Cultism

 This is a fascinating bit of reporting - respectful but closely observed - about the new form of apocalyptic Christianity that is creating the foot soldiers in Donald Trump's version of America.

I have drifted into and out of the Episcopal church in my life. During a very hard time, I found the ministrations of two priests in particular very helpful. There is a solidity, a tangible realness, in some churches. I get that. That's real. My problem was the theology. I simply don't believe the Nicene Creed. I've said it a hundred times, but...nope. I just can't believe a God that is all-knowing, all-loving, and all-powerful can exist in a world such as ours. 

This new form of Dominionist Christianity offers community to people who are broken. That's great. But here's the thing: that's exactly what cults do. Cults don't acquire new members from those who are mostly well-adjusted and happy. The description of the sermons is a description of an America that simply doesn't exist. But that description resonates with people who have been broken by this modern world. It's a simple Manichean worldview that allows them to cast themselves as willing martyrs (one young man in the story fantasizes about being martyred in horrific fashion) in a titanic holy war between themselves and literal demons. It takes a messy world and establishes a clean order upon it. Bad things are caused by demons and we must fight using God's power which will be breathed into us.

I know as a "Coastal Elite" I'm not supposed to look down my nose and these "Real Americans." But, yeah, I pity them. I do understand why this simple, simplistic, simple-minded version of "faith" appeals to them. Personally, I've drifted more and more into a soft Buddhism as a way to understand the world. (Something those two priests I mentioned earlier put me on to.) Buddhism is hard. Dominionism is actually easy, because it absolves you of so much. It wraps you in a warm sense of purpose.

Religion - at its best - is a balm for the broken, but that should mean it is a personal relationship of faith. Dominionism is not, ultimately, about that. It's about forcing their views on the rest of us. It's about investing executive power in a corrupt conman who worked for four years to break our country (and may have succeeded). So in the end, while I want to be sympathetic to these people seeking certainty and faith in an uncertain world...nah. Fuck'em.