Theory: Why People Are Drawn To Right Wing Christianity Politics

[Yavin4]

Here's my take. I believe that fundies appeal to so many people not because of the spiritual message, not because they want a return to "morality". No, they're drawn to right wing Christian politics because it gives them arbitrary power over non-Christians.

Let's take the biggest example, Gay marriage. Most of these people probably have Gays in their families or Gays in their lives, so why are they so vehemently against Gay marriage? Because they love having the power to deny rights to others. They believe that if they can deny rights to others then that makes them powerful.

Look at the Evolution vs. Intelligent Design faux debate. Again, this is their chance to put those pointy-headed intellectuals in their place. It's their chance to inflict their view through the schools.

Truly spiritual Christians care about their fellow man. They care about the real immoralities in our society. Nothing destroys families more than a major health care crisis or long-term unemployment. Gay marriage is far, far down the list.

Spiritual Christians do not judge their fellow man. They leave that to God. Right wing Christians act as if they are God.

[msongs]

1. they go to heaven and you are scum going to hell. hallelujah nt

[Raiden]

13. Someone once told me I was going to Hell

So I replied something along the lines of, if we are dead and become spirits after we die--then what kind of torture/punishment could be inflicted upon our SOULS?...since pain comes from the brain and the nervous system...

The person actually said I was right! LOL

See logic does win sometimes

[TerdlowSmedley]

2. It's the same principle that draws people to be racists and

bigots, a pathetic desperation to feel yourself superior to someone

[emad]

3. Buying/selling insurance scams for the superstitious: always BIG

business. TheoCon wingnuts just love this religion biz because it makes them feel superior and justifies their innate feelings of inferiority that they have been brainwashed with since the year dot.

Eg: no conincidence that 'Islam' means submission....

[Maat]

4. I have some of these rightwinger in my family ..

they are usually not that relatively well-educated (only a high school degree, some college short of a Bachelor's). They feel pretty powerless. Famous cultural anthropologists have documented a human need to 'group up' against other groups - to differentiate oneself and one's comrades, and feel superior. It seems to be a human need.

This is their way of grouping up, feeling superior, and exerting some little bit of power - what little they can over society.

Just my two cents' worth.

I'm agreeing with you, essentially.

[BillZBubb]

5. I don't see it.

Fundamentalism draws people who want certainty even where there is none. They don't have the fortitude or intellect to accept that life isn't black and white. It's gray with lots of uncertainty and doubt. They need simpistic answers.

Fundies are fearful, authoritarian people. That authoritarianism leads to the problem you describe.

[mestup]

6. Usually victims themselves.

You'll find more victims of childhood sexual, physical, and spiritual abuse are drawn to that "power over others" in the fundie movement, since they've felt powerless themselves for years.

[dkofos]

7. Some people are capable of independent thought

others find it easier to be told what to believe

Guess which group the fundies belong to.

[The Backlash Cometh]

8. Hit it on the nail. It's all about getting the edge over other people.

[Bluerthanblue]

9. Fear, and the reality that there is little we truly control...

.. that is of real consequence, is what I personally experienced- The desire to 'make sense' out of a world that often doesn't make any sense. So, the idea of being in control of everything and everyone possible, in some twisted way, brings a sense of security.
In this world, bad things happen without reason or rhyme- and cannot be understood, or explained. That is scary- and frustrating- Believing that there ARE reasons, or things that can be done to 'control' or 'protect' ourselves from that reality is what fuels the need to over-control things, especially things that don't require too much from our 'own' comfort places-
If we really desired to make worthwhile change, it would mean living less decadent lives, thinking of others more often, looking at the impact our own personal actions have upon the world, and others, and doing without much of our excess.- something that requires more than just telling people that something we aren't personally faced with, is evil, bad, or causing harm to humanity because it angers 'god'.

just my thoughts-

[Union Thug]

10. I think it's because they are weaklings and cowards...

Who can't face any uncertainty in life. Everything is black and white, and to think of death without a requisite afterlife is too much for them to bear. They are too stupid to understand nuance, and too fragile to accept that others may not see the world as they do without having their universe drained of meaning.

[azureblue]

11. Drawn to:

it isn't drawn to, it's scared to. RWC is based on fear, ignorance, and superstition. Like any huckster, if you can scare a person, you can convince them to buy. Religion. Guns. Fences. Voodoo charms. whatever.
That is why RWC doesn't like educated people- they reason and think, so they are harder to scare. And, once scared, they become sheep- easy to lead.
And this is also why they avoid the teachings of Jesus, because He taught Social awareness- helping, being kind to your neighbor, etc
And you have to interact with the real world, and think, to do that. Not hole up in a mega church and pass judgment on the "immorals" out there.

[Jawja]

12. Very, very good point.

Since they feel so powerless and inadequate in their own lives, they make themselves feel powerful and superior by using religion to put others down.

That is projection and reflection. I figured out a long time ago that if you want to know how someone really feels about themself, check out how they make ME feel in their presence. People project their own self-esteem onto others and get something out of the "reflection" back, which is my response to how they make me feel.

on edit: I need to develop the habit of PROOFREADING before I post!

I agree totally with your observation.

[Lexingtonian]

14. add in

a fear of the future, in which the bits of status they have via the American social order (by being white, male or male-obedient, landholding, 'Christian', obedient to the regional/local white ruling class) over people who are non-white and not obedient and not 'Christian are eroding if not already gone. It's about defense of a caste system that the Modern world is disintegrating.

Intelligent Design is about getting their kids through adolescent rebellion and questioning without losing their indoctrination. It's not a serious attempt at explanation of the world, it's a shield in the battle for entitlement to force their kids to be just like themselves.

Their problem with gay marriage is a bit complicated, but it's essentially two things. Mostly it's an attempt to keep a belief in demons and demonic possession alive now that Science has adequately explained the causes of mental illness and behavior under trauma. But it's also an effort to deny/resist the serious definition of marriage in the Bible, as spiritually the extension of the Covenant agreement between two people- which is theologically fatal to their theory of patriarchy.

You're right that it's about power...but every political fight is. Behind the need for power lies what the power is needed to protect as Good, though. And what is Good in their minds is a hierarchy according to biology, according to material attributes, and a minimizing of commonality. It's religious materialism with magic explaining all that materialism doesn't. In a world where almost everyone was poor and what they thought was relatively unimportant, since material subsistence and survival were taking up all of their attention and time and energy, this was a sadly adequate formulation of religion.

What this system of belief and behaviors doesn't do is take people seriously as psychological entities or develop them to psychological maturity. If you look at your local megachurch these days, it's a mini-college of psychotherapeutic group sessions. (Some of them helpful to the attendees, others pure expressions of trauma and utter pathology.)

As they become more psychologically matured and nimble and adaptable and informed, better able to cope with a world in which sheer subsistence and physical survival doesn't define the terms of life and (non)thought, the Christian Right is lowering its resistance to this Modern condition in which being psychologically healthy and adaptable is at a premium.

It's really all just elementary school, this national politics. It's the slower and traumatized kids getting desperate and holding up the class, i.e. all of society, disrupting until they've caught up to the smarter ones, then admitting they were vicious and mean and lied and hostile out of a fear of being hopelessly left behind.

[shance]

15. Think about it. How many other options are there in small towns?

N.O.N.E.

Even in larger towns Christianity comes in all different names, but its primarily very much the same.

Feminine spirituality is hardly on the screen and is even viewed as "evil" by some. It would be nice to see more blending of the different religions.

The Unitarian/Universalist is a wonderful option from the more narrowly focused religions. It takes from all different religions and beliefs and respects all faiths.