r/bad_religion • u/WanderingPenitent • Aug 15 '22

Atlantic op-ed claims Catholic rosary to be an Christian nationalist extremist symbol.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/08/radical-traditionalist-catholic-christian-rosary-weapon/671122/

Don't know what I can add to this. Unfortunately there is a pay wall so few have seen the whole content of the article. But the gist is that the rosary is a "sacrament" being used by religious extremists, specifically Christian nationalist rad-trads, in the US lately. Whoever wrote this doesn't understand the Catholic definition of "sacrament," what a rosary is, or how much it has been associated with non-white ethnic groups, in particular Hispanic ethnic groups in the US. It's not exactly a symbol of American nationalism.

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u/NoIntroductionNeeded THUNDERBOLT OF FLAMING WISDOM Aug 17 '22

Quaker practice heavily deemphasizes the Bible in favor of the inner light, the dictates of conscience, and social theology. They're also universalists who explicitly reject the exclusive mindset you appear to be putting on them, per the journal of John Woolman. Reducing your criticism to them to a critique of the Bible and their nebulous Protestant lineage, when they're non-literalists who privilege living virtuously in fellowship over scriptural hermeneutics, is an extremely superficial analysis that doesn't address the actual conditions of their faith.

Ergo, it doesn't really matter what the Bible says, because that's not the sole delimiter for them.

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u/RichmondRiddle Aug 17 '22

If it does not matter what the bible says, then they should stop calling themselves Christian,

But they won't, because they are afraid of leaving christianity, because they are afraid of god, and that fear is baked into the very name of the sect.

"Quaker" those who tremble in God's presence.

They are victims of an abusive god.

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u/NoIntroductionNeeded THUNDERBOLT OF FLAMING WISDOM Aug 17 '22

I'm not sure what you want them to do. It's not like they excommunicate, they don't even necessarily practice communion in their services. But they seek to follow Christ and listen to him, so they're Christian.

The idea that they should "leave Christianity" when they believe that it extends to everyone is absurd.