The dark rigidity of fundamentalist rural America. (And how it's led to our current predicament.)

[pnwmom]

http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/rural-america-understanding-isnt-problem

As the aftermath of the election of Donald Trump is being sorted out, a common theme keeps cropping up from all sides: "Democrats failed to understand white, working-class, fly-over America.”

Trump supporters are saying this. Progressive pundits are saying this. Talking heads across all forms of the media are saying this. Even some Democratic leaders are saying this. It doesn’t matter how many people say it, it is complete BS. It is an intellectual/linguistic sleight of hand meant to draw attention away from the real problem. The real problem isn’t East Coast elites who don’t understand or care about rural America. The real problem is that rural Americans don't understand the causes of their own situations and fears and they have shown no interest in finding out. They don’t want to know why they feel the way they do or why they are struggling because they don’t want to admit it is in large part because of the choices they’ve made and the horrible things they’ve allowed themselves to believe.

I grew up in rural Christian white America. You’d be hard-pressed to find an area of the country with a higher percentage of Christians or whites. I spent most of the first 24 years of my life deeply embedded in this culture. I religiously (pun intended) attended their Christian services. I worked off and on on their rural farms. I dated their calico-skirted daughters. I camped, hunted and fished with their sons. I listened to their political rants at the local diner and truck stop. I winced at their racist/bigoted jokes and epithets that were said more out of ignorance than animosity. I have watched the town I grew up in go from a robust economy with well-kept homes and infrastructure to a struggling economy with shuttered businesses, dilapidated homes and a broken-down infrastructure over the past 30 years. The problem isn’t that I don’t understand these people. The problem is they don’t understand themselves or the reasons for their anger and frustration.

In deep-red America, the white Christian god is king, figuratively and literally. Religious fundamentalism has shaped most of their belief systems. Systems built on a fundamentalist framework are not conducive to introspection, questioning, learning, or change. When you have a belief system built on fundamentalism, it isn’t open to outside criticism, especially by anyone not a member of your tribe and in a position of power. The problem isn’t that coastal elites don’t understand rural Americans. The problem is that rural America doesn’t understand itself and will never listen to anyone outside its bubble.

SNIP

[SHRED]

1. American Taliban

That's what they are.

[raging moderate]

2. Except a city-slicker con-man.

They listen very well to a city-slicker con-man who panders to their fantasies.

[hunter]

5. They use to be wary of city slickers like Trump.

But he knew all their dog whistles and they came running.

[roscoeroscoe]

3. Not bad

You say country, it also ties in with southern. And now you really have stubborn rigid smug thinking.

And... Proud if it. A shame.

[markpkessinger]

15. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania, and trust me . . .

. . . the same mindset exists in the rural north!

[haele]

17. As well as in Rural California and Washington.

These self-isolating communities are always quickest to demand that the economic and social rules should prefer them over the majority of the rest of society.
By self-isolating, they can consider anyone out side the community as "other". And they can be easily turned by any number of con-men who pander to the fears and vanity that is the basis of their isolation.

Haele

[no_hypocrisy]

33. My father was from Clearfield County. I agree with you wholeheartedly.

The KKK marched through Dubois during the Twenties.

[LongTomH]

4. Some important points that need to be raised, if Democrats are to make gains in 'flyover' country...

First, some people do change, especially younger one. My grandmother tried to raise me in a fundamentalist, pentecostal church......I escaped during my teens. I've gone through a long evolution in my political views as well, moving leftward continously.

Fundamentalist, evangelical churches are losing their young people. These are the people we can reach; although, I'll admit not easily.

Secondly, flyover country is not entirely rural and white. It's increasingly urban, with an increasing percentage of minorities.

Third, the 'working class' isn't that monolithic. Here in KC, I've attended campaign events sponsored by unions, including marches for a $15 minimum wage. See if your local community radio station has a labor forum like the one on KKFI-FM, our KC community station.

Lastly, I will point out, again, that both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama campaigned in rural areas. Yeah, you'll have to fight like Hell for every vote there; but, until you get rid of the Electoral College, that's the only way to win.

[ewagner]

7. Have to disagree on one point...

A lot of the "kids" who are marrying late (mid-to-late 20s or early 30s), in professional careers, highly educated (B.A. for sure, lots of MS, MA and a sprinkling of PhDs) , having kids...end up in these "Mega Churches" because they offer a spirit of community.....My own son goes to one...and was deeply involved in it..he said that the Pastor got into politics once in a while but he and most of his friends just ignored it or rolled their eyes...

A friend who is an Attorney and in this age group...joined one of these churches and now models herself as a "Proverbs 31 Wife"....subservient to her husband, bound to have children, care for them and nurture them, all the while "increasing her husband's wealth through her job.

The point I want to make is that the evangelical churches aren't losing much membership....at least in my humble opinion.

[enid602]

21. Recovering

The evangelical churches are attractive to people trying to overcome substance abuse problems. They just can't seem to solve their problems any other way.

[hatrack]

24. Jesus as methadone . . .

Same as it ever was.

[enid602]

26. Risk

They make the best right wingers. If they question just one aspect of religion or politics, their recovery is at risk.

[world wide wally]

6. They never liked hippies either

They always support war
They always hate people of color and immigrants.
They hate paying taxes and they love living on gubmint subsidies and guns.

What's the question?

[pansypoo53219]

8. BULLSHIT. i am sorry. hillary ran POORLY on "he is bad. i am better, trust me."

she had no PLAN. or speak of any PLANS. sure, twitler lied like a rug. but he was BOLDY lying.
that, and the fat squirrel was pimped by the teevee gnewz media.
and russia.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

10. You make two colossal errors and you don't even address the excellent points in the article.

1) Yes, Hillary did have a plan, a good plan, a well thought out plan, a detailed plan that she spoke about frequently and was spelled out on the web sites. She summarized it clearly and often.

2) Hillary ran well. She won the election by the popular vote. She won by three million (3,000,000) votes. She came within 63,000 votes of beating Obama's 2012 win. The Republicans stole the Electoral College by collusion with Putin's Russia. All it took was 40,000 votes swung in three states.

[blue-wave]

13. ++++

Nicely said.

[enid602]

22. Reality based

The problem is that hill's plan is reality based. The deplos prefer a miraculous return of coal mining jobs and Jim Crow.

[Awsi Dooger]

38. The rurals didn't have to understand themselves when Trump was speaking

He would fix everything for everybody.

And on top of that he would put an end to all the evil treatment of christians, and the biases against them.

Don't underestimate that aspect. I am hardly in a rural area. I'm in suburban Miami. But my aunt, a very religious 74 year old newly switched Republican, never gets a mean look on her face except when emphasizing that she is sick and tired of religious people being looked down upon and their rights taken away. She loves that Trump voices it as a priority all the time.

She doesn't have cable but watches the local Fox affiliate to the exclusion of virtually every other channel. Obviously I want to tell her it's ridiculous to believe church goers or christians have been discriminated against, but she fully believes it, and I guarantee all her friends do also. She now surrounds herself with a small group of older women and widows who are scared of gays and immigrants and anyone else they haven't known for decades.

[pansypoo53219]

36. she did not RUN on her plan. her commercials were all about the twitler.

[zentrum]

11. ++++

[JHan]

14. The article is not about Hillary.

the article is about a growing observable trend in what people prioritize, how they perceive communities outside their own, how they are coping with change and who they blame for change. It is a RESPONSE to the narrative that "east coast enclaves" don't "Get" white rural communities.

We have to stop ignoring the data because it robs us of our favorite *easy* talking points:

UW Professor got it right on Trump so why is he being ignored.

Top Democrats are wrong, Trump supporters were more motivated by racism than economic concerns.

Why Obama Voters Defected

Aside from the other errors in your post.

[pnwmom]

23. Wrong. She campaigned on detailed policy positions that the MSM barely covered.

And she had hundreds of pages of info on her website, for anyone who wanted to see.

But the media was FAR more interested in covering the horse race, and her emails, than any of her ideas about raising the minimum wage, or rebuilding the infrastructure, or improving the ACA, or all the other plans she had.

If you had ever gone to one of her rallies you would know this. But the MSM wasn't covering most of them either.

[JHan]

31. some people have a set bunch of talking points..

Last edited Sun Jun 25, 2017, 08:21 PM - Edit history (1)

they whip out regardless of the relevancy. I mean the article is about culture trends and attitudes in rural America, it's not about Hillary Clinton but apparently those attitudes appeared when Hillary decided to run for the Presidency.

[we can do it]

35. Wrong and wrong

[Moral Compass]

9. Highly recommend this piece.

This is pretty long but it is really good and was written by someone that was on the inside of fundie craziness.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

12. Be wary of alternet. My ad blocker uBlock blocked 160 ads/links/requests & it increments every min.

[Leith]

28. I Rarely Go to Alternet Because of That

It's really bad on wireless. They include videos at the bottom of each article and more on the side which makes scrolling sporadic. They *really* need to do something about that.

This was an excellent article. I have said that we don't need to understand rural white voters better. Most of us are at most one grandparent from that world. We visited, helped on the farm, attended church with cousins, and met their friends. They never once visited the city.

The rural tRump voters need to understand the rest of the world.

[gtar100]

16. Glad to have read the article.

I've never understood the admonishment that we liberals don't understand rural America or their fundamentalist point of view. If anything, liberal education does a great deal of reaching out to understand them. What they don't like are the conclusions we draw. As the article so eloquently states, it's the fundamental mindset that is closed down and fails to see even the most obvious of truths. They are walking contradictions propped up by an incessant flow of propaganda from biased media.

And because we liberals have our own fundamental belief that we are all in this together, we will continue to seek an understanding between diverse groups of people. It's actually a very rewarding and deeply satisfying experience which is something these fundamentalists will unfortunately never know because of a mindset they cling to that is crippled by prejudices and fear. We all have them, it's just that some of us seek to overcome them rather than justify them. The trick is to recognize them.

[smirkymonkey]

37. +1000

[Alwaysna]

19. I live in rural USA

If Fox "news" was eliminated rural attitudes would change. Also if public radio /NPR was accessible to rural listeners instead of church radio which always is next to public radio on the dial and over powering the signal, there would be changed in attitudes. More outreach from the Dems would help with plans to help revitalize the areas with jobs. During the campaign my mailbox filled up with bs Republican propaganda adds but nothing from the other parties. In our small town (population 399) the churches are shrinking because the old people are dying off. Many of the young people leave for jobs. However, the number of "transplants " from the cities are growing. The point of this rambling is there is hope for Democrats in these areas with the right approach. Do not paint us with a broad brush. We do not cling to "our bibles and guns" . We cling tenaciously to hope.

[pnwmom]

25. Thanks for sharing, Alwaysna. And welcome to DU!

[ileus]

27. That's why we need to ban religions in America.

Once we do that we can keep these people under control once and for all.

[Boomerproud]

29. One of the best articles ever posted on DU.

Amen!

[JNelson6563]

30. Spot on.

I live in northern Michigan, in the regional hub city, but the sticks none the less. Trust me, this article is on the money. It cracks me up how some here think if we build more tall building people won't think it's rubes up here. lol I tell them Oh it will take more than that!

It really is a thing to marvel at how things are as they always were in these small burgs.

[MountCleaners]

32. So I was reading the Bible the other day, and...

I hardly watch the news anymore, I just can't take Citrus Caesar. So I decided to read the Bible instead, because I'm struck by how Fundies stick with the Old Testament for starters, and even then they ignore a lot of what is in there.

What struck me is that so many of the books of the Bible mention charity and sharing.

My sister is being harassed by fundies because she has a GoFundMe for a surgery she needs. I guess the new thing is to counter GoFundMes with "Pray for Me" pages. Apparently, they don't even believe in charity anymore! They tell her to get a job (she got fired because she took too much time off for her first surgeries - she was in three different car accidents, none of which were her fault!), they tell her she is whining, and they tell her to stop "begging", get a job, and pray. She can't walk or drive right now!

[pnwmom]

34. Unbelievable. That they could criticize your sister.

No, that isn't the Christian thing to do. And, yes, the Bible is full of exhortations to give and share.

I don't understand how they can interpret it the way some do.

I'm so sorry about your sister and hope she can get the care she needs.