News with Nuance: Oct. 25, 2024

Your Friday dose of News with Nuance: the week's biggest stories, unpacked + more ..

Hi Readers,

I’m always fascinated by the way time seems to move more slowly or quickly depending on our circumstances and surroundings. I’ve been (trying) to read a new book lately about astronomy and the moon specifically, about how celestial bodies influence everything from the passage of time, to our moods, to menstrual cycles, to war. I say “trying” to read because like I suspect many of you, I’m on constant alert regarding the upcoming U.S. Presidential Election, I’m full of unresolved anxiety, and my brain is fried and cursed with low-attention-span due to my generation’s reliance on digital devices and clickbait social media.

And still time goes on. The next full moon is not for another 22 days, which means that (hopefully) by then, we will know who the next President of the United States is. America could have its second-ever Black president - and ITS FIRST-EVER WOMAN PRESIDENT. I am OK with shouting that one out: it’s about time.

I remember last summer, when President Joe Biden bowed out of the race, and graciously endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris, there was this real infusion of joy and excitement around new hope and possibility for a new generation of American leadership. And yes, I’ll admit that as a Minnesota Lutheran, that joy and excitement only skyrocketed when I watched the Walz family and the Mankato West high school football team alumni on the stage at the Democratic National Convention.

That all seems like a very long time ago, now, even though it was only a couple of months. Joy is out; cynicism, fear, and bleak prognosticating is in. Nazism is trending American politics, and at the same time, right-wing Christian Nationalists are attempting to reframe one of the most prominent Nazi resistors as a Christian Nationalist assassin and would-be Trump supporter!

More on this from me soon - but suffice it to say - do not go and see the new Bonhoeffer film put out by Christian Nationalist Angel Studios and based on the misleading and sloppy biography from pro-Trump radio host Eric Metaxas. And please do consider signing this petition against the film and the misuse of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s story, organized by Bonhoeffer scholars and more than 80 of his descendants:

Stop Misusing Dietrich Bonhoeffer to Support Political Violence and Christian Nationalism

Other than signing out petitions and getting out to vote if you’re an American (!) what else do we do? I know for me, I have to keep focused on the human stories. I need to lead with compassion for others and compassion for myself. When I start to lose this grounding, I lose my own footing. But when I lean in and let myself feel, I find new energy for the work of love and truth ahead. So here we go - it’s the last News with Nuance before the Election. Let’s get to it.

A screen grab of a video segment from this CNN story on the ways Trump’s campaign is bleeding dementia-affected seniors of their last dollars

The Headline: How elderly dementia patients are unwittingly fueling political campaigns

A note: I don’t love this headline. The story goes on to painstakingly demonstrate how it’s overwhelmingly Trump’s campaign that is participating in deceptive and high-pressure fundraising tactics toward seniors living with dementia, and it’s overwhelmingly Republicans who are taking in the most money from these tactics. So the “both-sides” framing of the headline is really misleading and doesn’t tell the truth of what the article clearly demonstrates.

Moving on. The article itself is both extremely well-done and important and utterly heartbreaking and symbolic of the depravation of times in which we live. Many of you know that a big part of my pastoral work at Lake Nokomis Lutheran Church is visiting elderly people from the church who, for whatever reason, aren’t able to get out to worship regularly. Some of those visits include people living with dementia. I also have personal history: a grandmother who suffered from Lewy body dementia, and so many beloved former parishioners who dealt with varying forms of dementia, either themselves or their loved ones.

I often tell people that the experience of loving someone with dementia is like a long goodbye. Sometimes it seems like every time you see your loved one, another piece of them is missing. Then, suddenly, there are moments of clarity and recognition. And then again, another loss, sadness, pain, anger, fear, confusion.

Our culture is already culpable in the ways we ignore and marginalize elderly people and people with disabilities. During the COVID pandemic, the lives of elderly people and people with disabilities were sometimes counted as less valuable then re-starting the economy, and making sure that “economic progress” didn’t slow down. The cost of caring for elderly family members and loved ones with dementia consistently gets higher and higher, often out of reach of many family members. And at the same time, home care health aids and elderly health care workers in nursing homes and assisted living facilities are some of our poorest paid and worst-treated workers.

If you didn’t think the situation could get any worse: here we go. Now these same individuals and families are being fleeced by a self-proclaimed “billionaire” presidential candidate to give away most of their hard-earned and remaining money to him, using pressure-filled and deceptive advertising campaigns.

Now if you’re like me, you’ve likely gotten some of these seemingly unhinged and odd campaign appeals in your email. For those of us who are more well-versed in an age of online scams and digital catfishers, we are likely to simply delete the messages and block the sender. But for elderly adults with dementia, these same appeals hit differently. Like the adults profiled in this story, thousands of elderly Americans have sacrificed their life savings to donate to Trump’s illiberal, authoritarian, Christian Nationalist presidential campaign.

The Quote:

More than 1,000 reports filed with government agencies and consumer advocacy groups reviewed by CNN, along with an analysis of campaign finance data and interviews with dozens of contributors and their family members, show how deceptive political fundraisers have victimized hundreds of elderly Americans and misled those battling dementia or other cognitive impairments into giving away millions of dollars — far more than they ever intended. Some unintentionally joined the ranks of the top grassroots political donors in the country as they tapped into retirement savings and went into debt, contributing six-figure sums through thousands of transactions.

To provide a snapshot of who these vulnerable donors are and how much money they have lost to increasingly aggressive fundraising campaigns, reporters reached out to more than 300 of the biggest and most frequent small-dollar political donors and their family members. Through these interviews and consumer complaints, reporters collected the accounts of more than 50 unwitting elderly donors and traced the path of where their money went.

Often coming in $5 or $10 at a time, contributions from this small sampling of donors alone added up to more than $6 million over the last five years — the majority of which ended up with Trump and a long list of other Republican candidates, CNN found.

…

Donors identified by CNN were often in their 80s and 90s. They included retired public workers, house cleaners and veterans, widows living alone, nursing home residents and people who donated more money than they paid for their homes, according to records and interviews.

The money they gave came from pensions, Social Security payments and retirement savings accounts meant to last decades. Donors took out new credit cards and mortgages to pay for the contributions. In some cases, they gave away most of their life savings. Their cell phones and email inboxes were so full of pleas for money that they missed photos of their grandkids and other important messages.

At least one person continued to be charged for contributions after his death.

Donors or their families often learned of the extent of their donations from CNN reporters. The family members of some said their loved ones had also been the targets of common elder scams. Most asked CNN not to name them out of concern that they would be further victimized or ashamed.

Story by Blake Ellis, Melanie Hicken, Yahya Abou-Ghazala, Audrey Ash, Anna-Maja Rappard, Allison Gordon, Winter Hawk, Curt Devine and Jeff Winter, CNN

The Headline: Maylia and Jack: A Story of Teens and Fentanyl

Another quick note: this time to say that you might notice stories from ProPublica popping up again and again in this newsletter. That’s because the non-profit investigative news outlet is consistently producing some of America’s best journalism, day in and day out. At a time when so many national news outlets are caught up in access journalism and beholden to monied interests, ProPublica does the important work of comforting the afflicted, and afflicting the comfortable. They’re a nonprofit, so in case you’re interested in supporting their work, here’s a link.

Onto the story in question. Like our previous story, and like my overall focus of News with Nuance, what I want to do in this newsletter is go beyond the headlines to tell the human stories behind the national trends. “Fentanyl” has become a buzz word in many a political campaign this season, especially when it comes to demonizing immigrants or claiming to understand the problems of rural or Midwestern Americans.

But as so many of us know on a deeply personal level, through our own loved ones, addiction is not an easily quantified or black-and-white issue. People experiencing addiction can do terrible things when under the influence of or seeking their substance. There’s also a big financial motivation for people living in poverty, whether here in the U.S. or in other countries, specifically Mexico, Central America, Afghanistan, China, and other major drug-producing hubs - to get involved in the drug business when few other options exist to feed your family. So it’s clear that while addiction and drugs themselves cause terrible outcomes, suffering, death, crime — it’s harder to say unequivocally who the “bad guys” and “good guys” are, and harder still to claim that the “war on drugs” has done anything but add greater suffering to many in America.

That’s why I found this story about Maylia and Jack to be such an important if, again, heartbreaking read. Both kids were Midwestern teenagers dealing with some difficult life and family circumstances. Neither of them had any grasp of the danger or risk of fentanyl. Both of them were hurt and betrayed by factors much beyond their control, by people, institutions, and corporations with much more power and money than themselves. Maylia and Jack and their families instead were left to navigate through difficult circumstances with limited choices, and yet they were all filled with deep senses of remorse and accountability: unlike those wealthy families and medical professionals and salespeople and politicians who benefited from the explosion of opioid abuse in America in the first place.

The Quote:

That evening, Carrie leaned into the corner of her living room couch next to Ryan, facing the door to Jack’s bedroom, which remained almost exactly as he had left it. She had been hoping for some epiphany, for a grand finale, but there was none. She was struck by Maylia’s voice — she sounded like a little kid, not like the girl in the flashy photos she’d posted on social media. During the hearing, Carrie had watched Maylia’s mom on the opposite side of the gallery. She kept tossing her headband in the air, spitting loudly into napkins and walking up and down the aisle in a blue suit, fur-lined snow boots and a hard hat on an 83-degree day.

“I’ve never seen anything like that before,” Carrie said to Ryan, holding her face in her hand.

“A homicide case?”

“Well, that, of course, but I’ve never been exposed to that, I guess, that lifestyle. A child who grew up in a drug-trafficking home.”

Ryan didn’t see a reason to wish for a shorter sentence. Maylia would just be released back into the same circumstances. “This is where the problem was in the first place,” he said.

“But it’s what she knows, you know?” Carrie replied. All kids want to come home. “Look at Jack.”

She could trace the progression of her grief through the hearings in the case. How the anger had overwhelmed her at first, how she’d blamed herself for not doing more, how she had stopped wanting to live, how she had lost her trust in the police. Now she noticed a new sensation. She felt strangely protective of Maylia, and she couldn’t quite figure out why. How could CPS ignore what was happening in that home? She kept picturing Maylia’s limp face in the brief moment when they had looked at each other during the hearing.

“Maybe this is part of it,” she said. “I lost my son, my only child. And here is Maylia, who didn’t have a mother. So, it’s like, I’m childless, she’s motherless, and we’re in this situation together, but against each other.”

Story by Lizzie Presser, ProPublica

A few more must-read stories from the past two weeks …

The system that moves water around the Earth is off balance for the first time in human history

The early 2000s were rife with images over-sexualizing teen bodies. Those of us who were teenagers at that time were irreparably affected by how society told us to understand our bodies. Now, so many of the men who shaped culture at that time have been arrested for sexual abuse and human trafficking:

Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries arrested on sex trafficking charges

The Border Crisis Won’t Be Solved at the Border: If Texas officials wanted to stop the arrival of undocumented immigrants, they could try to make it impossible for them to work here. But that would devastate the state’s economy. So instead politicians engage in border theater.

Nick Turse, The Global War on Children

(reminded me of this piece I wrote back on Mother’s Day 2024)

Watch out for fabricated “scandals” leading up to the election, like this fake story about Gov. Tim Walz, which was found to originate in Russia

When DEI is gone: A look at the fallout at one Texas university

This Week in Christian Nationalism and Religious Extremism

While this newsletter won’t focus overall on Christian Nationalism, each Friday I will include a brief update from that week, as it’s both a continuing focus of my work and also, I think, a critical threat to both American democracy and the faithful witness of Jesus’ Gospel, which exists independently of the United States!

In one sentence: Christian Nationalism is a version of the idolatrous Theology of Glory, which replaces the genuine worship of God with worship of a particular vision of America, often rooted in a revisionist history of white people in the 1950s, before the Civil Rights movement or the women’s movement. Christian Nationalism supports a violent takeover of government and the imposition of fundamentalist Christian beliefs on all people. Christian nationalism relies on a theological argument that equates American military sacrifice with Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross. It suggests that Christians are entitled to wealth and power, in contrast to Jesus’ theology of the cross, which reminds Christians that they too have to carry their cross, just as our crucified savior did.

This Week:

Big shift in newspapers this election season (including the one I write columns for) to change from making editorial endorsements to providing long comparisons of issues. When I first heard about this change, I guess I could kind of see the rationale - is it helpful for newspapers to continue endorsing Democrats year after year (I mean don’t we have to consider that says something about the Republican Party’s assault on the freedom of the press? I don’t know …) — but I also am really grateful to see the bravery of Los Angeles Times editorials editor Mariel Garza, who this week chose to resign rather than accept the paper’s owner blocking its endorsement of Kamala Harris.

And hey - unfortunately this just occurred to me - are we at all surprised that this trend of dropping endorsements is happening just as major newspapers were likely about to potentially endorse the first-ever Black woman president? Hm.

What does this have to do with Christian Nationalism? Well, the first way that Christian Nationalists and authoritarians gain power is by making people not trust one another and not trust the press. They make people question their very hold on truth itself, and truth becomes malleable and in the hands of the highest bidder. Trump’s war on the media is a big part of his overarching Christian Nationalist and authoritarian strategy.

The free press is meant to be a watchdog on government and on unchecked power. If we don’t have access to information, we don’t (won’t) have a functioning democracy.

This is a super-helpful piece from the New York Times (who too-often sanewashes Trump) - explaining the interconnectedness of Trump officials to the Christian Nationalist government takeover plan called Project 2025.

And speaking of false news stories, maybe you saw posts and politicians, including of course J.D. Vance, attempting to claim that Kamala Harris wanted to silence chants of “Jesus is Lord/Jesus is King” at her rally.

Brian Kaylor

did a great job here explaining more about that claim, and I also wanted to lift up the fact that Jesus really rejected the idea that he came to be an earthly king! (John 18:33-38)

It was good to also see POLITICO (another outlet often complicit in both-sides-ing Trump’s authoritarian tilt) giving full attention to Trump’s fascist and authoritarian statements:

We watched 20 Trump rallies. His racist, anti-immigrant messaging is getting darker. (Thanks to

Robert P. Jones

for his comments in this piece!)

And Elon Musk is getting in on the New Apostolic Reformation/Christian Nationalist action, by holding a rally at an NAR church

Meanwhile …

And this: Catholic voters favor Trump in most battleground states, according to new NCR poll

I wrote about Trump’s Catholic cadre in U.S. Catholic magazine here, and in a chapter of Red State Christians

Here’s another example of how right-wing Christian Nationalist media outlets are shifting perception of the truth and challenging long-held norms:

Fox News’s interview of Kamala Harris was grievance theater, not political journalism

Speaking of the decline in “real” political interview techniques …

My new book on masculinity and radicalization seems relevant here …

Plus this: Young men's economic prospects are shifting, along with their politics

Another hallmark of rising authoritarianism (hand in hand with Christian Nationalism) is a breaking of laws and norms (i.e. the rules and laws no longer apply to everyone equally, and they certainly don’t apply to political elites, who no longer have to pay their bills)

Trump campaign misses deadline to pay St. Cloud for rally

And yet another tactic in the war for the Truth, this from Pastor Joel Bowman on the intersectionality issue of how right-wing Christian Nationalists are using Black bodies to cover Republican racism

Then there’s the violence, a necessary component to Christian Nationalism and its takeover, especially targeting vulnerable people, including pregnant women:

Colorado’s Elections Chief Took on Trump. She Needed Extra Security As She Gave Birth

Speaking of a history of violence, I have been sharing recently an uptick in Crusader imagery among Christian Nationalist accounts. The long tail of history remembers the example of the Crusades as a time in Europe when Christian Nationalism led to violence and suffering, and ultimately a crisis and war in Europe itself. Unsurprisingly, this article explains how the leading knight orders (one of which remains today) during the Crusades, were rife with corruption, deceit, and destruction ultimately of their own leading members.

But there is hope:

A New Section here at News with Nuance: Rebuilding Trust

(For a while here, I was calling this section The Resistance, as in resistance to Christian Nationalism. But I think that term was a little bit too loaded with partisanship. So instead, I’m calling this section: Rebuilding Trust. In this section, you’ll read stories where ordinary people are pushing back against the onslaught of Christian Nationalism in America, to reclaim a narrative of hope, consideration, love, and truth)

As I mentioned above, I’ve been busy speaking to groups at churches, universities, and even hotel ballrooms in Iowa. I’m so blessed by your energy, attention, and courage in confronting Christian Nationalism. You give me strength.

I can’t wait for the new season of Somebody Somewhere - the rare honest show about church + the Midwest beyond right-wing Evangelicals (thanks,

lyz

)

Despite our national cynicism, don’t forget that legislative policies can really improve peoples’ lives.

And I feel like I’ve tried to say this so many times until I’m blue in the face, but it bears repeating:

OB-GYNs on the truth about abortion later in pregnancy

And this, too, needs to be said. When I first started presenting on Red State Christians, I did a lot of speaking engagements somewhat related to “division” or “polarization.” Today, I no longer like to use those words. I think they’re cowardly. Our problem is not merely “division” or “polarization,” but the very real, authoritarian and rising fascist threat of Christian Nationalism. So when I heard this week that our local Lutheran seminary was hosting yet another panel about “political polarization” and “loving our neighbor,” I could only think of Jesus’ words in response:

And I was SO grateful that a trusted colleague was participating in the panel to bring some hard truths into that room.

Thank God that every time I think I’m at a loss for words, the Spirit intercedes with Jesus himself.

I also wrote this week about the gaslighting of Evangelical megachurches who cover up their exclusionary policies and beliefs with bland platitudes and appeals to unity, which seems related to the post above!

Remember that framing the discussion about Christian Nationalism in partisan terms is often just a way for people to shut down conversation. This article seems apropos:

GOD ISN'T A REPUBLICAN OR A DEMOCRAT; GOD IS AN IMMIGRANT

Thank God for an actual Pro-Life action out of the state of Texas (even though it is not lost on me that this case involves a white male defendant):

Texas Supreme Court temporarily stops Robert Roberson’s execution

And even though I have to admit that I have actually signed the front of checks formerly as a Pastor, this post resonated (please stop denigrating working people):

Related:

Billionaires Are Not Going to Save Us: Looking for Hope in Hard Places and Hard Times

And pushing back against the false narrative on Minneapolis, and the lies that ruin courageous public servants’ lives:

High-ranking Minneapolis Police Department officer sues Liz Collin, Alpha News for defamation

But even in the mire, don’t miss the beauty all around us of creation:

These 18 images won judges over in the 2024 Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest

Don’t miss the ways in which the military is pushing back against Trump (Christian Nationalists desperately need military backing in order to support their ideological claim to God-given power and control)

In this month of Indigenous Peoples Day, and leading up to Thanksgiving - also don’t miss the powerful narratives of Indigenous leaders who are shaping America today. I am so proud to live in the state where Peggy Flanagan serves as Lt. Gov! (not just because her style is impeccable)

And finally - I think we all need these pieces of advice heading into Nov. 5.

Must-Reads on Substack

From

Word&Way

Pastors Preach Against Missouri’s Abortion Ballot Measure

From

Jared Yates Sexton

The Billionaire's Puppet: The Buying of the American Presidency

From

Heather Cox Richardson

October 23, 2024

October 22, 2024

October 21, 2024

October 20, 2024

October 18, 2024

October 17, 2024

From

lyz

A beautiful gilded cage

From

Kristin Du Mez

Christians, your religious liberty really is at stake this election

From

Timothy Snyder

Fascism on television

How to Stop Fascism (audio)

From

Lane Anderson

Abortion bans are violence against women who want sex on their own terms

“It’s our freedom that they object to.”

From

Kaya Oakes

No woman is an island

From

Clint Schnekloth

The Bonhoeffer family speaks out in this open letter against the instrumentalization of Dietrich Bonhoeffer by right-wing groups in the USA.

Stop Misusing Dietrich Bonhoeffer to Support Political Violence and Christian Nationalism

From

Sarah Stankorb

Something Stinks

Science is a miracle

From

The Big Picture

Ignored No More—Indigenous Voters May Be The Difference In 2024

From

Diana Butler Bass

The Ugly, the Bad, and the Good

From

Daniel Cox

"We Don't Feel Safe, Heard, or Understood."

From

Jemar Tisby, PhD

The Spirit of Justice Picture Book and Young Readers Edition

Thanks for reading. Keep the faith!

Angela

This is our last FREE version of News with Nuance likely for a while. This is usually a full post only for paid subscribers, but I’ve wanted to make the content accessible to all leading up to the U.S. Presidential Election. Thank you for subscribing and supporting the hard work of journalism that goes into this newsletter!

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