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The 'Jayhawk Nazi' used religion to stoke hate. Let's not fall for it again.
https://kansasreflector.com/2023/11/12/the-jayhawk-nazi-used-religion-to-stoke-hate-lets-not-fall-for-it-again/ The Winrod campaign rally at Fremont Park may seem distant now, but it exploited two things which are sure to get rural Americans fired up: religion and patriotism. It worked for Williams Jennings Bryan, who helped prosecute John T. Scopes for teaching evolution in Tennessee, it worked to catapult young Wichita preacher Gerald Winrod to the national stage in 1938, and it continues to work for politicians today.
The delusion that America was founded as a Christian nation is threatening the foundational separation of church and state. The idea of “Christian nationalism” is favored by many Americans, according to a recent Pew survey, even if the concept is a slippery one to define. Is it belonging to a specific denomination, being a follower of Christ, or just having a general belief in one God? But the point of flag-waving and cross-wielding is not that it makes you think, but about how it makes you feel.
And those who would exploit us for political gain know that.
Once they have our trust, it’s easy to sell us the lie that others are responsible for our current troubles. The great lie of the “Protocols” is never far from the lips of those who would trick us into deceiving ourselves. It isn’t far from believing we’re a “Christian nation” to throwing rocks through the windows of homes and shops of those who may believe a bit differently from us, or who may not believe at all.
As in 1938, we are again at a crossroads. There is no Hitler any longer, but we have no shortage of home-grown authoritarians to wave flags and clutch Bibles and tell us our only problem are those that are other.
The delusion that America was founded as a Christian nation is threatening the foundational separation of church and state. The idea of “Christian nationalism” is favored by many Americans, according to a recent Pew survey, even if the concept is a slippery one to define. Is it belonging to a specific denomination, being a follower of Christ, or just having a general belief in one God? But the point of flag-waving and cross-wielding is not that it makes you think, but about how it makes you feel.
And those who would exploit us for political gain know that.
Once they have our trust, it’s easy to sell us the lie that others are responsible for our current troubles. The great lie of the “Protocols” is never far from the lips of those who would trick us into deceiving ourselves. It isn’t far from believing we’re a “Christian nation” to throwing rocks through the windows of homes and shops of those who may believe a bit differently from us, or who may not believe at all.
As in 1938, we are again at a crossroads. There is no Hitler any longer, but we have no shortage of home-grown authoritarians to wave flags and clutch Bibles and tell us our only problem are those that are other.
