I was immediately intrigued by this title which is why I chose this podcast. He started off this podcast talking about Donald Trump holding up a bible. He explained how Trump said nothing, yet had a clear message and was communicating exactly what he wanted to communicate. They describe this embrace of a dominate religion as a tactic. They discuss how around the world, religion is being used to fuel the us vs. them narratives and undermines the foundations of democracy. I feel that many bigger powers use this tactic and I agree with what they said on the podcast. I feel that it is a ploy to get attention and gain the votes of the particular religion. I also feel as though this use of religious identity fuels the rice of democracy.
Something he said that I thought was very interesting was describing the stereotypical American as a white christian. In a democracy majority rules, so what happens when 85% of a community is christian and they say let’s play by democracy with one that says majority rules. Anyone who is not a christian is automatically robbed for not being a part of the majority.
“Just except it, Santa is white”. Why is Santa white? Because there is a majority of white people who say he is and majority rules. I found this especially interesting, I never realized this in our society. While this is most definitely applicable in our society, I feel like it is in any given one.
He goes on to describe the ideal German person. To be a real german, among the other qualities is being white, christian (as identity not in practice). A third generation muslim would never be german. He talks about because his family is jewish, he could never be german. Religion identity being used to fuel nationalism is seen all over the world. We saw it most powerfully in America, when Trump held up the bible (upside down) in a church he never attended. He was saying, this bible is what America is and it is where those he belong, belong. Those who do not associate with this bible are automatically a minority in this county.
A deep sense of loss is what truly effects nationalism. When there is a deep loss, new laws are set and nationalism can change. These laws usually protect the most vulnerable or the minorities. Whoever is most vulnerable is who gets protected. Whites do not fall under vulnerable minority and are not protected. There is a deep sense of anxious loss taking place for whites.
1/3 of America sees themself as not affiliated with church, but religious identity and being actually religious are two different things. Looking at true stats, christian religious identity is actually minority, yet to be truly successful in politics he stated you need a religious voice of value. Something interesting he analyzed was how being a christian will not really effect non christians but has a major impact on a politicians religious audience. While christians may be a minority, supporting them will not harm a politicians non religious fan base and only give them a larger christian one.
