“As someone who worked in gop politics, I can tell you that there is certainly an effort to remove evangelicals as the base of voters and replace them with Catholics.
Evangelicals are the lone bulwark against moral insanity in America and they are the only hope we have at saving it.
@DefiyantlyFree is spot on with a lot of what she said here. I don’t really care about the Israel aspect of this article. But everything else is undeniable.”
“The conventional framework for understanding the convulsions tearing through American conservatism treats them as a foreign policy argument. Israel or no Israel. Aid or no aid. “America First” versus “globalism.” This framing is wrong in the most important possible way.
What is happening is not a debate. It is a demolition.
The men and women at the center of this operation are not primarily interested in the 2026 midterms or even the 2028 presidential election. They are interested in a question that will take a decade or more to fully answer: Who controls the ideological and theological DNA of the Republican Party’s base?
For seventy years, that answer has been evangelical Protestant Christians. Roughly 30 percent of the American electorate, 80 percent of whom vote Republican, motivated by deep biblical conviction, organized through tens of thousands of local churches, and bound together by a theological commitment to the Bible have been in the drivers seat of the conservative movement.
Remove it, or transform it, and you have a different party. Not a party with different policies. A party with different gods.
That is the actual objective.
I am going to map out what I think is the most sophisticated attack in modern political history and all of its corresponding vectors — institutional, intellectual, theological, generational, and media — and explain how each one feeds into a single ten-year project: the replacement of evangelical Protestant political theology with a Catholic integralist or ethnonationalist framework that views Jews, Israel and Protestants not as covenant partners but as adversaries of Christian civilization.
A Necessary Distinction: This Is Not About Catholicism or Regular Catholics but about Political Catholic Integralism”
“Thomas Massie, Ro Khanna, Chris Murphy, Rand Paul, and others sold out their country for NIAC, the D.C.-based Iran lobby for the Islamist regime.
Here is Ro Khanna reading his script after NIAC gave him an ‘award.’
“Hi, I’m so honored to be receiving this award, and I look forward to continuing to work together to build a more just foreign policy, to have restraint in our endless wars, to support diplomacy, and to see peace in the Middle East. I believe that the JCPOA that was negotiated with Iran was a path forward. We must recommit to the JCPOA under a new administration.””
“Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut… and you have to hear about this guy because it’s one of the most incredible, most brazen, most dishonest examples of hypocrisy you’ll ever see in American politics. Maybe ever. And there’s a lot of competition, believe me.
Back in 2014, Murphy is on the Senate floor, he’s giving speeches, he’s writing resolutions, and he’s telling every Republican in Washington… don’t you dare undermine these Iran negotiations. Don’t do it. He said if Congress shows it doesn’t take the talks seriously, it’ll destroy our credibility with allies, scare off our negotiating partners, give Russia and China an excuse to walk, and leave us with nothing but a military option. His words. Not anyone else’s. His words.
And by the way, Trump rebuilt the military, made it the strongest, the most powerful, the most technologically advanced fighting force the world has ever seen… nobody’s even close… so the military option isn’t quite the disaster it would’ve been under the previous administration, but that’s a separate story.
So what happens? Trump gets back into office, and he starts serious indirect talks with Iran. April 2025. Oman-mediated. Very tough, very sophisticated negotiations. Steve Witkoff, incredible guy, working the back channels. Trump gave them a real deadline… sixty days… because he doesn’t do endless process. He does deals. Zero enrichment, ship out the uranium, dismantle the key sites, open the doors to inspectors. Clear demands. Generous terms, frankly, very generous, because he didn’t have to offer them anything. He could’ve just hit them. But Trump wanted to give diplomacy a chance because that’s what a strong leader does.
And what does Murphy do? The same Chris Murphy who said you must not undermine negotiations while they’re happening? He goes on television. He goes to Iran International, which the Iranians are watching, and he calls Trump a liar. Says he has no idea what Trump is trying to achieve. Says most of what Trump says isn’t real. He pushes war powers resolutions to tie the President’s hands. He’s out there broadcasting American division to the entire world… to Iran, to our allies, to everybody… while the United States is sitting at the table trying to close a deal that could’ve avoided all of this. All of it.
And it gets worse. Murphy secretly met with Iran’s foreign minister, Javad Zarif, back in 2020. Secretly. Behind everyone’s back. During Trump’s first term. So he’ll freelance with the Mullahs, but he won’t support his own country’s negotiating position when it matters. Think about that.
Iran watched all of this. They watched Murphy trash America’s leverage in real time. They saw the division. They stalled. They rejected every core demand. Zero enrichment? No. Ship out the uranium? No. Dismantle the facilities? Absolutely not. And the talks collapsed. They collapsed because Iran believed… correctly, unfortunately… that they didn’t have to make a deal because half of Washington was working against the other half. And Murphy was leading the charge.”
Finally, an interesting X link — you should post more of them. A few notes;
Integralism was developed by conservative Catholics as a response to classical liberalism, the Enlightenment and the French Revolution. The Reformation was always seen as apostasy but was not the main target of Integralism (perhaps in the sense that the Reformation led to the Enlightenment but that’s not necessarily the case)
It gained popularity in the 20s and 30s parallel to fascism in southern Europe. Catholic priests were often part of the fascist movement in places like Croatia, Slovakia, etc. The fact that it’s having a resurgence in the Republican party indicates how far to the right the party has moved. As the US Constitution is a classical liberal document as is free market capitalism (Locke and Smith were both liberal and Reformed) to endorse an integralist position is a departure from traditional American values.
Integralism was quite popular in Latin America from the 60s to the 90s, partly as a conservative response to Liberation Theology. They also supported many of the military juntas. Perhaps, it’s current popularity in the US stems from its migration from Latin America — brought to the US by right wing exiles fleeing leftist governments in Cuba, Venezuela, Brazil etc.
Christian Zionism is relatively new and seems to be a uniquely American phenomenon, although other Anglo countries have picked up on it. The article seems to think it’s the natural evangelical position but it’s neither Reformed or Lutheran. The different eschatological visions and Israel’s role seems to be a relatively new invention far more popular in the US than elsewhere. Evangelicals cooling to this idea aren’t necessarily anti-semetic just non-Zionist, something that’s quite common. US support of Israel as foreign policy wasn’t automatic — the State Department was dominated by Arabophiles until the 60s (from the Suez crisis to the Six Day War) when there was a gradual switch to a pro Israel position as people retired.
The article stated anti-semetism was traditionally not American. However, that’s simply not true. Prior to WW2, quotas on Jewish students were quite common in universities, country clubs banned Jews, and anti-semetism was quite common in groups that were racist (eg KKK)
I find the Catholicism of JD Vance, Peter Theil and others fascinating. It’s obviously not out of theological or spiritual conviction. Theil is openly gay yet claims to be a conservative Catholic? Perhaps the motivation is the anti-liberal foundation (and by liberal I mean it the classical sense) it provides for their political position of authoritarianism and what Orban called illiberal democracy.
Orban, interestingly, was raised Reformed but married a Catholic and raised his kids as Catholics and has used conservative Catholicism in his political thought.
I have a hard time taking Feutes seriously but apparently he’s quite influential among under-30 young white men. The far left claims Feutes supporters are responsible for the death of Charlie Kirk. But I can’t see his online schtick leading to any serious religious conversions rather it’s a cultural conversion.
In some respects, the podcasters and inflencers are not much different from talk radio and newsletters types that used to dominate the right wing fringe. I remember reading a newsletter at my brother’s father-in-law that went on for pages about the Zionist Occupational Government, UN helicopters, etc. Thus strands of integralism has always been in America and it’s not entirely new as the article likes to claim — but it may be more “mainstream”? It will be interesting to watch.
Coincidentally, a friend just sent me the famous LBJ “daisy” ad.
Wandering Views 
For your consideration…
https://x.com/i/status/2033388021324685449
“As someone who worked in gop politics, I can tell you that there is certainly an effort to remove evangelicals as the base of voters and replace them with Catholics.
Evangelicals are the lone bulwark against moral insanity in America and they are the only hope we have at saving it.
@DefiyantlyFree is spot on with a lot of what she said here. I don’t really care about the Israel aspect of this article. But everything else is undeniable.”
—
https://x.com/i/status/2029681200189636717
“The conventional framework for understanding the convulsions tearing through American conservatism treats them as a foreign policy argument. Israel or no Israel. Aid or no aid. “America First” versus “globalism.” This framing is wrong in the most important possible way.
What is happening is not a debate. It is a demolition.
The men and women at the center of this operation are not primarily interested in the 2026 midterms or even the 2028 presidential election. They are interested in a question that will take a decade or more to fully answer: Who controls the ideological and theological DNA of the Republican Party’s base?
For seventy years, that answer has been evangelical Protestant Christians. Roughly 30 percent of the American electorate, 80 percent of whom vote Republican, motivated by deep biblical conviction, organized through tens of thousands of local churches, and bound together by a theological commitment to the Bible have been in the drivers seat of the conservative movement.
Remove it, or transform it, and you have a different party. Not a party with different policies. A party with different gods.
That is the actual objective.
I am going to map out what I think is the most sophisticated attack in modern political history and all of its corresponding vectors — institutional, intellectual, theological, generational, and media — and explain how each one feeds into a single ten-year project: the replacement of evangelical Protestant political theology with a Catholic integralist or ethnonationalist framework that views Jews, Israel and Protestants not as covenant partners but as adversaries of Christian civilization.
A Necessary Distinction: This Is Not About Catholicism or Regular Catholics but about Political Catholic Integralism”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh look….
Bought and paid for by the Iranians.
Traitors, advocating for evil regimes, and not the US.
https://x.com/i/status/2033100466536722445
“There are a lot in the house taking money from the Pro-Iranian PAC”
—
https://x.com/i/status/2031546033059082597
“Thomas Massie, Ro Khanna, Chris Murphy, Rand Paul, and others sold out their country for NIAC, the D.C.-based Iran lobby for the Islamist regime.
Here is Ro Khanna reading his script after NIAC gave him an ‘award.’
“Hi, I’m so honored to be receiving this award, and I look forward to continuing to work together to build a more just foreign policy, to have restraint in our endless wars, to support diplomacy, and to see peace in the Middle East. I believe that the JCPOA that was negotiated with Iran was a path forward. We must recommit to the JCPOA under a new administration.””
LikeLiked by 1 person
Like I said, Conn. isn’t sending their best. They let China buy their Rep.
https://x.com/i/status/2032956693114401049
“Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut… and you have to hear about this guy because it’s one of the most incredible, most brazen, most dishonest examples of hypocrisy you’ll ever see in American politics. Maybe ever. And there’s a lot of competition, believe me.
Back in 2014, Murphy is on the Senate floor, he’s giving speeches, he’s writing resolutions, and he’s telling every Republican in Washington… don’t you dare undermine these Iran negotiations. Don’t do it. He said if Congress shows it doesn’t take the talks seriously, it’ll destroy our credibility with allies, scare off our negotiating partners, give Russia and China an excuse to walk, and leave us with nothing but a military option. His words. Not anyone else’s. His words.
And by the way, Trump rebuilt the military, made it the strongest, the most powerful, the most technologically advanced fighting force the world has ever seen… nobody’s even close… so the military option isn’t quite the disaster it would’ve been under the previous administration, but that’s a separate story.
So what happens? Trump gets back into office, and he starts serious indirect talks with Iran. April 2025. Oman-mediated. Very tough, very sophisticated negotiations. Steve Witkoff, incredible guy, working the back channels. Trump gave them a real deadline… sixty days… because he doesn’t do endless process. He does deals. Zero enrichment, ship out the uranium, dismantle the key sites, open the doors to inspectors. Clear demands. Generous terms, frankly, very generous, because he didn’t have to offer them anything. He could’ve just hit them. But Trump wanted to give diplomacy a chance because that’s what a strong leader does.
And what does Murphy do? The same Chris Murphy who said you must not undermine negotiations while they’re happening? He goes on television. He goes to Iran International, which the Iranians are watching, and he calls Trump a liar. Says he has no idea what Trump is trying to achieve. Says most of what Trump says isn’t real. He pushes war powers resolutions to tie the President’s hands. He’s out there broadcasting American division to the entire world… to Iran, to our allies, to everybody… while the United States is sitting at the table trying to close a deal that could’ve avoided all of this. All of it.
And it gets worse. Murphy secretly met with Iran’s foreign minister, Javad Zarif, back in 2020. Secretly. Behind everyone’s back. During Trump’s first term. So he’ll freelance with the Mullahs, but he won’t support his own country’s negotiating position when it matters. Think about that.
Iran watched all of this. They watched Murphy trash America’s leverage in real time. They saw the division. They stalled. They rejected every core demand. Zero enrichment? No. Ship out the uranium? No. Dismantle the facilities? Absolutely not. And the talks collapsed. They collapsed because Iran believed… correctly, unfortunately… that they didn’t have to make a deal because half of Washington was working against the other half. And Murphy was leading the charge.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Prayers for those in Cuba where the power grid has failed.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Finally, an interesting X link — you should post more of them. A few notes;
Integralism was developed by conservative Catholics as a response to classical liberalism, the Enlightenment and the French Revolution. The Reformation was always seen as apostasy but was not the main target of Integralism (perhaps in the sense that the Reformation led to the Enlightenment but that’s not necessarily the case)
It gained popularity in the 20s and 30s parallel to fascism in southern Europe. Catholic priests were often part of the fascist movement in places like Croatia, Slovakia, etc. The fact that it’s having a resurgence in the Republican party indicates how far to the right the party has moved. As the US Constitution is a classical liberal document as is free market capitalism (Locke and Smith were both liberal and Reformed) to endorse an integralist position is a departure from traditional American values.
Integralism was quite popular in Latin America from the 60s to the 90s, partly as a conservative response to Liberation Theology. They also supported many of the military juntas. Perhaps, it’s current popularity in the US stems from its migration from Latin America — brought to the US by right wing exiles fleeing leftist governments in Cuba, Venezuela, Brazil etc.
Christian Zionism is relatively new and seems to be a uniquely American phenomenon, although other Anglo countries have picked up on it. The article seems to think it’s the natural evangelical position but it’s neither Reformed or Lutheran. The different eschatological visions and Israel’s role seems to be a relatively new invention far more popular in the US than elsewhere. Evangelicals cooling to this idea aren’t necessarily anti-semetic just non-Zionist, something that’s quite common. US support of Israel as foreign policy wasn’t automatic — the State Department was dominated by Arabophiles until the 60s (from the Suez crisis to the Six Day War) when there was a gradual switch to a pro Israel position as people retired.
The article stated anti-semetism was traditionally not American. However, that’s simply not true. Prior to WW2, quotas on Jewish students were quite common in universities, country clubs banned Jews, and anti-semetism was quite common in groups that were racist (eg KKK)
hrw
LikeLike
I find the Catholicism of JD Vance, Peter Theil and others fascinating. It’s obviously not out of theological or spiritual conviction. Theil is openly gay yet claims to be a conservative Catholic? Perhaps the motivation is the anti-liberal foundation (and by liberal I mean it the classical sense) it provides for their political position of authoritarianism and what Orban called illiberal democracy.
Orban, interestingly, was raised Reformed but married a Catholic and raised his kids as Catholics and has used conservative Catholicism in his political thought.
I have a hard time taking Feutes seriously but apparently he’s quite influential among under-30 young white men. The far left claims Feutes supporters are responsible for the death of Charlie Kirk. But I can’t see his online schtick leading to any serious religious conversions rather it’s a cultural conversion.
In some respects, the podcasters and inflencers are not much different from talk radio and newsletters types that used to dominate the right wing fringe. I remember reading a newsletter at my brother’s father-in-law that went on for pages about the Zionist Occupational Government, UN helicopters, etc. Thus strands of integralism has always been in America and it’s not entirely new as the article likes to claim — but it may be more “mainstream”? It will be interesting to watch.
Coincidentally, a friend just sent me the famous LBJ “daisy” ad.
hrw
LikeLike