Why Democrats Must Learn Christian Nationalist Language
Andra Watkins writes, "While I’m more hopeful than ever about our prospects in November, electing Kamala Harris and Tim Walz is only one victorious battle in this war."
Published:August 21, 2024
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*Andra Watkins is an award winning author, survivor of Christian Nationalism and an expert on Project 2025. Read and support her important work here: How Project 2025 Will Ruin Your Life
By Andra Watkins
For decades, the Democratic Party has refused to learn Christian Nationalist language or take their stealth tactics seriously. While I’m grateful for readers who want to learn, I continue to be frustrated by how little of my work is taken seriously by people who set policy. Especially since I was indoctrinated in the belly of this beast.
Christian Nationalist language dovetails with fascist language, but experts who focus on fascist language don’t usually have the corresponding Christian Nationalist indoctrination to call out and explain those aspects. I may not have generally accepted liberal credentials, but when it comes to this topic, I know what I’m talking about. The Atlantic’s coverage of Allie Beth Stuckey (and mainstream media coverage of Trad Wives and similar) fits the Christian Nationalist tactical playbook where language is key.
Here’s how:
Define a word like pornography according to their Bibles.
Make sure their foot soldiers are well-schooled on everything they consider to be porn. (Yes, they really do use terms like foot soldiers in God’s army.)
Elevate certain people to use the word pornography in relation to things that fit their definition: homosexuality (Mike Johnson and others); books and films that portray sexual situations or relationships in a Biblically unsanctioned way (Allie Beth Stuckey); nude art (Moms for Liberty).
Wherever they can, deploy women who play the role of “godly wife and mother” to do this work. It makes hard questions look more like attacks and can be reframed as Christian persecution, which radicalizes more people within their movement.
Use willing media outlets wherever possible so Christo-fascists define the terms of each conversation.
As soon as nobody pushes back on a redefinition of Colleen Hoover novels as pornography, move the definition a little further to the right. I love books by Katherine Center. The sex scenes are tame (if they exist at all), but the characters never wait until their wedding night to do the deed. So at their next opportunity, someone like Katherine Center would be the “pornographer,” especially if one of her books was being repackaged and promoted as a movie. (The Colleen Hoover reference is so, so shrewd. It’s an example of how closely they pay attention and deploy language in relatable, current, timely ways.)
Let that definition be normalized. Move the needle to the right again.
All the while, work to get lawmakers with similar views elected and judges appointed.
Repeat until pornographic books have been so radically redefined for a subset of the population that they feel empowered to outlaw anything that fits their definition of pornography.
My favorite recent read by Katherine Center. From her website.This is the same playbook they used to ban abortion.
They changed the meaning of words; used women to front their movements because women are harder to attack; chipped away at what words meant; forced the media to play by their rules; got sympathetic Republicans elected and appointed; started passing restrictions; infiltrated the Supreme Court; and accomplished part of their abortion ban.
Democratic leadership must start paying attention to these tactics and come up with proactive ways to counter them.
We aren’t being hysterical or hyperbolic to warn people of the dangers of a subtle redefinition of a piece of contemporary women’s fiction. Democratic operatives should be laser-focused on this to give us more tools to collectively push back.
That means learning their Christo-fascist language. It means understanding what they’re doing when they change the definition of words. It means educating Americans to recognize this when we see it and giving us tools to effectively call it out.
Not waiting until they’ve moved the needle so far to the right that we teeter on the brink of a Christo-fascist theocracy. While I’m more hopeful than ever about our prospects in November, electing Kamala Harris and Tim Walz is only one victorious battle in this war.
If Democrats don’t step up and take these tactics seriously much, much earlier going forward, we will lose this war.
Now I’ll wash this off and immerse myself in some more Colleen Hoover.
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This episode tells the fictional story of a middle school that opens its doors to unvaccinated students after a possible second -term President Trump eliminates Federal funding for schools with vaccine mandates. The story follows the school nurse, Stephanie Morris, as she navigates the influx of unvaccinated students and the resulting disease outbreaks that spread rapidly through the school and community. The narrative illustrates the real-world implications of the president's policy, with outbreaks of diseases like measles, whooping cough, and the flu causing hospitalizations and even deaths among vulnerable students and staff. The story highlights the challenges faced by the school nurse in trying to protect the health of all students, including her own daughter who has an autoimmune condition, without the backing of mandatory vaccination policies. Overall, the episode demonstrates how Donald Trump’s promise to defund schools with vaccine mandates could have devastating consequences for children's health and safety.
We'd like to thank all the artists who volunteered their time to make this episode: Laurie Burke, Leigh McGowan who read the chapters & Audrey Hakes , Joe Walsh, & others who contributed character voices. Sound design by Marilys Ernst and Jonathan Moser. Trump's Project 2025: Up Close and Personal written by Pepper and produced by Pepper, Melissa Jo Peltier and Jay Feldman and is a production of Ovington Avenue Productions and The Bill Press Pod.
Trump, Vance and Project 2025 are crystal clear that the first move of their right-wing takeover of American government would be the displacement of tens of thousands of non-partisan civil servants with political and personal loyalists. And they’re equally clear that displacing science and scientists is a central theme of that agenda.
