this post was submitted on 07 Aug 2024
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[–] grue@lemmy.world 131 points 3 months ago (2 children)

It's not the Trump cult, it's the Heritage Foundation cult, of which Trump is the current leader.

If you're a "Republican" who isn't all-in on christofascism, give up and change parties because the Republican Party is no longer for you and never, ever, ever will be again.

[–] p03locke@lemmy.dbzer0.com 15 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (3 children)

Christianity hasn't really be in the forefront since Trump gained popularity. Sure, they throw their conservative Christian base a bone once in a while, but nobody in power believes Trump follows Christianity, or promotes their ideals. Even their biggest win, Roe v Wade, has been quietly shuffled to the side, because they don't want to push a big Christian win while alienating other parts of their base.

Fascism, on the other hand... well, that's always been the goal:

“I don’t want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.” — Grover Norquist, 2001

[–] grue@lemmy.world 28 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Have you looked at Project 2025, like, at all? It's a fundamentalist's (sinful) wet dream, in terms of how extremely sexually-repressive it is. I mean, sure, they're trying to keep it on the down-low, but make no mistake: they are fucking delivering for the bigoted prude demographic.

[–] GreenSkree@lemmy.world 17 points 3 months ago

Christian National (or Christofascism, whichever term you prefer) has very little to do with Christianity as a religion. Best I can tell, it's a means to an end. It will borrow ideas, justifications, and recruit followers from Christianity, but in the US, this seems to be the main mythology the Trump cult is basing itself around (and it seems that most fascist movements have a "mythology" of fake facts they are grounded in).

So while "Christianity" isn't upfront most of the time, certain issues and ideas - probably most everything from the right's "culture war" are basically Christian national ideas, and by osmosis, a ton of Christians seem to be absorbing these positions by default.

The people most swayed by Christian Nationalism appear to be non-religious (or non church affiliated) conservatives. It's all just familiar enough and an amalgamation of ideas they've already been conditioned (by various media consumption) to believe.

But for a lot of more active Christians, I've seen a spectrum of attitudes. The number of them that adore Trump seems lower than the previous group, but a lot of them will vote for him because 1) he's the Republican candidate and Democrats are icky 2) they may be a 1 or 2 issue voter, 3) because an authority figure they trust is telling them to.

I've been trying to figure out the link between Trump and why portions of the religious right is completely obsessed with him, and a lot of it is still a mystery to me.

Also, I recently watched this and found it really informative:

https://youtu.be/P4gjE0bpk9k?si=5lExMbjqkyM4RTpI

[–] slickgoat@lemmy.world 6 points 3 months ago

The abortion thing is hardly a bone.

Trump isn't remotely interested in Christian issues, but he's the horse that the Christian Taliban are riding hard.

Certainly seems that way.

I don't think that trump losing in November will resolve things in the long term. The support he has is a symptom of the underlying problems.

[–] ragepaw@lemmy.ca 62 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Secretly?

The Lincoln Project goes hard every election.

[–] Nougat@fedia.io 6 points 3 months ago

I see what you did there.

[–] Kit@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

What's The Lincoln Project?

[–] ragepaw@lemmy.ca 3 points 3 months ago

A group of Republicans and other conservatives that have been anti Trump since 2019.

Their stated goal was to prevent Trump from getting elected again.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lincoln_Project

[–] friend_of_satan@lemmy.world 31 points 3 months ago

Good thing voting records are private! They can secretly do their part to end the Trump era and nobody will know.

[–] teamevil@lemmy.world 26 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Then man up and help....if they are to afraid to stand up to these stupid bullies they don't get to virtue signal they helped

[–] voracitude@lemmy.world 15 points 3 months ago (1 children)

If they had spines, they would have left the party by now.

[–] sik0fewl@lemmy.ca 15 points 3 months ago

Or ousted - see Liz Cheney.

[–] psycho_driver@lemmy.world 24 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Will it end though? 2020 should have been the end of it.

[–] Angry_Autist@lemmy.world 17 points 3 months ago (3 children)

There will never be an end to it, fascism will just go underground again for a few decades until another period of social fear.

That's why we can never stop being vigilant. That's why we can never forget the atrocities committed in its name.

[–] Tyfud@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

With climate change forcing migrants to leave their countries of birth, I promise you this is going to get a lot worse.

[–] Spacehooks@reddthat.com 2 points 3 months ago

reminds me of inquisition fighting chaos

Nsfw https://youtu.be/ubNqUyf0op0?si=0IIHPEOzXDCmOtcu

[–] refalo@programming.dev 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Imagine the world we could have if society could learn from history instead of being doomed to repeat it.

[–] Angry_Autist@lemmy.world 0 points 3 months ago

Individuals in society learn, and notably society's leaders consistently refuse to listen to those individuals, labeling them doomsayers.

This is why we have to deal with fascism again.

[–] Linkerbaan@lemmy.world 24 points 3 months ago (4 children)

The Trump cult will not end by Democrats winning once. It is a symptom of an abandoned society.

Trump is not even the final form. We're already seeing sequels popping up in the likes of JD Vance.

[–] Adderbox76@lemmy.ca 11 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

If Trump loses his career is over. He turned sycophant in order to get the VP pick; turning on every single thing he said about Trump before that.

No one likes a sycophant. And if he then tries to return to his old positions, he'll be ripped apart by both people who see right through it and by whatever remains of MAGA.

This is a one-shot for Vance. If they lose, he's going down with Trump.

[–] abracaDavid@lemmy.today 2 points 3 months ago

He's also pretty unlikely to be healthy enough to run again in 4 years.

[–] Etterra@lemmy.world 9 points 3 months ago

Good thing then that Vance is an uncharismatic idiot.

[–] orcrist@lemm.ee 4 points 3 months ago

Right, but the question is how much political power they have. If their candidates don't get elected, nobody cares if they still exist.

[–] P00ptart@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Nonsense. For whatever reason, people follow trump with a fervor. Vance doesn't have that.

[–] refalo@programming.dev 2 points 3 months ago

That fervor was not out of control until after he became president, the same could happen with anyone else.

[–] Linkerbaan@lemmy.world -1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Nonsense. They unite behind Trump because he has the highest win percent. They defend Trump for the same reason Democrats defend Biden. They don't like the guy they just want red to win.

[–] MerchantsOfMisery@lemmy.ml 13 points 3 months ago

*People too cowardly to oppose Trump hope that their political opponents have more courage to do what Republicans aren't willing to do.

[–] Fosheze@lemmy.world 11 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Pelosi could you just keep your mouth shut for a bit. Dems are on a roll for once and we don't need you ruining it. Go back to puppeting Feinstein or something. Please just stay out of the news until we actually win the election.

[–] Nuke_the_whales@lemmy.world 11 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Trump has kids. Even after he dies, I don't think we'll be rid of them. Ivanka will run, possibly Don jr later on. Even Barron is trying to get into politics. They seem like useless idiots but so is their dad and he won, so I'm looking over the next 20 years and I can't imagine a political landscape without the trumps anymore.

[–] Corgisocks@programming.dev 10 points 3 months ago

I doubt MAGA will care about his kids too much after Donald is gone. Donald is unique in his presentation and his kids don't have that same style. They will only be relevant if Trump wins and can put them into power before he dies. I can see Don Jr still being around as a talking head or candidate, but I doubt he'll ever be viable.

[–] otter@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 3 months ago

Don't look too surprised, now. It's funnier when they still think they're clever.

[–] Wolf314159@startrek.website 8 points 3 months ago (1 children)
[–] FlexibleToast@lemmy.world 10 points 3 months ago (1 children)

If he's not dead or in prison, I have a feeling he would run again in 2028.

[–] grue@lemmy.world 6 points 3 months ago (1 children)

There's no rule against running for President from prison.

[–] FlexibleToast@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

That makes it a lot harder to win though.

[–] krashmo@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago (1 children)

That's an untested hypothesis

[–] BlackRing@midwest.social 2 points 3 months ago

I thought Eugene Debs did it?

[–] inclementimmigrant@lemmy.world 6 points 3 months ago

There are dozens of them.

[–] Wilzax@lemmy.world 6 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

A few Arizona Republicans came out in support of Kamala for this very reason

[–] orcrist@lemm.ee 4 points 3 months ago

Nancy, that's true. And many Democrats openly want you to lose, because you're dirty.

[–] NoiseColor@startrek.website 3 points 3 months ago

They still vote for trump, so what the difference.

[–] someguy3@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I think Trump will run in 2028 if he loses.

[–] Crashumbc@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Anything is possible, but I doubt it. He is already speaking half gibberish, he's so far gone mentally. In four years, even if tried he'd be the "RFK jr", crazy old guy getting news because of his name.

[–] GaMEChld@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

He'll probably die by then, he's old and eats McDonald's every day.

[–] Tyfud@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

You'd be amazed at how long being rich extends your life, even with terrible eating habits.

[–] EnderMB@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

I've been saying this for years. The US isn't special, and Trump was foretold the first time after seeing the rise in populism, particularly self-defeating, across Europe.

Populism has essentially wiped out standard Conservativism in politics, and while many ride the wave due to party affiliation, many also feel that the party they've supported for decades has been hijacked by grifters.

Thankfully, it usually ends one way, with semi-credible opposition in victory, and the now-populist party in tatters after the rats leave the ship. Trump will likely make a lot of noise, but ultimately he won't fight the popular vote because self-preservation will kick in and he'll look to find himself somewhere to avoid lawsuits and charges for his actions. The best part is that populists never look towards succession. When Trump leaves he won't back anyone to succeed him - if anything, anyone that tries will either be compared poorly to him, or Trump will criticise them for even trying to compete.

The best thing the GOP can do is operate away from MAGA and build itself up around a solid non-MAGA candidate. In theory, if a Harris presidency were to be successful and Walz were to decide to run, that could be 16 years without competition.

[–] Davel23@fedia.io 1 points 3 months ago

Not enough.

[–] chemicalprophet@lemm.ee 1 points 3 months ago

This inside trader should sit down.