It’s Not Hard To Be a Christian in the US. Why Does the GOP Keep Telling Us It Is?
What underlies extremism and the victimhood frame.
It’s not hard to be a Christian in the United States. There’s a church on every corner. Christianity is universally accepted in America. So, why are we being told it’s hard to be a Christian here? Especially compared to being Jewish, or Muslim, or Sikh? The GOP is weaponizing a victimhood mindset for its base.
Victimhood is foundational to white, male and christian supremacy. Extremist groups always begin with that frame: “We are being erased, oppressed, abused.” Seeing themselves as victims grants extremists the right to do violence against outside groups.
The victimhood frame grants supremacists the right to do violence against those they subjugate. The victimhood frame is starkly visible in the language of domestic abusers, who, as they do violence against women/children, say “Look what you made me do.”
Millions of Christians are caring, kind people who support a diverse inclusive United States. Christian extremists know this. But the GOP and their extremist base continue to recruit using the victimhood frame because it is foundational to weaponizing their base.
Violent extremism is born, in part, out of generational trauma, of being raised in a culture of violence and dominance. Instead of offering traumatized people mitigation, support, and healing, the GOP is operationalizing more generational trauma to advance it’s extremist political goals.
This is the fundamental mechanism of the GOP’s white, male and religious supremacist downward spiral. They leverage political, physical violence to traumatize larger and larger populations, leaving them susceptible to recruitment by the very groups that inflicted their trauma.
This is why GOP is institutionalizing forced birth by making abortion illegal. Being pregnant in America increases domestic violence and murder against women. A recent study shows homicide is a top cause of maternal death in the United States. This is GOP shock and awe. They’re not ignorant of the increased violence against pregnant women. They’re counting on it.
The violence against those forced to give birth is dramatically higher for BIPOC communities, for the poor. Outlawing abortion is white, male and Christian supremacist violence designed to create systemic trauma. After which, supremacists will cast their nets to recruit from the victims.
A massive #BlueWave2022 is our ONLY way out of the GOP’s imminent overthrow of US democratic institutions via what US Senator Whitehouse
calls “our dark money captured Supreme Court.” If Democrats lose the midterms, look to the GOP to continually accelerate the infliction of massive trauma even as they win everything.
Want to learn more about our dominance-based culture of masculinity? Our podcast, books and more are here: linktr.ee/RemakingManhood
Or… get our book.
