Seeing it live here in the East Neuk – mostly seem to be targeting youngish men with mental health issues, addictions etc. Ostensibly this seems to be the definition of Christian charity but once I dug a little deeper… Deeply unsettling.
FWIW: I was atheist, born again, now atheist – no way I would become involved in religion again.
In other news, the sky is still blue.
Which is really strange, because I’ve heard that American funding has been pouring in to help the same churches that protest abortions.
I’m going to be honest. Youth clubs are a national security issue.
If there’s nothing for the young people to do, no third spaces where they can hang out for free and just exist, then they’ll find people that will exploit their free time. The far right have been getting better at this, and we can see this from the rise of reform.
The lack of money in everything is really problematic.
We’re going to find out just how bad in a few years.
….duh?
I could have told you that without a paywall
Don’t really need an expert to tell us that.
For what it’s worth— I read too much stuff by England’s 20th century Christian writers, and I’m pretty sure they would despise today’s far right. Like, they wouldn’t like me either; they say some horrifying things by the standards of today. But I think both CS Lewis and Tolkein would say trans rights, which is unexpected.
Something else that’s striking is that *Christian pessimism about the future* is a huge strand in their thought, the sense that the world is winding down and not progressing. I can’t see CS Lewis being a boosterist; it’s totally averse to his character. The temperament of it all is just much closer to today’s depressed left; today’s Christianity adopts a general optimism he despised. I think his analyses of changes in folk belief as we become secular are honestly really good, while as an atheist I find all his defences of the Reality of Christ extremely poor
They should be treated the same as any other foreign state funded religious extremist groups are.
The Far Right are exploiting the gap that modern society has provided for them. Many young people – and not so young – feel directionless and are looking for community and support. Modern society tends to scorn community for individualism, and the lack of willingness of people from all sides of the political spectrum – left and right – to even tolerate any opinion which disagrees at all with their viewpoints is having repercussions. People who have questions, don’t agree with issues, feel adrift from society are being pushed to the margins, and that’s where extremists lurk.
I have no doubt the established Churches will speak out, and when they do they’ll be told “no room for religion in public life” and countless “all religion is stupid,” – it’s already on the thread – which is actually spectacularly missing the point. The Far Right are not weaponising Christian belief and teachings because they believe in it, they are weaponising it because it provides community, structure and guidance. It gives those on the margins something to travel towards, not just away from.
Telling people they re stupid, or you are too clever to believe in religion is not only going to do nothing to draw people from the Far Right, it’s actually going to push people towards it. The way telling people they were stupid and racist didn’t stop people voting for Trump, or Farage.
I don’t know what the answer here is, how do you create community and direction for those who are lost and looking for it? The traditional churches aren’t going to do it. They’ve lost too much influence, so society itself is going to have to fight this, and they’ll have to come up with something better than “you’re stupid”.
There’s a bit later in the article, where The Ferret mentions the Home Office refused a FOI request, relating to one of the far right parties.
I’m kind of thinking that perhaps The Ferret shouldn’t have mentioned that as explicitly as they did, since it does kind of give the game away. By saying the Home Office refused the FOI on national security grounds, it does kind of reveal that the security services _are_ investigating and monitoring that party. If the party didn’t already suspect it, it’s now confirmed.
What a surprise, people who can’t argue for shit shift to the ultimate thought terminating method they have. “Supernatural being you can’t see or question said I should be listened to and prioritised over everything else and I know best. Trust me, bro.”. It would have been hilarious if it was not so dangerous.
Wait till they hear about the Crusades and the Inquisition.
Durruti was right
Ahhh yes but let’s totally ignore the link on the left and Islam then ?
Has this expert been in hibernation for a century?
It does seem that way . Which is weird because the things they advocate for are definitely not mentioned in the bible . I very much doubt they have read it . For example Matthew and the whole eye for an eye thing . Totally misconstrued and twisted , the actual passage and message are different . It’s not about revenge at all but rather forgiveness and compassion . Much like a Muslim reading the Koran and twisting it to suit their political goals or to justify killing people . For me this is the Christian equivalent of a jihad and it’s utterly shameful.
This kind of thing always implies a sort of Orwellian bowdlerization both of Christian scripture and history into a new approved version. The Gospel of John would be classed as extremist material if it were written today. None of these religions were ever all about Kumbaya Singing.
Fuckin weirdos
Haven’t needed an expert to tell us this for a long time. Got to be a fuckin moron to not see it
You don’t need to be an expert to know this, to be honest.
It’s always “experts”.
What type of “expert” do you have to be exactly to be the standard bearer when labelling far right groups as weaponising Christianity?
All political parties weaponise different religions for their own benefit, they want votes, they have no morals, they’ll use anything and anyone for a vote.
Religion has always been a weapon to divide us never unite us.
Shame. I mean I guess people born in the late 80s-early 90s were the last the last generation where most were to be assumed to be and raised Christian by default. Christianity is a bit of a negative thing for me because of that.
But really, hard to balance Christian belief with far right ideology.
No shit, Sherlock
I currently live in the US South East and yesterday I had a lady tell me they have friends or family who moved to Scotland recently as “missionaries” and I nearly threw up.
This is nothing new, Christianity and fascism have been bedfellows for a long time.
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Yawn.
Seeing it live here in the East Neuk – mostly seem to be targeting youngish men with mental health issues, addictions etc. Ostensibly this seems to be the definition of Christian charity but once I dug a little deeper… Deeply unsettling.
FWIW: I was atheist, born again, now atheist – no way I would become involved in religion again.
In other news, the sky is still blue.
Which is really strange, because I’ve heard that American funding has been pouring in to help the same churches that protest abortions.
I’m going to be honest. Youth clubs are a national security issue.
If there’s nothing for the young people to do, no third spaces where they can hang out for free and just exist, then they’ll find people that will exploit their free time. The far right have been getting better at this, and we can see this from the rise of reform.
The lack of money in everything is really problematic.
We’re going to find out just how bad in a few years.
….duh?
I could have told you that without a paywall
Don’t really need an expert to tell us that.
For what it’s worth— I read too much stuff by England’s 20th century Christian writers, and I’m pretty sure they would despise today’s far right. Like, they wouldn’t like me either; they say some horrifying things by the standards of today. But I think both CS Lewis and Tolkein would say trans rights, which is unexpected.
Something else that’s striking is that *Christian pessimism about the future* is a huge strand in their thought, the sense that the world is winding down and not progressing. I can’t see CS Lewis being a boosterist; it’s totally averse to his character. The temperament of it all is just much closer to today’s depressed left; today’s Christianity adopts a general optimism he despised. I think his analyses of changes in folk belief as we become secular are honestly really good, while as an atheist I find all his defences of the Reality of Christ extremely poor
They should be treated the same as any other foreign state funded religious extremist groups are.
The Far Right are exploiting the gap that modern society has provided for them. Many young people – and not so young – feel directionless and are looking for community and support. Modern society tends to scorn community for individualism, and the lack of willingness of people from all sides of the political spectrum – left and right – to even tolerate any opinion which disagrees at all with their viewpoints is having repercussions. People who have questions, don’t agree with issues, feel adrift from society are being pushed to the margins, and that’s where extremists lurk.
I have no doubt the established Churches will speak out, and when they do they’ll be told “no room for religion in public life” and countless “all religion is stupid,” – it’s already on the thread – which is actually spectacularly missing the point. The Far Right are not weaponising Christian belief and teachings because they believe in it, they are weaponising it because it provides community, structure and guidance. It gives those on the margins something to travel towards, not just away from.
Telling people they re stupid, or you are too clever to believe in religion is not only going to do nothing to draw people from the Far Right, it’s actually going to push people towards it. The way telling people they were stupid and racist didn’t stop people voting for Trump, or Farage.
I don’t know what the answer here is, how do you create community and direction for those who are lost and looking for it? The traditional churches aren’t going to do it. They’ve lost too much influence, so society itself is going to have to fight this, and they’ll have to come up with something better than “you’re stupid”.
There’s a bit later in the article, where The Ferret mentions the Home Office refused a FOI request, relating to one of the far right parties.
I’m kind of thinking that perhaps The Ferret shouldn’t have mentioned that as explicitly as they did, since it does kind of give the game away. By saying the Home Office refused the FOI on national security grounds, it does kind of reveal that the security services _are_ investigating and monitoring that party. If the party didn’t already suspect it, it’s now confirmed.
What a surprise, people who can’t argue for shit shift to the ultimate thought terminating method they have. “Supernatural being you can’t see or question said I should be listened to and prioritised over everything else and I know best. Trust me, bro.”. It would have been hilarious if it was not so dangerous.
Wait till they hear about the Crusades and the Inquisition.
Durruti was right
Ahhh yes but let’s totally ignore the link on the left and Islam then ?
Has this expert been in hibernation for a century?
It does seem that way . Which is weird because the things they advocate for are definitely not mentioned in the bible . I very much doubt they have read it . For example Matthew and the whole eye for an eye thing . Totally misconstrued and twisted , the actual passage and message are different . It’s not about revenge at all but rather forgiveness and compassion . Much like a Muslim reading the Koran and twisting it to suit their political goals or to justify killing people . For me this is the Christian equivalent of a jihad and it’s utterly shameful.
This kind of thing always implies a sort of Orwellian bowdlerization both of Christian scripture and history into a new approved version. The Gospel of John would be classed as extremist material if it were written today. None of these religions were ever all about Kumbaya Singing.
Fuckin weirdos
Haven’t needed an expert to tell us this for a long time. Got to be a fuckin moron to not see it
You don’t need to be an expert to know this, to be honest.
It’s always “experts”.
What type of “expert” do you have to be exactly to be the standard bearer when labelling far right groups as weaponising Christianity?
All political parties weaponise different religions for their own benefit, they want votes, they have no morals, they’ll use anything and anyone for a vote.
Religion has always been a weapon to divide us never unite us.
Shame. I mean I guess people born in the late 80s-early 90s were the last the last generation where most were to be assumed to be and raised Christian by default. Christianity is a bit of a negative thing for me because of that.
But really, hard to balance Christian belief with far right ideology.
No shit, Sherlock
I currently live in the US South East and yesterday I had a lady tell me they have friends or family who moved to Scotland recently as “missionaries” and I nearly threw up.
This is nothing new, Christianity and fascism have been bedfellows for a long time.
Comments are closed.