We’ll come back to this, but Warnock’s victory is part of a modern resurgence of the RL, which (and I’m biased here) I chronicle in my book: https://t.co/APQ8JsvfNq
1. I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that if you want to understand the big political stories from January—from faith-infused insurrection to Warnock’s victory to Biden’s inauguration—you really need to understand two things: Christian nationalism and the Religious Left.
We’ll come back to this, but Warnock’s victory is part of a modern resurgence of the RL, which (and I’m biased here) I chronicle in my book: https://t.co/APQ8JsvfNq
Here’s an intro, but much smarter people have written way better stuff about it: https://t.co/Q0tVWUdgld
This: https://t.co/6SaOk9Q2S3
This: https://t.co/Zq4UROnxr2
This: https://t.co/jUqNd5cryL
& This: https://t.co/mhU7ACbrAZ
Put another way: they’re a big part of why Trump got elected in the first place https://t.co/uSkkrrskut
Getting arrested.
For protesting the GOP-led effort to repeal/replace the Affordable Care Act. https://t.co/5rIIdz792i
E.g., Warnock’s Capitol arrest was part of a MUCH larger protest campaign by liberal religious advocates to save the ACA. https://t.co/vGxHCKL7Ue
Heck, when McCain gave his “thumbs down” to the ACA repeal, the sound you heard was LITERALLY RL activists gasping w/relief.
In fact, leaders like Rev. William Barber began listing it as one of America’s “interlocking evils.”
The #PoorPeoplesCampaign names Christian nationalism as an interlocking injustice w/ racism, poverty, militarism & ecological devastation. I hope folks who are paying attention to this dangerous moral narrative also know there\u2019s a better way to practice faith in public.
— Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove (@wilsonhartgrove) January 29, 2021
Meanwhile, (mostly) liberal Christians founded Christians Against Christian Nationalism. https://t.co/eain5f6TGo
E.g., in December, when Trump supporters gathered in DC, there was the often Christian nationalist “Jericho March.”
Speakers from that event would later pray for Proud Boys as they marched into the streets of DC…
…And the churches just kept replacing the stolen/destroyed signs. https://t.co/fOjXskxhQh
It was a group of clergy gathered around a BLM sign. https://t.co/KPu1KU7How
Warnock, who was attacked for his liberal religious beliefs, won in Georgia. https://t.co/QfLXUYE2Vn
And the inaugural prayer service? It was FILLED with clergy who protested against Trump during his tenure, and the preacher was none other than William Barber. https://t.co/RIgm9Bvu8u
Also there protesting with him that week was Cynthia L. Hale, senior pastor of Ray of Hope Christian Church in Georgia.
Naturally, she was a speaker at the inaugural prayer service. https://t.co/5rIIdz792i
But as they rose, Christian nationalism arguably only made the Religious Left stronger — even to the point of helping them win elections.
But if you want to understand the months/years ahead, it’s helpful to know how we got here.
Then, if you’re bored, there’s a lot more on all this in my book: https://t.co/APQ8JsvfNq
More from Culture
I just finished Eric Adler's The Battle of the Classics, and wanted to say something about Joel Christiansen's review linked below. I am not sure what motivates the review (I speculate a bit below), but it gives a very misleading impression of the book. 1/x
The meat of the criticism is that the history Adler gives is insufficiently critical. Adler describes a few figures who had a great influence on how the modern US university was formed. It's certainly critical: it focuses on the social Darwinism of these figures. 2/x
Other insinuations and suggestions in the review seem wildly off the mark, distorted, or inappropriate-- for example, that the book is clickbaity (it is scholarly) or conservative (hardly) or connected to the events at the Capitol (give me a break). 3/x
The core question: in what sense is classics inherently racist? Classics is old. On Adler's account, it begins in ancient Rome and is revived in the Renaissance. Slavery (Christiansen's primary concern) is also very old. Let's say classics is an education for slaveowners. 4/x
It's worth remembering that literacy itself is elite throughout most of this history. Literacy is, then, also the education of slaveowners. We can honor oral and musical traditions without denying that literacy is, generally, good. 5/x
As someone\u2019s who\u2019s read the book, this review strikes me as tremendously unfair. It mostly faults Adler for not writing the book the reviewer wishes he had! https://t.co/pqpt5Ziivj
— Teresa M. Bejan (@tmbejan) January 12, 2021
The meat of the criticism is that the history Adler gives is insufficiently critical. Adler describes a few figures who had a great influence on how the modern US university was formed. It's certainly critical: it focuses on the social Darwinism of these figures. 2/x
Other insinuations and suggestions in the review seem wildly off the mark, distorted, or inappropriate-- for example, that the book is clickbaity (it is scholarly) or conservative (hardly) or connected to the events at the Capitol (give me a break). 3/x
The core question: in what sense is classics inherently racist? Classics is old. On Adler's account, it begins in ancient Rome and is revived in the Renaissance. Slavery (Christiansen's primary concern) is also very old. Let's say classics is an education for slaveowners. 4/x
It's worth remembering that literacy itself is elite throughout most of this history. Literacy is, then, also the education of slaveowners. We can honor oral and musical traditions without denying that literacy is, generally, good. 5/x
.@bellingcat's attempt in their new book, published by
@BloomsburyBooks, to coverup the @OPCW #Douma controversy, promote US and UK gov. war narratives, and whitewash fraudulent conduct within the OPCW, is an exercise in deception through omission @marydejevsky @freddiesayers
1) 2000 words are devoted to the OPCW controversy regarding the alleged chemical weapon attack in #Douma, Syria in 2018 but critical material is omitted from the book. Reading it, one would never know the following:
2) That the controversy started when the original interim report, drafted and agreed by Douma inspection team members, was secretly modified by an unknown OPCW person who had manipulated the findings to suggest an attack had occurred. https://t.co/QtAAyH9WyX… @RobertF40396660
3) This act of attempted deception was only derailed because an inspector discovered the secret changes. The manipulations were reported by @ClarkeMicah
and can be readily observed in documents now available https://t.co/2BUNlD8ZUv….
4) .@bellingcat's book also makes no mention of the @couragefoundation panel, attended by the @opcw's first Director General, Jose Bustani, at which an OPCW official detailed key procedural irregularities and scientific flaws with the Final Douma Report:
@BloomsburyBooks, to coverup the @OPCW #Douma controversy, promote US and UK gov. war narratives, and whitewash fraudulent conduct within the OPCW, is an exercise in deception through omission @marydejevsky @freddiesayers
In response to @marydejevsky seemingly bad faith questions about Bellingcat on @unherd I've written a response providing details of where Bellingcat came from, and why it is like it is https://t.co/5rCsSwpcAm
— Eliot Higgins (@EliotHiggins) February 15, 2021
1) 2000 words are devoted to the OPCW controversy regarding the alleged chemical weapon attack in #Douma, Syria in 2018 but critical material is omitted from the book. Reading it, one would never know the following:
2) That the controversy started when the original interim report, drafted and agreed by Douma inspection team members, was secretly modified by an unknown OPCW person who had manipulated the findings to suggest an attack had occurred. https://t.co/QtAAyH9WyX… @RobertF40396660
3) This act of attempted deception was only derailed because an inspector discovered the secret changes. The manipulations were reported by @ClarkeMicah
and can be readily observed in documents now available https://t.co/2BUNlD8ZUv….
4) .@bellingcat's book also makes no mention of the @couragefoundation panel, attended by the @opcw's first Director General, Jose Bustani, at which an OPCW official detailed key procedural irregularities and scientific flaws with the Final Douma Report:
