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Author Topic: The dark rigidity of fundamentalist rural America: a view from the inside  (Read 3776 times)

RandallS

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The following is the start of a very interesting (and very LONG) opinion piece:

Quote
As the aftermath of the election of Donald Trump is being sorted out, a common theme keeps cropping up from all sides: “Democrats failed to understand white, working-class, fly-over America.”

Trump supporters are saying this. Progressive pundits are saying this. Talking heads across all forms of the media are saying this. Even some Democratic leaders are saying this. It doesn’t matter how many people say it, it is complete bullshit. It is an intellectual/linguistic sleight of hand meant to throw attention away from the real problem. The real problem isn’t east coast elites who don’t understand or care about rural America. The real problem is rural America doesn’t understand the causes of their own situations and fears and they have shown no interest in finding out.


Read the entire article
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Chatelaine

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Re: The dark rigidity of fundamentalist rural America: a view from the inside
« Reply #1 on: November 25, 2016, 08:24:32 pm »
Quote from: RandallS;199410
The following is the start of a very interesting (and very LONG) opinion piece:


A much briefer Twitter feed that says a lot of the same things: https://storify.com/donkify/jpbrammer-explains-the-political-economy-of-many-p
'You created us restless, O Lord, and we find no rest until we rest in You.'
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Whole blog o' nonsense: Are We There Yet?

RandallS

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Re: The dark rigidity of fundamentalist rural America: a view from the inside
« Reply #2 on: November 26, 2016, 06:57:08 am »
Quote from: Chatelaine;199413
A much briefer Twitter feed that says a lot of the same things: https://storify.com/donkify/jpbrammer-explains-the-political-economy-of-many-p


It gets the part about being poverty but really misses the "God" aspect and the "anti-education" aspect.
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MeadowRae

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Re: The dark rigidity of fundamentalist rural America: a view from the inside
« Reply #3 on: November 26, 2016, 08:14:27 am »
Quote from: RandallS;199420
It gets the part about being poverty but really misses the "God" aspect and the "anti-education" aspect.

 
As someone who is, as the author put it, on the inside, I usually have something to add to these discussions. Today, all I can say is well done. This article describes my entire family. :ashamed:
The genderqueer witch your mother warned you about

SunflowerP

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Re: The dark rigidity of fundamentalist rural America: a view from the inside
« Reply #4 on: November 28, 2016, 02:32:40 pm »
Quote from: RandallS;199420
It gets the part about being poverty but really misses the "God" aspect and the "anti-education" aspect.

 
Here is another piece that's interesting to read as a companion to the one in the OP, that does talk about the 'God' aspect.

Sunflower
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OldenwildeHP

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Re: The dark rigidity of fundamentalist rural America: a view from the inside
« Reply #5 on: December 29, 2016, 06:29:21 pm »
Quote from: SunflowerP;199482
Here is another piece that's interesting to read as a companion to the one in the OP, that does talk about the 'God' aspect.

 
The connection these articles draw between hate-politics and religious fundamentalism is key. Trump-like extremist demagogues are taking over democracies all over the planet at present, and most seem to have one thing in common: a base of rural conservatives who are driven by fundamentalist religion. E.g. in Egypt and Turkey, it's rural Muslims; in Russia, Orthodox Christians; in Israel, extremist Orthodox Jews; in the Phillipines, Christian evangelicals are big supporters of Duterte (even though he ran as a supposed leftist); in America, white Christian evangelicals overwhelmingly supported Trump.

But one thing those of us Witches know who live amidst or have grown up in a fundamentalist culture is that amid such domination by religion -- if not because of it -- Witchcraft also thrives. Unlike urban "rationalists", rural "fundamentalists" do not pretend that magic doesn't exist -- they believe in it, and preach against it as evil on Sunday but secretly ask us for spells on Monday.

For example, this article in the New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/26/upshot/duck-dynasty-vs-modern-family-television-maps.html uses cool mapping technology to correlate popularity of current TV shows with the Trump and Clinton votes in the US. Notice that occult-themed shows like "Supernatural" are mostly popular in the same rural, white, pro-Trump regions that love "Duck Dynasty". (Which finally explains to me why their plots are still so persistently influenced by Xtian stereotypes.)

The author RandallS linked to rightly observed that the only thing that can sway an entrenched fundie is direct personal experience, as when their own child comes out as gay. Well, a large proportion of their kids are also closet Pagans, because if you have a bit of native intelligence, you can't be constantly exposed to propaganda against something without starting to wonder what is behind that locked door that you're supposed to be so afraid of. (Witness the "War on Drugs"!) Many start out as Satanists only because that's the very thing everyone around them claims is the basis of occultism; but as soon as they get better information, they move on to Wicca, Heathenry, etc.

Given this, isn't it just possible that we, Pagans, could be the antidote to Trumpism? Especially if we put as much energy and compassion into supporting oppressed Pagans (around the world) as, say, the LGBTQ community is learning to do for its constituency?

I do know that Coven Oldenwilde is constantly receiving and doing our best to help with crisis calls/e-mails from vulnerable Pagans in such communities not only here in the South, but across the planet. Most of the time they say they have tried to contact other, well-known Pagan groups that claim to be set up to fight persecution -- but never got a reply. (That's especially true for Pagan prisoners -- but that topic would deserve a whole other thread.) I think many of us who live as open Pagans in our blue bubbles (myself included -- my town, Asheville, is a Democratic island in deep-red Western North Carolina) tend to assume that every other Pagan in America has nothing to worry about, when nothing could be farther from the truth.    

Sorry for the long post! Haven't been able to stop thinking about this since Nov. 8.
"You\'re not alone -- the majority of the world\'s people believe that it\'s neither men nor money that rules the earth but magic." -- The Goodly Spellbook

Khep

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Quote from: OldenwildeHP;200585

[. . .]
I think many of us who live as open Pagans in our blue bubbles (myself included -- my town, Asheville, is a Democratic island in deep-red Western North Carolina) tend to assume that every other Pagan in America has nothing to worry about, when nothing could be farther from the truth.    


You bring up some good points in your post.

Both the articles linked above have added to my understanding of things, . . . but Sunflower's link especially - at least in regard to your point that I quote above.   The articles together are an eye-opener to me, as it helps to explain some of the pretty extreme legislation states have been pushing, and often passing, in the past few years, even when they often know there will probably be some serious pushback, even demonstrations.  

The Alt-Right/Religious Right article's conclusions about how we might see this play out in decades to come is, indeed, chilling; and your suggestion that pagans do, in fact, have "something to worry about", regardless of where we live, chills me some more.  

Khep
“I am certain of nothing but the holiness of the Heart's affections and the truth of the Imagination.”    ― John Keats

Owl

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Quote from: SunflowerP;199482
Here is another piece that's interesting to read as a companion to the one in the OP, that does talk about the 'God' aspect.

Sunflower

 
And this is the stuff that keeps me up at night.
Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.

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Quote from: Owl;201403
And this is the stuff that keeps me up at night.

 
Off-topic: Hey, Owl! Good to see you!

Sunflower
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