Author: Carmen Celestini

Rarely will I post this much on my Substack, but the Chris Rufo interview in the New York Times had to be addressed. Rufo’s disinformation, conspiracy theories, racism, and lies were not addressed at all by Ezra Klien.

Rufo reminded me of Paul Weyrich, who was a John Bircher, co-founder of the Moral Majority, The Council on National Policy, and the Heritage Foundation. Rufo is benefiting from those who came before him in the far-right political movement of the GOP, and using their lessons to shape an America led by the wealthy, Christian nationalism, and where those not in the 1% are controlled by conspiracy theories, fearmongering, hate, and lies.

Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition!

I wrote a little piece on the viral clip from a Kentucky Vacation Bible School where children chant “Blow Him Up!” while men dressed in full military fatigues lead a mock execution. The Pastor’s response is this is a skit expressing the real world vision of Spiritual Warfare, but it seems to be indicative of the gun culture in America.

Two News Max and Fox News commentators appeared on a podcast to discuss the movement to make Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) a diagnosable disorder. Claims that Robert Kennedy too wanted this to move forward were announced, no one else announced this until this podcast episode. The entire discussion was an example of coded language to spread conspiracy theories, hate, and disinformation.

Religious studies departments are closing across North America. Yet, in these unprecedented times the scholarship and expertise they have is called upon by analysts, media, and podcasters. Religious studies scholars face precarious employment, contingent course loads, and often working in isolation. Using recent Christian response to Bill C-9 in Canada, I look at the influence of religion on these movements, and the importance of understanding religion in the context of society, current events, and political response.

Conservative MP, Jamil Jivani is copying some moves from the Trumpian playbook. Yesterday he was busy attacking DEI policies in Canada, and this is not his first time. Seems JD’s Vance’s close friend, shares the same tactics to prop up hate, and divide society.

You may have seen the poster floating around on social media, of a group of white men presenting a panel on muscular Christianity in Tennessee. If you have not, you may have seen the memes made of it. I cannot attend the event, and there is no online attendance, so I decided to dig into who the speakers are. The ensuing rabbit hole had very little muscular Christianity, but it did have conspiracies, Christian nationalism, and hate. This is a free post on my Substack, so please pop over and dive in. Also please consider subscribing to join the community chat, get access to subscriber only material, and get analysis on current events as they happen.

As a regular Bluesky poster, and let’s be honest social media addict, I have been considering writing a blog for quite some time. My social media posts tend to become threads, as I analyze or add additional information to media pieces, current events, and evidence of extremism.

My area of research is in the darkest areas of political humanity, meaning conspiracy theories, Christian nationalism, populism, extremism, and hate. The convergence of these topics is evident in the world we live in today. Far-right militia movements, moral panics, attacks on human rights seem to be flourishing globally, yet many writing on these topic are reactionary. The analysis is of the moment, making it appear as though this “just happened.” The truth is many of these current events, movements, and violent mobilizations are the result of a steady buildup of propaganda, fearmongering, and a hierarchical nesting of conspiracy theories, religion, the occult, and a sense of constructed victimhood.

Please consider subscribing to my Substack, and learn about the weird, the hateful, politics, and conspiracy theories.