Bob Brigham
RAW STORY
July 05, 2022
POST MODERN GNOSTIC FASCISM
The Chinese-owned social networking video platform TikTok is being used by accounts "propping up surging Christian nationalist and Christo-fascist ideology in the United States," according to a new report by Vice News.
"Christian nationalists believe that their country’s policies and laws should reflect evangelical Christian values, and culture war issues like LGBTQ rights, 'critical race theory,' or immigration, are regarded as signs of moral decay that imperil their nation’s future," Tess Owen explained. "Christo-fascists take that one step further, and believe that they’re fighting primordial battles between West and East, good and evil, right and left, Christians and infidels."
She noted the two groups sometimes overlap.
"On TikTok, ideologues from both ends of the spectrum are weaving together a shared visual language using 4chan memes, Scripture, Orthodox and Catholic iconography, imagery of holy wars, and clips from movies or TV featuring toxic male characters. Many of the videos, on their face, are innocuous enough, but they exist in close proximity to disturbing, violent, or explicitly white nationalist content," Owen explained. "The biggest TikTok account in this space was Caitliceach_r, who claims to be based in Ireland and racked up nearly 30,000 followers and over 2 million views since posting their first video last September. TikTok removed the account after VICE News reached out for comment, but another account posting the same content was activated soon after."
One popular hashtag is #ChristPill, which references the "red-pill" meme to describe far-right radicalization.
"GIFs of alt-right icon Pepe the Frog even make an appearance at times. Some use incel memes to bemoan what they see as the decline of Christian family values in the West. Some identify themselves as nationalists, while others employ blatantly fascist symbols to signpost their alignment with Christo-fascism," Owen reported. "But while aesthetic choices, denomination, and even political ideology can vary across accounts in this world, they’re linked by fantasies of violence and conflict. The shared message is clear: White Christian identity is under attack and needs to be fought for, through prayer, the ballot box, or even violence. Back in the real world, acts of political violence are, increasingly, committed in the name of Christian nationalism in the U.S."
The people behind many of the accounts studied by Owen are a mystery.
"The majority of accounts reviewed by VICE News don’t have any faces or clear identities attached to them, and they claim to hail from the U.S., Australia, England, Hungary, Macedonia, and other countries in Europe. Only two of those 55 accounts, one from Azerbaijan and another from Germany, posted videos in their native language,," Owen reported. "This online community seems to be growing at a time when Christian nationalist ideology is attaining mainstream acceptance, particularly in the U.S., where a conservative majority on the Supreme Court has opened the floodgates to a torrent of regressive opinions, including dismantling the national right to abortion. After that decision, one Christian nationalist podcaster, who has nearly 45,000 followers on Telegram, declared the current moment the 'era of Christian Nationalism.' 'People are thirsty for it, they are hungry for this,' he said. 'We are the Christian Taliban, and we will not stop until the Handmaid’s Tale is a reality—even worse than that, to be honest,” he said."
Read the full report.
July 05, 2022
POST MODERN GNOSTIC FASCISM
The Chinese-owned social networking video platform TikTok is being used by accounts "propping up surging Christian nationalist and Christo-fascist ideology in the United States," according to a new report by Vice News.
"Christian nationalists believe that their country’s policies and laws should reflect evangelical Christian values, and culture war issues like LGBTQ rights, 'critical race theory,' or immigration, are regarded as signs of moral decay that imperil their nation’s future," Tess Owen explained. "Christo-fascists take that one step further, and believe that they’re fighting primordial battles between West and East, good and evil, right and left, Christians and infidels."
She noted the two groups sometimes overlap.
"On TikTok, ideologues from both ends of the spectrum are weaving together a shared visual language using 4chan memes, Scripture, Orthodox and Catholic iconography, imagery of holy wars, and clips from movies or TV featuring toxic male characters. Many of the videos, on their face, are innocuous enough, but they exist in close proximity to disturbing, violent, or explicitly white nationalist content," Owen explained. "The biggest TikTok account in this space was Caitliceach_r, who claims to be based in Ireland and racked up nearly 30,000 followers and over 2 million views since posting their first video last September. TikTok removed the account after VICE News reached out for comment, but another account posting the same content was activated soon after."
One popular hashtag is #ChristPill, which references the "red-pill" meme to describe far-right radicalization.
"GIFs of alt-right icon Pepe the Frog even make an appearance at times. Some use incel memes to bemoan what they see as the decline of Christian family values in the West. Some identify themselves as nationalists, while others employ blatantly fascist symbols to signpost their alignment with Christo-fascism," Owen reported. "But while aesthetic choices, denomination, and even political ideology can vary across accounts in this world, they’re linked by fantasies of violence and conflict. The shared message is clear: White Christian identity is under attack and needs to be fought for, through prayer, the ballot box, or even violence. Back in the real world, acts of political violence are, increasingly, committed in the name of Christian nationalism in the U.S."
The people behind many of the accounts studied by Owen are a mystery.
"The majority of accounts reviewed by VICE News don’t have any faces or clear identities attached to them, and they claim to hail from the U.S., Australia, England, Hungary, Macedonia, and other countries in Europe. Only two of those 55 accounts, one from Azerbaijan and another from Germany, posted videos in their native language,," Owen reported. "This online community seems to be growing at a time when Christian nationalist ideology is attaining mainstream acceptance, particularly in the U.S., where a conservative majority on the Supreme Court has opened the floodgates to a torrent of regressive opinions, including dismantling the national right to abortion. After that decision, one Christian nationalist podcaster, who has nearly 45,000 followers on Telegram, declared the current moment the 'era of Christian Nationalism.' 'People are thirsty for it, they are hungry for this,' he said. 'We are the Christian Taliban, and we will not stop until the Handmaid’s Tale is a reality—even worse than that, to be honest,” he said."
Read the full report.
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