Project Blitz - moving the United States toward theocracy

[BigAppleBucky]

A Christian Nationalist Blitz
It has often been predicted that the end of democracy in America would be due to a right wing religious takeover. These folks want it to happen soon.

America’s Christian nationalists have a new plan for advancing their legislative goals in state capitols across the country. Its stated aim is to promote “religious freedom.” Not shy, they call it “Project Blitz.”

“Blitz” accurately describes the spirit of the enterprise, but the mission has little to do with what most Americans would call religious freedom. This is just the latest attempt by religious extremists to use the coercive powers of government to secure a privileged position in society for their version of Christianity.

The idea behind Project Blitz is to overwhelm state legislatures with bills based on centrally manufactured legislation. “It’s kind of like whack-a-mole for the other side; it’ll drive ‘em crazy that they’ll have to divide their resources out in opposing this,” David Barton, the Christian nationalist historian and one of four members of Project Blitz’s “steering team,” said in a conference call with state legislators from around the country that was later made public.

The sponsors of Project Blitz have pinned their deepest hopes on the third and most contentious category of model legislation. The dream here is something that participants in the conference call referred to in awed tones as “the Mississippi missile.” The “missile” in question is Mississippi’s HB 1523, a 2016 law that allows private businesses and government employees to discriminate, against L.G.B.T. people for example, provided that they do so in accordance with “sincerely held religious beliefs.” The bill offers extraordinary protections, not to all religious beliefs per se, but to a very narrow set of beliefs associated mostly with conservative religion. If you hold a different set of religious beliefs, like, say, a commitment to gender and L.G.B.T. equality, there is no liberty in this bill for you.

What Christian nationalists know — and many of us have yet to learn — is that you don’t need a majority to hijack a modern democracy. You just need a sizable minority, marinating in its grievances, willing to act as a bloc, and impervious to correction by fact or argument.

[k9bfriender]

@BigAppleBucky

A Christian Nationalist Blitz
It has often been predicted that the end of democracy in America would be due to a right wing religious takeover. These folks want it to happen soon.

And of course, those who are pushing theocratic rule in the US are also the ones who scream loudest about sharia law.

[John_Mace]

From the OP’s link:

In October 2016, Mr. Dallas offered a neat summary of his political philosophy, one built on an idea by Abraham Kuyper, “There is not a place in the universe where Christ does not shout out, ‘Mine!’ ”

Hey, the don’t call him Baby Jesus for nuthin’!!

[Velocity]

They’re about 30 million voters short…

[The_Tooth]

Blitz? Well, why be subtle?

[DavidwithanR]

@Velocity

They’re about 30 million voters short…

Also numerous bricks short.

[DavidwithanR]

IMO American Christian nationalists are the greatest force for evil in the world today.

[E-DUB]

So, basically it’s ALEC for Jesus freaks. It’s a funny thing how extremists on one side are good for extremists on the other. They’ll huff and puff about the Muslim whack jobs and vice versa. After all, like Tip said, all politics is local.

[Ukulele_Ike]

Man, I really hate all THREE of the Great Western Monotheisms.

[BigT]

The Religious Right couldn’t handle not letting Trump win the nomination of their party. Either they supported Trump, which means Christian legislation would not be as appealing, or there were not enough of them.

Legislation doesn’t have to be fought until you can get it onto the floor, and even then people can just say “no.” The ALEC stuff works only because Republicans have majorities in a lot of places. But Trump shows Republican != Christian Right.

[Malleus_Incus_Stapes]

@Ukulele_Ike

Man, I really hate all THREE of the Great Western Monotheisms.

You hate all three of us because of a subset of one religion?

[E-DUB]

The conspiracy theorist in me says that if they could assassinate trump, place the blame on a left-winger, they’d have their man in office and a perfect excuse for a crack-down.

[Northern_Piper]

Where’s Nehemiah Scudder when you need him?

[OttoDaFe]

@Northern_Piper

Where’s Nehemiah Scudder when you need him?

About four years late.

[Lamoral]

It kills me to see how often the phrase “whack-a-mole” pops up (zing!) in political talk, since I actually know the guy who invented the Whack-A-Mole game (along with the animatronics used in Showbiz Pizza - NOT the inferior Chuck-E-Cheese which later replaced Showbiz after the latter bought out the former but adopted its branding to replace its own, in a “reverse merger.”) I am pretty sure Whack-A-Mole still remains at Chuck-E-Cheese. Despite all the more modern arcade games, I always did love Whack-A-Mole; there’s something incredibly fun about it. He surely never imagined that the name of the game would become a political catchphrase, often used in extremely dire contexts!

Anyway, I’m not worried about “Project Blitz”, just as I’m not worried about any of the other apocalyptic doom and gloom that people have been saying the right wing will bring about for the past two years. I don’t like that social progress is in danger of getting rolled back, but in general I think it’s harder to take away existing rights than it is to grant new ones.

[chappachula]

The bill offers extraordinary protections, not to all religious beliefs per se, but to a very narrow set of beliefs associated mostly with conservative religion. If you hold a different set of religious beliefs, like, say, a commitment to gender and L.G.B.T. equality, there is no liberty in this bill for you

How could this not be struck down by the Supreme court? The First Amendment is pretty sticky about not preferring one religion over another.
This is the first I’ve heard of this Blitz thing, and I assume that it will not become a major issue–there are a couple hundred million Americans who won’t vote for it.

It’s a legitimate concern, though I’m pretty sure it won’t be the end of the society.

(…And it’s interesting that the people who are most afraid of it seem to be less afraid of Sharia law.)

[Superdude]

More conservative justices on the Supreme Court, especially in the upcoming years?

[Fretful_Porpentine]

@chappachula

How could this not be struck down by the Supreme court? The First Amendment is pretty sticky about not preferring one religion over another.

I don’t know, but as a Mississippi resident I can tell you it is currently the law. The court of appeals ruled that the various people who were suing to have it struck down lacked standing because they couldn’t prove they’d been harmed by the law, and the Supreme Court declined to hear the case. I think it’s absolute bullshit, but until someone CAN show they’ve been harmed, we’re sort of stuck.

[John_Mace]

@chappachula

How could this not be struck down by the Supreme court? The First Amendment is pretty sticky about not preferring one religion over another.
This is the first I’ve heard of this Blitz thing, and I assume that it will not become a major issue–there are a couple hundred million Americans who won’t vote for it.

It’s a legitimate concern, though I’m pretty sure it won’t be the end of the society.

(…And it’s interesting that the people who are most afraid of it seem to be less afraid of Sharia law.)

I think that part you quoted is much to vague to figure whether the law it is referring to would be constitutional or not. But, it should be noted that the SCOTUS has not ruled LGBT folk to be a suspect class, so they are not automatically afforded protection at the state or federal level. Some states recognize them as a suspect class, but many (most?) do not.

[Nava]

@John_Mace

I think that part you quoted is much to vague to figure whether the law it is referring to would be constitutional or not. But, it should be noted that the SCOTUS has not ruled LGBT folk to be a suspect class, so they are not automatically afforded protection at the state or federal level. Some states recognize them as a suspect class, but many (most?) do not.

But that’s one thing which is suspect in and of itself, the idea that it’s only wrong to discriminate by a laundry list of reasons.

In the words of Manuel Fraga Iribarne “that’s just fucking stupid. We [writers of the Spanish Constitution] didn’t include being LGBT because we didn’t think about it, but we also didn’t include being a fan of the wrong sports team. We didn’t think it was necessary to include being a fan of the wrong sports team in a list of ‘reasons to discriminate which are completely, incredibly stupid’.”

Americans think it’s OK to deny service to someone for wearing the wrong sports jersey. And that literalist mindset which infuses so much of your lifes comes directly from the same people who insist that the Earth is flat because “the Bible tells me so”.