"The August 2020 US Politics Thread is highly thought of, but nobody likes me. It can only be my personality. That's all."

My favorite part of the article is the mom talking about how she likes living in a bubble where she doesn't have to worry about her kids going outside to play with the neighbor kids, even though they go to another church, and then catches herself, "I don't know, maybe that's naive." - Yes, you absolutely need to be more concerned about your kids mixing it up with kids from other denominations, they might put dangerous ideas in their heads like it's okay to browse the Internet on Sundays.

Uh I think most evangelicals, particularly liberal ones, would loudly call bullshit on the idea that God would willingly exclude anyone who chose salvation.

― shout-out to his family (DJP), Monday, August 10, 2020 10:23 AM (thirty-two minutes ago)bookmarkflaglink

Yeah but the point is these are Calvinists not evangelicals

― treeship., Monday, August 10, 2020 10:27 AM (twenty-nine minutes ago)bookmarkflaglink

Yes, and Karl's arguing that there isn't a difference between them.

― shout-out to his family (DJP), Monday, August 10, 2020 10:29 AM (twenty-seven minutes ago)

i'm not arguing there isn't a difference between them. i'm arguing that to the outsider observer, in terms of actions and political beliefs, there is little to distinguish between the Dordt College crowd and white evangelicals.

i must admit i have never seen the words "liberal" and "evangelical" side-by-side, so i guess that speaks to my lack of perspective, for real. (i have to admit i googled it and found 18,500 results, heh). and not for the first time, i've said "evangelicals" when I really meant "white evangelicals". the overwhelming majority of white evangelicals i've known have been very conservative (and many are homophobic white nationalists to boot).

the seemingly incompatible doctrine thing is something else. i don't expect anyone to agree with me (a good indicator that i'm wrong), and my opinion on it is largely driven by my personal experiences with white evangelicals. all i can say is that in my experience, it is very, very possible to believe that anyone can be saved, and also that god knows who is going to be saved and counts them among his Chosen people.

and i'd also argue that for most evangelicals, there is no contradiction between "belief that people can choose their own salvation and be "born again" and declaring that "salvation was only for God’s chosen ones, and expelled from Dutch territory anyone who disagreed". the way they unify the two is like this: people can choose their own salvation, but god has already chosen who will receive. and on immigration, contemporary god is an angry righteous old testament god who chooses to bless or curse entire nations of evil nonbelievers. get born again or leave.

I grew up in an evangelical church in S. Illinois and agree 100% with Karl's take. Ime evangelical congregations believe in the doctrine that you choose your own salvation, but they have to square that with a totally omniscient god who already knows the choices you are going to make, so evangelicals get to profess that they are opening and welcoming to anyone choosing to join while at the same time critical and judging of anyone who has not. At least in my experience the prevailing mood for evangelicals is a sort of early-Christian New Testament belief in the end times and that they are a persecuted minority. A certain kind of paranoia justifying the other-ing of outsiders.

I mean in grade school I was lead to believe Catholics were a fringe religious cult that might steal your children.

tbf i think dutch calvinists in 1618 taught their kids the same thing

this is reminding me how much of my information about evangelicals comes from Chick tracts

Imagine growing up in Chick tract. My parents threw out an RPG book of mine when I was in high school because it discussed witches' spells" in it. I was quoted a bible verse about not suffering witches. This was in 1987, not 1697.

my dad make me quit taekwondo because there was a yin-yang patch on my uniform

sad lol, I think you have me beat. I'm sorry Karl, but that is cracking me up.

heh, there's a lot more where that came from! but yeah, it doesn't prove anything, of course, and i know my experience isn't and can't be typical of white evangelicalism. i would just say that the liberal evangelicals are getting absolutely CRUSHED in the "influence on real life" department, compared to their white nationalist peers.

Sorry for turning the US Politics thread into a discussion on Theology but I guess it makes sense that these old protestant factions are now coming together with evangelicals under a shared persecution complex based on the exclusion of others. Obviously, Christianity has become more of a political than a religious movement in America, so I guess it no longer matters to them whether they think that they believe they are going to heaven because God chose them or because they chose God, the most important thing that they can all agree on is that LGBT people are an abomination so horrible that being forced to bake a cake for them is tantamount to being burned in a fiery furnace or fed to hungry lions. From there, they can break into religious factions again over the rest of their political views. My parents told me that they went to church this past weekend for the first time since covid hit, and they had to have separate services, one with masks and one without masks because their congregation is so divided on that issue.

tempted to put this in batshit cartoons or trenchant but in any case
http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=5gGonq-e0gY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gGonq-e0gY

why not JONESTOWN

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/511333-trump-says-hell-accept-nomination-from-either-white-house-or-gettysburg

Would love to see this fucker take a header off Little Round Top on national tv.

TRUMP EVACUATED from White House press briefing room by US Secret Service. An agent locked the briefing room doors from the exterior. pic.twitter.com/El9Xi4lAlE

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) August 10, 2020

would hate to think reason for this is the same reason they pulled the basketball guys (sp?) during their march 11 press conference!!!!

Emergency #2.

A private flight from South Bend to Wilmington, Delaware, landed an hour and five minutes ago, per FlightAware. pic.twitter.com/l3XJjDFsVG

— Adam Wren (@adamwren) August 10, 2020

oh god no not pete

Remember slow news days?

Is that tweet supposed to imagine Mayo Pete meeting with Joe?

If Buttigieg is named VP I won't vote.

xp - yeah, I mean it's like a .12% chance but god it would be beautiful

Maybe every woman of color in the Democratic Party turned him down (or spoke to the Scientologists)

Ed Rendell likes the cut of Pete's jib.

It sucks so fucking bad that for the rest of my life this rodent-faced dork will almost certainly be someone in American politics I’ll have to know and hear about.

I'm sure there was lots of good ol whinin' and complainin' about it here a few months ago, but as a queer dude who is married, I've never felt more insulted by someone's existence in my life.

It's like he is the exact antipode of everything I care about and value.

I’m certainly no great judge of character but he seems transparently disingenuous, opportunist, and uhh “fake” smart or something

an absolute cipher

he basically is that character from The Politician but somehow less likeable

I didn't like him to begin with because I knew about the McKinsey period, but when I found out he *volunteered* to join the US military apparatus in 2009, I was convinced that he had nothing approaching any ethical sense. Put the garbage in the trash afaic.

Pete as veep would be the ultimate fuck-you and therefore perfect

because really what are you gonna do, not vote for them

if the reveal is that pete is actually a woman of color, i swear i'm going to cancel my subscription to this dumb channel

It sucks so fucking bad that for the rest of my life this rodent-faced dork will almost certainly be someone in American politics I’ll have to know and hear about.

On the contrary, being Biden's VP would probably tank any future career. He can make a failed run in 2024/8 then go sit on a bunch of corporate boards.

unless he becomes president

However unfair it might be, no one with the last name 'Buttigieg' will ever become president.

― E Pluripubis Unum (Old Lunch), Wednesday, January 23, 2019 8:42 AM (one year ago) bookmarkflaglink

Pretty sure I still stand by this.

Pretty sure.

What if he changes his name to Petey Butts?

my take on it is that Biden has to make it clear he's vetting everyone

Buttigieg angling for Secretary of Defense or something.

CIA director

Always best to promote from within

Master of Secrets

Maybe they'll put him in charge of Hufflepuff this term.

The presumption that Biden would meet Buttigeig only in regard to VP is blinkered. My guess he will get a speech slotted at the convention and they'll talk about Pete's role in the campaign and possible posting in Biden's administration. Buttigeig did Biden a solid favor by pulling out of the race before the South Carolina primary and endorsing him at the same time. Not a big enough favor to merit being chosen VP, but big enough to ask for a minor Cabinet post or something about that level. He did well enough in the early primaries that he can claim to bring votes to the table.

So that means we can't kill him? :-(

Well, you can try. It might require a silver bullet.

you can but only after temp ban

yeah I def don’t think he’s being tapped for VP (I think Joe will pick a woman); I’m just sad I have to know who this fucknut is. and even sadder the Democratic Party has become the lint trap for phonies and strivers who can only conceive of politics as doing more neocon bullshit abroad and more neolib bullshit here at home.

Had a feeling I might get tempbanned for that... apologies, all in jest. I just loathe the guy.

Giving a tyrant enough rope is a terrible strategy and for the millionth time since 2016, time is not our friend. fatigue and internal turnover makes successful resistance ever less likely. but fine, wait for midterms.

― Hunt3r, Tuesday, June 26, 2018 9:11 AM (two years ago) bookmarkflaglink


eventually everyone folds for the boss or gets folded. don't like it? better change that boss. clock is ticking.

― Hunt3r, Thursday, June 28, 2018 12:42 PM (two years ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah i get afraid it’s very very late now