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)

  • UnicodeHamSic [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    For men of a specific age we grew up with deep felt religious beliefs. When we enviably grew up and see that the fantastic battles of angels and demons didn't materialize. We fall into depression and ennui. We were promised meaning and beauty and found none. So we attach ourselves so different ideas to try to reclaim that.

    You ever see the old Caral Sagan writings about universal love and respect of the numenous universe and how that can drive us forward to our best selves? He was a leftist that did a bunch of acid.

    So it is a combination of those two forces I think. Also most people have religious feelings so it is occasionally useful to include those in analysis of societal forces and trends. I would say that in America we are almost uniquely unreligous. We have church, but for most people we see no evidence of religious faith or emotions. Just church tribalism.

    • ChestRockwell [comrade/them, any]
      ·
      2 years ago

      I think you're right re: religious beliefs.

      From William Empson's Milton's God

      How a child is brought up to be a good character is hard to say, but the thing is often done, and fear of Hell is far from being an essential ingredient. But if the child is brought up to believe that without the Christian God there is no difference between good and evil, and later ceases to believe in that God (through having an intelligent conscience perhaps), he is liable to become like a dog with its back broken on the road by a motor-car, which one feels ought to be put out of its misery. This happens most often in Ireland, where religious education is particularly fierce; it is the whole theme of Waiting for Godot which English audiences found somehow familiar and yet excitingly mysterious. I know a little about what the audience thought, because I was kindly invited to speak on the stage, as one of the two Devil's Advocates in the initial debate, when a packed house of enthusiasts for Waiting for Godot discussed in the theater what they thought the play meant. No two of them agreed, and I came away strengthened in my own belief that this kind of religious education is a very unfair trick to play on a child.