Another very read-worthy article by Valerie Tarico:
Evangelical Christianity’s Brand Is Used Up
Back before 9/11 indelibly linked Islam with terrorism, back before the top association to “Catholic priest” was “pedophile,” most Americans—even nonreligious Americans—thought of religion as benign. I’m not religious myself, people would say, but what’s the harm if it gives someone else a little comfort or pleasure. . . . .
Those days are over. . . .
The Evangelical “brand” has gone from being an asset to a liability, and it is helpful to understand the transition in precisely those terms.
I liked Valerie’s list of “what the Evangelical brand looks like from the outside”. Compare them with another somewhat more formal set of fundamentalist characteristics set out by Tamas Pataki that I posted on in 2007: 10 characteristics of religious fundamentalism. That was before the current shenanigans from the American fundamentalist brand.
Evangelical means obsessed with sex
Evangelical means arrogant
Evangelical means fearful and bigoted
Evangelical means indifferent to truth
Evangelical means gullible and greedy
Evangelical means ignorant
Evangelical means predatory
Evangelical means mean
Read her article for her justifications.
Neil Godfrey
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This definitely happened to “Fundamentalist” ten or twenty years ago.
It happened to the “evangelical” label only within the past eight years. Those people were still a force to be reckoned with in ’08.
Well they still are but they’re no longer respected in a good way.
I used to hear prognostications that the clamor of the evangelicals was their swansong and really hoped that were true. But then that “swansong” only seemed to continue to sound louder and healthier. Hopefully now is the time. Yet maybe it’s a dark hope — if we have to witness the rise of American fascism as the price to pay for their ultimate demise.
When religion or God dies, then there is often a compensating moment of overemphasis on the Strongman. Beyond all that however, is a more nuanced humanism. And science.