GOP slouches into the crazy to be born as MAGA ~ GENERAL

[Oddball]

So i vividly recall how we talked about people being "radicalized" to an abhorrent strain of Islam after 9/11...

In 2026, is it folks that have been "radicalized" to an abhorrent strain of Christianity, or is it just what Christianity has become (in this country)?

I seem to recall that same debate about the essence of Islam, think we are pretty much there in terms of modern Christianity in this country...

Imo, MAGA wants to be our version of Saudi Arabia in this analogy, and they are flat out admitting it publicly

 

[finesse]

So i vividly recall how we talked about people being "radicalized" to an abhorrent strain of Islam after 9/11...

In 2026, is it folks that have been "radicalized" to an abhorrent strain of Christianity, or is it just what Christianity has become (in this country)?

I seem to recall that same debate about the essence of Islam, think we are pretty much there in terms of modern Christianity in this country...

Imo, MAGA wants to be our version of Saudi Arabia in this analogy, and they are flat out admitting it publicly

It's basically what Christianity in America has been. The difference is that over 90% of Americans were Christians into the 60s and this stuff didn't get questioned. Now that it does, they feel cheated when it's not accepted than when all things are equal, they're more equal than others.

 

[CarolinaFever]

It's basically what Christianity in America has been. The difference is that over 90% of Americans were Christians into the 60s and this stuff didn't get questioned. Now that it does, they feel cheated when it's not accepted than when all things are equal, they're more equal than others.

I don't feel that way about the church I went to growing up. It is a Methodist church, though. Even then in the 1980s I knew that the Baptists were a lot different.

 

[finesse]

I don't feel that way about the church I went to growing up. It is a Methodist church, though. Even then in the 1980s I knew that the Baptists were a lot different.

It's less that most Christians were or are that way but that the more predominantly Christian we were as a nation, the more that word was able to hide. There were too many variant beliefs for anyone to cast the first stone. There's not as high a percentage of Christians now and a fair amount of the amity among them lost.

 

[korgguy1971]

 

[SnoopRob]

It's basically what Christianity in America has been. The difference is that over 90% of Americans were Christians into the 60s and this stuff didn't get questioned. Now that it does, they feel cheated when it's not accepted than when all things are equal, they're more equal than others.

I disagree.

As America has become more segregated by ideology (and as ideology has become increasingly segregated by geography), American Christianity has certainly become much more extreme. Large swaths of American Christianity has always leaned conservative, but as conservatism has become more extreme so has the bulk of Christianity. Additionally, as more and more Americans identify as something other than Christian - and as the majority of those folks also lean liberal - the remaining part of Christianity in America becomes more and more conservative, as a whole.

I would say that the underlying beliefs of the conservative Christians haven't changed greatly, but their approach to non-Christians and even Christians with whom they disagree politically have certainly become more extreme. A significant portion of American Christians feel that they are under attack from liberal groups and they are increasingly willing to adopt violent and/or oppressive options to ensure their viewpoints "win" in society. The American Church has been just as effected by the internet/social media, which has allowed more extreme voices to have a megaphone they previously lacked, and the American Church is just as impacted by that change as American conservatism has been.