https://politicalresearch.org/ The latest research related to civil war (new) en https://religiondispatches.org/2024/01/08/nikki-haleys-slavery-omission-typifies-gops-tragic-pact-white-supremacy Nikki Haley’s headline-generating incident at a town hall in New Hampshire is the perfect metaphor for the current Republican Party and its continued slide into open authoritarianism and White supremacy. At a recent town hall in New Hampshire , the… Mon, 08 Jan 2024 12:08:59 EST Annika Brockschmidt 7da44205-3497-46c7-ab61-2d604a0f004e https://religiondispatches.org/2023/09/27/america-appears-be-heading-religious-civil-war Civil war is coming to America. At least that’s the view sizable numbers of Americans have expressed to pollsters in recent years. A 2022 Economist/YouGov poll found that 43% of respondents think it’s likely a civil war will break out… Wed, 27 Sep 2023 04:02:13 EDT Nilay Saiya e8ff7500-f053-4cb7-a716-93dae679a053 https://religiondispatches.org/2023/06/08/top-five-less-sensational-more-dangerous-things-remember-about-pat-robertson-1930-2023 Sure, it’s easy to poke fun at Pat Robertson for his 2,000-pound leg press claims or to scold him for his vile Haiti comments, but Robertson thrives on the ‘persecution.’ Our list spins the Robertson moral differently and shows just why he’s been a truly dangerous figure. Thu, 08 Jun 2023 05:27:59 EDT Mark Hulsether 1fafedef-45b2-4e43-b38e-9022ff5e97e4 https://religiondispatches.org/2023/05/25/what-we-need-understand-fascism-intersectional-and-erotic-thy-rod-thy-gun-hip-thrust In The Family (now also a Netflix series), journalist and author Jeff Sharlet wrote about his experience of going undercover as a young man in a secret, elitist organization of the American Christian Right. It was, in many ways, the… Thu, 25 May 2023 03:23:58 EDT Annika Brockschmidt 301f7139-e774-4da0-b27a-83fa6559b10d https://religiondispatches.org/2023/03/08/dont-sleep-trumps-cpac-speech-calling-final-battle-was-southern-strategy-apocalyptic Donald Trump has, in the past, dallied with apocalypticism in his rhetoric and policy, but it was usually interpreted as a sop to his evangelical base. He made an excellent secular hero for evangelicals like Rick Perry, who referred to… Wed, 08 Mar 2023 04:45:27 EST Thomas Lecaque 4dac6f69-f423-4c82-95e4-f3b1cd6e5d33 https://religiondispatches.org/2023/02/24/marjorie-taylor-greenes-redblue-national-divorce-looks-awful-lot-confederate-flag There is nothing quite like the fresh hell of Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Twitter account, wondering on a daily basis what the most erratic far-right member of congress will scream out into the void. And on Presidents’ Day, she tweeted this… Fri, 24 Feb 2023 04:36:26 EST Thomas Lecaque, Joshua Call aac45bef-a78d-4e0e-be97-4cc8d3c9fdeb https://religiondispatches.org/2023/02/23/dreher-affair-highlights-rights-international-networks Right-wing Christian blogger and media figure Rod Dreher has moved to Hungary, where he continues to admire Viktor Orbán , the country’s authoritarian prime minister whom he’s called “one of the most extraordinary world leaders of our time.” Dreher isn’t… Thu, 23 Feb 2023 03:30:09 EST Annika Brockschmidt 6a2afe43-a1d8-4597-b3e8-e19a1cd48ac1 https://religiondispatches.org/2023/01/23/gop-candidate-allegedly-orchestrating-shooting-democrats-homes-no-accident On December 4th 2022, eight bullets struck the home of Bernalillo County Commissioner Adriann Barboa. On December 11th, 12 bullets followed. On January 3rd this year, three bullets hit the house of Linda Lopez, New Mexico senator representing District 11… Mon, 23 Jan 2023 05:32:56 EST Annika Brockschmidt ac23963a-9772-4ea0-82f6-0a3493f40397 https://religiondispatches.org/2022/10/18/midterms-approach-white-christian-nationalism-mainstream-gop-and-its-only-getting-worse As one might imagine, Yale University’s recent conference on White Christian nationalism and the midterm elections was full of sobering information. And yet, two conclusions managed to stand apart from the rest. First, that the phenomenon is firmly anchored within… Tue, 18 Oct 2022 02:07:54 EDT Annika Brockschmidt 5abda3cf-c269-4995-9ab0-0de8255d981b https://religiondispatches.org/2022/09/01/book-bannings-are-bad-enough-where-those-involved-are-considered-demonic-stakes-could Calls for, or at least predictions of, revolution or civil war have been common on the religious and political Right for decades. This has been particularly so among leaders of the Christian revivalist movement, the New Apostolic Reformation, in recent… Thu, 01 Sep 2022 12:39:52 EDT Frederick Clarkson cd774fcd-5ee8-4090-b7e6-94ce432d0f0e https://religiondispatches.org/2022/08/12/crossing-rubicon-mar-lago-raid-enflames-right-wing-fantasies-christian-caesarism A Roman, a Confederate, and a Nazi walk into a political discourse… Sorry, there’s no punchline. This is just how the online conservative pundit machine is dealing with the FBI raid on Trump’s Florida home, Mar-a-Lago —comparing it to the… Fri, 12 Aug 2022 05:48:29 EDT Annika Brockschmidt, Thomas Lecaque 1edfdecb-c11d-4a47-9e0e-178021baf1aa https://religiondispatches.org/2022/08/10/right-using-fbis-mar-lago-search-martyr-trump-and-maintain-violent-myth-big-lie On Monday, the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump’s home in Florida, during which, according to the former president, federal officials even “broke into my safe.” While there are reports that the warrant for the search is related to classified documents… Wed, 10 Aug 2022 05:29:56 EDT Bradley Onishi 96f6945e-b89b-4c6f-9b77-4c5c9e920444 https://religiondispatches.org/2022/08/03/breaking-marilynne-robinson-over-her-refusal-acknowledge-dark-side-puritanism Breaking up is hard to do, and I am not at all prepared to discard my deep love and admiration for novelist and essayist Marilynne Robinson . Among her novels, I treasure Lila in particular for its deep tenderness. Among… Wed, 03 Aug 2022 02:32:36 EDT Peter Laarman 8248eb8b-c655-4115-8922-fbe708844780 https://religiondispatches.org/2022/07/18/caught-fever-dream-originalism-can-scotus-majority-learn-lessons-early-america-its-too The separation of church and state feels like bedrock in America. It is, after all, part of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment—that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion”—which has traditionally been interpreted to mean… Mon, 18 Jul 2022 08:43:48 EDT J.L. Tomlin, Thomas Lecaque b0bd3de6-b907-4006-a16b-8f665e5ff5c2 https://religiondispatches.org/2022/05/11/dont-buy-alitos-assurances-heres-what-happens-next-after-roe-falls The leaked first draft of Associate Justice Samuel Alito’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson has sent shockwaves throughout the American psyche. This is a stunning reversal of women’s rights that have been in place for half a century . It… Wed, 11 May 2022 03:34:55 EDT Brynn Tannehill 8f88195d-cde9-4218-bc3a-552870401275 https://religiondispatches.org/2022/04/05/demons-held-responsible-these-days-everything-covid-lgbtq-rights-take-visual-tour During our season of political madness , it took a lot to trigger a double-take, and yet a pro-Trump, Covid-denialist pediatrician named Stella Immanuel declaring that illness was caused by the semen of demons was an exemplary case. Dr. Immanuel… Tue, 05 Apr 2022 06:41:18 EDT Ed Simon b56f739c-c520-476b-9177-4d7c90f59b69 https://religiondispatches.org/2022/03/03/dont-laugh-rick-scotts-plan-rescue-america-or-be-fooled-reports-backlash-his-only On Tuesday, Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) unveiled what he modestly calls “An 11 Point Plan To Rescue America ,” his policy platform proposal should the GOP retake the Senate in the November midterms. “I’ll warn you; this plan is not… Thu, 03 Mar 2022 03:10:03 EST Annika Brockschmidt 75129a91-02e1-4abf-ad72-7f5e135a04c9 https://religiondispatches.org/2022/02/10/missing-element-conversation-christian-nationalism-and-freedom-whiteness A new report released Wednesday by a trio of groups, both Christian and secular, on the role played by white Christian nationalists in the January 6 storming of the Capitol will open some eyes, and that’s all to the good… Thu, 10 Feb 2022 01:34:42 EST Peter Laarman 2c38c293-8aae-4588-aa81-826c59e2a925 https://religiondispatches.org/2022/01/24/florida-attempts-make-it-illegal-argument-sacred-work-white-discomfort In Florida, a state senate committee wants to make it illegal to cause discomfort to white people. This bill, which reads like a scene from 1984 , is a doozy. You can, and should, read the full text of it… Mon, 24 Jan 2022 06:27:41 EST Robert P. Jones ba57c5a8-05f8-4fcb-9688-c0e49a17f741 https://religiondispatches.org/2022/01/10/us-reaches-1940s-fork-road-which-path-will-we-choose Readers of the Editorial Board are familiar with my obsession with political time—or how one party and its ideas prevail with a majority of Americans for four or five decades before falling into a period of transition, after which the… Mon, 10 Jan 2022 04:45:23 EST John Stoehr 8a7d3c45-9a02-406a-a1ec-09feaf82f7f7 https://religiondispatches.org/2022/01/05/if-we-dont-counter-far-right-christianity-16-will-just-be-beginning For years, far-right faith groups have become increasingly intertwined with extreme conservative political beliefs like white supremacy and Christian nationalism —fundamentally changing the Republican Party and creating a fervent support network for former president Trump. Nearly one year ago, on… Wed, 05 Jan 2022 03:09:50 EST Serene Jones 024e7738-75b3-4336-ae4b-3b89a9858e78 https://religiondispatches.org/2022/01/04/facing-white-christianitys-role-january-6th-insurrection On Jan. 20, 2021, President Joe Biden became the first commander in chief to use the words “white supremacy” in an inaugural address. Naming “the cry of racial justice four hundred years in the making” and its corollary, “a rise… Tue, 04 Jan 2022 05:07:34 EST Robert P. Jones c3940945-05ad-4621-8193-a2673e2c9399 https://religiondispatches.org/2022/01/01/whose-house-their-house-just-who-was-held-accountable-16-insurrection-telling Almost as soon as the tear gas cleared from the Capitol grounds on Jan 6, multiple stories emerged. About what happened, and when, and who was responsible. A year later, we can look back and see that accountability for the… Sat, 01 Jan 2022 01:11:27 EST Susannah Crockford 531b059f-556b-48f2-98ef-a8fac5f3c9e3 https://religiondispatches.org/2021/07/19/cult-inaccurate-unhelpful-and-dangerous-label-followers-trump-qanon-and-16 In the twentieth century the word “ cult ” (originally meaning “worship”) became a pejorative word that people apply to a group or movement that they do not like and perhaps fear. The word “cult” implies a stereotype that involves… Mon, 19 Jul 2021 02:22:53 EDT Catherine Wessinger a0342f76-3e08-4527-8e0b-18a8e97d57ca https://religiondispatches.org/2021/06/24/guns-god-and-government-coming-white-minority-rule In 2012 James Carville was ecstatic on CNN as incumbent President Barack Obama had just won re-election in convincing fashion over GOP challenger Mitt Romney. Carville who co-authored the 2008 book 40 More Years: How Democrats Will Rule the Next… Thu, 24 Jun 2021 02:10:28 EDT A. E. Brooks-Key c01956d4-081c-4c51-b91a-534044e7f092