Dominionists in the United States

[Tank]

To be expected I suppose. America, no longer the land of the free.

[Recusant]

^The old DDR sends its greetings

    

[Recusant]

The US Christian nationalists' euphemism for their attacks on civil liberties and the separation of church and state is getting plenty of use these days.

"House Republicans Quietly Slip Anti-LGBTQ 'Religious Freedom' Clause Into Funding Bill" | NCRM

House Republicans have inserted anti-LGBTQ language into a $66 billion must-pass funding bill for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, effectively granting civil immunity under federal law to individuals and organizations that discriminate against same-sex couples—by citing a religious or moral belief that marriage should be limited to one man and one woman. It also bans the federal government from taking a range of actions against those who hold and act on anti-same-sex marriage beliefs.

Section 544 bans the use of federal funds to take any "discriminatory action" against someone who cites their "sincerely held religious belief" or "moral  conviction" that marriage is only "a union of one man and one woman."

A portion of the provision exactly matches language U.S. Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) urged the House Appropriations Committee to include in 2023 legislation. Rep. Roy cited praise from anti-LGBTQ hate group leader Tony Perkins and other anti-LGBTQ activists in his press release urging inclusion of the amendment in a 2023 bill. It is not known who drafted or approved the current 2025 provision.

[. . .]

While the language is not found in The Heritage Foundation's Project 2025, some of the core principles in Section 544 echo its recommendations.

Project 2025 calls on the federal government to "Protect faith-based grant recipients from religious liberty violations and maintain a biblically based, social science–reinforced definition of marriage and family," and "Provide robust protections for religious employers," while it denounces "the bullying LGBTQ+ agenda."

[Icarus]

 I have yet to understand why there is so much disdain for the LBGTQ+ elements of our society.  I have been around a long time and I have never been harmed by a Queer or Lesbian individual, nor have my children or their children ever been harmed by people of a different sexual persuasion. The christian right, in particular, appear to be the ones who are so immovably hung up on the subject.



 

[Harmonie]

I have yet to understand why there is so much disdain for the LBGTQ+ elements of our society.  I have been around a long time and I have never been harmed by a Queer or Lesbian individual, nor have my children or their children ever been harmed by people of a different sexual persuasion. The christian right, in particular, appear to be the ones who are so immovably hung up on the subject.

[In retrospect, the response below covers a lot of different points and may come off as confusing. If so I apologize. I just have SO MUCH stuck in my head over so many related subjects that it all had to come out in one place lol]

They also seem to be the ones that have a big problem with predators in their congregations and circles. I listen to the Friendly Atheist podcast each week (and other sources as well, of course) and it's constant, and it's... beyond reprehensible. There are few environments that are more susceptible to predators than right wing Christian circles - the patriarchal structures and beliefs, the expectation of obedience, lack of sex education teaching, not believing in consent, not believing victims, blaming victims, and only giving predators a slap on the wrist (like shuffling them to other churches. You've probably heard all about it).

And yet these people with their sex predator pastors and president still try to point the finger at LGBT people as being predatory. They've completely watered down the meaning of "groomer", which is absolutely disgusting. Grooming is very real. It's not a teacher using your kid's preferred pronouns. It's a serious predatory method that, to none of our surprise I'm sure, happens within conservative Christian circles.

Yet somehow they've gotten away with the finger pointing, the demonizing, the ruining of the word "grooming". It boils my blood, I tell you. I'm of course non-religious and don't believe in stuff like some divine Good and Evil... but this comes so darn close to capital E Evil.

I hate so much seeing these baddies win. Same-sex marriage being made legal was a religious freedom victory, not a loss since a religion telling you what you can and can't do by law is explicitly anti-religious freedom. But the Religious Right has an Orwellian idea of religious freedom that they have poisoned the masses with.

And at the end of the day I still can't understand the obsession with same-sex marriage. It's obviously engineered outrage. So many "sincerely-held religious beliefs" are manufactured nowadays, but the anti-homosexuality at least has some basis in the Bible (unlike being anti-vaccine, or I'd even argue being anti-choice. Yes. I'll go there), it just doesn't have enough emphasis in the Bible to match the obsession that the homophobic Christians have. If these people were genuine in taking their "morals" from the Bible, they wouldn't focus on homosexuality so much and would have so many other focuses as well. As I said, it's obvious engineered and it's BS.

People need to wake the F up. It is 2025. We have no excuse. We have so much history behind us to look back at and see that this is just another scapegoating and hatred of a minority group. In fact, the Religious Right culminated around fighting for segregation and fighting against interracial relationships and marriage. They used the very same language to justify their awful racist beliefs "it's our sincerely-held beliefs".

The Religious Right have always been the baddies, and it's clear as day after seeing just a little history. No one should be falling for their nonsense. Stop hating people, stop fighting to take rights and freedoms away from people who are doing no harm. This is all just so evil. Anyone who says that homosexuality is "sin" can shove it. My morality is based on reason and empathy and consensual same-sex relationships are morally fine, hatred, taking away rights and freedoms are evil. I don't care what is "sin", I care what is harmful, and conservative Christians are being harmful.

Of course, I'm more or less lesbian (a little bicurious sometimes, but that's neither here nor there), so I guess I'm naturally inclined to be empathetic toward the plight of LGBT people as a whole. That includes trans people. The evil far right want me to be scared of trans women in the restroom. I ran into someone I was pretty sure was a trans woman in the restroom once. She didn't do anything. The world did not explode. Everything was fine. Who cares? What I'm worried about running into are people like the president, who have been able to get away with everything because they have the fame and money. I'm worried about his followers and worshipers who still support and worship him after the tapes were released where he bragged about sexually assaulting women, or after the interview where he bragged about going into the dressing rooms at his pageants to check out the girls undressed, or who is now civilly-liable for rape, or who is almost definitely on Epstein's list. Trans women don't make me feel unsafe, being in a society where men like Trump face no consequences and tons of people worship makes me feel unsafe.

Rant over.

[billy rubin]

its pride month. i dyed my beard in rainbow stripes, purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red.

i have gay family members, and i know gay people. the colours show them that if they are in trouble, that i am an ally, even if they have never met me.

this has different affects on different people. i live and work in the oilfields, a trumpian wasteland-- loud people who hate the homos and queers, complain about ragheads and sand niggers, and sneer at education.

tbe attendant at the disposal well i am waiting at told me that no one on his crew could tell the time on an analog clock, the kind with a minute and an hour hand.

the most common reaction i get is from girls and women. women truck drivers pass me in the garage and say, hey, thats my favorite colour. teenaged girls in the drive-in window at mcdonalds tell me, i love your beard. over and over, everywhere. i suspect it means that i am visually a safe person to more than just gay people.

another group just laughs when they see me, and make me hold still for a photo. thats fine with me, because the absurdity makes me laugh, too. they ask if i have grandkids. i have no idea why. i get lots of friendly abuse.

and then there are the bigots. some people walk up and challenge me, and explain they would never do such a thing. others who used to talk to me wont, anymore. the most amusing ones are the ones who will walk up to talk to someone next to me to show theyre not afraid, but wont talk to me to show me they dont approve.

and of course the gay people walk up and hold out their fist for a bump.

all that is fine. i have no interest in changing peoples opinions, just in letting gay people know that they are not alone, and that tbere are people around who are in solidarity and will come to their defense, even in the oilfields.

ill keep the stripes for a while. it turns out that its important to people.

to the ones that matter.

[Icarus]

Harmonie I do not have a beard to dye in rainbow colors. If I did I might, just like Billy.

I was deeply involved in women's athletics for many years. There were some lesbian girls who were damned good athletes. Take a softball team for example. Maybe two, even three lesbian leaning girls out of nine on the field. God dammit none of the gay girls infected the straight ones and more than that, there was mutual respect and genuine sisterhood among the players, sexual preferences were never a factor. I suspect that over the years some of the straight girls may have been sufficiently curious to try going the "other way". So what? To the best of my knowledge none of the straight ones were permanently, or even temporarily, damaged.

Those christian freaks are not very well informed about the realities of the real world.

For what it is worth, one of my all time best friends was a lesbian woman athlete. She used to come to my house and we would drink some whiskey and debate the world problems, the state of American education development, Chaucer, Hemmingway, space exploration, and no telling what other subject. Our sessions would always end respectfully even when we disagreed firmly. We cared for each other in a genuine way that had nothing to do with our sexuality.......Alright I am bragging here. I had a dear friend and neither of us had the slightest interest in the other persons sexual preference. We were very good friends and that was enough for both of us.

Never mind all that Icarus nostalgia. Tell us more about your woodwinds.  I trust that you are still a serious musician. Will you be able to participate with a creditable orchestra there in Connecticut?

[Recusant]

I have yet to understand why there is so much disdain for the LBGTQ+ elements of our society.  I have been around a long time and I have never been harmed by a Queer or Lesbian individual, nor have my children or their children ever been harmed by people of a different sexual persuasion. The christian right, in particular, appear to be the ones who are so immovably hung up on the subject.

[In retrospect, the response below covers a lot of different points and may come off as confusing. If so I apologize. I just have SO MUCH stuck in my head over so many related subjects that it all had to come out in one place lol]

They also seem to be the ones that have a big problem with predators in their congregations and circles. I listen to the Friendly Atheist podcast each week (and other sources as well, of course) and it's constant, and it's... beyond reprehensible. There are few environments that are more susceptible to predators than right wing Christian circles - the patriarchal structures and beliefs, the expectation of obedience, lack of sex education teaching, not believing in consent, not believing victims, blaming victims, and only giving predators a slap on the wrist (like shuffling them to other churches. You've probably heard all about it).

And yet these people with their sex predator pastors and president still try to point the finger at LGBT people as being predatory. They've completely watered down the meaning of "groomer", which is absolutely disgusting. Grooming is very real. It's not a teacher using your kid's preferred pronouns. It's a serious predatory method that, to none of our surprise I'm sure, happens within conservative Christian circles.

Yet somehow they've gotten away with the finger pointing, the demonizing, the ruining of the word "grooming". It boils my blood, I tell you. I'm of course non-religious and don't believe in stuff like some divine Good and Evil... but this comes so darn close to capital E Evil.

I hate so much seeing these baddies win. Same-sex marriage being made legal was a religious freedom victory, not a loss since a religion telling you what you can and can't do by law is explicitly anti-religious freedom. But the Religious Right has an Orwellian idea of religious freedom that they have poisoned the masses with.

And at the end of the day I still can't understand the obsession with same-sex marriage. It's obviously engineered outrage. So many "sincerely-held religious beliefs" are manufactured nowadays, but the anti-homosexuality at least has some basis in the Bible (unlike being anti-vaccine, or I'd even argue being anti-choice. Yes. I'll go there), it just doesn't have enough emphasis in the Bible to match the obsession that the homophobic Christians have. If these people were genuine in taking their "morals" from the Bible, they wouldn't focus on homosexuality so much and would have so many other focuses as well. As I said, it's obvious engineered and it's BS.

People need to wake the F up. It is 2025. We have no excuse. We have so much history behind us to look back at and see that this is just another scapegoating and hatred of a minority group. In fact, the Religious Right culminated around fighting for segregation and fighting against interracial relationships and marriage. They used the very same language to justify their awful racist beliefs "it's our sincerely-held beliefs".

The Religious Right have always been the baddies, and it's clear as day after seeing just a little history. No one should be falling for their nonsense. Stop hating people, stop fighting to take rights and freedoms away from people who are doing no harm. This is all just so evil. Anyone who says that homosexuality is "sin" can shove it. My morality is based on reason and empathy and consensual same-sex relationships are morally fine, hatred, taking away rights and freedoms are evil. I don't care what is "sin", I care what is harmful, and conservative Christians are being harmful.

Of course, I'm more or less lesbian (a little bicurious sometimes, but that's neither here nor there), so I guess I'm naturally inclined to be empathetic toward the plight of LGBT people as a whole. That includes trans people. The evil far right want me to be scared of trans women in the restroom. I ran into someone I was pretty sure was a trans woman in the restroom once. She didn't do anything. The world did not explode. Everything was fine. Who cares? What I'm worried about running into are people like the president, who have been able to get away with everything because they have the fame and money. I'm worried about his followers and worshipers who still support and worship him after the tapes were released where he bragged about sexually assaulting women, or after the interview where he bragged about going into the dressing rooms at his pageants to check out the girls undressed, or who is now civilly-liable for rape, or who is almost definitely on Epstein's list. Trans women don't make me feel unsafe, being in a society where men like Trump face no consequences and tons of people worship makes me feel unsafe.

Rant over.

      QFT 

Testify sister! 

Evil is as evil does, and those mofos do.

This thread is in the way of a chronicle of their self-righteous "holy" skulduggery.
Thank you for sharing your perspective, it's sincerely appreciated. 

[Recusant]

Churches (mostly of the right-wing evangelical sort, of course) have been flaunting the Johnson Amendment against direct political activity by tax exempt non-profit and "charitable" organizations pretty much since it was put in place. Now the Christo-fascist enabling Trump administration has officially endorsed their contempt of the law.

"I.R.S. Says Churches Can Endorse Candidates From the Pulpit" | The New York Times

The I.R.S. said on Monday that churches and other houses of worship can endorse political candidates to their congregations, carving out an exemption in a decades-old ban on political activity by tax-exempt nonprofits.

The agency made that statement in a court filing intended to settle a lawsuit filed by two Texas churches and an association of Christian broadcasters.

The plaintiffs that sued the I.R.S. had previously asked a federal court in Texas to create an even broader exemption — to rule that all nonprofits, religious and secular, were free to endorse candidates to their members. That would have erased a bedrock idea of American nonprofit law: that tax-exempt groups cannot be used as tools of any campaign.

Instead, the I.R.S. agreed to a narrower carveout — one that experts in nonprofit law said might sharply increase politicking in churches, even though it mainly seemed to formalize what already seemed to be the agency's unspoken policy.

The agency said that if a house of worship endorsed a candidate to its congregants, the I.R.S. would view that not as campaigning but as a private matter, like "a family discussion concerning candidates."

"Thus, communications from a house of worship to its congregation in connection with religious services through its usual channels of communication on matters of faith do not run afoul of the Johnson Amendment as properly interpreted," the agency said, in a motion filed jointly with the plaintiffs.

The ban on campaigning by nonprofits is named after former President Lyndon B. Johnson, who introduced it as a senator in 1954. President Trump has repeatedly called for its repeal.

[Continues . . .]

[Recusant]

Summarized: "Blood and soil!  God is with us!"

"GOP Senator Blasted for 'Racist' Speech Declaring America Belongs 'Only' to Us" | New Civil Rights Movement

U.S. Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO) is under fire after telling the National Conservatism Conference that America "belongs to us, and only us," drawing accusations of racism and historical ignorance.

Senator Schmitt, a freshman dubbed a "key White House ally" by Fox News, told attendees that the Pilgrims and George Washington's Continental Army, "believed they were fighting for a nation, a homeland for themselves and their descendants," and not "for a proposition."

"They fought, they bled, they struggled, they died for us," he declared. "They built this country for us. America, in all its glory is their gift to us, handed down across the generations. It belongs to us. It's our birthright, it's our heritage, our destiny. If America is everything and everyone, then it is nothing and no one at all."

He denounced what he called "a new people" who "believe they can build a new America" by "changing the stories we tell about ourselves."

"But America doesn't belong to them," he alleged. "It belongs to us. It's our home. It's a heritage entrusted to us by our ancestors. It's a way of life that is ours and only ours. If we disappear, then America, too, will cease to exist."

Schmitt's full remarks were published at the right-wing Daily Signal. In them, he declares, "it should be clear that the fact that something is sanctioned by our government does not mean it's good for our country. That much is obvious with various forms of legal immigration today."

Schmitt also said:

"We Americans are the sons and daughters of the Christian pilgrims that poured out from Europe's shores to baptize a new world in their ancient faith. Our ancestors were driven here by destiny, possessed by urgent and fiery conviction, by burning belief, devoted to their cause and their God."

In an opinion piece in Missouri's Kansas City Star, David Mastio calls out Schmitt for giving "a speech about American history in which the only brown person mentioned was George Floyd, a Black man murdered when a police officer kneeled on his neck for nine minutes over a $20 counterfeit bill."

[. . .]

"By his own account," wrote Freethink editor-at-large Robert Chapman-Smith, "Schmitt's ancestors arrived in America from Germany in the 1840s. They arrived in an America steeped in the question of who is American. In 1858, Abraham Lincoln spoke about the 'electric cord' of liberty that rebukes this idea of blood and soil nationalism."

Michigan Democratic state Representative Phil Skaggs added, "What makes America great, why we are a shining city on a hill, is because, at our best, we are a beacon for those in search of freedom and opportunity. We're not some old European ethno-state. Republicans are veering quickly to a dark Aryan Master Race place. It's un-American."


[Continues . . .]

[Recusant]

The Dominionists and their fellow travellers will continue to support their bogus "Cyrus" as long as he keeps pushing crap like this. Bonus "beating your wife is your own business" for the really dedicated followers of righteous shits like the apostle Paul.

"Trump's New Prayer Push Sparks Backlash" | New Civil Rights Movement

At a meeting of his Religious Liberty Commission at Washington, D.C.'s Museum of the Bible, President Donald Trump deepened concerns over the separation of church and state, while he encouraged prayer in public schools, unveiled a new initiative urging Americans to gather in groups of at least ten to pray ahead of the nation's 250th anniversary, and, critics said, appeared to downplay domestic abuse.

"To have a great nation, you have to have religion — I believe that so strongly," Trump said, according to The Washington Post. "There has to be something after we go through all of this, and that something is God."

[. . .]

"For most of our country's history, the Bible was found in every classroom in the nation, yet in many schools, today's students are instead indoctrinated with anti-religious propaganda and some are even punished for their religious beliefs and very, very strongly punished, it's ridiculous," the President said. "I'm pleased to announce this morning that the Department of Education will soon issue new guidance protecting the right to prayer in our public schools."

The Freedom From Religion Foundation responded.

"Students have always had the right to pray in public schools," they wrote. "What Trump is pushing isn't about protecting prayer — it's about giving officials a green light to impose Christianity on everyone else. That's unconstitutional coercion, not freedom."

[. . .]

The President's remarks on domestic violence also drew backlash.

"Things that take place in the home, they call crime, you know, they'll do anything they can to find something," he told the Religious Liberty Commission (video below). "If a man has a little fight with the wife, they say, 'This was a crime,' see?"

New York Governor Kathy Hochul responded, saying: "My mother's childhood was torn apart by domestic violence. I've held survivors' hands as they relived their darkest moments. For the President to treat that trauma like a joke is despicable."

Professor of law and former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance wrote: "Domestic abuse is a crime. Marital assault and marital rape are both criminal conduct and anyone who commits them should be prosecuted. Full stop."

[Continues . . .]

[Icarus]

Trump regularly comments about someones low IQ. He is only playing to the weaknesses of the Christian Rubes with his phony benevolence.   

[Recusant]

Certainly, and perhaps the majority of the Christian evangelical Trumpists are dupes. On the other hand I think a significant percentage of them see that he's imposing things on the country that they approve of and are willing to pretend that they approve of him personally. Regardless of what they actually think of him the cult of personality is part of the package. Some will even say outright that they don't think Trump is a good person but they support him because he does enough things that they like. That and they've been conditioned by right wing media to fear and loathe the Democratic Party.

[Icarus]

^ Astute observations.