Former RNC comms director reveals he voted for Biden: ‘Proud to vote country over party’
November 02, 2020
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The emergence of debate leagues for Evangelical homeschoolers has evolved into a springboard for far-right politicians, according to a report today at Religion Dispatches, a daily non-profit online magazine covering religion, politics and culture.
Citing the example of Republican Alaska State Rep. David Eastman, whose incendiary words have earned him censure from both parties – and thus, stardom on the right – author R.L. Stollar lays out how the “niche milieu” of the leagues have propelled such voices.
“Academic debate leagues have become immensely popular among evangelical homeschoolers,” writes Stollar, a child liberation theologian and an advocate for children and abuse survivors. “Recognizing and grasping the culture of homeschool debate is crucial to our broader understanding of Christian nationalism, as the young people who participated are beginning to have a significant impact on American society.”
The first Evangelical debate leagues were launched in 1997 by Michael Farris, the founder of the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), “a far-right lobbying organization for Christian homeschoolers,” writes Stolar. Farris co-founded a national homeschool debate league under HSLDA with his daughter, Christy Shipe, at the time a student at a conservative Baptist university.
READ: Trump's Waco rally leaves El Paso officials seething
“Describing the goals of the league upon its founding, Farris declared that he aimed for children to obtain the “ability to stand for the truth of God’s word” and “to help homeschoolers address life’s issues biblically, with God’s glory, not their own, as the focus,” according to Stollar.
And there was this:
“Homeschool debate leagues have unique guardrails in place to ensure two things: first, that students only argue about “safe” topics, and second, that they focus primarily on speech performance. Questioning core beliefs is thus avoided. “Due to the limits of the conservative and Christian ideologies of the leagues, their resolutions, and our judging pools, everything was severely one-sided,” one participant told the magazine. “The goal of debate (for homeschoolers) is to bring up the next generation of rhetorical speakers who support conservatism. The content is not about identifying the truth. It’s about reinforcing the beliefs of the audience.”
And, the report concludes, “With Eastman and the other rising stars in the Christian Right, what we’re essentially seeing are those tools—and the corresponding, highly charged rhetorical style—being effectively used in service of Christian nationalism.
“These young people can be incendiary, yes, but they are also articulate and adept at persuading audiences. Michael Farris’s original vision for the league—to raise an army of communicators for Christ to infiltrate and take over American political and social institutions—appears to be coming to fruition. We underestimate that vision and its adherents at our peril.”
ALSO IN THE NEWS: 'Mount Waffle House': Trump Waco rally goer claims to be Marines veteran but 'can’t go into detail'
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'Must be Opposite Day': Critics promptly debunk Trump’s claim 'nobody laughed' at U.S. when he was president
March 25, 2023
Former President Donald Trump used a portion of his Waco, Texas rally speech Saturday to insist "nobody laughed" at the United States of America during his presidency.
@Acyn shared a clip from the former president's address, writing, "Trump: Nobody laughed at our country when I ran it."
Subsequently, Twitter users — from all over the world — immediately debunked the former's claim citing ample amounts of evidence.
READ MORE: 'RICO': Georgia prosecutors considering racketeering and conspiracy charges against Trump
@lachevron: "I don't know Donald, that speech you gave at the UN, everybody laughed at you when you bragged and lied and you represented us."
Dave Farr: "To be fair, they were mostly laughing at him."
@jenminicooper: "Canadian here. He’s right. I didn’t laugh. I was utterly horrified and petrified instead."
@razzli: "Okay, so we're just going to perpetually live in fairytale land, huh?"
@Sillyshib: "Dear US, we did. We absolutely did. Love UK"
Caroline George: "Australia here …. we were laughing!"
@auntie_shay: "They literally laughed in his face. MULTIPLE times."
@padresfangirl: "We were too busy crying to laugh"
@ChinaKatSun: "I literally apologized for him in a bathroom in Ireland but ok."
@Christi37460685: "It must be Opposite Day in Waco."
In addition to claiming no one laughed at the U.S. under his leadership, Trump also said Florida Governor Ron DeSantis "came to him with tears in his eyes begging him for an endorsement," and he falsely claimed — as he has many times before — President Joe Biden lost the 2020 election, "but it was rigged."
Watch the video at this link.
READ MORE: 'Mount Waffle House': Trump Waco rally goer claims to be Marines veteran but 'can’t go into detail'
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'Mount Waffle House': Trump Waco rally goer claims to be Marines veteran but 'can’t go into detail'
March 25, 2023
A former President Donald Trump supporter attending the 2024 hopeful's Saturday Waco, Texas rally, claimed he served in the United States Marine Corps, but couldn't name his military occupational specialties (MOS), or the location he served.
Former prosecutor Ron Filipkowski shared a clip of the Trump rally attendees interview, writing, "Guy at Trump rally claims he served in Marines. Christina Bobb says she did too and asks his MOS. He can't say. Then asks him where he served. He can't say."
The man said "he couldn't go into detail" about where he was stationed, but did tell Bobb he "flew into places."
READ MORE: New analysis points out the real issue with Trump's first rally in Waco
She replied, "Ok. This interview's over folks."
Twitter users did not believe the MAGA supporter for one second.
@shaving_s: "Does it surprise anyone that trump would attract anything other than liars, traitors and fascists?"
@detroitwon: "The Whackos of Waco"
READ MORE: Experts: Trump is encouraging violence with Waco campaign rally on 30th anniversary of deadly siege
Barry R. McCaffrey: "Classic. Faux patriot."
Mitch Kosterman: Bullsh**ters Anonymous. Standard Trump fan.
Russell Drew: "Sounds like this Trump rally attendee takes the George Santos approach to creating a biography. Just make crap up and then say it's top secret so you don't have to go into detail."
@kdub_in_kc: "It's as if the red cap makes you lie about everything."
Morgan Cameron Ross: "'Mount Waffle House'"
Alex Parker replied: "Served smothered and covered"
Skyleigh Heinen: "Translation he never served. Stolen Valor live from Waco."
Homeofheroes.com defines "Stolen Valor" as "a term applied to the phenomenon of people falsely claiming military awards or medals they did not earn, service they did not perform, Prisoner of War experiences that never happened, and other tales of military actions that exist only in their minds."
Watch the video at this link.
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