Michael Flynn's Holy War

Sometimes it seems that the world is a thin line away from returning to barbarism. One can understand the desperation of the poor; but for those with money and power who whip up hatred and hysteria amongst the comfortable, only contempt is due. The American right wing is full of snake-oil salesmen who don't care who or what gets broken as a result of their activities; based on this film, Michael Flynn, briefly Donald Trump's National Security Advisor, may actually be a true believer. A livelong "movement conservative", his activities seem to have nothing to do with conservatism in the common sense of that word; his reflex agressivity when he agrees to be interviewed may just be an act for the rubes, but it sure feels like the fervour of the zealot. How civilised society deals with people like this is a difficult question; but when Flynn has gone uncharged by the state in spite of inciting open rebellion, a natural conclusion is that we treat them far too gently.

This is a documentary about Christianity in America through the lens of one man. But with a twist: the filmmakers are perplexed that people of faith actually wholeheartedly believe in God and and work to uphold Biblical values in politics.

From what I can tell, the folks at AP/Frontline think that Christians should go to church on Sunday, but then behave secularly in their careers and in politics, because their faith is supposed to be padlocked inside a church building.

But this type of thinking only makes sense to atheists, and I'm not convinced that they are truly this naive. I see this as propaganda, because there's no good-faith attempt to see that Christians understandably want a voice in government, just like everyone else.

It's refreshing to see a piece of journalism that doesn't sugarcoat it's subject matter. Essential viewing for everyone.

A quote from Sartre comes to mind often these days:

"Never believe that anti-Semites are completely unaware of the absurdity of their replies. They know that their remarks are frivolous, open to challenge. But they are amusing themselves, for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly, since he believes in words. The anti-Semites have the right to play. They even like to play with discourse for, by giving ridiculous reasons, they discredit the seriousness of their interlocutors. They delight in acting in bad faith, since they seek not to persuade by sound argument but to intimidate and disconcert. If you press them too closely, they will abruptly fall silent, loftily indicating by some phrase that the time for argument is past."