The Post-Evangelical Post

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Post-Roe America
www.postevangelicalpost.com

Post-Roe America

Blake Chastain
Jun 27
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Post-Roe America
www.postevangelicalpost.com
Photo by Adam Szuscik on Unsplash

Last Friday, the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade and immediately made the reproductive rights and overall health & safety of pregnant persons & potentially pregnant persons more dangerous.1 Clarence Thomas’s opinion also signaled an intent to reconsider and potentially overturn other precedents that would affect access to contraception, marriage equality for LGBTQ+ persons, and same-sex intimacy.

SCOTUS has delivered other conservative victories as well. Today they ruled in favor of an evangelical football coach, employed by a public school system, who led a post-game prayer at the center of the football field. Last week, they struck down a ban on the use of public funds for funding religious schools in Maine.

Twitter avatar for @brchastainBlake Chastain @brchastain
the see you at the pole to being horrified at the Kennedy vs. Bremerton ruling and the implementation of theocracy pipeline

June 27th 2022

14 Likes

All of these decisions presuppose that Christianity, in general normative white Christianity and in particular conservative evangelical Protestant or conservative Catholic Christianities, will be the primary benefactors. Each of these decisions are landmark victories from the vantage point of long-term white Christian nationalists and their allies. And while it is easy to get distracted in the never-ending games of “what is a christian nationalist?” or “how do you define an evanglical” - this is not the time or place for it. Language may fumble at portraying every single nuance of belief and practice, but let this be sufficient: the long-standing political and legislative groups and the unified voting bloc that empowers, funds, and enables them have reached their plainly-stated “pro-life” goals.

What comes next, no one knows. But we do know is this: they will use their power. It does not matter how they gained it, or whether the majority of Americans disagree with them.

Twitter avatar for @masonmennengaMason Mennenga @masonmennenga
White evangelicals won’t stop until they oppress the entire world.

June 24th 2022

408 Retweets1,764 Likes

The enormity of these changes is overwhelming, particularly for the most at-risk, for marginalized communities, whom America heaps hardship onto. So first and foremost, take care of yourself.

From a more practical standpoint, please be cognizant of which groups you support or send funds to. This thread from Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg is extremely valuable in that regard, and highlights the role that some religious orgs have had in supporting reproductive rights:

Twitter avatar for @TheRaDRRabbi Danya Ruttenberg @TheRaDR
My friends, a plea. 1/x Thread. Please remember that people in the repro space have been aware that this day was likely to be coming for a long time--a year, at least--and preparing for it.

June 26th 2022

3,056 Retweets10,090 Likes

If this is important to you, and especially if you come from a background that demonized abortion, there are entire histories of individual people of faith and faith-based organizations working to secure and provide reproductive rights. Gillian Frank, a historian of sexuality & religion, wrote a piece titled “The Surprising Role of Clergy in the Abortion Fight Before Roe v. Wade” for TIME (and is writing a book on the subject).

He built upon this story for a recent story at Slate:

Twitter avatar for @1gillianfrank1Gillian Frank PhD @1gillianfrank1
My latest. A story about liberal clergy and the fraught struggle for abortion rights before Roe v Wade.
People Helping Women Get Abortions Pre-Roe Were Heroes. It Wasn’t Enough.Stories like the Rev. Robert Hare’s are incredibly moving. But what we need is for abortion to be legal.slate.com

June 25th 2022

2 Retweets11 Likes

It’s also worth noting that one result of white evangelical hegemony over public conversation on religion is the lack of general knowledge about faiths and beliefs that affirm reproductive rights:

Twitter avatar for @mboorsteinMichelle Boorstein @mboorstein
Really interesting thread about how little is understood (known? paid attention to?) about the millions of Americans with faith-based beliefs driving their belief in reproductive choice, that life doesn't begin at conception etc.

Jack Jenkins @jackmjenkins

1. Side note: In two separate interviews with conservative faith figures yesterday, I brought up arguments of Jewish leaders mentioned in this piece — a different religious view of when life begins, abortion can sometimes be required, etc. The responses were fascinating. https://t.co/YrqY3b266a

June 27th 2022

11 Retweets31 Likes

Another aspect of lingering white evangelical hegemony is the high-visibility of anti-choice advocates like Karen Swallow Prior, who was given an op-ed in The New York Times on Friday. (More on this later.)

There are so many different angles to this. There are so many people lamenting this rapid implementation of the Christian nationalist agenda. There is so much work to do to regain what has been lost. More will be covered here, as I gather my thoughts and highlight the work of others. Feel free to subscribe to keep up to date.

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1

Miss me with objections over the term “pregnant persons.” Trans, intersex, and non-binary people exist and can become pregnant. Language changes.

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