Welcome to Litsy!

A huge thank you to @Suet624 for her review and the discussion that arose around it. At the time I felt like I would be wasting time and was a bit dismissive. That is always a wake up call because there is always something to learn. I listened to this slowly over the last few months. It fleshed out so much of what I believe to be wrong but also left me hopeful that others are fighting against those wrongs with the right message. Maybe we ⬇️

Some pink, a little red and a lot of Public Opinion.

William Lippmann had me agreeing with him until he said, “I argue that representative government, either in what is ordinarily called politics, or in industry, cannot be worked successfully, no matter what the basis of election, unless there is an independent, expert organization for making the unseen facts intelligible to those who have to make the decisions.”
Who chooses these experts? Who?

Read to understand how democracies fail, and the many threats to democracy in the USA. Key takeaways are: political norms hold democracies in place and as polarization increases, parties lose the ability to hold to political norms and democracies die; people need to form broad coalitions; and people make the decisions that kill or revived democracy.
4/5 compelling & informative. Aloy tried to eat this book. I think unions should be considered key

“Religion and politics are natural enemies; both provide a sense of belonging and self-actualization to the masses. Tension between the two is healthy and necessary. When one appropriates the other, history shows that oppression—leading to death and human suffering at a woeful scale—is the inevitable result.”

“Today‘s evangelicalism preaches bitterness toward unbelievers and bottomless grace for churchgoing Christians, yet the New Testament model is exactly the opposite, stressing strict accountability for those inside the Church and abounding charity to those outside it.”

“This is the gospel we are to proclaim both in word and in deed: To be a Christian is to sacrifice not for the benefit of those we already have around our table but for the betterment of those we have never considered to invite.”

“The notion that God was ‘calling‘ on Christians to ‘take back‘ their country—especially by force—is laughably incompatible with the teachings of Christ. It was Jesus who subverted the authorities with teachings of obedience and edicts of nonviolence; it was Jesus who mocked His captors for brandishing weapons as they arrested Him.”

This was excellent but challenging, because the content is so troubling. Alberta offers a detailed, nuanced look at the rise of Christian nationalism in the US, going back to Jerry Falwell & the “Moral Majority” of the 80s, & exploring the current political landscape from the Trump years through COVID, BLM, & beyond. Woven throughout are interviews with pastors & Christian leaders (both Christian nationalists & those troubled by the movement). ⬇️

These are my #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin for April 2024 @TheAromaofBooks

#andrewjohnson #impeachment #jonmeacham #uspolitics #ushistory #socialstudies #politicalscience #history #presidency #usgovernment