I know you meant this comment as a portent of ill tidings, but "out in 2028" and "the media wasn't covering him" just sounds so relaxing, I'm having a hard time getting worked up over it.

As an American raised by evangelical nationalists, I always knew it would go down like this. There’s enough tolerance to function in day to day life but the behind closed doors contempt and downright hate, not for the theology or the scandals that come up, but the plain hate for people being different was instilled almost daily. They’d accept a kindness from a Catholic or Mormon neighbor, smile to their face, then talk shit as soon as they left. The entitlement and sense of superiority while simultaneously being victims is phenomenal. The more they realize they don’t need to rely on a broad idea of “Christianity” to further their agenda the more they’ll turn on every sect that doesn’t fit their idea of “Christianity”. I hope the Mormons are taking notes about the cost of hitching wagons with the evangelicals, cus they really hate you guys.

Conflicting cults, let them fight

I'd say he's more like Moloch.

I bet Trump is now especially unhappy that the Pope is American otherwise he would be all like "that is what happens when you choose a European/Latin american pope"

Sunk Cost!

They've been telling themselves that they're persecuted for so long, the turn to realize they are the baddies would break most people.

They will Kowtow to an all knowing and powerful God that is speaking through the divine Trump (who may or may not be the antichrist). Because that all knowing and all powerful God has chosen to place him there and respecting authority is respecting God.

That trap hasn't sprung but the fear of it brought us to white nationalist storming the Capitol. It's like a cultural poison pill that has been boiled in conspiracy theories since the eighties.

MAGA is itself a religion. They are Christian because it gives them an excuse to treat women and dark skinned people badly, not because they believe in the teachings of Jesus Christ.

If they have to choose, MAGA aligns with their beliefs more than a segment of Christianity that many Evangelicals already dislike.

Well, I'd argue that most of MAGA is evangelical, who tend to view Catholicism as either "fake Christianity" or a kind of quaint remnant of an older time that Protestantism fixed (and evangelicalism perfected). So most of them are already on board with the idea that the Pope is bad.

Yes, because they can twist it to their versions of what ever it is they believe. As long as Trump continues his war on immigration then all will be good amongst the majority of MAGA zealous.

MAGA churches want to speedrun towards Armageddon. War in the Middle East is what they crave.

PRA BA JEEBA

Keep him out of Avignon though.

They'll try to canonize prosperity gospel and make Trump their savior stand in.

💯

Why does this matter? - because it shows that Hannity doesn’t matter

While I understand what you're saying, Hannity absolutely matters because millions of people listen to his bullshit. His past doesn't matter as he is a powerful propagandist now.

Ex-cultist here. Specifically, fundamentalist Christian in the US.

So what we're seeing here is a division between in-groups and out-groups, and drawing that circle closer as a means of guarding against valid criticism. Consider; the standard response of most cults when they are under attack is to double down on its assertions that it is telling the truth. Most cults are built with a persecution complex as key part of exploiting their believers.

This tactic triggers their emotional response to rally to the defense of their cause, because "We're under attack! We're being hunted! The Worst Thing Possible is going to happen, and it is THIS PERSECUTOR'S fault!" This also forces a false choice in members who are doubting the leadership, forcing them to either cut all social ties and side with the enemy (they are trained to see this as a fate worse than death) or rehearse their dogma and rally without question.

What gets me is that the Pope is just saying pretty basic Christian teachings. Simply the kinds of stuff Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount. And the media is like "LOOK HE'S ATTACKING TRUMP!" The fact that he doesn't really specify the USA or anything says a lot about the state of things, where the basic Gospel of Jesus Christ is seen as inherently confrontational to the MAGA agenda.

It's quite interesting how close hannity is to trump, he has seen having golf meetings with him