear
One of the hassles of our election system these days is that when a Republican wins their primary, they come out of it ‘triumphant’. The party rallies around them every time. The losers ‘kiss the ring’.
When a Democrat wins a primary, they often come out damaged.
The Republicans have managed to don a Teflon coat. When anything bad comes out about them they confess to being human and caving to temptation (the devil). Then they ask for forgiveness from their God and constituents and say their bond with God has become stronger. Thus, they are now a stronger person for having faced evil. understood their weakness and are now back in God’s good graces.
OTH, if a Democrat gets caught, they are forced to resign.
At least that seems to be the general rule nowadays.
Is there anyone but me who expects these people to generate plentiful scandals about pedophilia, SA, hiring gay prostitutes, beating their wives, philandering etc?
Whatever happened to good ol’ kairosfocus?
More like ‘muscle head christianity’ Karl Marx was right: religion is the opium of the masses.
shermanj. Maybe the lower ranks find sedation in their faith. To these clowns religion is more like an intellectual and moral lobotomy than an opiate.
Religion is more often a meth for the masses. A lot of opposition to all sorts of things is because conservative religion says God doesn’t like it.