Calvinism and American Church Racism - Explaining the Trump Era

This is part 4(b) in a series of articles showing how the acceptance of anti-biblical beliefs by people calling themselves Christian has led to the current political situation in America - where a large portion of the population is willing to accept fascism to maintain their perceived racial dominance. (See the previous post for definitions.)

The Christian Nationalist Org Chart

The mainstream media often presents Dominionists and Christian Nationalists (hereafter D/CNs) as just the millions of gullible working class republican voters who believe and repeat everything the right-wing media tells them – ie, people whose sense of self depends on being part of “team white America.” However, the republican base did not create the D/CN movement and does not set its agenda, they are merely deceived pawns – spiritual cannon fodder.

The D/CN movement should really be viewed as an organization with a top-down power structure - just like a government or a corporation:

Top - At the top of the pyramid are the small number of corporate oligarchs (the 1%) who quietly fund and direct the “conservative” movement. They adopt a low profile so that the people on the bottom never realize who the actual enemy is.
Middle - In the middle, is a much larger group of corrupt self-serving politicians and highly-paid lying media propagandists who act as the middle managers tasked with implementing the “conservative” strategy. They protect the oligarchy by promoting the political falsehoods (wedge issues) that obstruct functioning democracy. Such people have sold their souls for money, as evidenced by their eager promotion of all manner of lies – when the BIBLE tells us that all liars will be damned. Rev 21:8
Bottom - Finally at the bottom of the pyramid is the great mass of deceived authoritarian followers; the republican base that continues to vote for their own destruction in exchange for nothing more than mere assurances from the propaganda class that their white skin ancestry makes them part of the ruling group – “go team white America.” Never mind that their easy, lower middle-class version of the American dream has been purposefully destroyed by the very same oligarchs that they idolize.

Although they would not be prepared to accept it, I am ultimately writing this for the potential Christian redemption of the great mass of deceived nominal Christians at the bottom of the D/CN pyramid – people who have been brainwashed by decades of right-wing propaganda into rejecting Christian decency and embracing their learned (racist) feelings and instincts instead. They actually stand to gain nothing from D/CN in this world or in the next as they embrace the lies and un-Christian hatred fed to them by their middle management dominionist overseers.

A little history (…OK, a lot of history) about who “They” are

To assess the real motives of those behind the D/CN movement, we need to look at the top of the pyramid and consider what those who fund this movement stand to gain from implementing their hateful racist crusade. To do this, we have to examine the historical background.

Even before the US declared independence, a colonial upper-class was using its monetary power to exploit others – murdering Natives and enslaving Africans. In the late 1800’s, their successors, the wealthy industrialists who had made vast fortunes from land theft and chattel slavery moved to consolidate their control of American industry. These robber barrons, as they became known, insisted that they had the right to treat their white labor force however they wanted – that is, as much like slaves as possible – offering subsistence wages in life threatening work conditions, where child labor was necessary for families to merely survive. When workers demanded better conditions, vicious police gangs were hired by the oligarchs to attack and sometimes even murder anyone who dared to strike.

In 1929, the reckless greed of the business elites led to a stock market crash that kicked off the Great Depression - the worst economic downturn in modern world history. Much as we have seen in recent times, then president, Herbert Hoover, gave government bail outs to the very same oligarchs that had wrecked the economy. In 1933 fed-up Americans elected a new, democratic president Franklin D Roosevelt. Instead of continuing to serve the greed of the oligarchy, FDR instituted the “New Deal” – a series of government programs established to revive the economy by providing jobs and aid to the unemployed working classes. For this, he was branded a traitor to the ruling class.

The oligarchs felt threatened by the new deal, which they deceitfully associated with the rise of (atheistic) communism in Europe. Then and now, anything which gives economic power to the common people (actual democracy) is derided as being socialist / communist because it reduces the elites’ dictatorial power over the workforce and the economy.

False Preachers bless the lovers of money - enter the Wolves (in sheep’s clothing)

As happens (i.e., not by coincidence), a number of anti-labor, pro-big business “christian” preachers were pushed into national prominence during this same era (1930s). Once again, as with the blasphemous “christian” justifications for chattel slavery, the rich would promote a dishonest “us vs them” religious narrative to justify their greed, ie, “god-ordained” free market capitalism vs godless communism. One such preacher willing to provide profane religious cover for the oppressive policies of the business elites was a Norwegian immigrant with anti-union, anti-communist, and pro-Nazi sympathies, named Abraham Vereide. Vereide organized a businessman's anti-labor alliance in the pacific northwest that was dedicated to “breaking the spine of organized labor” on the west coast. This was an odd sentiment for a “christian” organization, especially given that the labor unions were forced into existence by abuses from the elites to begin with. According to the man who exposed the modern power of Vereide’s business cult, truth telling author, Jeff Sharlet:

In April 1935 Vereide, a Norwegian immigrant and Methodist minister living in Seattle, claimed to have had a vision in which he was instructed by God to redirect his Christian ministry away from the “down and out” (the poor) and toward the “up and out (the rich).” He subsequently evangelized among wealthy and politically powerful individuals who shared his concerns about socialism and other “subversive” forces. Strongly opposed to the New Deal policies of Democratic U.S. Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Vereide favoured an unregulated economy in which the less fortunate would depend on the religiously motivated charity of those in whom God had vested power and wealth. (Britannica)

Vereide was singing the first verse of what has become an old song: that union organizing was/is communist-inspired and therefore anti-American and un-christian. Never mind that working people were only asking for decent treatment and that the Christian BIBLE plainly tells us that exploiting workers is an act of evil. Lev 19:13, Deut 24:14-15, Jam 2:5-6, 5:1-6, 1Cor. 9:9-10, 1Tim. 5:18 The fact that Vereide’s vision opposes the BIBLE should be more than enough to tell you where it came from. Nevertheless, to those of Vereide’s ilk, free-market capitalism was/is the divine order – in which the rich are “chosen” by god to control the poor. Many modern right-wing political churches, influenced by this attitude, continue to teach that government intervention to help the poor is actually sinful (!) Needless to say, this version of the false “double predestination” doctrine disregards practically everything that JESUS taught. (See the next installment for a breakdown of how this doctrine opposes the BIBLE.)

In the 1940’s, with the backing of big business, Vereide took his act to Washington, DC. His shadowy semi-religious group eventually became one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful lobbying force for international big business interests in Washington. The rise of Vereide’s organization is outlined in Jeff Sharlet’s books and the Netflix documentary, “The Family.”

Back to the “same old” deal

The 1950s are often seen as the “golden age” of white middle class America by the typical christian nationalist. A high school educated unionized factory worker in the 1950s was often able to support a family of 4 on one salary. Ironically, the ease and prosperity of 1950s white America was the culmination of the socio-economic policies implemented by the new deal. The right to unionize, the VA bill, Medicare, Social Security, unemployment insurance, welfare, food stamps, etc., were all new deal inspired government programs.

These are the very same social and economic programs that the corporate oligarchs (directing the conservative agenda from atop the D/CN pyramid) have been working behind the scenes for many decades to destroy. Why? Simply because democracy and economic security for the masses threatens their power. To them, too much democracy means an unstable environment for the oligarchs to maintain their dictatorial financial power - people at ease might start to realize who their real enemy is.

Consider the deceptive lies currently being told by corrupted republican politicians about their plans to allow the corporate oligarchs to control (ie, to end) Social Security. Social Security is literally money paid into a national retirement fund by American workers and it belongs to them and to no one else. Why do these bribe takers want to give it to the oligarchs, who already control the vast percentage of wealth in America? Even though it is an obvious political poison pill for politicians to tell elderly voters that they want to take away their meager retirement income, they are being forced by the oligarchy to quietly propose this as a pretended solution to America’s national debt problem. The oligarchs just want ultimate control - people with no social safety net will have to do exactly what the oligarchy tells them to - or starve in the cold and heat. This is very suggestive of the “mark of the beast scenario” described in the BIBLE – where people will have to sell their souls just to get the bare necessities of life. Rev 13:15-17 How can anyone fail to recognize that the corporate oligarchy is promoting evil at every level?

The incredible power of (wanted) propaganda

Working class D/CNs have been continually duped into fearing that Blacks, Mexicans and recent immigrants will take their jobs and thus their position in society. No one can take what doesn’t exist. The reality is that their jobs were moved offshore to make higher profits in lower-cost labor markets by the very same corporations that destroyed their unions. Labor unions had always supported democratic political candidates who represented the working class. Thus, destroying the unions effectively disenfranchised former union workers by eliminating the funding sources for political candidates that traditionally represented their interests. With the election of Ronald Reagan (1980), the oligarchs put their plan to dismantle the “new deal” into high gear. The republican propagandists openly attacked unions as being greedy, crooked, and anti-american and attacked social programs by promoting the ridiculously false idea that they only helped “undeserving” Black people. Over the course of his presidency, Reagan convinced working class “conservatives” that the same federal government that had implemented the laws which allowed them to have a union job capable of supporting a family of four in their “golden era” - was actually their enemy because it was starting to extend the promise of the “American dream” to Blacks and other minorities.

That’s right, we are where we are because of greed, envy, and petty racism – hence the need for this blog.

The Links to Knowledge – those who seek will find Mat 7:7-11

While writing this particular section, I happened on a fantastic multi-part article that offers far more historical detail than I give - Democracy in Crisis: We’ve Been Headed Here for Decades. (I suggest that you copy the entire 8 part article to your desktop in case it ever disappears.) If you read and study this article as well as some of the other links provided, especially Jeff Sharlet’s material, you will gain an understanding of how the corporate oligarchy has created the political divide we face today - ie approaching the end phase of American democracy.

Calvinism and American Church Racism - Explaining the Trump Era - in 7 Parts

Thursday, August 10, 2023

The Dominionists – Who are they? Church heresies that Encourage American socio-political dysfunction Part 4.b.

Overview - Why Did Right-wing Christians Vote Trump?

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