Quo Vadis GOP?

[crazy canuck]

You joke, but there's hardly a year a tourist isn't killed in Austria by a cow after trespassing onto a meadow.

Don't the police arrest trespassing cows?

[viper37]

RudyGiuliani taunts the Arizona AG on X that the he won't be arrested as he is in hiding.  30 minutes later he is served.


https://x.com/AZAGMayes

[Tonitrus]

Hear that PDH, we need some witch hunters down here...

GOP Senate candidate Hung Cao warns of 'witchcraft' happening in California: 'We can't let that happen in Virginia'

Bryan Metzger Jul 27, 2023, 9:45 AM PDT

He warned in a recent interview that "witchcraft" is happening in California.
Cao, a Vietnamese refugee, also said that he's African-American because he "grew up in Africa too."

Hung Cao, a Republican running for US Senate in Virginia, warned in an interview this week that "witchcraft" has "taken over" in some parts of California.

After losing to Democratic Rep. Jennifer Wexton by less than ten percentage points in 2022, Cao is seeking to take on Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, who's running for a third term.

In the interview with Sean Feucht — a California-based far-right pastor who led a movement against COVID-19 health restrictions and has rallied against "wokeness" at Disney — Cao lamented that Christianity has declined in influence in the United States over time, before referencing Wiccan communities in California.

"There's a place in Monterey, California called 'Lover's Point,'" Cao said. "The original name was 'Lovers of Christ Point, but now it's become — they took out the Christ, it's 'Lover's Point,' and it's really — Monterey's a very dark place now, a lot of witchcraft, and the Wiccan community has really taken over there."

"We can't let that happen in Virginia," he added.

While there does appear to be some Wiccan presence in Monterey, there's little evidence that the community has "taken over" the sunny seaside locale.

According to the Monterey County Historical Society, "Lover's Point" was indeed once known as "Lovers of Jesus Point," owing to its settlement by the Methodist Episcopalian Church in the 1870s.

Earlier in the interview, Cao — a Vietnamese refugee — also remarked that he was African-American by virtue of having spent time in Niger as a child.

"Your history is like, breaking stereotype after stereotype," remarked Feucht. "And you're conservative, and you love God, and you love America."

"And I'm African-American because I grew up in Africa, too," Cao interjected.

A spokesperson for Cao's campaign did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Cao is facing off against several candidates for the Republican nomination for US Senate, including Scott Parkinson, the Vice President of Government Affairs at the conservative Club for Growth and a former top staffer for Ron DeSantis, before he became Governor of Florida.

[garbon]

Boebert made it through her primary.

[Valmy]

Cao lamented that Christianity has declined in influence in the United States over time

Maybe if you Christians spent less time attacking other Americans and more time caring for the poor and shit you wouldn't be declining.

[Syt]

Oklahoma having a normal one:

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/oklahoma-orders-schools-teach-bible-every-classroom-2024-06-27/

Oklahoma orders schools to teach the Bible in every classroom

June 27 (Reuters) - Oklahoma's Department of Education ordered every teacher in the state to have a Bible in their classroom and to teach from it, in an announcement on Thursday that challenges U.S. Supreme Court rulings that have found state sponsorship of religion to be unconstitutional.

Ryan Walters, Oklahoma's superintendent of public instruction, announced the order with immediate effect at Thursday's Department of Education board meeting, in which he said special attention will be afforded to the Ten Commandments.

"Every teacher, every classroom in the state will have a Bible in the classroom, and will be teaching from the Bible in the classroom to ensure that this historical understanding is there for every student in the state of Oklahoma," he said.

He called the Bible, the holy scriptures of Judaism and Christianity, one of the "foundational documents of ... Western civilization." He said important historical figures, including civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., referred to the text.

Both the Hebrew and Christian Bible include the Jewish prophet Moses receiving the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, while only the Christian Bible includes the New Testament. Walters, who is Christian, did not stipulate which version teachers must use to comply with his order, and his spokesperson declined to answer questions.

The Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment has been interpreted to prohibit the state from sponsoring or establishing any particular religion. The Oklahoma Constitution, opens new tab goes further, stipulating that any public school and spending of public funds must be nonsectarian, and not benefit "any sect, church, denomination, or system of religion."

That part of the state constitution was cited two days before Walters' announcement, when the Oklahoma Supreme Court struck down an effort in which Walters was involved to create the first taxpayer-funded religious charter school in the U.S.

The main teachers' labor union in Oklahoma said Walters' Bible order was unconstitutional and that state law said school districts have the right to decide which books are available in their classrooms.

"Teaching about the historical context of religion (and the Bible) is permissible; however, teaching religious doctrine is not permissible," the Oklahoma Education Association said in a statement. "Public schools cannot indoctrinate students with a particular religious belief or religious curriculum."

[Josquius]

Cao lamented that Christianity has declined in influence in the United States over time

Maybe if you Christians spent less time attacking other Americans and more time caring for the poor and shit you wouldn't be declining.

My impression reading that was more "is this opposite land"?
As Christianity seems to hold ever more power in America.

[Valmy]

Cao lamented that Christianity has declined in influence in the United States over time

Maybe if you Christians spent less time attacking other Americans and more time caring for the poor and shit you wouldn't be declining.

My impression reading that was more "is this opposite land"?
As Christianity seems to hold ever more power in America.

Based on what? Your extensive time here in the United States? The 21st century has not been good for Christianity here in the United States, it is declining steadily. Now will it bounce back? Is there a floor? I don't know.

All these weird laws being passed in small states in the Bible Belt is a sign of weakness, not strength.

[Josquius]

Cao lamented that Christianity has declined in influence in the United States over time

Maybe if you Christians spent less time attacking other Americans and more time caring for the poor and shit you wouldn't be declining.

My impression reading that was more "is this opposite land"?
As Christianity seems to hold ever more power in America.

Based on what? Your extensive time here in the United States? The 21st century has not been good for Christianity here in the United States, it is declining steadily. Now will it bounce back? Is there a floor? I don't know.

All these weird laws being passed in small states in the Bible Belt is a sign of weakness, not strength.

Christianity having ever more influence over people's lives is a sign of Christianity not having ever more influence over peoples lives?

I've read plenty to suggest the current expansion in power of the religious right is a very modern phenomena and go back to the mid 20th century, or even just the turn of the century (though iirc Reagen was the key turning point, albeit in a seed planting way) and much of it would simply be beyond the pale.

[Valmy]

Christianity having ever more influence over people's lives is a sign of Christianity not having ever more influence over peoples lives?

I've read plenty to suggest the current expansion in power of the religious right is a very modern phenomena and go back to the mid 20th century, or even just the turn of the century (though iirc Reagen was the key turning point, albeit in a seed planting way) and much of it would simply be beyond the pale.

Christianity has ever less influence. Hence the moral panic and the passing of crazy laws. Louisiana and Oklahoma are two of the most religious states. But even in a place like Oklahoma over 20% of the population is now non-religious. So them trying to force mandatory bible study is because large numbers of Oklahomans are not going to church to learn it. 31% of Utah is not only not Mormon but not religious at all. WTF? Who would have seen that happening?

The Reagan era was about leveraging the very Christian population for right wing purposes, but the ultimate impact has been to politicize Christianity and de-Christianize large parts of the country. Hans was crowing with joy about the decline of moderate and left wing Christianity around here 20 years ago and it is only getting worse. His spin on it was that somehow everybody was becoming a conservative Christian instead of, you know, becoming a non-Christian.

In a few states now, non-religious is the plurality. That would have been unthinkable in the 1980s.

[Valmy]

Though one of the most hilarious and post-modern things I have seen recently is, due to the politicization of Christianity, is the Jordan Peterson Christian who doesn't believe it is true but is a Christian anyway solely for political reasons. That is the most culture war-brained post-modern thing I have ever seen.

It makes me wonder if the opposite is also true. That there are people out there who devoutly believe in God and Jesus and all that but refuse to call themselves Christians or go to Church because of the culture war.

[HVC]

People who  are "spiritual"

[Razgovory]

Though one of the most hilarious and post-modern things I have seen recently is, due to the politicization of Christianity, is the Jordan Peterson Christian who doesn't believe it is true but is a Christian anyway solely for political reasons. That is the most culture war-brained post-modern thing I have ever seen.

It makes me wonder if the opposite is also true. That there are people out there who devoutly believe in God and Jesus and all that but refuse to call themselves Christians or go to Church because of the culture war.

Reminds me of of For whom the Bell Tolls where Spanish partisan characters talk about God but then quickly say, "but that was before we abolished him".

[Oexmelin]

Though one of the most hilarious and post-modern things I have seen recently is, due to the politicization of Christianity, is the Jordan Peterson Christian who doesn't believe it is true but is a Christian anyway solely for political reasons. That is the most culture war-brained post-modern thing I have ever seen.

"It is good that my peasants believe there is a vengeful God who will punish them if they steal my wheat." — Voltaire.

But closer to the current situation, a bunch of authoritarian and proto-fascists in France's Third Republic were non-believers who clearly aligned with the Catholic Church's authoritarian  and proto-fascists tendencies.

[grumbler]

"I do not see in religion the mystery of the incarnation so much as the mystery of the social order. It introduces into the thought of heaven an idea of equalization, which saves the rich from being massacred by the poor."   - N. Bonaparte

Religion as a means of social control is as old as religion.  That's been fading in the modern West for three centuries now, and the God-talkers have been in a panic about it for that same length of time.