{"id":31446,"date":"2024-02-23T18:28:32","date_gmt":"2024-02-23T23:28:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/?p=31446"},"modified":"2024-02-29T15:29:13","modified_gmt":"2024-02-29T20:29:13","slug":"making-gilead-a-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/making-gilead-a-reality\/","title":{"rendered":"Making Gilead a Reality"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"AlabamaA<\/span>merican Talibangelists recently took a giant step towards creating Gilead in the USA when the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos were due the same legal protection as real children (although children there have less protection because Repugnicans care little about actual children than embryos). It extended the the legal definition of a human life to start at conception.*<\/strong><\/span> This 131-page ruling<\/a> includes 41 references to god, flipping the bird to even lip service to the separation of state and church. And so the Talibangelists moved Gilead closer to reality.**<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Rightwing Canadians and PoiLIEvre supporters are watching closely to see what they can copy here, especially in Albertabama<\/a> where the Canadian Talibangelists have long had a hold on provincial politics<\/a> and played a major role in the insurrectionist convoy assault on Ottawa.<\/p>\n

Gilead is, of course, the fictional republic from Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale<\/em><\/a>. It is a military state run by an extremely oppressive authoritarian patriarchy in which women are reduced to property, with no rights or freedoms. Women in Gilead cannot own money or property, nor are they allowed to read and write. They exist as either ornaments or baby factories legally subject to rape. While liberals read Atwood’s dystopian novel with horror and despair, conservatives and their Christofascist supporters read it as a blueprint for the world they wanted to bring about.<\/p>\n

On Al.com<\/a> the story about this travesty of justice noted Chief Justice Tom Parker “utilized multiple Biblical references in his search for the definition of the \u201csanctity of life\u201d to come to the conclusion that an embryo fits within the definition of a child.”\u00a0 His medieval-level ruling summarized his pseudo-Christian fervour for oppressing women’s rights and enabling the patriarchy:<\/p>\n

In summary, the theologically based view of the sanctity of life adopted by the People of Alabama encompasses the following: (1) God made every person in His image; (2) each person therefore has a value that far exceeds the ability of human beings to calculate; and (3) human life cannot be wrongfully destroyed without incurring the wrath of a holy God, who views the destruction of His image as an affront to Himself. Section 36.06 recognizes that this is true of unborn human life no less than it is of all other human life — that even before birth, all human beings bear the image of God, and their lives cannot be destroyed without effacing his glory.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The decision was replete with this sort of self-serving, pseudoscience twaddle:<\/p>\n

Unborn children are \u2018children\u2019 \u2026 without exception based on developmental stage, physical location, or any other ancillary characteristics.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Equally frightening, the decision quoted as authorities both Augustine and a 17th-century theologian. On Xitter, Brian Cohen<\/a> tweeted “Alabama just ruled that frozen, unimplanted embryos are people. This petri dish is now more protected under law by Republicans than Alabama schoolchildren.”<\/p>\n

Political commentator Jeff Teidrich noted on his substack blog<\/a> that Parker was a “god-mad bible-humping zealots who want to turn America into a Christian theocracy.” He added that Parker had previously been interviewed on an online Talibangelist broadcast, saying “God created government, and the fact that we have let it go into the possession of others, it\u2019s heartbreaking.” Tiedrich’s article<\/a> is appropriately tiled “forced-birth fuckfaces say frozen embryos are children, and other christofascist horror stories.” He adds:<\/p>\n

America\u2019s forced-birth christofascists didn\u2019t stop at outlawing abortion, and they\u2019re not going to stop at declaring clumps of cells to be children. they\u2019ve got a whole fucking agenda,\u00a0and it\u2019s not pretty<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Robert Reich also noted on his blog<\/a>:<\/p>\n

All of these private freedoms are under increasing assault from Republican legislators and judges who want to impose their own morality on everyone else. Republicans are increasingly at war with America\u2019s fundamental separation of church and state.
\nAccording to\u00a0a new survey\u00a0from the Public Religion Research Institute and the Brookings Institution, more than half of Republicans believe the country should be a strictly Christian nation \u2014 either adhering to the ideals of Christian nationalism (21 percent) or sympathizing with those views (33 percent).
\nThis point of view has long been prominent among white evangelicals but is spreading into almost all reaches of the Republican Party, as exemplified by the Alabama Supreme Court\u2019s ruling.
\nIt is also closely linked with authoritarianism. According to the survey, half of Christian nationalism adherents and nearly 4 in 10 sympathizers said they support the idea of an authoritarian leader powerful enough to keep these Christian values in society.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In the story about the decision in The Nation, Jeet Heer wrote,<\/p>\n

As worrying as the decision was, the theocratic logic used by the justices to justify their conclusions was even scarier. The judges in this case presented themselves as instruments of divine will rather than expositors of secular law. In his concurrent decision, Chief Justice Tom Parker\u00a0wrote, \u201cEven before birth, all human beings have the image of God, and their lives cannot be destroyed without effacing his glory.\u201d
\nThis theological language was no accident.\u00a0Media Matters\u00a0on Wednesday\u00a0reported, \u201cDuring a recent interview on the program of self-proclaimed \u2018prophet\u2019 and QAnon conspiracy theorist Johnny Enlow, Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Tom Parker indicated that he is a proponent of the \u2018Seven Mountain Mandate,\u2019 a theological approach that calls on Christians to impose fundamentalist values on all aspects of American life.\u201d According to a faction of evangelical Protestant fanatics, Christians have the right and duty to impose their domination on the so-called \u201cseven mountains\u201d of American life: government, media, education, business, religion, family, and entertainment. During the interview, Parker said God \u201cis calling and equipping people to step back into these mountains right now.\u201d The judge added that God \u201cis equipping me with something for the very specific situation that I\u2019m facing,\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"More<\/a>This wasn’t the first shot fired in the long-running Repugnican-Talibangelist war on women in the USA. Despite promises to the contrary, as soon as the serial liar Donald Trump’s<\/a> far-right, pseudo-Christian, anti-abortion appointees to the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) could, they overturned Rowe v Wade,<\/a> wiping out five decades of hard-won women’s reproductive rights, and showing no shame at having brazenly and openly lied in public about not doing so. Trump, ever pandering to the worst society has to offer, proudly boasted he was responsible<\/a> for this misogynist act, and, although he had no part in making the decision (his cronies did it for him), said he was happy to set the nation’s laws back half-a-century.<\/p>\n

Donald Trump’s MAGA Repugnicans have all<\/em> become Christofascist suppliants now, desperate to gain his favour. They are pushing hard to establish their pseudo-Christian theocracy, replacing democracy, which, being good Putin puppets, they despise. Salon Magazine<\/a> documented the rise of the Christofasicsts in the party earlier this year, noting how they simply ignored Trump’s blatant and unashamed immorality in order to grab power on his coattails. The article also noted that far too many Americans didn’t give a shit about democracy and were too ignorant or selfish to prevent its collapse:<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, early polls show that too many\u00a0everyday Americans\u00a0(most of whom are politically unengaged and unsophisticated) are ready to put Trump back in the White House because democracy is something abstract and relatively unimportant to them and they find Trump\u2019s chaos, destruction, and \u201cexcitement\u201d (and hatred and rage and strongman thug appeal) more compelling than President Biden\u2019s responsible and steady leadership.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A related article in Salon<\/a> documented the rise of an even more insidiously evil group within the Talibangelist movement itself (emphasis added):<\/p>\n

…a rapidly-growing, anti-democratic religious movement known as the New Apostolic Reformation<\/strong>, which few Americans have heard of, except in passing or by way of heated denials. But a new book from Canadian scholar Andr\u00e9 Gagn\u00e9, \u201cAmerican Evangelicals for Trump: Dominion, Spiritual Warfare, and the End Times,\u201d could change that, as the NAR seems poised to play an even bigger political role in 2024.
\nRather than focusing inward on nurturing their local congregations under the guidance of elected church elders, NAR churches focus outward through networks in alignment with other churches, under the guidance of higher-up \u201capostles,\u201d to engage in \u201cspiritual warfare\u201d against demonic forces, and conquer the \u201cseven mountains of culture\u201d and establish dominion over all the world.\u00a0 As [John] Dorhauer says, it really is a conspiracy aimed at controlling the world \u2014 in the name of Jesus, of course, with the self-reinforcing network of apostles and prophets claiming authority in his name.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Let’s be clear: regardless of what they claim, regardless of how they wave their bibles about, Talibangelists are not<\/em> about faith, and never have been. They don’t care about Jesus any more than they care about bicycle gear oil. Ever hear or see them quote the Beatitudes<\/a>? Of course not: they always cherry-pick the most repressive, violent Old Testament laws to quote. These are pseudo-Christians: they care about power, greed, and controlling others, not<\/em> faith.***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

If Trump gets re-elected, expect a full-frontal assault on democracy immediately, and the implementation of Atwood’s Gilead to become a reality within his first years. Women will become, as they have always been in Trump’s own life, collateral damage. And, of course, he will overthrow the US Constitution to allow him to be dictator for life. Just like his mentor and puppet master, Putin, is.<\/p>\n

Notes:<\/h5>\n

*<\/strong><\/span> I guess that means a blowjob is cannibalism<\/a>.<\/p>\n

**<\/strong><\/span> These are self-described as “Christian nationalists,” a pro-fascist group Trump has openly aligned himself with<\/a>. But as Michael Coren wrote in the Toronto Star in 2022,<\/a>\u00a0“Christian nationalism [is] not Christian, it\u2019s not Canadian, or patriotic either.” He added:<\/p>\n

The roots of this perverted idea are found in a specifically American notion of exceptionalism, the idea that the United States was and is chosen by God to be a light on a hill, distinct, special, and better. America, runs the ideology, has a God-given right and duty to shape and lead the world and anybody who opposes that isn\u2019t truly American. Inevitably, that leads to a whole stew of repugnant beliefs. It may even lead to something resembling fascism.
\nChristian nationalism is an inherent contradiction, an oxymoron, in that Jesus stood in direct opposition to nationalism \u2014 both that of his own people, and as a wider concept. The essence of his teaching is that he came for all, irrespective of race or nation, and that one person could not have two masters. A Christian nationalist is merely a nationalist trying to disguise nastiness behind faith and religiosity.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But as Politico reported earlier this month<\/a>, “Trump allies prepare to infuse \u2018Christian nationalism\u2019 in second administration.” The story notes:<\/p>\n

An influential think tank close to Donald Trump is developing plans to infuse Christian nationalist ideas in his administration should the former president return to power…he effort is made up of a constellation of conservative groups run by Trump allies who\u2019ve constructed a detailed plan to dismantle or overhaul key agencies in a second term. Among other principles, the project\u2019s \u201cMandate for Leadership\u201d states that \u201cfreedom is defined by God, not man.\u201d
\nTrump is not a devout man of faith. But Christian Nationalists have been among his most reliable campaign activists and voting blocs. Trump formed a political alliance with evangelicals during his first run for office, delivered them a six to three conservative majority on the Supreme Court and is now espousing the Christian right\u2019s long-running argument that Christians are so severely persecuted that it necessitates a federal response.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That would bring the USA perilously close to a nationwide Gilead. One has to wonder why real Christians are not in an uproar about these faux-Christians taking over their faith to use it for their own political ends. If Trump wins, real Christianity will likely be outlawed as dissidents in a Putinesque purge, along with other opponents and all other parties will be made illegal. This happened in Germany in 1934, and it will happen in the USA in 2025 if Trump wins.<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/span> Can you imagine a callous, narcissistic grifter like Trump quoting the bible, let alone the Beatitudes? Quoting the blessing for the poor, the meek, the merciful? HuffPost blogger Michael Stark created his own “Trump Beatitudes<\/a>” to compare what Jesus reportedly said versus what Trump has said. Anyone who claims to be Christian should be horrified by Trump, which shows why his Talibangelist followers are merely pseudo-Christians looking for power. As Stark wrote:<\/p>\n

Trump’s ideals and hateful rhetoric stand in direct opposition to that of the Jesus of the New Testament. As part of the Sermon on the Mount as depicted in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus gives his listeners eight sayings, a series of blessings focused on those who, in that context, would not be considered powerful or worthy. These are exactly the demographics Trump seemingly finds deplorable.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Words: 2,117<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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American Talibangelists recently took a giant step towards creating Gilead in the USA when the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos were due the same legal protection as real children (although children there have less protection because Repugnicans care little about actual children than embryos). It extended the the legal definition of a human life to start at conception.* This 131-page ruling includes 41 references to god, flipping the bird to even lip service to the separation of state and church. And so the Talibangelists moved Gilead closer to reality.** Rightwing Canadians and PoiLIEvre supporters are watching closely to \u2026…… click below for more \u2193<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1760,1199,219],"tags":[1808,729,1761,1660,707],"class_list":["post-31446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rightwing-claptrap","category-talibangelists-and-pseudo-christians","category-us-international-politics","tag-christofascists","tag-conservatives","tag-poilievre","tag-talibangelists","tag-trump"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":386,"today_views":1},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31446"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31446\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31524,"href":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31446\/revisions\/31524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}