Is there a relationship between the infamous “Great Replacement Theory” and the concurring rhetoric about a “Post-Christian America?” What meanings can be ascertained from their presence among the Republicans, the “James Monroe Faction” of the Democratic-Republican Party? There has been a growing interest from that half of the Democratic-Republican Party to entertain such ideas for reasons which are not given enough coverage in the mainstream media. If memory serves, I have mentioned this subject before in the past, but I feel that it is now necessary to reiterate those conclusions. Everything, from those concepts’ basic premises to how the journalists cover them, has proven to be quite lacking.
The relationship between both concepts is based on the unreported problems of demographic decline and loss of community for a specific minority of the US population, not a broad majority. Historically, what passes as “American culture” is defined by English-American Protestants, the WASPs (White Anglo-Saxon Protestants) who have wielded an overwhelming hegemony over the Union’s national essence for centuries. It is until recently that they have begun experiencing a steady decline within their communities and their congregations. The implication is that because there is a growing possibility of them becoming a demographic minority, they will no longer be able to define America’s national essence along Jeffersonian lines. Some other faction inside the Democratic-Republican Party is going to redefine the American national essence, and the English-American Protestants fear this will lead to them losing political power overall.
Before the Great Replacement became widely known, the demographic fears of a post-Christian America were emerged during the last decade. The fear then was and still is that America’s national essence will soon cease to be defined by a political consensus forged by Protestants and some sympathizers who converted to the Catholic faith in the 1980s. The so-called “Christian Right,” which has had a major grip on the Republican Party, sensed this and expressed concerns about their potential loss of political power as more Americans abandon organized religion. The rise of these “Nones” among younger Americans should be interpreted as signs of generational distrust, because I have reasons to doubt that all of them have chosen to abandon belief in God entirely.
Like I said, if the national essence of this Union is still defined by the English-American Protestants, then religion either serves as either a political vehicle or as a theological pastime. For the former, there is the recent proliferation of “QAnon conspiracy theories” (which cater specifically to Evangelical Protestants) and the “Christian Nationalism” that remains steadfast in its belief that America will always be an English Protestant nation. As for the latter, there is the “Prosperity Gospel” (where religion is used to justify Kapital Accumulation) and the desire to be religious but not affiliate with any denomination, hence the “Non-Denomination” as a Protestant denomination in itself. When these English Protestants are not abandoning organized religion entirely as the “Nones,” they are forming Non-Denominational congregations because they are looking for some way to communicate the collective concerns of a people’s community.
Yes, the rise of the “Nones” and “Non-Denominations” should be interpreted in political terms, not just theological ones. This needs to be understood as a phenomenon in which religion in general has become devoid of meaningful substance, instead catering to the political interests of the Democratic-Republican Party. Some deem the abandonment of religion as being akin to abandoning a political organization, while others decide to form their own congregations as means of creating their own political sub-faction. Few become Nones or Non-Denominational out of genuine religious motives.
Yet the problem with the Nones and the Non-Denominations is that they are not great ways of building a community, let alone fostering any serious devotion to Protestantism. Some, in opposition to what they perceive as organized religion being heavily skewed toward the Republicans, find their loyalties in the “James Madison Faction,” the Democratic Party. But the vast majority of Nones are more inclined to be against the Democratic-Republican Party and have no interest whatsoever in American political discourse.
Therein lies the connection between “Post-Christian America” and the “Great Replacement Theory.” Behind the rhetoric about the decline of a specific segment of the US population is the fear that America’s English Protestants will no longer define its national essence. It manifests itself through the emergence of fringe political ideas, the growing distrust toward organized religious institutions, and the apparent irreligiosity among younger Americans. Such sentiments are made possible through religious congregations trying to put politics first before faith. In the places of organized institutions are non-denominational congregations and those who are religiously unaffiliated who have found themselves alienated by the Democratic-Republican Party’s constant subversion of religion toward political ends. Either that or religion has become the product of trying to promote the cultural norms of a specific people’s community to the exclusion of all others.
Granted, this is only the Protestant side of things. As a Roman Catholic, I must admit that the Catholic angle is an entirely different matter on its own that deserves its own post.
Categories: Politics
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