The Religion and Philosophy Room
What is Alt-Christianity?
So in my lurkings of those places that the far right wing people who have deemed themselves "the alternative right" inhabit ("know your enemy"), I have come across a new development in their circles, and this article recently posted on the misogynist Return of Kings blog summarizes it in the clearest way that I can find: What is Alt-Christianity?
Though obviously I'm not on the inside of this movement to know, nevertheless to me it appears uncoincidental that the foundations of this new, general school of Christian thought seem to have been crafted and announced to the general public right around the time that the Southern Baptist Convention -- the largest Protestant denomination in America -- recently voted to explicitly condemn "alt-right white supremacy" just last week. That appears to have been a tough decision for the SBC, given that, as Chris has pointed out, more than 70% of their leaders are Republicans. But ultimately the tepid condemnation (which, as you can see in the article linked in this paragraph, is much weaker than the version originally proposed) was supported by such prominent SBC people as Thabiti Anyabwile, Beth Moore, and leading people around Billy Graham's scene. Supporters of the official condemnation, and especially the female ones like Beth Moore, pastors of color, and those married to non-white people, were harassed and threatened (often sexually in the case of the women) by the "alt-right" movement throughout the process.
Although we have seen various "alt-right" people form their own churches and teachings before (like Ignite Ministries, for example), this Alt-Christian designation appears to be the first time that they have coalesced around a specific set of general principles. To quote an excerpt from the first article in this thread, the essence of it appears to be white nationalism, theocracy, and explicit endorsement of male supremacy:
The Nazis similarly reinvented Christianity in their own image when they ruled Germany, being unwilling to abandon their faith entirely....Alt-Christianity supports the foundations of Christianity itself, which are the patriarchy, the family, Christian apologetics, and a face-value acceptance of the morals and teachings of the New Testament.
Alt-Christianity is also anti-globalist and nationalistic, as well as a movement that recognizes the value and primacy of identity. Furthermore, Alt-Christianity supports the right of self-determination to all ethno-ideological/religious groups, and it promotes secession as a means to ease tensions between groups. Additionally, Alt-Christianity rejects the idea that Church and State should be separated; it also rejects the false myth of human equality or human perfectibility.
Finally, Alt-Christianity is a masculine movement, which is to be led by men, and in so doing, Alt-Christianity values the masculine nature of the Christ who overturned tables and was intellectually bold against his enemies and detractors.
That said, this is only a surface-level generalization of what "alt-Christianity" appears to be about and I'm a little curious about what exactly the specific details entail. I suspect we have some people who would be more in-the-know about those details here on this message board than I am, so I will posit it to anyone who does: what, in terms of specifics, do "Alt-Christians" believe? What is the range of prescribed lifestyles, for example? And what laws would Alt-Christians seek to enact?
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Originally Posted by Hal Jordan
