Autocratic Threats to Democracy in the US and Turkey - Similarities and Differences
Multicultural Mosaic Foundation Program - 12/1/18 - The Rev. Keith Thompson's Portion
1. A Little About Me
2. Questions For Attendees - A Little About You
2. Questions For Attendees - A Little About You
3. My goal is that we--not just as individuals, but in our significant communities--will more fully answer God's call
to act to defend "Liberal" Democracy at this crucial time when its very existence is at stake.
Especially God's call to prophetic "political" action essential to all three Abrahamic religions.
to act to defend "Liberal" Democracy at this crucial time when its very existence is at stake.
Especially God's call to prophetic "political" action essential to all three Abrahamic religions.
4. Common Elements in Autocratic Takeovers Worldwide Resulting in "Illiberal" Democracies
Attempts to destroy these institutions: legislatures, the judiciary, the free press and fact-based truth.
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Attempts to destroy these institutions: legislatures, the judiciary, the free press and fact-based truth.
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5. Outline of my Fall 2017 Class at Boulder First United Methodist Church
This class was based on four worship bulletin inserts (one per month) designed to provide what I believe is some of the most significant--and often surprising--information about the deepest roots of the long-developing threat to our democracy. (You can access the inserts on this page on my website: http://www.centristfaithandpolitics.com/610-thompson-2017.html.
A. Oh, Come On! The Very Existence of Our Liberal Democracy in Danger?
The Issue: Do “Post-Truth” and “Alternative Reality” really threaten our nation?
Primary Resource: On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the 20th Century by Timothy Snyder (2017)
It can happen here - "Post-Truth equals Pre-Fascism" - "entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts" - "bullshit is a
greater enemy of truth than lies are" - Trump is a symptom, not the cause
B. America: Fantasy Trumps Truth and Reality (pun intended)
The Issue: Why do such large percentages of our population fervently believe things that are demonstratively false?
Primary Resource: “How America Lost Its Mind” by Kurt Andersen (14-page article in the September 2017 issue of
Atlantic Magazine - a summary of his 2017 book Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire--A 500-Year History)
"America has mutated into Fantasyland" - throughout our history, both sides of the political spectrum - "but only the American
Right has had a large and organized faction based on 'paranoid conspiracism' for the past six decades"
C. The Decades-in-the-Making Enormous U.S. Socio-Economic Class Gap
The Issue: Why did so many middle class whites vote for Trump’s extremist nationalist/populist agenda?
Primary Resource: The Retreat of Western Liberalism by Edward Luce (2017)
It's mostly about what is happening in the non-Western world (especially China and Japan) - and in the US it's much more about
economic "left-behinds" than white racists - and even more than that it's about disrespect from rich elites on the Right and
educated elites on the Left - since the 1980s inequality has skyrocketed - Western populism is "the illiberal democratic response
to undemocratic liberalism."
D. The Essential Roles of Faith and Repentance for Communal Social Justice Action
The Issue: Why is it so difficult for American communities, religious and secular, at the local level to develop and sustain
healthy, effective ways to promote social justice?
Primary Resource: The Church for the World: A Theology of Public Witness by Jennifer M. McBride (2012)
All social justice activism must be as humble as it is bold, and that means repentance is its foundation - repentance of what?
This book offers one of the best penetrating critiques of both fundamentalist/evangelical and liberal/progressive Christianity -
faith communities (not just individuals) are called by God to witness and act
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6. Differences Between US and Turkey
Nationalisms - religious exclusivisms - origins of independent states - strengths/weaknesses of key institutions - scapegoats
7. Similarities and Differences Between Christianity and Islam Concerning Political Action for Social Justice
Scriptural foundations - historical traditions - apolitical leanings
8. Upon Leaving Here This Evening, Will You Up Your Religious/Political Action on Behalf of Liberal Democracy?
We'll need each others' support!
This class was based on four worship bulletin inserts (one per month) designed to provide what I believe is some of the most significant--and often surprising--information about the deepest roots of the long-developing threat to our democracy. (You can access the inserts on this page on my website: http://www.centristfaithandpolitics.com/610-thompson-2017.html.
A. Oh, Come On! The Very Existence of Our Liberal Democracy in Danger?
The Issue: Do “Post-Truth” and “Alternative Reality” really threaten our nation?
Primary Resource: On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the 20th Century by Timothy Snyder (2017)
It can happen here - "Post-Truth equals Pre-Fascism" - "entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts" - "bullshit is a
greater enemy of truth than lies are" - Trump is a symptom, not the cause
B. America: Fantasy Trumps Truth and Reality (pun intended)
The Issue: Why do such large percentages of our population fervently believe things that are demonstratively false?
Primary Resource: “How America Lost Its Mind” by Kurt Andersen (14-page article in the September 2017 issue of
Atlantic Magazine - a summary of his 2017 book Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire--A 500-Year History)
"America has mutated into Fantasyland" - throughout our history, both sides of the political spectrum - "but only the American
Right has had a large and organized faction based on 'paranoid conspiracism' for the past six decades"
C. The Decades-in-the-Making Enormous U.S. Socio-Economic Class Gap
The Issue: Why did so many middle class whites vote for Trump’s extremist nationalist/populist agenda?
Primary Resource: The Retreat of Western Liberalism by Edward Luce (2017)
It's mostly about what is happening in the non-Western world (especially China and Japan) - and in the US it's much more about
economic "left-behinds" than white racists - and even more than that it's about disrespect from rich elites on the Right and
educated elites on the Left - since the 1980s inequality has skyrocketed - Western populism is "the illiberal democratic response
to undemocratic liberalism."
D. The Essential Roles of Faith and Repentance for Communal Social Justice Action
The Issue: Why is it so difficult for American communities, religious and secular, at the local level to develop and sustain
healthy, effective ways to promote social justice?
Primary Resource: The Church for the World: A Theology of Public Witness by Jennifer M. McBride (2012)
All social justice activism must be as humble as it is bold, and that means repentance is its foundation - repentance of what?
This book offers one of the best penetrating critiques of both fundamentalist/evangelical and liberal/progressive Christianity -
faith communities (not just individuals) are called by God to witness and act
*********************************************************************************************************
6. Differences Between US and Turkey
Nationalisms - religious exclusivisms - origins of independent states - strengths/weaknesses of key institutions - scapegoats
7. Similarities and Differences Between Christianity and Islam Concerning Political Action for Social Justice
Scriptural foundations - historical traditions - apolitical leanings
8. Upon Leaving Here This Evening, Will You Up Your Religious/Political Action on Behalf of Liberal Democracy?
We'll need each others' support!