Coincidentally just read Guardian article “The rise of end times fascism” written by Naomi Klein (secular Jewish pro Palestinian activist/journalist) and Astra Taylor and then reading your article this morning saw overlap/intersection.
As your article discusses “While Johnson’s aesthetic is hip and edgy, his theology is decidedly old-fashioned: purity culture with rigid gender roles, anti-government neoliberalism, all served up with a dash of prosperity gospel. ” & “Jesus persuaded people to follow him by building relationships with them. It meant eating dinner together, dialoguing, answering their questions with more questions.” “Leaders like Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr built on Jesus’ model, leading nonviolent protests whose examples shamed empires and changed history. How can we draw on their lessons to fight injustice?”
Klein and Taylor did a deep dive into the logical apocalyptic ends of anti-government government shredding accelerationists hatred laundering chaos agents earth destroying billionaire apocalyptic forces blitz (that goes back to Reagan's acceleration neoliberalism) we are in the midst of right now. Here's some of their quotes about how we respond that seem to help me answer your question -"What do you think about turning the other cheek online?"
“First, we help each other face the depth of the depravity that has gripped the hard right in all of our countries. To move forward with focus, we must first understand this simple fact: we are up against an ideology that has given up not only on the premise and promise of liberal democracy but on the livability of our shared world – on its beauty, on its people, on our children, on other species. The forces we are up against have made peace with mass death. They are treasonous to this world and its human and non-human inhabitants.” “Our task is to build a wide and deep movement, as spiritual as it is political, strong enough to stop these unhinged traitors. A movement rooted in a steadfast commitment to one another, across our many differences and divides, and to this miraculous, singular planet.”
“we counter their apocalyptic narratives with a far better story about how to survive the hard times ahead without leaving anyone behind.”
“Go back far enough and every culture and faith has its own tradition of respecting the sanctity of here, and not searching for Zion in an elusive ever-distant promised land.”
“But instead of asking: “Do we all share the same worldview?” Adrienne urges us to ask: “Is your heart beating and do you plan to live? Then come this way and we will figure out the rest on the other side.””
"we must first understand this simple fact: we are up against an ideology that has given up not only on the premise and promise of liberal democracy but on the livability of our shared world – on its beauty, on its people, on our children, on other species."
Ooof, I feel this in my soul! Thank you for the recommendation! I enjoyed Klein's book, "Doppelgangers" so I'll definitely have to check out this article.
I loved her Doppelganger book! The weird aggressive interaction she experienced with Naomi Wolf earlier on in her college life was so disturbing. I also feel like while Klein is super based leftist she's also mainstream liberal user friendly ( tho super intelligent) mom energy enough to translate/convince the importance of a positive populist left Bernie/AOC logic/movement in a credible sane way to the liberal intelligence-ia . And how she takes the right wing seriously, and doesn't act with contempt or arrogance. so glad that resonated b/c it felt like your message and hers are quite compatible!
We have lost so much of the radical nonviolence tradition of Dr. King. I love your point about how the most important work does not show up on Instagram.
I'm so glad I read this post this afternoon. What a perfect thing to read after church! I need these kind of reminders, over & over & over. Thank yoou
thank you, Jennifer!
"Instead of out-arguing people, can we out-mercy them?" Yes, please!
Coincidentally just read Guardian article “The rise of end times fascism” written by Naomi Klein (secular Jewish pro Palestinian activist/journalist) and Astra Taylor and then reading your article this morning saw overlap/intersection.
As your article discusses “While Johnson’s aesthetic is hip and edgy, his theology is decidedly old-fashioned: purity culture with rigid gender roles, anti-government neoliberalism, all served up with a dash of prosperity gospel. ” & “Jesus persuaded people to follow him by building relationships with them. It meant eating dinner together, dialoguing, answering their questions with more questions.” “Leaders like Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr built on Jesus’ model, leading nonviolent protests whose examples shamed empires and changed history. How can we draw on their lessons to fight injustice?”
Klein and Taylor did a deep dive into the logical apocalyptic ends of anti-government government shredding accelerationists hatred laundering chaos agents earth destroying billionaire apocalyptic forces blitz (that goes back to Reagan's acceleration neoliberalism) we are in the midst of right now. Here's some of their quotes about how we respond that seem to help me answer your question -"What do you think about turning the other cheek online?"
“First, we help each other face the depth of the depravity that has gripped the hard right in all of our countries. To move forward with focus, we must first understand this simple fact: we are up against an ideology that has given up not only on the premise and promise of liberal democracy but on the livability of our shared world – on its beauty, on its people, on our children, on other species. The forces we are up against have made peace with mass death. They are treasonous to this world and its human and non-human inhabitants.” “Our task is to build a wide and deep movement, as spiritual as it is political, strong enough to stop these unhinged traitors. A movement rooted in a steadfast commitment to one another, across our many differences and divides, and to this miraculous, singular planet.”
“we counter their apocalyptic narratives with a far better story about how to survive the hard times ahead without leaving anyone behind.”
“Go back far enough and every culture and faith has its own tradition of respecting the sanctity of here, and not searching for Zion in an elusive ever-distant promised land.”
“But instead of asking: “Do we all share the same worldview?” Adrienne urges us to ask: “Is your heart beating and do you plan to live? Then come this way and we will figure out the rest on the other side.””
"we must first understand this simple fact: we are up against an ideology that has given up not only on the premise and promise of liberal democracy but on the livability of our shared world – on its beauty, on its people, on our children, on other species."
Ooof, I feel this in my soul! Thank you for the recommendation! I enjoyed Klein's book, "Doppelgangers" so I'll definitely have to check out this article.
I loved her Doppelganger book! The weird aggressive interaction she experienced with Naomi Wolf earlier on in her college life was so disturbing. I also feel like while Klein is super based leftist she's also mainstream liberal user friendly ( tho super intelligent) mom energy enough to translate/convince the importance of a positive populist left Bernie/AOC logic/movement in a credible sane way to the liberal intelligence-ia . And how she takes the right wing seriously, and doesn't act with contempt or arrogance. so glad that resonated b/c it felt like your message and hers are quite compatible!
We have lost so much of the radical nonviolence tradition of Dr. King. I love your point about how the most important work does not show up on Instagram.
thank you, Todd! It's a reminder to myself that social media is not real life!