The content of CushVlogs often veers into religious commentary (the most recent one especially). Why do you think Matt is so invested in it? I'm wondering if it's due to one or more of the following reasons: Americans are uniquely religious, so trying to divine anything about their politics requires interpreting their faith. Or: Part of being a revolutionary is believing in a prophecy that an ultimate goal will be achieved one day--a goal there's not much concrete evidence for--and in this way the revolution is faith based. Or: Studying religion comes with the territory of being a history buff (things like Luther and the Hundred Years War midwifing capitalism onto the world stage, etc). Or: Matt is obsessed with his mortality and is more and more curious about the big "Why are we here" questions. The reason I ask is because I don't hear much analysis of religion in left spaces now, and I think there's somewhat of a vacuum left by the Bush-era /stem cell-era libs who would call out jesus camps, televangelists, and mega-churches. (Like, that part of the culture war was deemed over by 2008-09)
I think Alienation under capitalism leaves a spiritual void in many, but not all people. Many faith communities in the U.S. had embraced the prosperity gospel mythology, which left a lot of good-faith seekers deeply cynical about religion. You mentioned above the Bush-Era backlash of the New Atheists who mostly ended up just being contrarians showing their Islamophobia, homophobia, misogyny, etc. once the dominant culture took a turn towards liberalism. Matt entered the religious landscape under these conditions, and saw a need for communal support on “the left” that throughout most of American history came from religious or ethnic solidarity.