Reply #13: It was seemingly in the DNA [View All]

[Wright Patman]

of a lot of the early settlers to believe that America was the "shining city on the hill" spoken of in, IIRC, Pilgrim's Progress. The Scots-Irish who settled the South and are still the dominant culture here began as Presbyterians by and large, but have now morphed into Baptists for the most part. I would say "militarism" trumps either as the actual religion of these folk. Fighting and bloodshed is also in their DNA. The Confederate States of America were a "lost cause" from the beginning and yet the CSA came dangerously close to winning that war.

The militarism also discourages freethinking, even if their minds were capable of free thought. The military is all about taking orders and obeying authority. If you go to a church down here, you will invariably hear the pastor refer to the "war" all Christians face each day. There is not much about the Prince of Peace. It evokes cognitive dissonance. The pastor is much more likely to quote "I come not to bring peace, but a sword."

Many 1700s-era emigrants to the New World thought of America as the new Israel. Some thought they were descended from the lost tribes of Israel and that Americans (white ones, anyhow) were of the tribe of Manasseh and Brits were of the tribe of Ephraim.

Not all the founders were deists or agnostics. John Adams and George Washington come to mind in opposition to this theory. Jefferson, my favorite, indeed was. He didn't denigrate Jesus Christ, but he did put out his own edition of the Bible in which all references to miracles of Jesus or anyone else were excised. He was an Enlightenment philosopher. That may be why he was so fond of France.

I really cannot imagine Texas in particular or the American South in general ever being anything but a fundy-dominated place. It doesn't really mean they live their lives in a more righteous or pure manner than anyone else (quite the contrary, in many cases), but the militarism of Southern-style evangelicalism means they will always be "at war" with somebody or something, be it over the culture or over oil in the Middle East. While they kill you either symbolically or actually, they will also say how much they "love" you. They will call it "tough love."

I heard the phrase "secular humanism" repeated over and over in my youth as the chief danger to God's will as they interpret scripture. Europe has been a secular humanist place for a long, long time. To churchgoers around here, this concept is "of the devil" and "straight out of the pit of hell."

But despite their unprecedented power, fundamentalists still see themselves as a persecuted minority, waging a holy war against the godless forces of secularism. To rouse themselves, they kick off the festivities with "Soldiers of the Cross, Arise," the bloodthirstiest tune in all of Christendom: "Seize your armor, gird it on/Now the battle will be won/Soon, your enemies all slain/Crowns of glory you shall gain."

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/_/id/7235393?rnd=1113062695995&has-player=true&version=6.