CHRISTIAN NATIONALIST

'Totally wrong': Historian flags Trump defense pick's racist conspiracy theories

Travis Gettys
November 28, 2024 

RAW STORY

Pete Hegseth speaking with attendees at the 2022 Student Action Summit at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida. (Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr)

Donald Trump's nominee for defense secretary has made ahistorical Muslim rhetoric a major theme in his writings, and many of his views resemble those expressed by white supremacist mass murderers.

Fox News host Pete Hegseth was tapped by the president-elect to lead the Pentagon, and experts sounded the alarm over his past writings about Islam as troubling and disqualifying, reported The Guardian.

“By the eleventh century, Christianity in the Mediterranean region, including the holy sites in Jerusalem, was so besieged by Islam that Christians had a stark choice: to wage defensive war or continue to allow Islam’s expansion and face existential war at home in Europe,” Hegseth wrote in his 2020 book "American Crusade." “The leftists of today would have argued for ‘diplomacy’ … We know how that would have turned out.”

“The pope, the Catholic Church, and European Christians chose to fight – and the crusades were born,” added Hegseth, who has a tattoo of the crusader slogan "Deus volt," or "God wills it," which associated with Christian nationalism, white supremacist and other far-right tendencies. “Enjoy Western civilization? Freedom? Equal justice under the law? Thank a crusader,” having written the same thing again earlier in the chapter.

However, aside from Hegseth's apparent sympathies to far-right extremist rhetoric, a historian said the conservative broadcaster doesn't seem to know what he's talking about.

“There were absolutely no incursions into mainland Europe,” said Matthew Gabriele, a professor of medieval studies in the Department of Religion and Culture at Virginia Tech. “If anything, Islam was kind of on the retreat in Iberia and other places as well. So there was no large geopolitical shift or any kind of immediate threat of Islam taking over Europe.”

“The Crusaders lost," Gabriele added. "They lost everything. The idea that they kind of like emerged victorious is absolutely false."

Hegseth's book presents Islam as a natural enemy of the west, traffics in "great replacement"-style conspiracy theories and claims leftists and Muslims were trying to subvert the U.S., and the historian said those ideas are drawn from the same extremist ideology that has motivated mass murders.

“This narrative of the crusades as a defensive war, where if the Christians didn’t launch this offensive towards Jerusalem that Europe would be overrun has been a bog-standard narrative on the right: it’s something that was espoused by Anders Breivik, the Norwegian mass murderer, in 2011 and by the Christchurch shooter a few years ago," Gabriele said.

“It’s the worst kind of simplistic thinking,” he added. “Anybody who tells you these simple stories is selling something.”

'Disgusting': Ex-GOP rep shreds Elon Musk's 'dangerous' attack on civil service

Matthew Chapman
November 27, 2024 
RAW STORY


Former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) slammed tech billionaire and Donald Trump ally Elon Musk for publicly naming examples of government employees he will target for elimination.

"Shame on anyone who doesn’t have a problem with the wealthiest man on the planet publicly sharing the individual names of government employees he wants fired," wrote Walsh, who went from being a Tea Party activist to one of the most outspoken conservative opponents of Trump. "Calling them out by name. Disgusting. Dangerous."

Musk, who helped Trump run critical sections of his campaign in the election and now heads up a MAGA task force on how to cut government spending, made the threats against specific employees earlier this week, according to CNN.

CNN's Jim Sciutto also condemned Musk's activity, pointing out that it could put them at a security risk.

"So Musk, once a very public anti-doxxer, is now doxxing individual federal employees for the 'crime' of having federal jobs like millions of Americans, forcing some to cancel social media accounts fearing threats and retribution," he wrote.

Musk, who is not a formal member of the Trump administration, cannot actually fire government workers directly; he can only advise Trump on which positions to eliminate. In the case of eliminating entire agencies, an act of Congress would be required.

This also comes as Musk comes under fire for publicly accusing the whistleblower in Trump's first impeachment trial of treason.

GASLIGHTING

Primark boss defends practices as budget fashion brand eyes expansion

Ireland-based budget fashion chain Primark has been criticised for its record on workers’ rights and the effect of its low-cost, high-volume model on the environment.

By AFP
November 27, 2024

Primark has become a fixture on the high street in the UK, Ireland and beyond - Copyright AFP ANDY BUCHANAN

Ornella LAMBERTI

Ireland-based budget fashion chain Primark has been criticised for its record on workers’ rights and the effect of its low-cost, high-volume model on the environment.

But its chief executive Paul Marchant does not agree. “I don’t buy the story that we can’t be ethical buying from Asia,” he told AFP in an interview in Dublin.

In the world of low-cost fashion, Primark — a fixture on the high street in the UK, Ireland and beyond — is a one-off.

The brand produces its garments in Asia and sells them cheaply in Europe, but ships them by boat rather than by plane, does not sell online, prepares its collections more than a year in advance and does not build up stock.

It has been a lucrative formula, with Marchant boasting recently that the retailer had hit the billion-pound ($1.3 billion) profit figure for the first time.

Primark, though, still has to bat back critics including environmental campaigners who argue that the brand’s “throwaway” fashion is a drain on resources.

Human rights groups meanwhile accuse it of relying on suppliers in countries where workers are afforded little protection.

Primark maintains that it trains Indian farmers in regenerative agriculture and that it conducts regular audits of its suppliers to ensure workers and land are not exploited.

Nonetheless, its model relies on policing of regulations in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, where its garments are mainly produced.

“Providing you have the right partners… and have the right guards and measures and controls in place… I don’t see any reason why you can’t have a very robust ethical supply chain at source,” said Marchant.

The company, he added, complies with the International Labour Organization’s code of conduct.

– Humble roots –

Primark published a report on its supply chain in 2018 but it only covered its own clothing factories, not its partners.

It admitted last year that previous partner SMART Myanmar had imposed excessive working time on its staff, and that they were not properly informed of their general leave entitlement.

However, it said there was no evidence to back up further claims that staff had limited toilet access and suffered verbal abuse from supervisors.

Primark claims to be making efforts to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions but acknowledges that 97.5 percent of its overall carbon footprint comes from the activities of its suppliers.

Asked about the sheer volume of clothing his company sells, Marchant is insistent.

“We’re not flooding the market with unwanted goods,” he said. “We sell everything that we buy.”

He also claimed that his products are less sensitive than other brands to the whims of fashion, with half of its collections consisting of everyday clothing.

Primark launched in Ireland in 1969 under the name Penneys and has had only two bosses since: founder Arthur Ryan, then Marchant.

But the company, the top-selling budget-fashion flagship in both the UK and Ireland, is no longer a small family business.

It is now a thriving subsidiary of the agri-food giant Associated British Foods, and sells its clothes in 17 countries, employing 80,000 people.

– Expansion plans –

On the back of this success, Primark intends to expand in the United States and Europe (France, Spain, Portugal and Italy), Marchant explained.

The brand has also signed with “a franchise partner” to open stores in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and “potentially” Bahrain and Qatar within “12 to 18 months”, he added.

Primark’s direct competitors include Europe’s H&M and Zara, as well as Asian giants Shein and Temu, which follow a similar model of “low, low margins”, he said.

The company also achieves economies of scale by purchasing larger volumes than its competitors and does not sell online.

Instead, it hopes to lure customers to stores by expanding partnerships with popular brands such as Netflix, Disney and Hello Kitty.

Its 453 stores sell clothes and accessories, but also stock decorations and host cafes, eyebrow bars and hairdressers.

The idea is that everyone can find something.

For instance, parents are tempted by “competitive” prices on children’s clothing while women with special clothing requirements, such as those who are pregnant, who have suffered from breast cancer or who have disabilities, all have collections catering to them.

PATRIARCHY IS FEMICIDE

Why are female politicians more often targeted with violence? New findings confirm depressing suspicions

The Conversation

November 26, 2024

Despite some progress, women remain seriously underrepresented in politics globally. As of 2023, women held only 26% of parliamentary seats and 15.8% of the positions as heads of state or government.

My new research with colleagues raises one possible factor in this representation that goes beyond discrimination in selection procedures. It is simply more dangerous for women to pursue careers in politics than men. They are far more likely to become targets of violence.

In Italy, where we conducted our study, elected female mayors are approximately three times more likely to experience an attack than their male equivalents.

The reasons behind women’s ongoing underrepresentation in the corridors of power are multifaceted. Research has explored factors from political parties sidelining women and voter discrimination, to cultural norms and traditional familial expectations. Political violence might be part of the story.

Although there is evidence suggesting that women are disproportionately targeted by political violence, researchers have yet to determine whether this relationship is truly causal. The main obstacle lies in data quality. Much of the research relies on self-reported surveys from selected politicians, which are non-representative.

Additionally, female politicians often differ from their male counterparts in ways that extend beyond gender. Women in politics tend to be younger, less connected, and perceived to be more honest than men. These are all factors that may make them more vulnerable to attacks.

Previous research hasn’t disentangled whether it’s these traits or their gender that puts them at higher risk.

Our study tackles these questions by leveraging 12 years of data on attacks against Italian politicians. We use data from the annual reports compiled by the NGO Avviso Pubblico. This organisation works closely with Italian local governments and provides a reputable source of information on both online and offline attacks against politicians, including verbal threats and physical violence.

Using this data, we can compare mayors who are similar in every way other than their gender. We compare towns where a female mayor won by a narrow margin with those where a male mayor won by a similar slim lead. Female and male mayors who win by small margins share similar characteristics across 16 different metrics, strengthening the case that gender plays a significant role in targeted acts of violence.

Female mayors are three times more likely to be targeted by political violence than their male counterparts, according to our findings. Even when accounting for possible discrepancies in reporting and other demographic factors, the increased risk for women remains clear. This suggests gender plays a critical role in political violence.
Why are female politicians targeted more?

There are several reasons why women in politics may face more attacks than men. One possibility is their behaviour in office. Research shows that women often implement different policies, have different priorities, and lead in ways that differ from men. These differences might partly explain why women are targeted more often.

Interestingly, our research indicates that policy choices are not a significant factor in explaining the gender gap in attacks. We observe no notable differences in spending choices on sectors like healthcare, social welfare, and education between male and female mayors

. 

The study focused on Italian mayors. Shutterstock/Kraft74

Our findings support the idea that women face double standards when it comes to political violence. They are targeted even when they make the same decisions as men. Misogyny and gender bias may cause people to judge female leaders more harshly. Using detailed measures of mayoral performance, we found that the gender gap in attacks only appears when mayors perform poorly. In these cases, women are more likely to be targeted than men for similar shortcomings. This aligns with other evidence of double standards against women in the corporate world.

There is also the matter of visibility and the values of women’s empowerment represented by women leaderes. Female mayors are more frequently attacked in municipalities where gender quotas are enforced – suggesting a backlash in places where women achieve greater political representation.

Violence is even more common in municipalities where female mayors are not facing term limits, suggesting attacks on women mayors could even be specifically motivated by a desire to keep them out of power and influence.

And it seems to be an effective tactic. While women are just as likely as men to run for re-election, those who have been attacked are significantly less likely to do so. This indicates that violence discourages female politicians from seeking re-election, driving them out of office.

Addressing this issue requires long-term educational interventions to shift societal attitudes towards women leaders. In the short term, implementing stronger public safety measures for newly elected women is essential.

Gianmarco Daniele, Assistant Professor at University of Milan and Executive Director of the CLEAN Unit on the economics of crime at Bocconi University, Bocconi University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

UK’s Starmer vows to slash net migration

CAPITULATION TO RIGHT WING AGENDA


By AFP
November 28, 2024


Prime Minister Keir Starmer has vowed to cut immigration -

 Copyright AFP Daniel MIHAILESCU

Peter HUTCHISON, Helen ROWE

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged an overhaul of Britain’s immigration system on Thursday after revised figures showed net migration hit a record high of 906,000 in 2023 compared with a year earlier.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) data showed, however, that estimated net migration numbers actually fell by 20 percent to 728,000 in the 12 months to June of this year.

Starmer, whose Labour party swept to power in July, accused the previous Conservative government of running “a one-nation experiment in open borders”, with regular migration soaring since Brexit in 2020.

A pledge to “take back control” of Britain’s borders was a key plan of the successful campaign to leave the European Union.

“Failure on this scale isn’t just bad luck. It isn’t a global trend or taking your eye off the ball,” he said in a speech from his official Downing Street residence.

“No, this is a different order of failure. This happened by design, not accident,” he added, pledging to publish plans “imminently” to cut the number of people coming to the UK.

Migration was a major issue at this year’s general election when support for ex-premier Rishi Sunak’s party was badly hit by the Tories’ failure to deliver on promises to reduce the migration figures, with many voters defecting to the anti-immigration Reform UK party.

It continues to be a political hot potato as Starmer seeks to lay the groundwork for what he hopes will be 10 years in power by regularly criticising the Tories for the inheritance it bequeathed Labour.

The ONS said net migration — the difference between the number of people arriving in Britain and those leaving — was 906,000 for the year to June 2023, 166,000 higher than its previous estimate of 740,000.

The data showed that overall some 1.2 million people are estimated to have arrived in the UK in the year to June 2024, while around 479,000 left.

The drop in arrivals is partly attributed to rule changes introduced by the Conservatives in January that restrict the ability of most international students to bring family members to the UK.

The ONS said another factor was “the large number of students who came to the UK post-pandemic now reaching the end of their courses”.



– Barred from hiring –



The Conservatives won a landslide under the leadership of Boris Johnson at the 2019 election, largely on a promise to bring net migration numbers down and to “get Brexit done”.

The party repeatedly promised that leaving the EU and ending the free movement of people from member states would cut numbers.

But regular migration has soared since Britain formally left the EU in January 2020. In 2021, net migration was 488,000.

The Labour government also warned on Thursday that employers who flout visa rules or fail to pay the minimum wage could face lengthy bars from hiring foreign workers.

Measures introduced through the government’s Employment Rights Bill -– which is currently making its way through parliament -– would see the length of time companies can be sanctioned double to two years.

Migration minister Seema Malhotra said the government was committed to “ensure those who abuse our immigration system face the strongest possible consequences”.

Meanwhile, the number of undocumented migrants arriving in the UK after crossing the Channel on dangerous rudimentary vessels stands at over 33,500, up around 18 percent compared to the same period in 2023.

Numbers are down on 2022.

The UK government meanwhile announced Thursday that it had struck a “world-first security agreement” and other cooperation deals with Iraq to target people-smuggling gangs and strengthen its border security.

The two countries also agreed to speed up the returns of people who have no right to be in the UK and help reintegration programmes to support returnees.

As part of the agreements, London will also provide up to £300,000 ($380,000) for Iraqi law enforcement training in border security.

Ireland votes in closely fought general election


By AFP
November 28, 2024


Polls open at 0700 GMT until 2200 GMT, with counting due to start on Saturday - Copyright AFP PAUL FAITH

Peter MURPHY, Caroline TAÏX

Ireland goes to the polls on Friday with the incumbent coalition parties neck-and-neck with opposition party Sinn Fein after a campaign marked by rancour over housing and cost-of-living crises.

Polls open across the country at 0700 GMT and close at 2200 GMT as voters choose new members of the 174-seat lower chamber of parliament, the Dail, in Dublin.

Counting is not due to start until Saturday morning, with partial results expected throughout the day.

A final result, however, may not be clear for days as Ireland’s proportional representation system sees votes of eliminated candidates redistributed during multiple rounds of counting.

Final opinion polling put the three main parties — centre-right Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, and the leftist-nationalist Sinn Fein — each on around 20 percent.

Fine Gael, whose leader Simon Harris called a snap election earlier this month, held a solid lead entering the campaign.

Harris replaced his predecessor Leo Varadkar in April aged just 37 to become Ireland’s youngest ever taoiseach (prime minister).

Now 38, he was credited with re-energising Fine Gael in part due to his social media savvy that earned him the moniker “TikTok Taoiseach”.

But the party has lost its advantage after a viral clip of Harris in which he appeared rude and dismissive to a care worker on the campaign trail went viral.

– Status quo? –

At the last general election in 2020, Sinn Fein — the former political wing of the paramilitary Irish Republican Army — won the popular vote but could not find willing coalition partners.

That led to weeks of horsetrading, ending up with Fine Gael, which has been in power since 2011, agreeing a deal with Fianna Fail, led by the experienced Micheal Martin, 64.

The role of prime minister rotated between the two party leaders. The smaller Green Party made up the governing coalition.

Harris has had to defend the government’s patchy record on tackling a worsening housing crisis and fend off accusations of profligate public spending.

A giveaway budget last month was also aimed at appeasing voters fretting about sky-high housing and childcare costs.

Both centre-right parties stress their pro-business credentials and say returning them to power would ensure stability, particularly with turmoil abroad and the risk of external shocks.

Ireland’s economy depends on foreign direct investment and lavish corporate tax returns from mainly US tech and pharma giants.

But threats from incoming US president Donald Trump to slap tariffs on imports and repatriate corporate tax of US firms from countries such as Ireland have caused concern for economic stability.

“The current government is not ideal but they have experience, so are in a better position to address that,” Gerard, a 55-year-old university lecturer who did not want to give his last name, told AFP.

– Time for change? –

Gail McElroy, a political scientist at Trinity College Dublin, said “all is still to play for” but a return of the centre-right parties was “a very realistic possibility”.

Mary Lou McDonald’s Sinn Fein has seen a dip in support because of its progressive stance on social issues and migration policy, as immigration became a key election issue.

But it has rallied on the back of a campaign heavily focused on housing policy and claims it is the only alternative to the Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, who have swapped power since Irish independence from Britain in 1921.

Retail worker Rachel McNamara, 22, said she plans to vote Sinn Fein because the two other mainstream parties have “had time to fix” the housing crisis.

“They only made broken promises,” she added.

McNamara still lives with her parents and cannot afford her own place with her boyfriend Adam McGrath, 23. “We’ve talked about emigration, probably Canada,” he said.

Independents from across the political spectrum together poll around 20 percent.

They could play a role in the formation of the next government if Fine Gael and Fianna Fail fall short of an 88-seat majority.

MUTUAL AID AND SOLIDARITY

How small acts of kindness really can change the world — according to psychology

Photo by Austin Kehmeier on Unsplash

The Conversation

November 27, 2024

Political chasms, wars, oppression … it’s easy to feel hopeless and helpless watching these dark forces play out. Could any of us ever really make a meaningful difference in the face of so much devastation?

Given the scale of the world’s problems, it might feel like the small acts of human connection and solidarity that you do have control over are like putting Band-Aids on bullet wounds. It can feel naive to imagine that small acts could make any global difference.

As a psychologist, human connection researcher and audience member, I was inspired to hear musician Hozier offer a counterpoint at a performance this year. “The little acts of love and solidarity that we offer each other can have powerful impact … ” he told the crowd. “I believe the core of people on the whole is good – I genuinely do. I’ll die on that hill.”

I’m happy to report that the science agrees with him.

Research shows that individual acts of kindness and connection can have a real impact on global change when these acts are collective. This is true at multiple levels: between individuals, between people and institutions, and between cultures.

This relational micro-activism is a powerful force for change – and serves as an antidote to hopelessness because unlike global-scale issues, these small acts are within individuals’ control.

Abstract becomes real through relationships

Theoretically, the idea that small, interpersonal acts have large-scale impact is explained by what psychologists call cognitive dissonance: the discomfort you feel when your actions and beliefs don’t line up.

For example, imagine two people who like each other. One believes that fighting climate change is crucial, and the other believes that climate change is a political ruse. Cognitive dissonance occurs: They like each other, but they disagree. People crave cognitive balance, so the more these two like each other, the more motivated they will be to hear each other out.

According to this model, then, the more you strengthen your relationships through acts of connection, the more likely you’ll be to empathize with those other individual perspectives. When these efforts are collective, they can increase understanding, compassion and community in society at large. Issues like war and oppression can feel overwhelming and abstract, but the abstract becomes real when you connect to someone you care about.

So, does this theory hold up when it comes to real-world data?

Small acts of connection shift attitudes

Numerous studies support the power of individual acts of connection to drive larger-scale change.

For instance, researchers studying the political divide in the U.S. found that participants self-identifying as Democrats or Republicans “didn’t like” people in the other group largely due to negative assumptions about the other person’s morals. People also said they valued morals like fairness, respect, loyalty and a desire to prevent harm to others.

I’m intentionally leaving out which political group preferred which traits – they all sound like positive attributes, don’t they? Even though participants thought they didn’t like each other based on politics, they also all valued traits that benefit relationships.

One interpretation of these findings is that the more people demonstrate to each other, act by act, that they are loyal friends and community members who want to prevent harm to others, the more they might soften large-scale social and political disagreements.

Even more convincingly, another study found that Hungarian and Romanian students – people from ethnic groups with a history of social tensions – who said they had strong friendships with each other also reported improved attitudes toward the other group. Having a rocky friendship with someone from the other group actually damaged attitudes toward the other ethnic group as a whole. Again, nurturing the quality of relationships, even on an objectively small scale, had powerful implications for reducing large-scale tensions.

In another study, researchers examined prejudice toward what psychologists call an out-group: a group that you don’t belong to, whether based on ethnicity, political affiliation or just preference for dogs versus cats.

They asked participants to reflect on the positive qualities of someone they knew, or on their own positive characteristics. When participants wrote about the positive qualities of someone else, rather than themselves, they later reported lower levels of prejudice toward an out-group – even if the person they wrote about had no connection to that out-group. Here, moving toward appreciation of the other, rather than away from prejudice, was an effective way to transform preconceived beliefs.

So, small acts of connection can shift personal attitudes. But can they really affect societies?

From one-on-one to society-wide

Every human being is embedded in their own network with the people and world around them, what psychologists call their social ecology. Compassionate change at any level of someone’s social ecology – internally, interpersonally or structurally – can affect all the other levels, in a kind of positive feedback loop, or upward spiral.

For instance, both system-level anti-discrimination programming in schools and interpersonal support between students act reciprocally to shape school environments for students from historically marginalized groups. Again, individual acts play a key role in these positive domino effects.

Even as a human connection researcher, I’ve been surprised by how much I and others have progressed toward mutual understanding by simply caring about each other. But what are small acts of connection, after all, but acts of strengthening relationships, which strengthen communities, which influence societies?

In much of my clinical work, I use a model called social practice — or “intentional community-building” – as a form of therapy for people recovering from serious mental illnesses, like schizophrenia. And if intentional community-building can address some of the most debilitating states of the human psyche, I believe it follows that, writ large, it could help address the most debilitating states of human societies as well.

Simply put, science supports the idea that moving toward each other in small ways can be transformational. I’ll die on that hill too.

Liza M. Hinchey, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Psychology, Wayne State University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

‘Anti-woke’ (NASTY) Americans hail death of DEI as another domino topples


By AFP
November 27, 2024

Attendees celebrate their sexuality at a 2022 Pride parade in West Hollywood, California - but America is seeing dwindling tolerance for diversity programs

 - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File Rodin Eckenroth

Frankie TAGGART

America’s largest private employer, Walmart, is the latest name to join a list of US businesses and institutions rethinking programs to bolster minority groups as support for progressive policies erodes.

Walmart said it will phase out the terms “diversity, equity and inclusion” (DEI) and “Latinx,” end supplier diversity programs, shutter a racial equity center and pull out of a prominent gay rights index.

The announcement comes in the wake of similar moves by a string of prestige brands — from Ford, John Deere and Lowe’s to Harley-Davidson and Jack Daniel’s — reflecting a backlash against so-called political correctness in American public life.

The rightward shift is credited in part for populist Donald Trump’s White House comeback and for laying the groundwork for a 2023 Supreme Court ruling ending affirmative action in college admissions.

DEI initiatives aim to right historical discrimination but conservatives have long criticized them as unfairly targeting white people, particularly men, as well as being performative “virtue-signaling.”

Anti-DEI activist Robby Starbuck, who lobbied Walmart before its announcement, celebrated the “biggest win yet for our movement to end wokeness in corporate America” and noted that the company’s stock had risen 2.1 percent.

“Our movement is a force in the market. Go woke, go broke actually has meaning now,” he posted on X.



– ‘Down everybody’s throats’ –



Starbuck, 35, told AFP in an interview before Trump’s November 5 victory over Democrat Kamala Harris — who was criticized for previous “woke” policy positions — that ordinary Americans were sick of inclusivity and diversity policies at US companies.

“People are entitled to their views, and we need to have a system that creates equal footing for everybody and doesn’t force any one ideology down everybody’s throats,” he said.

Emboldened by Trump’s campaign pledges to end “wokeness,” conservative groups have been filing numerous lawsuits targeting corporate and federal programs aimed at elevating minorities and women.

Trump himself focused mostly on political correctness that he says is infecting the nation’s classrooms, promising executive orders to cut federal funding schools pushing critical race theory and “transgender insanity.”

The president-elect has surrounded himself with anti-woke allies of all stripes, including his incoming deputy policy chief Stephen Miller, whose America First Legal group has targeted corporate diversity.

The military has been the main target of anti-woke crusaders in the US Congress, who argue that racial justice education and an obsession with climate change have made the troops go soft and driven a recruitment slump.

Republican lawmakers who spent much of the last congressional session locked in a war with Pentagon leaders on political-correctness were rewarded with Trump’s pick to lead the defense department’s workforce of three million — anti-DEI Fox News host Pete Hegseth.

– ‘We aren’t perfect’ –

Conservative activists hailed 2023 as a landmark year in America’s never-ending culture wars, when the conservative-majority Supreme Court ended affirmative action in university admissions, reversing a major gain of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement.

Conservative groups pounced on the ruling to fight all manner of diversity programs in court.

And in March, the University of Florida ended DEI programs and related jobs as part of Republican Governor Ron DeSantis’s offensive against “woke ideology” — joining campuses in around a dozen other states.

Workers are divided on the merits of DEI, with a slowly-growing share saying their company pays too much attention to the issue — 19 percent in an October Pew Research Center poll compared with 14 percent in the same survey in February 2023.

But a new poll of 1,300 employees from business think tank The Conference Board, showed a robust 58 percent indicating that their organization devotes the appropriate level of effort on DEI.

“Leaders should focus on what really matters for their workforce amid the noise, as these initiatives are crucial for attracting and retaining current and future talent,” said Allan Schweyer, the group’s principal Researcher for human capital.

DEI

Wicked’s depiction of disability is refreshing – thanks to authentic casting and an accessible set

Marissa Bode is Nessarose and Cynthia Erivo is Elphaba in WICKED.

The Conversation

November 26, 2024

Warning: this article contains spoilers for Wicked.

With the release of Wicked: Part I, actor Marissa Bode is making history as the first authentic casting of the character of Nessarose Thropp in any production of the musical.

Nessarose is the sister of Wicked’s green-skinned protagonist, Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo). She was born with a disability because her mother ate milk flowers while pregnant to avoid having another child with green skin. But since Wicked’s earliest productions in 2003, the character has not been well-received among the disabled community.

This is because her disability is presented as something in need of a cure, and the inability to find one has made Nessarose bitter. She is given limited agency and the primary purpose of her character seems to be to emphasise features of other characters. She is used as a pawn in a love triangle and is vengeful and callous.

Bode is the first actor to play Nessarose who uses a wheelchair in real life. As a fan of the musical, and a researcher in disability studies, I was interested to see if this casting represented a change in attitude towards the character.

The film establishes a more compassionate relationship between the two sisters than the musical. An original scene for the movie adaptation shows a childhood flashback in which Elphaba is bullied for the colour of her skin. The taunting makes Nessarose cry, upset that her sister is being laughed at. Their father, however, misunderstands her tears, and believes that Nessarose is crying because of the rocks Elphaba launched at her bullies using her magic.

When the sisters arrive at Shiz University, Nessarose is enrolled but Elphaba isn’t – she has come along at her father’s request to look after her sister. Unlike their father, Elphaba seems well aware that Nessarose doesn’t need help. Marissa Bode talks about being cast in Wicked.

As the students make their way onto campus, their father grabs the handles of Nessarose’s wheelchair. In unison, the sisters cry “don’t help me” and “don’t help her”. Nessarose proceeds to wheel herself and describes Shiz as her chance for a “new start”.

The film makes it clear that she is striving for independence in ways that the stage show does not. It emphasises the fact that people with disabilities do not constantly require (or even want) support. Nessarose is perfectly capable of wheeling herself into university, thanks to a building that was designed with people with disabilities in mind.

Later, Miss Coddle (Keala Settle), a teacher at Shiz, refers to Nessarose as “tragically beautiful”. This implies that her beauty is linked to her disability.

Comments which attempt to equate standards of beauty with someone’s physical disability are wrong. We don’t get much reaction from Nessarose, which is disappointing, because it would have been powerful to see her interrogating Coddle’s words. Perhaps part of the reason is that Elphaba (who has been standing beside her) interjects and introduces herself as “beautifully tragic”.

In another scene, Coddle attempts to push Nessarose’s wheelchair. Elphaba tells her that her sister doesn’t need help, and it is clear through Bode’s expression that Nessarose is uncomfortable. But she is ignored. The actor talked to Teen Vogue about this moment, saying: “I have related to that way too many times.”

Elphaba is enraged and uses magic in an attempt to protect Nessarose. She levitates objects in the courtyard, including her sister in her wheelchair. Nessarose is frightened, and later embarrassed. Once she is safely on the ground, she berates Elphaba: “This was my chance, my new start.”
What is next for Nessarose?

Bode told US TV show Today: “All disabilities are different, and there are some people in wheelchairs that have a higher level of needs and higher level of caregiving. But I think this was a moment to showcase that I don’t have to be dependent on somebody.”

Bode’s words are in direct contrast to those her character sings in the original musical. This takes place towards the beginning of act 2 in the stage show, so may appear towards the beginning of next year’s Wicked: Part II.

In the song, Nessarose denounces Elphaba (now banished from Oz):
You fly around Oz trying to rescue animals you’ve never even met
And not once have you ever thought to use your powers to rescue me!
All of my life, I’ve depended on you.


This is a prime example of how Nessarose was initially written without proper consideration for the community that she represents. She takes issue with her disability, rather than taking pride in it, and says that she has “depended on” Elphaba all of her life. The Nessarose of Wicked: Part I, in contrast, does not depend on anyone.

Bode has described herself as “over the moon” with the decision to cast her, a wheelchair user, as Nessarose. However, she also explained her apprehension at how this casting choice would be perceived.

Due to a lack of representation of people with disabilities in TV, film and theatre, she has questioned the industry’s readiness for authentic casting: “When you’re not represented a lot and you don’t see yourself, you still have — or at least I did have — a little bit of, ‘I know what I’m capable of.

"I know that I can act. I know other disabled talent that can act and can mode … But how much of the industry is willing to go for that and is willing to seek out disabled people and willing to listen?”

During production, Bode spoke with Winnie Holzman, who adapted the novel Wicked for stage and screen. The pair discussed the concerns the disabled community have with the character and worked together to make some “healthy changes”.

This extended to the film’s groundbreaking accessible production design. Chantelle Nassari, also a wheelchair user, served as the film’s disability coordinator. Her experience and insight were pivotal in making the set accessible. She also helped to design Nessarose’s custom wheelchair, modelled on the one Bode uses in her daily life.

Through details like these, Wicked is setting new standards for prioritising disability access – on both sides of the camera.

David Wilders, PhD Candidate, School of English, Dublin City University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

How the gladiators inspired evangelicals’ sense of persecution

Photo by Luis Alberto Sánchez Terrones on Unsplash

The Conversation

November 26, 2024


With the release of Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator II,” audiences will be plunged back into the cinematic excitement of the Roman amphitheater so vividly captured in its predecessor, “Gladiator.”


Scott’s film will undoubtedly capture the thrills of this spectacle. But as someone who studies the Roman world, I think it’s worth remembering that its cultural legacy goes beyond the cinematic pleasures of the big screen.

You might be surprised to learn that there are threads that tie together gladiators, Christian martyrs and the sense of persecution that exists among many U.S. evangelicals today.

Fan clubs and heartthrobs

Gladiatorial fights likely began as part of the funeral rites of wealthy Roman families. Over time, the fights became mass public events, regulated by the state and elites.

They included three sets of events: wild beast fights, the executions of criminals, and gladiatorial fights. The gladiators were the main event, with their forthcoming battles hyped on the walls of Roman cities. These advertisements often mentioned the names of the famous fighters, the number of gladiators fighting, and whether there would be fights to the death. Not all gladiators fought to the death: The gladiator Hilarus, for example, won 12 times but fought in 14 fights.

Gladiators were, by law, required to be slaves.

Their enslavers invested time and money in their training and upkeep. Roman games were put on at the expense of local elites, or even the emperor. Well-trained gladiators meant better shows for the sponsors and bigger profits for their owners. A gladiator who died in his first fight was not good for business. Meanwhile, a successful gladiator – meaning one who had made his enslaver a lot of money – could hope to be freed or be given an opportunity to buy his freedom.

Those who won could also expect to become beloved celebrities, which somewhat offset the dishonor of being enslaved. In Pompeii, multiple inscriptions mention the Thracian gladiator Celadus, calling him a heartthrob. Gladiatorial fan clubs were common. One group was likely responsible for a riot that broke out during a set of games in Pompeii in 59 C.E. There’s even evidence of gladiatorial cosplay. One Roman senator was said to have fought duels with a woman in a leopard costume at Ostia.

Meanwhile, the tombstones of gladiators in Roman-controlled Greece celebrated their prowess using language drawn from ancient athletics, which were sports that were only available to freeborn citizens. These gladiators gave themselves stage names evoking mythological heroes or their courage and bravery.

These stage names were not just for entertainment; they were attempts to immortalize their respectability. By casting themselves as athletes and not enslaved fighters, they presented themselves as participants in a noble, athletic tradition.

Christians embrace ancient athletics

Early Christians used descriptions of sports and athletics because they could be easily understood by Roman society.

Ancient athletic competitions shaped how people thought about beauty, the body, self-control, education and competition. For victorious gladiators, the outcast and the slave could paradoxically embody the ideals of Roman virtue

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A spoon from 350-400 C.E. features an engraving of St. Paul posed in the classical representation of an athlete.

Heritage Arts/Heritage Images via Getty Images

In the Christian New Testament, the apostle Paul famously describes himself as a runner and a boxer and even as a gladiator. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews speaks of running a race before a heavenly crowd of witnesses.

By embracing this imagery, early Christians positioned themselves as outsiders who nonetheless championed Roman ideals and culture.

Gladiator as martyr

Some early Christians followed Paul’s example and wrote themselves into the culture of ancient sports, particularly in a genre of Christian writing focused on martyrdom.

It is commonly thought that the earliest Christians were regularly and systematically persecuted by the Roman government. But the widespread persecution of ancient Christians under the Roman Empire is a myth that modern historians have debunked. Local persecutions did happen from time to time: There were a few short periods where the imperial government targeted Christians. However, for the most part, the Romans paid little attention to Christians.

So why were Christians so focused on telling stories of martyrs?

Ancient Christians wrote violent stories about martyrs because they functioned as morality plays that taught virtue and vice.

One example is the account of the “Martyrs of Lyons and Vienne,” written sometime at the end of the second century C.E. In the story, those condemned to death in the arena are described as “noble athletes” and “noble competitors.” The author characterizes Christians – who are dying not as athletes or gladiators, but as common criminals – as those who possess the elite virtues of great athletes. The reversal of expectations gives the story its force.

You can see this in the character of Blandina, an enslaved woman who is described in the account as a noble athlete and as one who has put on Christ, the “mighty and powerful athlete.” The author instructs the audience to see her as a hero, not as a slave or a criminal: through her, “Christ showed that the things that appear worthless, obscure, and despicable among men are considered worthy of great glory with God.”

In another martyr narrative, a woman named Perpetua has a dream in which she transforms into a gladiator before her martyrdom. These early Christian martyr accounts envision games in which enslaved people display noble courage and virtue; those condemned to torture, beatings and violent deaths are unfazed. Instead, they’re self-possessed athletes who strive for imperishable crowns.

Forever persecuted

The draw of stories in which Christians are “thrown to the lions” has remained powerful. Most ancient martyr accounts were written after Christianity became legal in the Roman Empire. But Christians continued to write stories about martyrs even after they became the majority of the population.

In the U.S. today, evangelical, charismatic and conservative Christians continue to tap into the martyrdom mythology. Even as they’ve become a powerful force in national politics, many influential wings of conservative U.S. Christians have come to characterize themselves as a persecuted minority. And they keep writing martyr stories.

High school football coach Joe Kennedy became an evangelical hero for fighting for the right to pray on the field at public high school football games. Kennedy had been fired for leading postgame prayers on the field, in violation of school policy. His supporters viewed him as a champion of religious freedom who was being unfairly persecuted for his beliefs. Kennedy ultimately fought all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in his favor.

Other conservative Christians have also returned to the arena. This time, they’re the gladiatorial fighters and not the murdered martyrs.

The popular internet meme of Marine Todd taps into this particular fantasy: The fictional Marine gets so fed up with his atheist university professor that he punches him in front of the class. Meanwhile, the gallows and crosses that accompanied the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol juxtaposed fantasies of violence with Christian fears of persecution. While less ominous, the recent film “The Carpenter” puts Jesus ringside, telling the story of how Jesus takes on an apprentice and teaches him how to fight, MMA-style, in ancient Nazareth.

In depictions like these, Christians are no longer dying in the arena. It’s where they fight back.

Cavan W. Concannon, Professor of Religion and Classics, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.