Christian Nationalists... the Olympic Opening Ceremony is not all about you.
Or... how to be the proverbial, "ugly American."
TAT readers,
Welcome to a new week. I am beginning this week with something incredibly sensitive but also an issue which has demanded a response since the late 1970’s, Christian Nationalism. The latest examples are the massive amounts of conspiracy theories circulating around the opening ceremony, of the Paris Olympic Games. In a wide variety of places, all around the globe and especially under the troll bridges here in the US where far-right trolls create ugly and extremely dishonest content, to drive apart democracies.
These conspiracy theories are then shared by well-coordinated influence operations by US “influencers” and foreign adversaries, often working together. Tragically, the US national security community remains impotent in protecting US citizens from such influence operations. So, this is why I feel obligated to speak out. In fact, we all must, since that these agencies have failed for at least four decades.
I have had it with these influence operations that are a severe threat to not only our US constitutional republic, but republics and democracies world-wide. The perpetrators are influence operators as varied as Russia, GOP, China, Iran and the GOP mercenaries, like Brad Parscale. He was the dishonest, un-American professional influencer, that wove US far-right conspiracy theories together with GOP false narratives during the 2016 election cycle. Of note, Russian intelligence played a very large role with Parscale’s campaigns, wittingly and unwittingly.
My accusations on this topic are deeply embedded in my professional expertise, analytically and as an operator of influence in support of national security. I have written and operated against these specific and severe threats since 2015 after retiring from the US Army. I will gladly debate today’s insights, with any and every challenger. If this sounds arrogant, then this is your issue, not mine. Like every politician and military member and much of the Government Service community and contractors, I swore an oath to, “protect and defend our constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic.” This is me fulfilling my oath to the nation.
Today’s piece will most certainly bring fierce accusations and abuse when posted, especially outside of Substack. Now it’s time to do as the old country song says, “when you’re going through hell, just keep on going.” So… let’s get at it.
First, we’ll look at what spawned today’s essay.
Within minutes, the US and global far-right Christians, were triggered to respond to the Parisian Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games, with outrage and fierce Christian Nationalist verbal abuse. This type of behavior in the Trump era, has taken on the mantle of the “Ugly American,” and even humiliating to most Americans. The “ugly American stereotype did not originate with the 1958 book of the same name, but a couple of centuries earlier when America was seen as a brash upstart that didn’t acknowledge their position within the global hierarchy. In many respects, especially post WW II, we’ve done a great deal to dispel this stereotype, but it is alive and well in the MAGA world. In many ways, it’s worse than ever, with Christian Nationalists making a damn fool of themselves with their opening ceremonies’ criticism.
The term "Ugly American" refers to a stereotype American traveler abroad acting pedantic and condescending, often loud and annoying. In other words, the term refers to personality rather than physical appearance. The term was gained traction from a popular 1958 novel The Ugly American that was made into a film in 1963 with the same name. Though the book centers on criticisms of American foreign policy and diplomacy, the term "Ugly American" usually refers to American travelers or tourists who are acting arrogantly or obnoxiously. A negative term, it is best advised to avoid usage. - Ugly American Definition & Explanation - University of Maine at Augusta library
Don’t get me wrong, I have absolutely no issue with any faith that puts its best foot forward and exemplifies the most important tenets of its beliefs. Most major religions, when practiced in the above form, are living examples of love, compassion, community and faith. That is unless extremists get involved. We’ve seen this during the Crusades, Islam’s humiliating, violent extremist movements, the Global right’s demands of religious nationalism. It’s not just Christianity either. For example, Modi’s BJP party in India is underpinned by Hindutva or in common language, extremist Hindu Nationalism. Today’s Russian far-right, White Christian Nationalism is its ideological center of gravity for most religious nationalist movements. The US MAGA/ GOP, most often just mimics or expands on Putin’s lead.
I’m actually quite fed up with the concept that our constitution and its values were created for a Christian nation. Sure, there were in colonial times more Christians of all types of denominations than other religions, but our founders would not tolerate a nation based on the values of a single religion. In fact, they codified that it would not, in the Establishment Clause/ First Amendment. Our nation was born of the values pursued via the Scottish Enlightenment and focused primarily on “human values” which despite many of the scholars hailing from religious pulpits, they saw as far more important. In a manner of speaking, our nation was born of “woke” values by a bunch of radical progressives.
In the book from Oxford University below, there is a good accounting of religious fanaticism in modern times, in chapter 30. The abstract is below in the quote.
Abstract In the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, extreme violence associated with religion has become a global problem, appearing in Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, and Buddhist cultures. Religion is associated with this violence but is not the cause of it. In other words, religion is not the problem, but it is problematic, in two ways. One is the way that religious identities and ideologies have become part of a global rebellion against the European Enlightenment notion of a secular state. The other is the way that certain features of religious actions and images—such as the performance of religious ritual and the awesome notion of cosmic war—are appropriated by violent actors seeking to justify their savage attempts at power and cloak them in religious garb. - The Oxford University History of Terrorism - Carola Dietze (ed.), Claudia Verhoeven (ed.) - 30 Religious Terrorism at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century - Oxford University - Mark Juergensmeyer - January 13th, 2021
Wherever rabid tribalism involving faith rears its ugly head, religious ideology takes on one of the most prominent and destructive roles. Iran and Afghanistan are excellent examples. MAGA/ GOP ideology is the same. They deploy their aberrant faith in support of political agendas, the furthest thing, from Christianity. I have written often and in depth regarding the threats to our republic due to Christian Nationalism which in my opinion, is largely also, White Christian Nationalism. White Christian Nationalism was how the Confederacy during the US Civil War, ideologically underpinned their treasonous secession from the Union. In the Trump era, it is again the ideological underpinning of another US civil war, 2.0.
Like my educator father, I have deep interest in what was called during his undergrad and grad school days, “Comparative Religion.” Professionally, this ongoing interest has found me doing deep dives into some of the world’s biggest religions, in order to better understand the identities of each. When it comes to war, ideological foundations of combatants are critical to understanding their motivations, on and off of the battlefield.
This morning, some of the organizers of the Opening Ceremonies, apologized that some were offended, but not for the concepts behind them. I believe that this was a quite dignified response. In my opinion, they had nothing to apologize for.
Here are some excerpts from this morning’s CBS News about the "so-called, “Last Supper” controversies:
The organizers behind the Paris Olympics apologized to anyone who was offended by a tableau that evoked Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper" during Friday's opening ceremony and provoked outrage by religious conservatives around the world. The organizers, however, defended the concept behind it. As CBS News correspondent Elaine Cobbe reports, the specific part of the ceremony that caused the offense was, in fact, a scene depicting Dionysus, the Greek god of wine. It was reportedly based on The Feast of the Gods, a 17th century painting by Dutch artist Jan Harmensz van Biljert that hangs in the Magnin Museum, in Dijon, eastern France. The painting depicts an assembly of Greek gods on Mount Olympus for a banquet to celebrate the marriage of Thetis and Peleus. The figure seated at the table in the center has a halo of light behind his head. Thomas Jolly, the opening ceremony director, insisted in an interview with France's BFMTV that "The Last Supper" was not the inspiration behind the scene, explaining that "Dionysus arrives at the table because he is the Greek God of celebration," adding that the particular sequence was entitled "festivity." - Paris Olympics organizers say sorry for offense, but insist opening ceremony did not depict "The Last Supper" - CBS News - Elaine Cobbe - July 29th, 2024
Next, Christian Nationalists were offended by the horse that appeared to gallop down the center of and on the surface of the Seine, ground zero for the celebration.
The Horsewoman, wearing the Flag of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is seen on a Metal Horse on the River Seine during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 And then there was the woman on a metal horse galloping along the Seine, one of the more spectacular sights of the night. She’s a gendarme, and followed the same route as the athletes, representing Sequana, Gallo-Roman goddess of the Seine. - The Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony: What Did It All Mean? - Published 28 July 2024 by Leyla Alyanak — Parisian by birth, Lyonnaise by adoption, historian by passion
Honest Americans who are as embarrassed as I am at this ignorant ranting, let’s all remember how every single Olympic Opening and closing ceremony is oriented towards showing off their nation and culture. Paris and France in particular, deservedly did the same and in many unique manners.
Paris, “the city of light” has for centuries been recognized as an innovative and culturally rich city. It’s the home to revolutionary fervor that partially inspired our War of Independence. France was a major actor in support of our Revolutionary Army. The Sorbonne and other extraordinary academic institutions were breaths of life to science, math, philosophy and political innovations. Her inspiration to nearly all art forms have been at the forefront of most artistic revolutions. Wine, cheese and so many other culinary innovations originated in France.
She has the right to put on a show, uniquely hers, just as China, Japan, the US and so many other nations have, throughout Olympic history. Why is it that the US and foreign Christian Nationalists and upstarts have no repercussions for acting in such a nationally humiliating fashion, is beyond me. They will not though, escape the scrutiny of my pen. I could hardly be more embarrassed and use this platform to say so. In fact, if more Americans pushed back when they behaved as they have since Friday, their voices would be lost in the conversation. I encourage all of us to speak out to the degree that you are comfortable.
Ever since the Newt Gingrich and “moral majority” era, the US GOP has been hellbent on making America into a Christian Nation. My favorite bumper sticker in the Gingrich era read, “the moral majority, is neither.” Anyone that disagrees should read our First Amendment/ Establishment Clause of our constitution.
Here in Texas, Greg Abbott and his Texas Taliban GOP are the flag bearers of White Christian Nationalism. Between my research and living under the thumb of fake patriots and unconstitutional laws regarding religion and governance, I have a very good view of what Christian Nationalism looks like theoretically and in practice. Add to these multiple military tours in Iraq, Afghanistan and other parts of the world suffering from religious fanaticism, and I know what wrong looks like. In fact, extremist religious beliefs are not only immoral, but embody violence in pursuit of aberrant religious beliefs.
I can tell you this as a Texan; the Christian Nationalists of the TX GOP, imposing their aberrant Christian beliefs on everyone, regardless of differing beliefs are in direct conflict with the US and Texas Constitutions. As an American sworn to defend our national constitution, it makes it daily distressing to see Greg Abbott and his henchmen shove their false biblical beliefs down every Texans’' throat.
As this pertains to the current Christian Nationalist outrage, I say let them continue to demonstrate their fake patriotism and juvenile behavior. Most Americans are fed up with them and I am in this group, for years now. They spend so much time and money on starting culture wars that nothing else gets done. Texas recently was assigned the disgraceful, worst state in America tag. And mostly… because the TX GOP spends all of their time poking us with fake culture wars and zero time legislating effectively, in support of Texans. I have been to war in a couple of “failed states” and I know what I am looking at, when I describe Texas as a failed state.
"Nation-states fail because they are convulsed by internal violence and can no longer deliver positive political goods to their inhabitants. Their governments lose legitimacy, and the very nature of the particular nation-state itself becomes illegitimate in the eyes and in the hearts of a growing plurality of its citizens." - Failed States, Collapsed States, Weak States - Failed States, Collapsed States, Weak States: Causes and Indicators - ROBERT I. ROTBERG
Our property taxes are nearly the worst in the nation and price people, including Veterans from their homes. In all health-related matters, we are perpetually in the lowest rankings. The environmental issues also rank us at the bottom, especially when they concern responsible environment regulations for big oil, who essentially owns the TX GOP. Abortion is a vigilante game for all Texas Republicans, at the expense of their wives, daughters and other family and friends. My congressman here in TX 23, Tony Gonzalez loves to go on TV and play the nice guy but votes MAGA disgracefully. This is what you get when you embrace Christian Nationalism and not one thing more. Everything about it is the exact opposite of American values. Hence, like the national MAGA GOP, the ranks of the TX GOP are filled with fake patriots.
To sum up today’s work, let’s just say that the MAGA, Christian Nationalists personify the concept of the “ugly American” whether they are in Paris or here in the states, raving madly about something they don’t understand. Just this morning on my Facebook feed, I saw old and dear friends who had bought into the conspiracy theories about the opening ceremonies, still raging about defending Christianity instead of apologizing for what they didn’t understand and made no effort to, before they overreacted. There is nothing Christian or American values about this type of behavior. To my readers in the 87 nations around the world where Truth About Threats is read, I apologize for our ugly American, Christian Nationalists.
In the Trump era, it is the worst among us that get all of the attention. It is humiliating for those of us who have long experienced life outside our borders. Few overseas conversations go without some sort of question such as, “what the hell is wrong with America since Trump came to power?” The answer is long but since I know these fine people, I simply apologize. Since I talk to former colleagues and related professionals, multiple times a week, these forced apologies are personally humiliating. Hey, MAGA folks won’t apologize so honorable Americans must do it for them. Professionally, I understand that recovering our dignity, post Trump and MAGA, will take a couple of generations, at best. In the meantime, only votes from honest Americans, regardless of party, can prevent more damage to our downtrodden reputation. Recovering our true American identity, is one of the main reasons that I write this publication. I could hardly be more grateful to all of you, who continue to read it.
My very best for your week,
Paul
Well said, Paul. Give ‘em hell!