"Churches in England are trying to save Christmas from Christian Nationalists. Far-right Islamophobic political activist Tommy Robinson is planning a rally in London on Saturday called 'Putting the Christ Back into Christmas.'”

~ Brian Kaylor

publicwitness.wordandway.org/p…

#religion #authoritarianism #ChristianNationalism #Trump #TommyRobinson #CharlieKirk #SteveBannon #ElonMusk
/6

Weekly Roundup: Dec. 12

Here’s the weekly roundup from A Public Witness. This week, we published our list of favorite books of the year and an exclusive report on the first prayer service at the U.S.

^{Word&Way (A Public Witness)}

"Now is the time to build the movement that not only says, 'No' to extremism but also says, 'Yes' to the work of building a political economy where everyone can thrive.

This week offers more concrete evidence that we can build a moral fusion coalition for that work anywhere."

#religion #authoritarianism #ChristianNationalism #Trump
/5

"The moral collapse that we have witnessed under the Trump regime has been excruciating, outrageous, and exhausting. The damage is real, and it demands mourning, accountability, and work toward a viable alternative. But this level of collapse also reveals the possibility for a Third Reconstruction."

~ William J. Barber and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove

#religion #authoritarianism #ChristianNationalism #Trump
/4

ourmoralmoment.substack.com/p/…

The Moral Collapse of MAGA

How a moral fusion lens can help Americans see through the "red state" mirage

^{William J. Barber, II (Our Moral Moment w/ Bishop William Barber & Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove)}

"In Donald Trump’s America and Viktor Orbán’s Hungary, this project has furnished a spurious religious underpinning to a politics of authoritarian power and exclusion.

Nothing could be further from the spirit of St Paul when he asserts: 'There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither slave nor free; nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.'”

#religion #authoritarianism #violence #ChristianNationalism #Trump
/3

"An ethnocentric politics legitimising xenophobia, cultural exclusivism and indiscriminate deportations is fundamentally unchristian, as the late Pope Francis repeatedly underlined. ...

In its various guises, the contemporary far right is seeking to transform Christianity into a vehicle for cultural and ethnic supremacism, exploiting and corrupting desires for meaning and belonging."

~ The Guardian

#religion #authoritarianism #violence #ChristianNationalism #Trump
/2

theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

The Guardian view on far-right perversions of the Christmas message: promoting a gospel of hate

Editorial: A Tommy Robinson-inspired carol service is the latest sign of a burgeoning Christian nationalist movement. The Church of England is right to push back

^{Editorial (The Guardian)}

"There’s perhaps no better way to understand the contemporary anti-liberal project than as a return to the pre-liberal trauma of the wars of religion, in the worst of which a third of the population was killed. And there may be no better way to illuminate the liberal project conservatives wish to destroy than by recalling how it emerged out of healing from that trauma."

~ Paul Henry Rosenberg

#religion #authoritarianism #violence #ChristianNationalism
/1

liberalcurrents.com/trumps-war…

Trump's War on Christmas Is a War on Liberalism

After decades of make-believe, the Trump administration is promising an actual war on Christmas that would traumatize religious communities with armed state power.

^{Paul Henry Rosenberg (Liberal Currents)}

"In this way, religion became not consolation but reinforcement—a moral alibi for ownership.

For the enslaved, faith meant something different. Their Christianity inverted his: it promised that the last would be first, that masters would answer for every lash."

So at Jackson's funeral, the enslaved people surrounding him sang "One day your head must bow as low as ours" — "scripture in their own language, a theology of resistance."

#BlackHistory #solidarity #resistance #religion
/3

I like in particular Glassco's critique of Jackson's "fierce but selective" application of scripture and theology — something characteristic of the entire white ruling class in the period of slavery, and something still thriving in the Republican party under Trump now.

As Glassco notes, Jackson's selective use of bible quotes was "theology bent to power":

"He could quote the Bible to justify punishment and use the same faith to comfort the dying."

#BlackHistory #resistance #religion
/2

I highly recommend Dr. Elisabeth Glassco's site 400 Years. It focuses on Black history, Black resistance and solidarity, with an eye to contemporary events that call for resistance including political ones.

Her essay yesterday about Andrew Jackson and other founders of the American Republic is first-rate.

#BlackHistory #solidarity #resistance #religion
/1

400years.substack.com/p/one-da…

“One Day Your Head Must Bow as Low as Ours"

Their days ordered his fortune; their silence framed his legend. What remains is the record beneath the record—the lives whose endurance exposes the power that built the early republic

^{Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco (400 Years)}

"But most Christian leaders were silent or, worse, complicit in the 1930s and 40s. Far too many understood the Nazi regime to be bringing God back into public life."

#authoritarianism #fascism #religion #Hitler #Nazis
/2

"Peace through strength is the gospel of every authoritarian regime. ...

American Christians often like to recall Dietrich Bonhoeffer or Karl Barth as fellow Christians who stood up to the violence of authoritarianism when Hilter was on the rise in Germany."

~ William J. Barber, II and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove

#authoritarianism #fascism #religion #Hitler #Nazis
/1

ourmoralmoment.substack.com/p/…

Advent Peace When There Is No Peace

Prophetic nonviolence disturbs the false peace of authoritarian regimes

^{William J. Barber, II (Our Moral Moment w/ Bishop William Barber & Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove)}

From @jackmjenkins

UPDATE: Another Chicago-area church has put up an immigration-themed Nativity scene.

A church member at Urban Village Church sent this one along, where Mary, Joseph and Jesus are gone and replaced with a sign that reads: “Due to ICE activity in our community, the Holy Family is in hiding.”

#Christmas #ICE #Fascism #Religion