Facebook Follies of Friends and Families

[Razgovory]

When I say that "Christian" is becoming an ethnic category it doesn't really have much to do with actual Christianity or it's practitioners.  Latinos are generally not welcome despite being mostly christian and churches that offer the ancient christian tradition of sanctuary are met with extreme hostility.  The boundaries of this new category are still very fuzzy, but I think the most important factor is not being a Muslim.

[alfred russel]

When I say that "Christian" is becoming an ethnic category it doesn't really have much to do with actual Christianity or it's practitioners.  Latinos are generally not welcome despite being mostly christian and churches that offer the ancient christian tradition of sanctuary are met with extreme hostility.  The boundaries of this new category are still very fuzzy, but I think the most important factor is not being a Muslim.

Does islamophobia really need an ethnic classification?

[Tonitrus]

We really need to get over treating religions like ethnicities (though still recognizing that some religions/ethnicities tend to be homogenous), and more like what they are closer to...that being more akin to branches of philosophy.

[The Minsky Moment]

To a lot of people, he does though.

I can't speak to what those people are thinking, only that it removes all meaning from the concept to apply it to Trump.

[grumbler]

To a lot of people, he does though.

I can't speak to what those people are thinking, only that it removes all meaning from the concept to apply it to Trump.

Those people are thinking that they don't want to deal with the cognitive dissonance between what they wish Trump was and what he is.

[derspiess]

They know he's no angel.  What they usually say is "Trump isn't perfect, but at least he's..." followed by something he's doing to piss off the cultural left.

[grumbler]

They know he's no angel.  What they usually say is "Trump isn't perfect, but at least he's..." followed by something he's doing to piss off the cultural left.

Sorta like what people said about Stalin in WW2?

[The Minsky Moment]

They know he's no angel.  What they usually say is "Trump isn't perfect, but at least he's..." followed by something he's doing to piss off the cultural left.

But that is essentially saying that "cultural Christianity" = "cultural right" or at least "not cultural left," which would drain all independent meaning of the phrase.

I do think that America can be said to be a Christian nation in a cultural sense that is distinct from the right-left political tribes. Things like symbolism or the way that people interact with strangers, or ways of expressing ideas or practicing or imaging community life.  Ideas and practices about charity, about family, and about expression of one's inner or spiritual life.  Even the way people talk and express themselves.  These Christianized ideas, values, concept, symbols cross over and through political life and partisan boundaries, even as they influence them to some extent.

[dps]

You don't have to like Christianity, and certainly not believe in or practice Christianity, to be culturally influenced by it.

Sure, but would you identify yourself as "culturally Christian"?  I sure wouldn't;  I'd identify myself religiously as Christian, but culturally as American (and ethnically as either "white" or "Irish-American").

[Tonitrus]

In my case, I would certainly not qualify as Christian in any religious sense, and no one in my family goes to church...but we would still get together on the typical Christian holidays (Xmas, Easter, etc.), and my family heritage definitely comes from there.  That may be what is meant by "culturally Christian".   

[Razgovory]

When I say that "Christian" is becoming an ethnic category it doesn't really have much to do with actual Christianity or it's practitioners.  Latinos are generally not welcome despite being mostly christian and churches that offer the ancient christian tradition of sanctuary are met with extreme hostility.  The boundaries of this new category are still very fuzzy, but I think the most important factor is not being a Muslim.

Does islamophobia really need an ethnic classification?

You wouldn't think so, but here we are.  As we move deeper into the mire of identity politics ethnicity, religion, and political beliefs are sort of merging.  Since we are talking about reactionaries in this case, they are defined more by what they oppose than what they support.

[DGuller]

When I say that "Christian" is becoming an ethnic category it doesn't really have much to do with actual Christianity or it's practitioners.  Latinos are generally not welcome despite being mostly christian and churches that offer the ancient christian tradition of sanctuary are met with extreme hostility.  The boundaries of this new category are still very fuzzy, but I think the most important factor is not being a Muslim.

Does islamophobia really need an ethnic classification?

Maybe not specifically an ethnic classification, but it's always helpful to have a euphemism of some kind.

[crazy canuck]

Was western culture destroyed a few decades ago?

Why would western culture be destroyed if it is not synonymous with Christian culture?

[derspiess]

[Tamas]

I don't get it.