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So a post-conservative right is growing, outside of the institutions, much of it online, but not all of it. Will it also be post-Christian?
This is the fundamental question for Republicans; that means, for all Americans, since the party has not imploded (unless it implodes). 1/10
This is the fundamental question for Republicans; that means, for all Americans, since the party has not imploded (unless it implodes). 1/10
The GOP has had a Protestant Christian face--W Bush, Romney--because it came with a democratic reputation. But they had different attitudes: GOP elites were thinking about winning elections; Christians were going mad over losing the country.
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Well, their decline has happened: Protestant churches, if they are important politically, are now very much on the defensive, a minority view looking for the protection of a big-enough, if not majority coalition.
So the future of populism isn't very Protestant.
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So the future of populism isn't very Protestant.
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Indeed, in our days, we see lots of Catholics speak up both for Christianity & conservatism, or whatever right-wing politics.
This is new; these aren't the mid-century free-market anti-Communist Catholics who were joining an America they hadn't made or been well-treated by...
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This is new; these aren't the mid-century free-market anti-Communist Catholics who were joining an America they hadn't made or been well-treated by...
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More, the GOP is now the party of the poorer half of America--as the consequences follow, Catholics will matter in politics. The recent evidence that Hispanics are turning to the GOP shows that; (although the most GOP are evangelical Hispanics).
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This is post-conservative politics, since the poor don't conserve much.
It's also to some extent post-Christian, since the churches have simply failed to indoctrinate.
This is most obvious in the online right (people who hate wokies), but it's largely true of young Americans.
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It's also to some extent post-Christian, since the churches have simply failed to indoctrinate.
This is most obvious in the online right (people who hate wokies), but it's largely true of young Americans.
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The hierarchies of this new coalition are not obvious, nor are the issues, but you can begin to understand its political form from this opposition to the last form of the mid-century consensus. It now takes censorship & mob terror to enforce what used to be done by default.
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As to the opposition: It matters above all whether people come to believe the old promises were lies or delusions--did previous generations fail in a noble pursuit or were they playing with insanities?
Related: Is America in need of restoration or a radical transformation?
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Related: Is America in need of restoration or a radical transformation?
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The post-conservative right is looking for a majority coalition, so it cannot really blame Americans for the crises we can't stop talking about. It must blame elites; it must be populist, anti-oligarchic, & therefore it must believe the character of the people is still sound.
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So it's likely the post-conservative right will restore some of the public claims of Christianity. That's what the democratic form demands, since the most obvious thing about elites is that they hate Christians, even if they're not poor or white or heartland.
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