The fundies are on a far-right march. They cannot be allowed to win.

[Soph0571]

This continued rise of the fundies taking control of the levers of power is more than a tad concerning. I speak of SCOTUS explicitly here where the 6 republicans, believe in the literal truth of the bible. This new literalism and fundamentalism are allowing fundies to create precedent and behave in ways that are at odds, sometimes violently, with the changing values of the modern world and with science. The fundies seeks out a pure and simple truth. I am right, therefore you are wrong. My God is the right God. Your God is wrong. Fundamentalism inherently breeds an us and them attitude. We have got the truth, we are the only ones who have got it, and you haven’t. You are with us or against us. Here is the truth. Take it or leave it. The fundies on SCOTUS see their religions books as literal, inherent, and historical – and if the constitution conflicts with this the constitution is going to lose. There is arrogance in proclaiming a definitive truth, and the fundies are an arrogant lot, right? Fundamentalism is exclusionary. It lacks nuance. And one has to ask the question, if they are right and I disagree, what happens to me? They of course happily damn and condemn us in thought word and deed as sinners, antifa, feminazi’s etc et al.

It is not of course that we see huge numbers of fundies, they just somehow manage to get themselves in everywhere – and they are so freaking loud. Statistically they are quite small as a proportion of the wider population, but their undue influence in governance and legislature which is very disquieting indeed. The way fundies see women and the segregation of women is an example of how damaging their power and influence can me. Let’s face it fundamentalism is at the core patriarchal. All forms of fundamentalism inherently believe that men and women are not just different, but they are unequal, and that men should have control, domination – and sadly the women within the fundie movement are complicit in this. And, of course – if SCOTUS gets away with gutting Roe v Wade, the fundies will be emboldened to take the fight to other targeted communities that are vulnerable to persecution. You can see what is coming down the line right?

Fundies are not mainstream. They are a minority. A vocal minority, for sure, but a minority none-the-less. They undermine society by creating division and disharmony, and their inability to support community cohesion because of the fundamental exclusionary stance they take is damaging at its core.

And they have taken control of SCOTUS…

[Farmer-Rick]

1. The fundies are funded by people like the Waltons

They have the filthy rich backing them. Where as the liberal side is usually on the side of the common person with very little concentrated wealth. And we all know the horders of wealth will not stop harassing the common person until the filthy rich have taken away everything.

Look at the king and serf relationship or the master and slave. Those are the models the filthy rich use as their guides. As the kings got richer they took more and more wealth from the serfs. Where in the beginning, serfs were merely farmers who shared the fruits of their labor with kings in return for protection. In the end serfs became objects attached to the land that could be sold a traded much like slaves. And religion was there to keep those starving poor in their place.

Religion, with all it's lies and superstitious nonsense, is a great way to indoctrinate children and teach them how to believe any crap that the rich and powerful want to feed us.

Religion is a powerful tool to control the masses and extract their last penny from them. That is what the Waltons, Bezos, Gates and such really want. And fundies are there to do it.

[Tommymac]

6. +1 Great analysis. nt

[Martin Eden]

2. Fundamentally, the Fundies have Jesus all wrong

Their ostensible Lord and Savior had nothing to say about abortion, but he had a heckuva lot to say about helping the poor and sick and welcoming the stranger.

They wear "pro-life" like a cloak of moral superiority while ignoring what Jesus actually taught, effectively worshipping The Donald more than The Christ.

Guns, warmongering, pro-pollution, anti-vaxx -- the "pro-lifers" are a death cult.

[Nay]

9. But they have never cared what the Bible says. It is their tool for domination. From

the smallest pulpit to the largest megachurch, raving right-wing preachers decide what the Bible says. That's the problem.

[Martin Eden]

16. Religion has always been a means of control

In the pursuit of wealth and power.

Even if religions have divine origins, when they become human institutions they are subject to corruption and usurpation.

[DownriverDem]

3. Does our side get it?

Or will they sit it out because they didn't get all they want? Do they understand it's a numbers game? A small majority held captive by repubs and 2 Dem senators is what is screwing it all up. When Roe is overturned will folks remember how we were all warned? My disgusts was cemented in 2016.

[FrankTC]

4. Better Messaging

The fundies are about 25% of the general population, probably a higher proportion of the voting population, a lower proportion of the young. They are probably impervious to facts, reason, and science. Indeed their religious views may contribute to their flexible approach to reality testing. Maybe they can be moved by intervention in their preferred modalities. Like maybe put Trump on trial in a religious court or venue of some sort, accused of being the Antichrist. The prosecutor (aka Lucifer) presents the evidence, comparing Trump and his behavior to descriptions in Revelations. Or maybe a reality TV show in which Satan interviews Antichrist contestants — Trump among them — for the job. This could be a weekly broadcast, each week losing a contestant whose lurid, fetid, loathsome behavior suffers in comparison to Trumpian standards of depravity. Of course the risk here is that these approaches might make the fundies love him all the more. 💕

[paleotn]

5. A shrinking minority and they know it.

They're approaching irrelevancy. That drives them crazy, for how can that be if THEY and only THEY have the true, revealed word of god and keys to heaven? Like a drowning man, they're desperately grasping for anything that will keep them afloat. Even a lying, con artist (irony. Sweet Irony! ) Lets hope they don't swamp the rest of us on their way down.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/07/08/rapid-decline-white-evangelical-america/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=&w=916

[mountain grammy]

8. They may be shrinking.. and they are

but they hold much of the wealth and power in America and that's dangerous. Minority rule is solidified in America by the almighty dollar.

[paleotn]

10. Agreed.

[Nay]

11. This. Plus there are non-fundie groups who want the same things and are perfectly

Last edited Sun Dec 5, 2021, 01:53 PM - Edit history (1)

OK with going along with this horror. We need to stop acting like it's "just the fundies" and realize that there are many more people out there who are authoritarians.

A lot more than 25% want authoritarianism.

[erronis]

14. Yes - I was thinking about other cults such as Scientology and Mormons.

[Nay]

17. Add in non-religious cults, too. Like Qanon, militia groups, and

hate/extremist groups monitored by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

[childfreebychoice]

12. The sole reason for wanting a ban on abortions, to have more babies

Who look like Ron Johnson. For yrs rethugs have been going to college campusesz grooming the next gen to run for local offices, school boards, etc. Something we should have done, yrs ago

[Texin]

13. They will achieve the OPPOSITE of what they seek to impose.

There will more babies born to people of color than to Caucasians. Granted, there will be more unwanted babies born to Caucasians too, but more women in this group have some economic wherewithal to be able to travel out of the country (if need be), or to any remaining state(s) in the contiguous US that will still have the right for women to choose -- unless the SCOTUS bans this right altogether. I don't know what the decision will be ultimately. But there will be an underground abortion network as there was back in the late '60s and up to the time abortion rights were granted in '72-'73. More young women will be making the choice to have tubal ligations regardless of whether they've had a child previously.

This whole so-called "pro-life" business is nothing more than white aggrieved males driving women out of the workforce, out of universities and making room (they think) for more undereducated and unqualified men to take their place. It won't work, or it won't work for long at any rate. They think they're going to have the world on a string, but this will not end well for them.

[DallasNE]

7. Left Out, They Are Organized And They Have Big Money Backing n.t

[Klaralven]

15. The SC Justices are not fundamentalists. They are Roman Catholics.

Fundamentalists believe in a strict literal interpretation of scripture.

Catholics do not. They believe in Catholic doctrine.

[Nay]

18. No, but several of them are probably Dominionists, who have the same general

authoritarian beliefs.

What's astounding to me, as an old person who grew up Catholic, is that I can remember the Baptist kids telling me I was going to hell because I was a Catholic. That opened my eyes, I can tell you. But to the point -- now all these groups, no matter what jumped-up names they call themselves, are all authoritarians. Even Catholics and Baptists, who were sworn enemies, gathered together in the unholy aim to dominate this country by whatever means available.

Their so-called declared beliefs (fundamentalist, dominionist, whatever) mean absolutely nothing to them, except as a means to dominate.

We make a grave error if we fail to realize that authoritarianism can come in any of a multitude of disguises. It keeps us squabbling about whether Catholics are in on it, or Baptists, or "gosh, the Bible doesn't say that", etc. We are missing the whole point by not realizing it's authoritarianism that is the problem.

[Klaralven]

20. Definitely authoritarians, or perhaps religious extremists

If you define religious extremists as those religious people who want to impose their beliefs on others by political means and the force of law.

This is contrary to those who believe in religious freedom, i.e. the freedom of all to believe or not believe in religious principles without any one group imposing their beliefs on any other individual or group by force of law.