As an exvangelical, I can tell you Christian Nationalism and anti-Communism are two sides of the same coin. The GOP takes advantage of the religious devotion of the fundamentalists to push their agenda. I wouldn’t say this was because the Soviet Union fell, but I think it’s at least partially because it existed in the first place.
100% There was a whole lot of it being pushed in response to the USSR’s existence. IIRC that’s when “under God” got added to the pledge, for example
I’d just like to point out that the posted wikipedia page is a wonderful example of ‘leopards ate my face’. Had no idea this was a thing, TIL. Who in their right mind would ever think supporting religious extremists would end well for… anyone?
pakistan also did the same thing
No, that’s ridiculous. And Russia can suck it.
The government/country, not the people in it
I suspect there’s cognitive bias inclining people to belief systems like common religions. Had Communism won the Cold War, religion (in all but name) would have returned within a generation, possibly by Marxism-Leninism mutating to have more religion-like characteristics (more rituals, prayers-in-all-but-name to dead Bolshevik heroes, a Communist afterlife for all the comrades who don’t reach the promised land in this life, and so on). Within a century, the secular and materialistic nature of Communism would have been all but forgotten, much like Gnostic Christianity or the secular nature of the American Revolution.
The U.S. would be crazy religious regardless of who lost the Cold War.
I do think of how we were on a secularizing trend, but then cranked up religion as national identity as one of the issues which separated us from them.
I do have optimism that we may be reaching a tipping point in voter blocs and sentiment as the religious right finally “catches the car”, forcing casual supporters to confront what they have been defending.
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Russia won the cold war, got their orange puppet into office and everything.
No.
