When I said it was a cult, I didn’t realize it was literally a cult
A new religion, with Donald Trump seated at the right hand of The Lord, is forming before our very eyes.
A running theme in this newsletter is the similarities between the hard core MAGA movement and a new religious movement. It’s all there: a messiah figure who can literally do no wrong, followers who will tolerate absolutely no dissent, repetitive chanting designed to drown out independent thought, ostracism and even violence directed at heretics, holy scriptures, and even martyrs:
But it’s only recently that I found out that some MAGA dogma may have been ripped off from a literal doomsday cult:
Elizabeth Claire Prophet is long gone, and her Church Universal and Triumphant barely exists anymore, but they still have a few doomsday preppers waiting for the apocalypse in Montana. At least they’re minding their own business instead of, say, trying to storm the seat of government.
And like any cult worthy of the name, the Trumpites have their own movies in the vein of Battlefield Earth:
Actually, a movie about a guy who believes The Lord told him to help make Donald Trump President could be interesting. But this film, made at Liberty University (and disavowed by some of the students who worked on it) is a bizarre blend of Xbox 360-quality CGI demons, montages of people blowing shofars, a music video about veterans, interviews with the likes of Michele Bachman, product placement for a diet book, and at its center, venerates a YouTuber “prophet” who believes Democrats can control the weather.
Of course there have always been people slavishly devoted to political leaders, and it’s not exclusively an American nor a right-wing phenomenon. (In recent days I’ve been simultaneously unnerved and amused by #CdnMediaFailed, a Twitter hashtag for Liberals butthurt about news outlets daring to report about Justin Trudeau skipping out on his solemn day of remembrance for Residential School victims to hit the beach.) But amongst the Trumpists, it seems like we’re witnessing the creation of an entirely new religion that fuses Christianity with far-right nationalism, complete with an “improved” Bible:
A new Bible that includes the U.S. Constitution and the Pledge of Allegiance is generating controversy before it has even hit the market.
The “God Bless the USA Bible” is expected to go on sale in September, in time to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to a Nashville-based marketer who will distribute the book.
It has already prompted cries of blasphemy and concerns that the book will promote Christian nationalism, the idea that America is and should remain a Christian nation.
The Bible will also include lyrics from singer Lee Greenwood’s hit song “God Bless the USA,” which topped pop charts after Sept. 11, 2001. Using the historic King James Version, the “God Bless the USA Bible” has about 600 preorders for $49.99 and will ship in September, said Hugh Kirkpatrick, who said he wanted to inspire unity in the country.
With Christianity like this, who needs blasphemy?
My piece about the Michigan Maoists hounding composer Bright Sheng was posted just as Cathy Young’s newsletter about the same subject turned up in my inbox. I try my best, but I’m afraid my work is Deep Impact compared to her Armageddon. (Or maybe my piece is Armageddon and hers is Deep Impact. Which one is considered the good nineties killer asteroid movie again?)
Young actually concedes that Olivier’s Othello performance is even more offensively cringey than people are letting on, but the blowback from easily traumatized students was way out of proportion to the alleged crime:
A self-righteous Medium screed by Sammy Sussman, a University of Michigan senior majoring in composition and a campus investigative reporter, offers the background for this missive. Sussman, writing on September 30, declared that he felt a sad “numbness” at the school’s response. He was aghast at the department chair’s “casual dismissal of the hurt many of my classmates and I felt while watching this video.” The chair, for instance, had the temerity to write, “Respectfully, I think this may be something you ought to first discuss with Prof. Sheng… [He] should be allowed to address your questions before indicting him.” At the end of the email, the chair wrote:
If there is debate to be had, that is what Composition Seminar is for — to discuss, and find understandings, and build bridges where there is lack of connection. This can be an opportunity for discussion. I hope you hear where I’m coming from, and are interested to consider the possibility of multiple viewpoints.
Discussion! Debate! The horror! According to Sussman, “This is how the system of silence starts.” (Discussion = silence. Gotcha.) Didn’t the dean realize, Sussman inquired melodramatically, that the students were too frightened to say anything because they were powerless while Sheng was a distinguished academic and composer, and they had every reason to fear professional repercussions if they spoke up?
So basically, these students aren’t afraid to sign an irate letter denouncing Sheng and interpreting his every word in the most uncharitable way possible—if he mentions that he has mentored and helped some black students, that means he’s crediting their success entirely to himself!—but they’re scared to speak up in class and express objection to the racial caricature in Olivier’s performance. Since they’re musicians, this cries out for a “world’s smallest violin” joke.
I mentioned a fellow professor who denounced Sheng for his racism, but Young found another Red Guard in the School of Music who made a point of flagging organizations who had previously honoured the heretic:
Another colleague, associate professor of composition Kristin Kuster, tweeted out Sussman’s Medium post with a comment about the need to discuss “pedagogical racism & pedagogical abuse” and tagged the Pulitzer Committee and the MacArthur Foundation.
Do they really believe their fellow professor is an unredeemable racist who must be unpersoned, or are they just trying to feed the tiger in the hope that it will eat them last?
This was a wild ride: