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The Marc Steiner Show: The white identity politics of Christian nationalism From the colonial period to now, the hallmarks of Christian nationalism—a white savior complex, hostility to democracy, appeals to selective authoritarian violence—have thoroughly shaped American politics.

“Most Americans were shocked by the violence they witnessed at the nation’s Capital on January 6th, 2021,” as the description of Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry’s new book, The Flag and the Cross, notes. “And many were bewildered by the images displayed by the insurrectionists: a wooden cross and wooden gallows; “Jesus saves” and “Don’t Tread on Me;” Christian flags and Confederate Flags; even a prayer in Jesus’ name after storming the Senate chamber. Where some saw a confusing jumble,” though, Gorski and Perry “saw a familiar ideology: white Christian nationalism.” In this episode of The Marc Steiner Show, Marc speaks with Gorski and Perry about their book, the white identity politics of Christian nationalism, and the deep political roots of today’s reactionary Christian right.

Philip S. Gorski, Professor of Sociology at Yale University, is a comparative and historical sociologist who writes on religion and politics in early modern and modern Europe and North America. He is the author of numerous books, including American Babylon: Christianity and Democracy Before and After Trump and American Covenant: A History of Civil Religion from the Puritans to the Present. Samuel L. Perry, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Oklahoma, is a sociologist of American religion, race, politics, sexuality, and families. He has authored and co-authored numerous books, including Growing God’s Family, Addicted to Lust, and Taking America Back for God.

The cat is out of the bag. After months of denial, it is now conventional wisdom that Germany — and Europe more generally — faces deindustrialisation due to the end of cheap Russian piped gas. “Germany’s Days as an Industrial Superpower Are Coming to an End,” reads a headline on Bloomberg.

From London to Berlin, Western governments do not have a serious economic growth plan. Media outlets have started to admit this grim reality because there is no longer any point in denying it.

Privately, Americans shrug their shoulders and hint that this means they will no longer face competition from Europe. But watching the economy of your most dependable ally — not to mention a key trade partner — implode is not cynical Machiavellian statecraft: it is folly. American leaders talk about creating a new economic bloc which only includes “democratic” nations, only to dismiss the destruction of the European economy. It is obvious to everyone except the truest of the true believers: America has no strategy either.

America’s negligence of its core ally will likely lead to electoral tremors across the continent in the coming years. There is every chance that Europe will drift away from American influence and start to build pragmatic relationships with other countries. The big question is where this leaves Britain, which has much closer ties with the United States than the rest of the continent. It is a question that British leaders will have to ask themselves seriously moving forward.

As Western bombs rain on Gaza’s starving civilians, the New Atheism turns 20. The philosophical genre, which argues for secularism over organized religion, was kick-started by Sam Harris. His 2004 book, The End of Faith, promoted neuroscience-based spirituality in place of irrational groupthink. The philosopher, Daniel Dennett, soon followed with Breaking the Spell (2006), as did the evolutionary biologist, Richard Dawkins, with his 2 million unit-selling, The God Delusion. The late essayist, Christopher Hitchens, completed the quartet, known as the Four Horsemen, publishing God Is Not Great (2007).

Inspired by the attacks of September 11th, the genre appeared on the scene shortly after the invasion of Iraq in 2003. It became immediately clear that the Four Horsemen were exploiting Enlightenment principles to justify the bombing of women and children in third world nations. Muslim terrorists are not aggrieved by Western foreign policy, the authors claim, but rather by their fanatical devotion to their faith. The decimation of Iraq was not motivated by elite US strategies to control oil markets, but because “god” told Bush to invade. The state does not exploit religious differences for cynical realpolitik; but rather, hateful mobs randomly attack each other because of their different belief systems.

As I document in my latest book, The New Atheism Hoax, the authors concocted a major fraud. In case after case, their own sources say the opposite of what they claim. This doesn’t happen a few times. It happens almost every time.

With the exception of Hitchens whom, in his final years, became a right-winger, the attention of liberals was diverted by the seductive, anti-religiosity of the New Atheists. Instead of analyzing the world through the only lens that matters—realpolitik—progressives were invited to divide the world into the simple dialectics promoted by George W. Bush and Osama bin Laden’s speechwriters: that of a “clash of civilizations,” to use a phrase popularized by Samuel P. Huntington.

The Biden Administration has asked a court, rather than Congress, to renew controversial warrantless surveillance powers used by American intelligence and due to expire within weeks. It's a move that is either business as usual or an end-run around spying reforms, depending on who in Washington you believe.

Both may be true.

US Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) railed at the US Department of Justice's decision to seek a year-long extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which is set to end in mid-April unless Congress reauthorizes it.

Wyden and other lawmakers have proposed alternative legislation that would allow Section 702 surveillance to continue albeit with strict limits on the government's ability to spy on Americans without first obtaining a warrant. That prosecutors, under the direction of the White House, have gone to court to renew the FISA powers without Congress having a chance yet to fully consider Wyden et al's alternatives has left the senator fuming.

"We agree with Senator Wyden. It's cynical move that's disrespectful of the role of Congress when it comes to reauthorization," Kia Hamadanchy, senior policy counsel at the ACLU, told The Register.

"It's utterly ridiculous for the administration to make such a blatant end-run around Congress to reauthorize this often-abused, unconstitutional warrantless surveillance of Americans," [EFF Legal Fellow] Gilligan told The Register. "Congress must significantly reform the law, or it must sunset — those are the only two options to protect Americans' rights."

The Intercept: “Between the Hammer and the Anvil” The Story Behind the New York Times October 7 Exposé

Israel promised it had extraordinary amounts of eyewitness testimony. “Investigators have gathered ‘tens of thousands’ of testimonies of sexual violence committed by Hamas on Oct. 7, according to the Israeli police, including at the site of a music festival that was attacked,” Schwartz, Gettleman, and Stella reported on December 4. Those testimonies never materialized.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” said Abdush’s sister, that in a short timespan “they raped her, slaughtered her, and burned her?” Speaking about the rape allegation, her brother-in-law said: “The media invented it.”

“There is nothing,” Schwartz said she was told. “There was no collection of evidence from the scene.”

The Intercept: New York Times Puts “Daily” Episode on Ice Amid Internal Firestorm Over Hamas Sexual Violence Article As the Times faces scrutiny for its coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza, it has capitulated to the pro-Israel media watchdog CAMERA.

Maybe someone you know needs to hear this.

It's much easier than the Pentagon wants you to think. Whether you're in the military or know someone who is, this is the definitive guide to walking away. And as Biden's support for genocide spins out into new US wars across the Middle East, from the Red Sea to Iraq, now would be a good time to walk away.

Featuring special guest Maria Santelli, longtime counselor with the GI Rights Hotline, which provides secure, free and expert support to any service member who wants to leave the military.

CALL the hotline anytime at 1-877-447-4487 for advice, or visit them online at https://girightshotline.org

Maria is Executive Director of the Center on Conscience and War: https://centeronconscience.org GI Rights Hotline

SUPPORT this podcast by making a tax-deductible donation the The Empire Files at https://www.patreon.com/empirefiles

I have no opinion and am just seeking clarification as an admin who occasionally gets complaints that I’m unsure how to address.

Thanks!

cc: @TheAnonymouseJoker@lemmy.ml (the most active !privacy@lemmy.ml mod)

Edit to add an example edge case: DuckDuckGo is proprietary, but is anyone going to argue against its promotion? Isn’t Proton Mail similarly only FOSS on the client side?

https://dan.mastohon.com/@danhon/111925461009889302

more in thread + https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBdZ8F

A few more examples:

Found via JWZ: Helpful Notices

This video is an examination of the social housing of the city of vienna which eliminated homelessnes and made the city one of the most livable and cheapest places in the world. I explain the history of how vienna came to be like this as well as the requirements for people who may want to live in such social housing.