This article explores the meaning of Trump’s presidency in terms of a historical cycle of ideologies and their deaths.
Mike Spence tells students at Liberty University that they face oppression and “shunning” because of their Christian beliefs: you poor privileged white middle-class babies!
He is right about one thing there: smart, educated people will not have much respect for people who willfully embrace a fantasy about the nature of the world, about our physical reality, about angels and demons and evil spirits and floods and miracles. Yes, he is right. I am one of those condescending people he is talking about. I think that if you believe the leaders of the evangelical church in America when they tell you that there are witches and evil spirits and that science is a lie and that Adam and Eve were real, singular human beings who lived 5,000 years ago and ate an apple from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, then, yes, I don’t have much respect for your intelligence.
How do you understand this kind of language from the Republicans?
Imagine yourself sitting in your living room with your spouse. You look up from your iPhone and say, “honey, I just want you to know that I fully expect that you’re going to cheat on me. Probably steal my money. You’ve probably already cheated and lied to me. But that’s okay, because I’m pretty happy with who I am. I’m worth it.” And the wife, who has never cheated or lied even once, looks over and thinks, “I think I need to leave this relationship… now.” Because she is pretty sure that he’s laying the ground work for something and it won’t be nice. And he looks over and says, “I’ll bet you’re even thinking about it now, aren’t you?” And she says, “yeah, I kind of am.”
In other words, he is being disingenuous. He would feel better if she did cheat on him, because his estimation of his own value, his own virtue, depends on his condescending attitude towards his wife. In the same way, that Mike Pence feels he is a better human being, even though he’s not being mocked for his “virtue”, but for his credulousness.