Transcripts For CSPAN2 Katherine Stewart The Power Worshippe

Your continuing support of our Natural Resources of the industrial homeland thank you for tuning in during the strange times but this virtual edition of the program and Live Streaming with townhall communities to function well beyond seattle. Everybody sharing and talking into their computers and thank you Catherine Davis for helping us keeping the conversation. This is not feature Close Caption servicing unfortunately but it will be once it is loaded onto the youtube page as soon as we can. Upcoming events with their former labor secretary Washington Post advice columnist, and then the future of Nuclear Policy and bearing witness to the end of i. C. E. Another installment of our series this saturday as well as some exciting confirmations to be announced in the coming week we are adding new events every day as well as new releases as podcast and many are available in videos or podcast form so in short look around and in the coming weeks we will continue to provide ways for you to stay plugged in. For tonights event catherine will speak about 20 or 25 minutes then followed by david and then well have questions before moderating the q a we will select those that have been entered at the bottom of the screen you can also vote which question the answer first we cannot guarantee they can answer every question well get to as many as possible. Through your support and our sponsors and the Foundation Northwest most important town halls at all thank all the members watching tonight. Meanwhile everything you heard is true, townhall and the Nonprofit Community is under a significant strain we hope you will consider a gift during this time to make a donation with the donate button to make a donation online call or you can donate. To give. Do to the cove it out brick others can use your support look at your local independent bookstore and getting a copy of catherines book we urge you to purchase it on this live stream page using our link. Catherines tour author and journalist tos work focuses on education with religious freedom and separation of church and state she began her career in journalism working as with the legendary Investigative Reporter and Newsweek International and new York Observer among other publications and in 2005 she published two novels about 21st century parenting over a constellation of issues on matters of religion she has written for the new york times, the nation and the atlantic as well as our third 2012 the Good News Club which investigated religious fundamentals. Joined tonight previously david worked at msnbc as a writer producer the last 20 years focusing on writing books reporting on the far right of society. And then his book hell followed with her looking at the dark side of the american border during the latino book awards for nonfiction. Inside the dangerous rise of nationalism is a subject of the program he will join us in a little bit the please join help me to welcome catherine stewarts. Thank you to townhall. I hope everyone watching for home is staying comfy we dont need to tell anyone here this is a tragedy and and to bring us together in the evidencebased fashion and to work collaboratively to suffering for all americans and in particular those among us bearing the highest cost. Unfortunately i think we all know by now two things. We know the kind of person donald trump is and he wouldnt be where he is today but with many people call the christian right but also religious nationalism or Christian Nationalism. Here is the one thought i want to put forward on trump on the nationalist order. According to which that type are conservative and those that vote him in a purely transactional way nothing will suggest tonight that this is in large part fals false. Trump and in politics represented something essential by christian nationals today. And we can better understand that than what it is because the real leaders and followers have been around a lot longer than he has. So think of the womens right we also think of a social Movement Working from the bottom up addressing a particular group in society but religious nationalism works from the top down. That manipulates that target population as it should. But then also usually thinking of a Cultural Movement with very specific assets of modern life like female Reproductive Health that is has an extraordinary cultural significance. But we are dealing with the Womens Movement not just cultural. The Womens National of america did not arise out of abortion but it created the abortion issue. When we think of the religious right and then the form of american democracy but we see this competing and that this is the movement that does not believe in liberal democracy and then to create a new type of order one in which these leaders approve and their political allies with these positions of privilege in politics law and society. And then talk a good game about patriotism and George Washington and so on. But that nationalism is not remotely in fact it is the affinity for the alliance with religious nationalists around the world. So Vladimir Putin and russia or hungary or erdogan in turkey but for the conservatives in their country to consolidate their power we rightly understand this in the form of religious nationalism and we say this today with the trump alliances with hyper conservative religious leaders and then the power worshipers is a deep dive into the machinery of the inner workings of the leading personality. I want to focus on four areas churches, the ideology of the movement, leaders in particular, the role of money and the international alliance. So lets start with messaging through churches leaders have figured out that it drives vote so pastors have been organized to be all on the same page politically to give them the tools to turn out the vote for conservative candidates so from their perspective that of the hyper conservative churches have been converted into that shadow political party. So when i was researching the book that was organized by the pastor networks i want to give you an idea and that i found myself bad a small church in North Carolina with dozens of evangelical pastors and ended up teaching them how to communicate to their congregation the key issue that supposedly matter in elections and that is biblically correct and then organized that is one of the most powerful policy groups over 25000 pastor members. And to be openly endorsed by political leaders. So i could tell this was not a politically neutral affair the Family Research Council President said i believe this last election, 2016 was the result of prayer we saw the nation move back with the sanctity of life so the single issue that mattered most the only one that mattered was what the pastor cared about was abortion they can get people to vote on a single issue or maybe just one or two then you can get their vote so they said put on the whole armor of god that you are able to withstand the wiles of the devil. Is clear that he found on the democratic side of the aisle. They need to vote they told the pastor. As pastor, you need to tell them to vote and without which way that he expected the pastor to tell their congregants to vote. And then the Culture Impact Team but the idea is to pass the literature as they describe it in the public arena. And to figure out which members of the congregation and with those biblical values this is a Culture Impact Team at 200 pages of instruction not telling people to get out to motivate but these are resources and tools and messaging materials to help them do it. That the pastors should replace campaigning for president s from the pulpit but nothing stops congregants and the churches themselves and undertaking their own political activism so a year ago a pastor that i interviewed about this position call i got the godgiven loophole. It is not me telling the congregant how to voter who to vote for so he saw that as a loophole. But that was him directing the action from the top. So let me tell you something about the political messaging of the movement leaders. When they are talking to congregants or to the pastors about talking to the congregants to help them figure out how to get out the vote it is abortion all the time it is the beginning of the end in fact the heard one leader for Network Gathering if somebody asks you you asked them what is more important the extra dollar or life . Thats the message they are giving to their congregants and those in greater detail its not just about abortion some of it is about money and low taxes or no taxes at least for the rich or no government for violation of business and the government regulation of the environment and how that safety net is managed by the church when we look at that later. So with that large agricultural they are in walking valley i was there to attend the celebration with a capital ministries to highlight political leaders at the top level of government from the weekly Bible Study Group to be attended by at least 12 members of the trump cabinet including Vice President mike pence and he puts bible study online pence is up there, pompeo, as are, out there in the open and the Bible Study Group by the way it is our truly the most influential pastor in america so why is a man of such influence for the 20th anniversary celebration add an agricultural fair in the San Joaquin Valley . Not only did he start off but with the owners of the largescale industry and sonny perdue was on hand with the San Joaquin Valley. So on domestic and economic foreignpolicy it is a Political Movement not from the culture war and with the social and Economic Policy questions including the idea that social welfare programs the responsibility to meet the needs with a husband and a marriage if the husband is absent and nowhere occurred god command institutions of god on dash with those genuine needs. So to make it clear that he believed in triangulation. So leaders must incentivize those which includes the burdens of government regulation. So with those words of wisdom the bible study guide of that understanding and of the new testament and to be submissive to your masters but also to those who are unreasonable. And one of slave and master to submit to ones thoughts. Is actually big on submitting we wont go there right now. But theyre all to the ears of agribusiness leaders and rely on workers rights economic environmental deregulation to increase their profits. And as i explained in my book from proslavery ideology. And the alliance and big money with the idea of these hierarchies are ordained by god. So this idea that is a totally christian nation with the hierarchy with that theology of the political theologians of today from hyper conservative and is widely parroted by other members of the Movement Including david barton you may not know who he is but look him up he is who i call the wheres waldo of the Christian Nationalist Movement he sits on the board of so many and he also has argued the bible and god oppose progressive income taxes Capital Gains and minimum wage laws in the issue of slavery to make his point that americas founders that it was different forms of slavery replace the most obvious system from the past century that that is the role of master for many with the aid and assistance for more and more control the only solution to slavery is the liberty of the gospel. Not only the racializing and yanking the whole issue of enslavement of human beings wildly out of context but he is also calling food stamps or other forms of Food Assistance to slavery of the state. So with the next topic i want to address his money. Christian nationalist expand the movement has already taken through subsidies and this has in turn shaped the ambition and the tactics of the movement they dont want the government to transfer were resources directly but to siphon the money from the government for their initiative and then perhaps some of that will trickle down, maybe not and then to call for religious freedom to characterize much of that activism today that these conservative christians should be able to discriminate because they are grounded of the discriminatory inclination to lose their Tax Deductions and subsidies but even more than activist how their eyes on a vast potential of flow to become explicitly clear in the field of Public Education were religiously motivated activist are determined to expand the School Vouchers if it is Something Like 8 percent and many of those preach about their contempt of the faith so then and with the department of revenue they understand the potential that the us has something close to 600 million per year and a nationalist no to have their hands on a portion of that figure of what they call religious liberty then the money will flow down. In fact this past winter eight federal agencies propose changes of how they would work with this organization to put the flow of public money in their direction into the taxpayerfunded discrimination against nonreligious all in the name of religious liberty. So lets look at the International Peace they can talk about american exceptionalism that may be one of the least exceptional things and the russia collusion thing that those single entities so under trump United States has become a flashing beacon of hope to call itself the Global Conservative movement that it seeks to defend the National Family but really it is about taking down modern democracy in a place the authoritarian faithbased to call it the global holy war. So the Christian Nationalist Movement within the United States and reality is just one piece of this movement the Global Conservative movement to be a single worldwide enemy the quality and the values of the enlightenment. So when i was researching i went to one of their annual conferences call the role conference a family popular right wing to describe the common foe as the multicultural processes of globalization and the secular aristocracy. And to be on the hit list or the radical feminist the lgb t totalitarian he warned the crowd of the urgent need with Political Correctness and said please try to make those decisionmakers here you. So a russian activist with a host of groups im telling you 2. 0 do you remember her from the framework so he said the hyper conservative christian and in the homes groups mom on the homeschooling world and on the homeschooling panel and said the scientific worldview the same people who promote lgbt gender rights it goes in one package to say gaze and darwin somehow they are connected he said that. So this movement is a global holy war with an unmistakable democratic vision that american and right wing host have mentioned we are the future and there is nothing , absolutely nothing the secular world can do about that. The world conference of families were in 25 years ago where the activist gathered in russia looking at my fellow conference goers it is clear to me the russian government wanted to manipulate the politics of the west with its own population it could hardly have found a more useful collection of people. So to close, now that ive given you the bad news they want to give you the good news the rise of Christian Nationalism of all of us care about the future of democracy in america to overcome this reactionary when it isnt just something americans could do it is what we are many today with a threat including so many of you in this virtual room and right wing ideologues have thought and with that freedom of conscience to target the community to crave neutrality to defend the criminal action by the name on enablers. And while it is true the media has been a little enlisted in the Propaganda Campaign to underestimate the impact what that hyper conservative there are many other journalist to bring the truth to light. In some ways that doesnt yet live up to the promise may be perfectly perhaps but the religious nationalist are using the tools of democracy and political culture. Tell us the story of how you go down this road . Is not something you word normally do. But with this topic my eyes were opened 2008 going to my daughters Public Elementary School in california Good News Clubs are designed to convert early children into deeply fundamentalist form of evangelical christian they confuse little children to think that is a form of religion and to encourage children to proselytize their classmates as a centerpiece of the program but for those that are literally too young to read but that nationwide little children cannot distinguish between interschool or Public Schools so they think its on the school it must be true but the more concerned i became. And with that determination with a high level of Natural Resources<\/a> of the industrial homeland thank you for tuning in during the strange times but this virtual edition of the program and Live Streaming<\/a> with townhall communities to function well beyond seattle. Everybody sharing and talking into their computers and thank you Catherine Davis<\/a> for helping us keeping the conversation. This is not feature Close Caption<\/a> servicing unfortunately but it will be once it is loaded onto the youtube page as soon as we can. Upcoming events with their former labor secretary Washington Post<\/a> advice columnist, and then the future of Nuclear Policy<\/a> and bearing witness to the end of i. C. E. Another installment of our series this saturday as well as some exciting confirmations to be announced in the coming week we are adding new events every day as well as new releases as podcast and many are available in videos or podcast form so in short look around and in the coming weeks we will continue to provide ways for you to stay plugged in. For tonights event catherine will speak about 20 or 25 minutes then followed by david and then well have questions before moderating the q a we will select those that have been entered at the bottom of the screen you can also vote which question the answer first we cannot guarantee they can answer every question well get to as many as possible. Through your support and our sponsors and the Foundation Northwest<\/a> most important town halls at all thank all the members watching tonight. Meanwhile everything you heard is true, townhall and the Nonprofit Community<\/a> is under a significant strain we hope you will consider a gift during this time to make a donation with the donate button to make a donation online call or you can donate. To give. Do to the cove it out brick others can use your support look at your local independent bookstore and getting a copy of catherines book we urge you to purchase it on this live stream page using our link. Catherines tour author and journalist tos work focuses on education with religious freedom and separation of church and state she began her career in journalism working as with the legendary Investigative Reporter<\/a> and Newsweek International<\/a> and new York Observer<\/a> among other publications and in 2005 she published two novels about 21st century parenting over a constellation of issues on matters of religion she has written for the new york times, the nation and the atlantic as well as our third 2012 the Good News Club<\/a> which investigated religious fundamentals. Joined tonight previously david worked at msnbc as a writer producer the last 20 years focusing on writing books reporting on the far right of society. And then his book hell followed with her looking at the dark side of the american border during the latino book awards for nonfiction. Inside the dangerous rise of nationalism is a subject of the program he will join us in a little bit the please join help me to welcome catherine stewarts. Thank you to townhall. I hope everyone watching for home is staying comfy we dont need to tell anyone here this is a tragedy and and to bring us together in the evidencebased fashion and to work collaboratively to suffering for all americans and in particular those among us bearing the highest cost. Unfortunately i think we all know by now two things. We know the kind of person donald trump is and he wouldnt be where he is today but with many people call the christian right but also religious nationalism or Christian Nationalism<\/a>. Here is the one thought i want to put forward on trump on the nationalist order. According to which that type are conservative and those that vote him in a purely transactional way nothing will suggest tonight that this is in large part fals false. Trump and in politics represented something essential by christian nationals today. And we can better understand that than what it is because the real leaders and followers have been around a lot longer than he has. So think of the womens right we also think of a social Movement Working<\/a> from the bottom up addressing a particular group in society but religious nationalism works from the top down. That manipulates that target population as it should. But then also usually thinking of a Cultural Movement<\/a> with very specific assets of modern life like female Reproductive Health<\/a> that is has an extraordinary cultural significance. But we are dealing with the Womens Movement<\/a> not just cultural. The Womens National<\/a> of america did not arise out of abortion but it created the abortion issue. When we think of the religious right and then the form of american democracy but we see this competing and that this is the movement that does not believe in liberal democracy and then to create a new type of order one in which these leaders approve and their political allies with these positions of privilege in politics law and society. And then talk a good game about patriotism and George Washington<\/a> and so on. But that nationalism is not remotely in fact it is the affinity for the alliance with religious nationalists around the world. So Vladimir Putin<\/a> and russia or hungary or erdogan in turkey but for the conservatives in their country to consolidate their power we rightly understand this in the form of religious nationalism and we say this today with the trump alliances with hyper conservative religious leaders and then the power worshipers is a deep dive into the machinery of the inner workings of the leading personality. I want to focus on four areas churches, the ideology of the movement, leaders in particular, the role of money and the international alliance. So lets start with messaging through churches leaders have figured out that it drives vote so pastors have been organized to be all on the same page politically to give them the tools to turn out the vote for conservative candidates so from their perspective that of the hyper conservative churches have been converted into that shadow political party. So when i was researching the book that was organized by the pastor networks i want to give you an idea and that i found myself bad a small church in North Carolina<\/a> with dozens of evangelical pastors and ended up teaching them how to communicate to their congregation the key issue that supposedly matter in elections and that is biblically correct and then organized that is one of the most powerful policy groups over 25000 pastor members. And to be openly endorsed by political leaders. So i could tell this was not a politically neutral affair the Family Research<\/a> Council President<\/a> said i believe this last election, 2016 was the result of prayer we saw the nation move back with the sanctity of life so the single issue that mattered most the only one that mattered was what the pastor cared about was abortion they can get people to vote on a single issue or maybe just one or two then you can get their vote so they said put on the whole armor of god that you are able to withstand the wiles of the devil. Is clear that he found on the democratic side of the aisle. They need to vote they told the pastor. As pastor, you need to tell them to vote and without which way that he expected the pastor to tell their congregants to vote. And then the Culture Impact Team<\/a> but the idea is to pass the literature as they describe it in the public arena. And to figure out which members of the congregation and with those biblical values this is a Culture Impact Team<\/a> at 200 pages of instruction not telling people to get out to motivate but these are resources and tools and messaging materials to help them do it. That the pastors should replace campaigning for president s from the pulpit but nothing stops congregants and the churches themselves and undertaking their own political activism so a year ago a pastor that i interviewed about this position call i got the godgiven loophole. It is not me telling the congregant how to voter who to vote for so he saw that as a loophole. But that was him directing the action from the top. So let me tell you something about the political messaging of the movement leaders. When they are talking to congregants or to the pastors about talking to the congregants to help them figure out how to get out the vote it is abortion all the time it is the beginning of the end in fact the heard one leader for Network Gathering<\/a> if somebody asks you you asked them what is more important the extra dollar or life . Thats the message they are giving to their congregants and those in greater detail its not just about abortion some of it is about money and low taxes or no taxes at least for the rich or no government for violation of business and the government regulation of the environment and how that safety net is managed by the church when we look at that later. So with that large agricultural they are in walking valley i was there to attend the celebration with a capital ministries to highlight political leaders at the top level of government from the weekly Bible Study Group<\/a> to be attended by at least 12 members of the trump cabinet including Vice President<\/a> mike pence and he puts bible study online pence is up there, pompeo, as are, out there in the open and the Bible Study Group<\/a> by the way it is our truly the most influential pastor in america so why is a man of such influence for the 20th anniversary celebration add an agricultural fair in the San Joaquin Valley<\/a> . Not only did he start off but with the owners of the largescale industry and sonny perdue was on hand with the San Joaquin Valley<\/a>. So on domestic and economic foreignpolicy it is a Political Movement<\/a> not from the culture war and with the social and Economic Policy<\/a> questions including the idea that social welfare programs the responsibility to meet the needs with a husband and a marriage if the husband is absent and nowhere occurred god command institutions of god on dash with those genuine needs. So to make it clear that he believed in triangulation. So leaders must incentivize those which includes the burdens of government regulation. So with those words of wisdom the bible study guide of that understanding and of the new testament and to be submissive to your masters but also to those who are unreasonable. And one of slave and master to submit to ones thoughts. Is actually big on submitting we wont go there right now. But theyre all to the ears of agribusiness leaders and rely on workers rights economic environmental deregulation to increase their profits. And as i explained in my book from proslavery ideology. And the alliance and big money with the idea of these hierarchies are ordained by god. So this idea that is a totally christian nation with the hierarchy with that theology of the political theologians of today from hyper conservative and is widely parroted by other members of the Movement Including<\/a> david barton you may not know who he is but look him up he is who i call the wheres waldo of the Christian Nationalist Movement<\/a> he sits on the board of so many and he also has argued the bible and god oppose progressive income taxes Capital Gains<\/a> and minimum wage laws in the issue of slavery to make his point that americas founders that it was different forms of slavery replace the most obvious system from the past century that that is the role of master for many with the aid and assistance for more and more control the only solution to slavery is the liberty of the gospel. Not only the racializing and yanking the whole issue of enslavement of human beings wildly out of context but he is also calling food stamps or other forms of Food Assistance<\/a> to slavery of the state. So with the next topic i want to address his money. Christian nationalist expand the movement has already taken through subsidies and this has in turn shaped the ambition and the tactics of the movement they dont want the government to transfer were resources directly but to siphon the money from the government for their initiative and then perhaps some of that will trickle down, maybe not and then to call for religious freedom to characterize much of that activism today that these conservative christians should be able to discriminate because they are grounded of the discriminatory inclination to lose their Tax Deductions<\/a> and subsidies but even more than activist how their eyes on a vast potential of flow to become explicitly clear in the field of Public Education<\/a> were religiously motivated activist are determined to expand the School Vouchers<\/a> if it is Something Like<\/a> 8 percent and many of those preach about their contempt of the faith so then and with the department of revenue they understand the potential that the us has something close to 600 million per year and a nationalist no to have their hands on a portion of that figure of what they call religious liberty then the money will flow down. In fact this past winter eight federal agencies propose changes of how they would work with this organization to put the flow of public money in their direction into the taxpayerfunded discrimination against nonreligious all in the name of religious liberty. So lets look at the International Peace<\/a> they can talk about american exceptionalism that may be one of the least exceptional things and the russia collusion thing that those single entities so under trump United States<\/a> has become a flashing beacon of hope to call itself the Global Conservative<\/a> movement that it seeks to defend the National Family<\/a> but really it is about taking down modern democracy in a place the authoritarian faithbased to call it the global holy war. So the Christian Nationalist Movement<\/a> within the United States<\/a> and reality is just one piece of this movement the Global Conservative<\/a> movement to be a single worldwide enemy the quality and the values of the enlightenment. So when i was researching i went to one of their annual conferences call the role conference a family popular right wing to describe the common foe as the multicultural processes of globalization and the secular aristocracy. And to be on the hit list or the radical feminist the lgb t totalitarian he warned the crowd of the urgent need with Political Correctness<\/a> and said please try to make those decisionmakers here you. So a russian activist with a host of groups im telling you 2. 0 do you remember her from the framework so he said the hyper conservative christian and in the homes groups mom on the homeschooling world and on the homeschooling panel and said the scientific worldview the same people who promote lgbt gender rights it goes in one package to say gaze and darwin somehow they are connected he said that. So this movement is a global holy war with an unmistakable democratic vision that american and right wing host have mentioned we are the future and there is nothing , absolutely nothing the secular world can do about that. The world conference of families were in 25 years ago where the activist gathered in russia looking at my fellow conference goers it is clear to me the russian government wanted to manipulate the politics of the west with its own population it could hardly have found a more useful collection of people. So to close, now that ive given you the bad news they want to give you the good news the rise of Christian Nationalism<\/a> of all of us care about the future of democracy in america to overcome this reactionary when it isnt just something americans could do it is what we are many today with a threat including so many of you in this virtual room and right wing ideologues have thought and with that freedom of conscience to target the community to crave neutrality to defend the criminal action by the name on enablers. And while it is true the media has been a little enlisted in the Propaganda Campaign<\/a> to underestimate the impact what that hyper conservative there are many other journalist to bring the truth to light. In some ways that doesnt yet live up to the promise may be perfectly perhaps but the religious nationalist are using the tools of democracy and political culture. Tell us the story of how you go down this road . Is not something you word normally do. But with this topic my eyes were opened 2008 going to my daughters Public Elementary School<\/a> in california Good News Club<\/a>s are designed to convert early children into deeply fundamentalist form of evangelical christian they confuse little children to think that is a form of religion and to encourage children to proselytize their classmates as a centerpiece of the program but for those that are literally too young to read but that nationwide little children cannot distinguish between interschool or Public Schools<\/a> so they think its on the school it must be true but the more concerned i became. And with that determination with a high level of Strategic Thinking<\/a> and with our Public Education<\/a> to realize it is just one piece of the lifes bigger story it without modern constitutional democracy and where is that all hands on deck moment . I really felt i had to do my piece. Yes. Mrs. Seattle town hall but wasnt there a dollar piece to this . Absolutely my last book the Good News Club<\/a> takes place spending time with two pastors a United Methodist<\/a> pastor and evangelical pastor in the church sponsored the Good News Club<\/a> who reports a separation of church and state that this is a critical part and you take a very different view of the whole thing. And so i focused on the Good News Club<\/a> that was founded in the Public School<\/a> and that there is so much drama as they do one force itself into a Public Elementary School<\/a> with a diverse population to ignite these need this religious wars if our schools were a function and they need to serve all families and they know to leave the government and religious agenda behind when we come together for the children and the future. With the church in particular one of the focus what i am familiar with that i think a lot of people are familiar with the own church because it turns into this nightmare they had affiliate churches and they would all preach this version of christianity that i thought one of the things that scared me as they were deeply authoritarian and authoritarianism presented itself in a lot of ways, particularly like what you said with the relationship. But Everything Else<\/a> except the position of authority obviously was something starting in the 2000s i was observant and watching this growing authoritarianism from the evangelical crowd and it led over into politics so we saw this as well. That is true. And that anti Democratic Movement<\/a> so a lot of people to ask the question how do they check out family values and im sure that they worked overtime to earn a higher share of their vote of any other republican predecessor. And what is favorable to their interest over 22 percent federal judiciary and with those flow of the dollars unprecedented and unparalleled Political Action<\/a> and power. But there is more to it than that transactional to that level of biblical prophecy and the perfect vessel. And its not an accident that doctor Martin Luther<\/a> king that they dont have to follow the rules there is something about this movement intensely through tribal movements if you are inside and outside or pure or in pure. You dont want the night sky. You want the trump guy along that political enemy. One of my favorite things about the book it is an excellent book and everybody should grab a copy, that really that there is that line of authoritarianism that so much of their energy but when we look at it six or seven years after roe v wade dmv evangelical crowd it wasnt until they started to realize we need something that we can organize because people like Jerry Falwell<\/a> put his reputation on the all white schools and to get around brown v board of education. Some in many ways this was to say a reaction to the civil rights disasters. But did they have to sublimate that racial part of it . But roe v wade was a substitute in many ways so this underlying drive so through religious things. That is true. The leaders that played a role of the nationalist Movement Today<\/a> were upset that the irs would start to look at segregated christian academies to possibly revoke why is he getting all these tax privileges so just remember who he was he delivered a sermon that went so far as to call segregation gods established order and referred to desegregation as propaganda. The movement that identifies desegregation was unbelievable. And said that they could end Tax Exemptions<\/a> but they knew that to stop that tax it would be that broad from the what they wanted so instead they got together to decide that abortion would be a more palatable issue. Look at what was happening at that time when roe v wade was passed in editorial and ryan one wire service at a decision and with that abortion law with that great conservative with early in his career i believe the billionaires say at one point i believe its 1960 who say to say i dont believe in planned parenthood referring to abortion but they felt potential to be abortion issues there had been a lot of prochoice movements within the Republican Party<\/a> to see that prolife religion in the last voter summit i attended with a big gathering and tony perkins and then to kick off the summit. And its all about saving the babies. Yes. To circle back to authoritarianism as well and the role of russia and disinformation and that is a story for the daily truth but this organization thats called the Russian Imperial Movement<\/a> that was to named a terrorist organization and through the world conservative congress they held it in moscow this year 100 percent dedicated to the destruction of world democracy. They use religious traditionalism. It is interesting the whole fabric of families i heard it would be held in brazil but obviously there are no conferences taking place right now but that authoritarianism that you mention is really true and it is interesting that trump is always praising the authoritarian leaders and so one wonders so basically that there is no longer a congress or courts. And then to promote. Yes. Of course one of the things that they are all making use of right now is that prices of the pandemic and i have been writing quite a bit of how interestingly it was with the stayathome orders with the social distancing measures that are coming from with the christian evangelical churches but my old friend from the bundy family and that was killed in idaho. There were goes the issue to disregard the wording that many evangelical churches and some of those are touting social distancing including some jewish congregations as well. But my concern when it comes to the coronavirus, is the Political Movement<\/a> because there is a number of ways that they bear responsibility and incompetence with the National Response<\/a> and to have that culture that rejects the evidence of science and with that Critical Thinking<\/a> that obviously that was the reason to ask that are calling the coronavirus overhyped and insisting they continue to meet that is attributed to our ability with that evidencebased fashion. It is really obvious right now and that is a consequence of Economic Policy<\/a> and then to implicate that with the libertarian economic conservative so it does shift some of the blame to that group to support politics and policies with the privatization of healthcare and to seek to haul about that social safety net wouldnt go so far and Housing Assistance<\/a> with that model which one representative has research to say so when you have those problems we need a more collective solution of our countries and this is the culture with the idea that corporations have all manifested and we cannot be expected have that coordinated response. So beyond those religious National Groups<\/a> and thats why Many Movement<\/a> leaders use the coronavirus as an insult to trump but it was a Public Health<\/a> crisis that was in the attempt to get trump and then without overreaction that casualty fiber partisanship from the governmen government. Absolutely. If it has always been a problem because it is dedicated to the narrative and to keep up with the reality and with that authoritarian with that flexibility but what i see going on especially online in particular with the younger people there is a fair amount of realism out there that makes people feel you cannot trust any of the media. So we will just create our own reality and with that alternative universe i call it all to america with that alternative universe that is acutely the case with this religious part of the bubble because they have the communities they can live in this bubble they create for themselves as far as they know the whole world things like they do so it is a self confirming cycle of misinformation that they fully believe in. They are wellmeaning not the leaders but then they wind up becoming victims i know in my 34 years i have yet to meet a white room weighing political operation that does not destroy the lives of the people. It is interesting i heard one of the leaders say our people shouldnt be looking at the fake news. And the Major Network<\/a> we have our own media and thats all they should be looking at. The rankandfile of opposing states news with the Public Health<\/a> warning that in this misinformation in this case that could help preserve their lives they take the q instead from their media but even with such an unstable president is playing partisan games in Public Health<\/a> as a nation or his cronies are out there hawking the unproven remedies or from the disease. Or that 5g causes coronavirus. [laughter] they should pray away. For also to get a lot of emails in the legal organizations and calling for the stayathome orders for the government overreach specifically as it relates to churches. Bundy was calling for a law. And with that government overreach to talk about our sex lives. [laughter] we should flush that out we look at that movement i think the followers are for large number of reasons for they want to find meaning in life and this is what gives the meaning are they genuine in the love of god and scripture . But i think for too many of them the price of belonging is the surrender to these leaders who promised to offer order and certainty in the uncertain world. Now lets get to the questions. We have a bunch of them lined up waiting. The first one you said church is the use of tools for pastors get congregants on board with issues is that done through the sermons or are there other ways they politically influence congregations . A number of ways. Number one at the church that we discuss with that serve and i attended completely antiabortion sermon all about the babies so they deliver those kinds of messages with those sophisticated tools of that Culture Impact Team<\/a> and given those voter guides that are distributed at church and with your values. And then conservative churches and with that strategy of the religious right and these networks are given data tools to actually compare the voter rolls with Church Membership<\/a> to see if people voted in the last election and then they could target and one that is called individual voter look up so they can see of certain individuals in the church from the last election. And then to turn out to vote. But the data and messaging tool tools. So why do you prefer the phrase religious nationalism or White Christian<\/a> supremacy . Are you taking folks away from the nationalist source that you mentioned against all other religions . And to use that in the country . Thank you for that great question there is so much to unpack. And includes evangelicals but also meet many evangelicals it isnt just any one religious group but evangelicals are included to because it includes evangelicals and excludes many also but representatives from a variety of protestant and non protestant religion with Many Political<\/a> allies that are members of other nonchristian religion that lend support to the movement it is not a religion its a political ideology with the foundation of government from the reaction by not any one particular religion and you mention the issue with the breakdown that for many of the white people of the movement tied to the idea of america to specific religious and cultural identities. That they are complicit leave the White Christian<\/a> nation , and of course we tend to paper over that hyper conservative religion but we also have to remember trump one with some number of his voters. But to really see this demographic nature but they actually made significant effort to reach out to those conservative pastors of color and black voters in the region and to go after the latino and the black vote. And with those shameful edit with jim crow and be legitimate and conservative religion. Daughter suppression and gerrymandering. But they kind of toss in there as well certainly one of the things we have seen the last few years is that it transcends a vote of those boundaries so the authoritarian appeal of the religious nationalist movement appeals to a lot of folks and do they have a very small percentage, but they also allow the christian nationalists. Its part of why they tolerate the friendships i believe. If just goes to show what its become in this discussion. But also i tend to talk about it in Christian Nationalism<\/a>. There are some of these organizations and movements out there and im thinking the nation of islam. Why is there no blowback from the Christian Churches<\/a> . Nothing they are doing has anything to do we have to remember there is a whole movement out there of christians that reject the politic and division of the movement and recognize a large number of evangelicals. Most dont even understand these theologies as authentically christian and i think that most see religion as loving one another, care for the poor and perhaps the majority of the division. It has so much power not because it is the majority, it is a minority that in a country where 40 to 50 of people dont even bother and loo advocates increay large numbers of people that are being disenfranchised. You dont need a majority to win. If you are the minority [inaudible] the leader of one of the policy groups and he said dont Pay Attention<\/a> to the demographics. The only thing that matters is who turned out on election day and the sort of true believers as they are engaged and vote and highly disproportionate numbers and that is why they are able to win elections. What do they design originally to try to match the tea party energy or on behalf of the evangelical churches . In the coalition [inaudible] in the way children under 12 per se for religio village in the cd of politics. The movement has attempted to insert a million initiatives into Public Schools<\/a> and at the heart of the movement its anything that fails to affirm that the legend is somehow hostile to them and so they pursue a strategy in the curricula in some ways than the Public Schools<\/a> and also to the fund Public Schools<\/a> to the promotion of cultures and there are many that are in it for great reason but it is a large number of the Charter Network<\/a> run by the hyper conservative rightwing ideological so there are a lot of different types of initiatives. Gotcha. Heres one responding to the ball for stuff. Out of curiosity, i attended a service and i noticed that the audience was very young, the religious nationalism affects folks in the broadbased . Its a great question you go to some of these Church Networks<\/a> and deliver but they offer so much and dont go after University Centers<\/a> where people might be lonely into the sense of community and purpose. Theres a lot of these kind of services where people are attending and if you look at the documents not just the Mission Statement<\/a> that the beliefs and the theological documents, you will find that kind of hierarchy in the ideas of the biblical literalism. They really do make an effort to go after people. My observation as they went after professionals, people that were more. Older folks in the churches so thats where you saved the different demographic so these are very, very much geared to young people and its kind of geared towards him [inaudible] and certainly they get this stuff and singalongs in everybody feels good. Thats how they plan and. By the way, you have to do what he says and that sort of stuff so they layer it on slowly. Appealing to the where we want to go and one of the things i found fascinating in the workingclass area pastor can have a more authoritarian style of delivery because it will remind people and they will be more accustomed to him and him should have a more a gallon. Style. If a doctor is nothing wrong with wanting to reach people because the separation of church and state. The problem i have is that with religion but the kind of pivotal movement looking up the rhetoric and its really trying to achieve the power and it is an antiDemocratic Movement<\/a> specifically because it has very little respect for the constitution or the original is on is kind of a gaslighting with little respect for democracy or the twoparty system itself. [inaudible] it goes up when the number of people that vote goes down. No, in fact its been abundantly clear the party is becoming hostile to the democracy itself, so thats really sad. Lets move on. How are they handling the pandemic and we talked about this a little but maybe w bit mn go into it a little deeper. Im sorry, can you repeat the question . Guest how are the religious nationalists reviewing the covid pandemic and the response of the governments to the pandemic . Its pretty clear to most people the pandemic is a problem and while there are some folks that are ignoring the warnings of the government, most people are not ignoring them. Hand it over and divided because the motivations are guided by the ideology and have little to do with serving the public interest. Its nice that we have a fauci and the opportunity to open up the country again, scientists on the panel this type of behavior doesnt show for quite a time that in the case of a global pandemic. Host one of the things that strikes me is the religious nationalists are in many ways in their belief that the utter distrust the media is covering up his own incompetence that the Mainstream Media<\/a> has been lying to them so many places are not worried about covid because they think it is a hoax or something so that also affecting them and i think it is going to cost lives. We have time for one more question [inaudible] it is a great question. I think that religious nationalism is a sort of idea of the insider versus outsider and that is common around the world. You can see it all the time when people point out the fact they are trying to destroy the valuable principles and whats really held the country together more or less even if so many others have been torn apart by conflict they say you are standing on us, you are antichristian, Something Like<\/a> that and attacking us or our churches like there was a piece of mail i got today and its [inaudible] there is that we are under threat and thats with religious nationalism. Theres also the reality of this ill of the nationalism in the middle east and the powerlessness and the feeling of powerlessness. [inaudible] and we are certainly seeing that now as a religious nationalism in the United States<\/a>. Guest its fascinating when i was at the conference there was a representative of the hungarian immigrant talked about all of the Public Benefits<\/a> that have been offered to people and it is the kind of stuff that had him in action were no women with more than four children ever pay taxes again, thats too far to the left, and you can see that [inaudible] and yet we have this government now about a there are features in Different Countries<\/a> but they all declare themselves hostile to the plurality. It looks like our time is about up here. I should probably mention i worked for the Southern Poverty Law Center<\/a> and the amount currently working for david. If anybody wants to check out my work can find it at daily kos. [inaudible] lets stay in touch on that. I want to thank you both so much for tonights program. Obviously youve only scratched the surface of this incredible timely and somewhat terrifying topics so if you are curious to know more, im sure those of you on tonights program, pick up a copy of the power worshipers. I want to thank candace, josh, everyone from the town hall for making tonights program possible and i would urge you all to join us tomorrow night for our appearance by robert reisch. Not even the covid virus will keep him away from the town hall. Thank you all for being in attendance with us tonight. Well see you tomorrow night. The the president s, from public affairs. Available now in paperback and ebook. Presents biographies of every president , organized by ranking and noted historians from the best to the worst and futurist perspectives into the lives of the nations chief executives and leadership style. Visit the website, cspan. Org the president s to learn more about each president and order your copy today wherever books and ebooks are sold. Nprs steve appeared at the Commonwealth Club<\/a> in california to discuss political power couple john and Jessie Fremont<\/a> helped promote extinction of the United States<\/a>. Heres some of his talk. John Charles Fremont<\/a> was an explorer, a man who in the 1840s and 50s in the series of expeditions started in st. Louis missouri which was then the westernmost city and went out of the u. S. Army officer, hired skilled historians to go with and went out west again and again and ultimately ended up by chance in california and was intrigued as people are when they come to california and then returned a couple of years later to this mexican controlled territory with a perky and 60 gunmen and began the process of taking over california from mexico and making it part of the United States<\/a>. As an exporter, hed explorer, r that much that was new. He was traveling across the land that had been traversed by the native nations for centuries that have been explored by spaniards and for trappers. He didnt find all that much that was actually knew, that he codified and made it accessible and more importantly, he was coming back east to washington where he was based in washington, d. C. And writing accounts of his adventures. Theyve are ensuring that would become a part of the United States<\/a>. He also promoted himself. He named the vast area ringed by mountains that encompasses most of nevada and utah and parts of several other states. He would also describe california. Beautifully and he became such an extraordinarily famous and admired individual through his writings. In 1850 there was a magazine that named john fremont as one of the three most important world historical figures since jesus christ. [laughter] first of three figures as Christopher Columbus<\/a> discovered america. Second was George Washington<\/a>, the founder of this country and then the third was john c. Fremont whose greatest achievement was his role and reputation is to conquer her adding eldorado to the union to the United States<\/a>. He had real talent and real courage and fortitude and accomplishments as i write here if we hav may have been the pert made it possible for him to take full advantage of his talent and time. Jesse benton fremont, his wife born when women were allowed to make a few choices for themselves, they found a way to chart their own course. The daughter of a senator who was deeply involved in the west she provided her previously unknown husband to the highest levels of the government and media. It was no coincidence that he began to sort a few months after they even moved. When he was 28 and she was 17. I thought, as many others did, that Jesse Benton Fremont<\/a> was the better man of the two. She helped to write the famous reports and some of the letters serving as secretary, editor, writing partner and occasional ghost writer. She amplified talent for selfpromotion working with news editors to publicize the journey. She became political adviser. She attracted talented young men to the circle and promoted from and flashed out at enemies. She carry on conversations with senators twice her age, offered opinions even when they didnt agree with her and was gradually recognized. The timing was perfect. She was pushing the boundaries of the rules just as women were beginning to demand a larger place in the national life. We take a look at the altar programs about Technology Next<\/a> on booktv, programs from the archives that focus on technology. You can watch them in their entirety by visiting the website","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"archive.org","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","width":"800","height":"600","url":"\/\/ia801901.us.archive.org\/19\/items\/CSPAN2_20200426_220000_Katherine_Stewart_The_Power_Worshippers\/CSPAN2_20200426_220000_Katherine_Stewart_The_Power_Worshippers.thumbs\/CSPAN2_20200426_220000_Katherine_Stewart_The_Power_Worshippers_000001.jpg"}},"autauthor":{"@type":"Organization"},"author":{"sameAs":"archive.org","name":"archive.org"}}],"coverageEndTime":"20240716T12:35:10+00:00"}