Understanding the Threat of White Christian Nationalism: Important New Report from PRRI and Brookings

On 8 February, Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and Brookings Institution released the results of an important national survey entitled "A Christian Nation? Understanding the Threat of Christian Nationalism to American Democracy and Culture." As PRRI's press release announcing the report states,

Commentary on Breaking Stories re: U.S. Supreme Court: "The current, carefully engineered conservative majority on the court is made up of deeply corrupted individuals"

James Earle Fraser's "Contemplation of Justice" statue, Supreme Court Plaza, photo uploaded by David to Wikimedia Commons

In her latest Letter from an American, Heather Cox Richardson comments on the story I discussed in a posting yesterday noting the report of Jodi Kantor and Jo Becker that Rev. Rob Schenck, formerly leader of an evangelical "pro-life" non-profit engaged in extensive lobbying in D.C., alleges that Supreme Court justice Samuel Alito leaked to friends the ruling in the Hobby Lobby case before that ruling was handed down in 2014. As my posting yesterday noted, Kantor and Becker indicate that Schenck maintains that, through Alito's friends, he himself obtained inside information about the ruling before it came down, and "used that information to prepare a public relations push, records show, and he said that at the last minute he tipped off the president of Hobby Lobby, the craft store chain owned by Christian evangelicals that was the winning party in the case."

Commentary on the Grim Situation at Twitter

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

As Jessica Pegis says in a comment here yesterday, the situation at Twitter looks grim. Noah Kirsch and Justin Baragona report, 

Pelosi Attack: Violence Far More Prevalent on Right Side of Political Spectrum, Though Republicans Want to Deny This

Hammer photo uploaded to Wikimedia Commons by Malene Thyssen

Jill Filipovic notes the prevalence of violence emanating from the political right as opposed to the left, and explains why this is the case:

In News: "Till" Film Released; True History and Actual True History; Rising Antisemitism; Twitter Takeover Consequences

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

This weekend, Chinonye Chukwu’s film "Till" has been released nationally after limited-viewing showings on 14 October. Join the Movement Toward Racial Justice summarizes why this film telling the story of the 1955 murder of 14-year-old African-American Emmett Till Jr. remains critically important for Americans to hear today:

Reports About Twitter after Musk Acquisition

Microphone photo by Taoheedah, Wikimedia Commons

 

1. Heather Cox Richardson reports about what's happening at Twitter after Musk acquired it: 

At Long Last, Christianity Today Lowers the Boom — "It's Time to Call a Spade a Spade" — & Republicans Rage

Christianity Today was founded by Billy Graham, the most prominent evangelical figure in modern history. It is a vehemently anti-choice, conservative publication.

The second it called for Trump's removal, the entire GOP attacked it as "far-left."

THIS IS HOW CULTS THINK.

— Mikel Jollett (@Mikel_Jollett) December 20, 2019

I will publish the second half of Ruth Krall's wonderful essay "Bearing Witness: The First Step in Reconciliation" in the next day or so. Meanwhile, these developments, which have just unfolded, seem to demand commentary — and here are some good pieces I've read in the past two days: