Musings on biblical studies, politics, religion, ethics, human nature, tidbits from science
From the transcript of Sean Carroll’s Mindscape program, 129| Solo: Democracy in America [h/t Bob Moore] 0:15:13.8 SC: . . . . the idea that the election was stolen was made by a whole bunch of partisan actors, but it was also, I think, importantly, taken up as something worth considering, even if not necessarily … Continue reading “Applying Bayesian Reasoning to Trump’s Claims of Election Fraud”
From David Cay Johnston of DC Report: Will Republican Cultists Die For Their Dear Leader? Years ago when I was a devout member of a Christian cult I got a visit from a local public hospital rep asking me why I had not let my infant child be vaccinated against whooping cough. My child survived … Continue reading “Trump Cultists Dying for Their Dear Leader”
The conservative Christian elites Trump surrounds himself with have always been more clear-eyed about his lack of religiosity than they’ve publicly let on. In a September 2016 meeting with about a dozen influential figures on the religious right—including the talk-radio host Eric Metaxas, the Dallas megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress, and the theologian Wayne Grudem—the then-candidate … Continue reading “The Christian elites have always been more clear-eyed about Trump’s lack of religiosity than they’ve publicly let on”
An insider’s view of the first Trump campaign (from Michael Cohen’s Disloyal) “What about self-funding the campaign,” Trump said to me one afternoon. I knew there was no way he was going to spend his own money on politics. He was far too cheap, to begin with, and he was far less liquid than was … Continue reading “The Free Press Gave America Trump — ?”
When I was a dedicated member of Herbert Armstrong’s Worldwide Church of God cult I was aware of the existence of “dissident” literature that had led a few fellow members to “fall away” into the clutches of Satan. I had no desire to seek it out and read it because I “knew” it would be … Continue reading “Essential Reading for Trump Supporters”
SO HOW DID the amoral Trump come to be beloved by evangelical voters, a question that remains one of the abiding mysteries to this day? Begin with the premise that Donald Trump hadn’t darkened the door of a church or chapel since the age of seven, as he would openly admit in his past incarnation. … Continue reading “The Day the Evangelicals First Met Donald Trump”
This post follows on from Historical Background to President Trump – the Republican Party’s Shift . . . Enter the Christian Right The Christian right . . . . . . was the term widely used during the 1980s to describe a religious social movement, while today the operative term in both self-presentation and in … Continue reading “The Historical Road Leading Fundamentalist Christians to Trump”
This post begins a bare-bones outline of a few key historical developments that have brought us to where we are now. Anyone with a deep knowledge of U.S. history will find my treatment very basic indeed. I am using as a convenient source a book that sets out a basic overview of selected background developments … Continue reading “Historical Background to President Trump – the Republican Party’s Shift”
A little rant: No-one with “every single thing that could be wrong with a human being” could just walk in and become President of the United States without a little help from somewhere. So here we are, people going crazy with frustration as Trump does and says more and more wrong things. The “wrong things” … Continue reading “Trump is Merely the Distraction”
What follows is not an attempt to explain every person who supports Trump. But if the shoe fits, wear it, as the saying goes. What is uppermost in my mind as I read Post and Doucette’s analysis of the dynamic between a certain kind of charismatic leader and his/her followers is my own experience of … Continue reading “Dangerous Charisma, 2: How the Leader (Cult, Trump . . .) Unlocks the Followers”
Hypotheses: “in times of crisis, individuals regress to a state of delegated omnipotence and demand a leader (who will rescue them, take care of them)” and that “individuals susceptible to (the hypnotic attraction of) charismatic leadership have themselves fragmented or weak ego structures.” Jerrold Post believes the above hypotheses find support in clinical studies of … Continue reading “Dangerous Charisma, Cults and Trump”
“Why do we do destructive things—to others, and to ourselves? Why do we so often act against our own interests?” I’ve been catching up on a number of research articles exploring the psychology of Trump followers and am surprised how closely some of the ideas cohere with what I have experienced and learned about the … Continue reading “Identity Fusion, Cults and Trump”
It sure looked like Trump was going all out to provoke a war with Iran — or maybe he was too stupid to think through the consequences of assassinating Qassem Soleimani [link is to Vridar post on QS’s bio] that far in advance. Then came this tweet: And that tweet seems to have been forced … Continue reading “Did the Saudis Talk Trump Out of War with Iran? — or am I just dreaming?”
I am catching up on too my long-neglected RSS feeds and came across this post from James McGrath: Jesus, James and Peter Mythicism. It is worth noting precisely what it is that mythicists do with Paul’s references to Jesus in his letters, and just how easily the same could be done with James, the brother … Continue reading “Trumpian Style Response to Mythicism”