Who Joins White Supremacist/Alt-Right Groups

Today is the anniversary of the Alt-Right and White Supremacists assault on Charlottesville, a city that I and countless University of Virginia hold dear.  Ironically, given last year's violence, Charlottesville is perhaps Virginia's most progressive city - it voted heavily for Clinton in 2016 and Democrat Ralph Northam got roughly 85% of the vote in 2017 - and, thus, represents what the far right hates most: education, knowledge, tolerance and non-discrimination. While frictions erupted last night in Charlottesville, today's main gathering of haters will take place in Washington, DC, near the White House - a fitting location given Trump's refusal to condemn the white supremacists who violated Charlottesville last year and killed a counter-protester.  A piece in Newsweek looks at who joins the Alt-Right and by extension, makes up much of Trump's hardcore base.  Here are excerpts:

A new University of Virginia study found that white nationalists are likely to be low-income, divorced, uneducated and unemployed.

One year after the Unite the Right marches in Charlottesville, Virginia that led to the death of 32-year-old Heather Heyer and dozens of serious injuries, scholars at the nearby university analyzed the demographics of potential alt-right members in hopes of discovering what makes certain Americans susceptible to joining white nationalist movements.  

Researchers at UVA’s Institute for Family Studies studied responses to 2016 American National Election Survey, and singled out respondents who had a strong sense of white identity, a belief in the importance of white solidarity and a sense of white victimization.

The group found that unemployed white Americans without a college degree and with an annual income between $0 and $29,000 were more likely to agree with the principles of the white nationalist movement. These respondents were also much more likely to be divorced than married or never married. Religious beliefs, gender and age had little impact on whether a white American was held supremacist beliefs or not, the study found. “Divorce does seem to increase the likelihood a respondent will believe whites suffer discrimination and the likelihood that a white person will agree with all three of the basic premises of white identity politics,” wrote George Hawley, an assistant professor of Political Science at the University of Alabama, in the studies findings.

A July Anti-Defamation League study also found a clear link between misogyny and white supremacy. “Misogyny has the potential to act as a gateway into the white supremacist world,” said report author Jessica Reaves, an expert at ADL’s Center on Extremism. “The hatred and resentment of women voiced by groups like involuntary celibates and Men’s Rights Activists is disturbingly similar to white supremacists’ hatred of minorities. And some white supremacists, especially those on the alt-right, use the same degrading, violent anti-woman rhetoric we hear coming from misogynist groups.”

“Pundits and scholars have spent the last several years debating whether racism or economic anxiety is the main catalyst for right-wing populism and white racial identity politics,” wrote Hawley. “It turns out that economic variables are some of the stronger determinants of white attitudes on racial questions. Higher incomes are associated with lower levels of white racial identity, racial solidarity, and feelings of discrimination.

I doubt many of my country club/yacht club Republican "friends" would associate with these people socially, but they voted with them and sadly, seemingly subscribe to the same ugly racism.  My late mother always told us as children that we'd be known by the company we kept.  My Republican "friends" have said a lot about themselves given the politically kindred spirits and it's not something positive.

The Shocking Ignorance of the GOP Base

I'm not saying that all liberals are smart, but at least it seems like the less intelligent ones have the good sense to not put their ignorance on open display.  Not so with the hard core GOP base.  These people insist on making signs and making statements that proclaim to the world that they are ignorant idiots.  Perhaps it shouldn't come as a surprise since the Christofascists are almost exclusively clustered in the Republican Party and a number of surveys has shown that levels of education and IQ are inversely related to one's belief in Bible inerrancy.   And then, of course, the GOP doe seem to have more and more of a monopoly with KKK members and rednecks in general.  In short, the GOP base prides itself in the embrace of ignorance, bigotry and racism.  A post at The New Civil Rights Movement notes the phenomenon and asks a good question:

Recently, an anti-immigrant activist carefully vandalized the side of the proposed shelter for immigrant children in Maryland. He or she had enough black spray paint, and evenly spaced their all caps message across a good portion of the brick wall of the single-story building. One thing they forgot to do was learn to spell.

With the rise of the Tea Party, America learned -- at least, the left learned -- just how ignorant so many on the right truly are. Misspelled Tea Party protest signs were so prevalent that entire websites, along with blog posts and Flickr albums, were created just to try to capture them all.

If the "English-only" crowd is going to demand President Obama deport millions of immigrants, shouldn't the far right first be required to learn to spell?

Nothing is more dangerous that idiots who do not recognize their own limitations - or worse yet, think they are intelligent when they are not.. 

Sunday Evening Reflections

Our photo that appeared in the Daily Press

This weekend was incredibly busy and once again reflected the almost bi-polar reactions to gays in Virginia and Hampton Roads in particular.   In today's Daily Press (subscription only) the boyfriend and I were one of three same sex couples featured in an article on gay marriage and the rapidly changing legal landscape.  While some of the comments on the online version of the article that began on page 1 of the front section of the paper were enlightened, some were not - one suggested next we'd be demanding incest with our children be legal - and reflect what in my view is the growing separation between the views of the educated and more affluent toward gays and the diametrically opposite views held by the uneducated and lower classes.  It's as if today's lower class whites - much like the lower class whites of 50+ years ago who were openly racist - need someone to look down upon in order to feel good about themselves.  Once it was anti-black discrimination that inflated otherwise pathetic egos, today it's homophobia that has become the route to a sense of superiority for those who otherwise have little or nothing about which to feel superior.  And disturbingly, those who have to cling to their white skin and heterosexuality to feel good about themselves are the core of today's Republican Party of Virginia.

Why do I say this?  Because without exception, the boyfriend and I have found acceptance and friendship with educated and affluent residents of Hampton Roads.  Yesterday we were included in the funeral service for the mother of a friend at historic Bruton Parish in Colonial Williamsburg (amazingly her mother had lived to be over 102 and had been born just 8 days after the Titanic sank).  The ceremony was followed by a family dinner where, as is the norm, we were included as part of the extended family.  Then today, we held a "meet and greet" for two candidates for Hampton City Council at our home and almost everyone (i) had seen the article in the paper and (ii) was overflowing in their congratulations and best wishes for our wedding next week - including an Air Force general and his wife.  The new norm even in Hampton, Virginia is for the educated and middle/upper middle class to accept gays and gay marriage without a moment's hesitation.

One has to wonder if homophobia will increasing be confined to the lower classes and the uneducated.  As noted before on this blog, fundamental religious belief tracks directly with lower levels of education - Episcopalians and Evangelical Lutherans are at the opposite end of the spectrum - with Pentecostals and Jehovah's Witnesses at the very bottom of the heap.  I'd be interested in readers' experiences.

 

New Study: Opposition to Gay Marriage Narrow and Concentrated

A new study that focused on exit polls and other date from the 2012 general election indicates that the opponents of gay marriage are increasingly concentrated in three groups of voters: (i) older people, (ii) white evangelical Christians and (iii) non-college-educated whites.  Which, along with the Christofascist take over of much of the grass roots organization, explains why the Republican Party continues to be homophobic and fighting a long term losing battle, especially as older voters literally die off only to be replaced with younger, more gay friendly voters.  Here are excerpts from the Washington Post on the study findings:

Exit polls and other surveys from last year’s election suggest that resistance to same-sex marriage is shrinking and mainly concentrated among certain segments of the population: older people, white evangelical Christians and non-college-educated whites.

That is the analysis of a new study of the data by two pollsters, one a Democrat and the other a Republican.

“Significant opposition to the freedom to marry is increasingly isolated within narrow demographic groups while a much broader and more diverse majority are ready to let same-sex couples marry,” wrote Joel Benenson, who led President Obama’s polling operation in 2008 and 2012, and Jan van Lohuizen, who did the same job for former president George W. Bush.

Voters age 65 and older expressed opposition to allowing such unions in their states by a 21-point margin, with 37 percent supporting them and 58 percent opposing. Those younger than 65 favored them by eight points, 52 percent to 44 percent.

The disparity was even greater among religious groups, broken down along racial lines. White evangelical Christians opposed same-sex marriage by nearly 3 to 1. But every non-evangelical group — other white Protestants, white Catholics, Hispanic Catholics, African American non-evangelicals and Jewish voters — expressed support for such unions by double-digit margins.

Meanwhile, African American voters who described themselves as evangelical or born again were narrowly divided, with 45 percent saying their state should recognize same-sex marriage and 47 percent saying it should not.

Another “pocket of opposition,” the pollsters said, is white voters who do not have a college degree. Only 40 percent of them supported same-sex marriage, compared with 56 percent who opposed it. Other groups supported such unions: by 54 percent to 38 percent among non-white, non-college graduates; 56 percent to 41 percent among white college graduates; and 58 percent to 35 percent among non-white college graduates.

In an interview, Benenson said the study suggests that lawmakers and candidates who embrace such unions are not likely to be punished politically, because “the American people are already there.”  “Demographics is a big part of it,” Van Lohuizen added, “but I also think there is a lot of rethinking going on.”

However, David Lane, who organizes conservative Christians nationwide, said the more than 65 million Americans who identify themselves as evangelicals are feeling increasingly alienated from electoral politics. If GOP leaders embrace same-sex marriage, he predicted, “it will lead quickly to the collapse of the Republican Party,” causing a core constituency to leave for a third party or to renounce politics.

In sum, the opponents of marriage equality are the elderly and senile, religious extremist and the uneducated.  As for the frothing at the mouth by the Christofascists' spokesmen, I discount Lane's statements which evidence the Christofascists' effort to retain control of the GOP and to remain relevant as the rest of society and the world move onward.  I believe the GOP has more to lose from its unholy alliance with the Bible beaters than it does from embracing marriage equality.

Is Gay Bashing By Churches Driving the Flight From Organized Religion?

I have frequently made the argument that the flight of the under 30 generations from organized religion bears a direct correlation to the anti-gay jihad that many denominations continue to conduct against LGBT citizens.  Many more of this age bracket have LGBT friends and/or know LGBT individuals.  As a result, they are repulsed by the standard depiction of gays disseminated daily by "family values" groups and church organizations like the Southern Baptist Convention and the Roman Catholic Church (both of which are suffering from membership losses - especially if non-active members are stripped from church rosters).  Indeed, many of these supposed Christian groups and churches represent the strongest argument for not being a Christian that one can find.  Wayne Besen has a column in Huffington Post that sets forth thoughts like my own on this topic.  Here are some highlights:

A new poll by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life reveals that a record number of Americans (19.3 percent) have abandoned faith and now consider themselves unaffiliated with any particular religion. According to USA Today:

This group, called "Nones," is now the nation's second-largest category only to Catholics, and outnumbers the top Protestant denomination, the Southern Baptists.

If you want to understand the reasons behind this trend, take a moment to read a disturbing letter that Twin Cities Catholic Archbishop John Nienstedt sent to the mother of a gay son. In it, the holy man told the mother that her "eternal salvation" might depend on whether or not she embraced the anti-gay teachings of the Catholic Church, thus rejecting her own child. Talk about family values!

Such a callous admonition might have worked in the past, when people had little education. It might have resonated in bygone eras, when gays and lesbians were invisible and easy to demonize as the "other." It might have held sway had the Catholic Church's credibility not been left in tatters after the church spent more than $2.5 billion to clean up the wreckage wrought by pedophile priests and their enablers.

While Nienstedt's arrogance and cruelty stands out as particularly odious, it isn't just Catholicism that is in decline.

I, for one, believe that the 19.3-percent figure for Nones is too low. A substantial number of people identify themselves in surveys as belonging to a particular faith for one of three reasons:

• Habit: People over 30 were brought up in a world where everyone was presumed to have a religious affiliation as both a mark of faith and cultural identity. So, when asked whether they belong to a faith group, they reflexively check the box, with little thought to their own belief system or actual adherence to the religious convictions they claim. As the "Nones" make themselves more visible, it gives these folks a new box to check -- and many of them will.
• Fear: For centuries it was dangerous for people to acknowledge their genuine beliefs. "Today, there's no shame in saying you're an unbeliever," Southern Baptist Theological Seminary president Albert Mohler complained in USA Today.
•  Politics: Even today, if an ambitious person wants a successful career in politics, it is easier to fake having faith than to acknowledge being a nonbeliever. The result is that politicians appear significantly more devout than the general population. Once this taboo falls, which is likely to occur in the next decade, it will open the door to a more honest dialogue about the role of religion in public life.

When people see their own sons and daughters and friends and co-workers coming out, it creates a crisis of credibility for religious institutions. It leads to countless situations where mean-spirited men like Nienstedt demand blind, irrational obedience and say "take it or leave it" -- and more people are now following their consciences and walking away.  

Add to this premise the reality that science is proving that the Adam and Eve of the Bible are fictional characters and that, therefore, there was no Fall through Adam, and the whole literalistic approach to the Bible begins to collapse.   And it is happening most rapidly in the mainline churches which as I have noted before have the highest levels of education (see the charts below).  It is no coincidence that anti-gay bigotry and Bible inerrancy are increasingly confined to the most conservative denominations which also happened to be those with the lowest educational levels.    

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