Recent Religion + Politics Commentary: "Pro-Life" Movement, Christian Nationalism, Southern Baptists and United Methodists, Leonard Leo and New USCCB President

Here are some valuable articles I've read in the past week or two about religion and politics and their intersection:

The Ongoing Musk-Twitter Story: A Compendium of Commentary — "Glaringly Obvious Silencing Campaign Against Credible Journalists" and Brain Death

So much to say about the ongoing débacle that is Twitter under Elon Musk's ownership. As with Donald Trump, the minute you think he/it has gotten the worst that is possible, a new low arrives — with Musk and Twitter yesterday, shutting down the accounts of journalists who have dared to criticize him. I'm chronicling the Musk-Twitter story on my new Mastodon page, where you're welcome to follow me if you wish. Here's a selection of items I've shared there:

Pope Francis on Women Priests and Related Recent News Items: "I do not know whether to laugh or cry at Pope Francis’ suggestion about women’s position in the Church"

Altar of Veit Stoss, descent of the Spirit at Pentecost, St. Mary's Church, Krakow, Poland, photo by Robert Breuer at Wikimedia Commons

As Virginia Saldanha, "Why I find pope’s ideas on women priests disturbing," notes, Pope Francis recently nonsensically (and all over again) said that men in the Catholic church are meant to follow a "Petrine principle" that allows men — but not women — to be ordained, run things, and mirror Christ. Women are called to follow a "Marian principle" and mirror the feminine church, not — heaven forfend! — the male Christ. (Translation: women are called to serve). 

Jemar Tisby's "White Nation Under God" Series: Final Two Episodes Now Available

The final two segments of Jemar Tisby's valuable "White Nation Under God" series discussing white Christian nationalism and its role in U.S. political life now have been placed online.  Episode 4, entitled "How Christians Can Resist White Christian Nationalism," features Amanda Tyler, executive director of Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty. Amanda Tyler focuses on how white Christian Nationalists use Christianity as cover for their anti-democratic and repressive ideology, in that way challenging other Christians to resist this misuse of their religion. 

In News: No Joy in Trumpville, Warnock Victory, Why Right Needs Hunter Biden, and Hate Speech on Twitter

Photo of stack of newspapers by Daniel R. Blume, Wikimedia Commons

Jay Kuo, "There Is No Joy in Trumpville": 

This has been a disastrous week—one for the record books, truly—in Trumpland. Three separate calamities went down this week, and we would be remiss to focus on just any one of them.

So the Former US President and Current GOP Candidate for the Presidency Calls for a Coup and the End of US Democracy — And?

President Donald J. Trump 2 March 2019, at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Oxon Hill, MD; official White House photo by Tia Dufour, at Wikimedia Commons

Heather Cox Richardson, "Letters from an American: December 3, 2002":

The leader of the Republican Party has just called for the overthrow of our fundamental law and the installation of a dictator. 

I'm Now on Mastodon — Please Feel Free to Connect

I've now succeeded in setting up an account on Mastodon.

My handle there is @wdlindsy@toad.social

Please feel free to connect to me there if you wish. I'm hoping to reconnect via Mastodon to as many of the friends and conversation partners I had on Twitter, with whom I've lost touch after I left Twitter when Musk acquired it. I'm a total novice at Mastodon and don't yet fully understand how it works, but I'll try to get up to speed quickly. Hope to connect there with readers of this blog who are on Mastodon.

Lawrence O'Donnell on Kanye West: "Vile, Deep, Relentless Hatred of Jewish People and Public Praise of Adolph Hitler — Who Donald Trump Was Having Dinner with Last Week"

 

Lawrence O'Donnell states,

This is the day when every apologist for Kanye West, everyone who blames his medication, everyone who blames Kanye West's claimed mental health issues which have never actually been medically documented — this is the day those people are out of apologies for Kanye West. No more pleas for sympathy for mental health issues that have never been medically documented publicly by anyone. No medical records, no physicians, no one who has treated him has ever spoken publicly about these conditions. If you believe he has mental health conditions, you believe Kanye West. That's who has told you that he has mental health conditions, and these mental health conditions that he claims under no circumstances cause antisemitism.

Trump, Fuentes, West, White Nationalists and Anti-Semites: "Don't Normalize This"

Merriam-Webster dictionary

Heather Cox Richardson, "Letter from an American, December 1, 2022": 

Today, Ye, also known as Kanye West, appeared with right-wing white supremacist Nick Fuentes on Alex Jones’s show InfoWars, and was so vile even Jones began to push back. Eventually, Ye praised Nazis and Adolf Hitler. Then, and only then, did the Twitter account of the Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee delete its tweet of October 6, 2022, that read: “Kanye. Elon. Trump.”

50+ Colorado Springs Clergy Issue Letter Calling for End to Religion-Based Homophobic Hate Speech — No Catholic Clergy Sign the Letter

Detail from Rogier van der Weyden's "Descent from the Cross," 15th century, Prado Museum, Madrid, at Wikimedia Commons

Mark Wingfield writes, "Colorado Springs clergy speak out against religious hate speech that leads to violence":

As Respect for Marriage Act Passes Senate, Religious Groups (Even Mormons) Support it — But Not U.S. Catholic Bishops

PRRI, "New Survey Shows Strong Support for LGBTQ Rights Championed in the Equality Act"

As the Respect for Marriage Act gained Senate confirmation, Shawna Chen wrote ("Over 20 religious groups call on Senate to codify same-sex marriage") about the more than twenty religious groups that urged the Senate to protect same-sex and interracial marriages. Chen ended her report by stating, 

Commentary on the Train Wreck That is Twitter and Musk: Rich White Men and the Thrill of Breaking Good Things

David Ljungdahl illustration in 1910 Swedish edition of Jules Verne's "Captain Grant's Children," from Wikimedia Commons

I've deliberately held off sharing commentary on the train wreck that is Twitter — and Elon Musk — because 1) rich white men like him are allowed to suck too much air out of the room of public discourse as it is; 2) I refuse to let myself become obsessed with Musk's nonsense and the endless psychoanalyzing of him by commentators trying to figure out why a developmentally stunted narcissist with a hugely inflated ego seems to enjoy destroying a promising if flawed institution permitting valuable public discusssions and information sharing.