this is getting more attention than i expected so i want to clarify here that while i absolutely want more people to be aware of the quiverfull cult and the way that it facilitates horrific abuse, i mainly wanted to highlight one of the more blatant examples of how christian nationalism and white supremacy are intertwined. i’m not saying here that every “pro-life” asshole or even every legislator involved in this shitshow are secretly quiverfull people, but that the quiverfull cult is an example of people who say the quiet part out loud: “the goal of the systems of power that we uphold is to eternally perpetuate said systems by indoctrination from womb to tomb.”
if you look at fundamentalist extremists, they are CONSTANTLY saying the quiet parts out loud. and once you hear it, you start to get better at picking up on it when it IS quiet. fundies will openly talk about structuring their lives around hierarchies like the “umbrella of protection” where god rules over man, who rules over his wife, who rules over the children. they will say that a woman’s ultimate purpose in the world is to submit to her husband and to god by having lots of children and raising them to be good soldiers in god’s army. they will say that this is the only way to take back the world for god from sinners and degenerates.
remember “it’s adam and eve, not adam and steve?” where do you end up if you deconstruct that? “god made men and women and sex between them for a specific purpose.” what is that purpose? “to procreate. any sex that is not for the purpose of procreation is perverse.” why does god want us to procreate? “to be fruitful and multiply.” to what end? “to reclaim the world for him.”
you don’t have to be specifically a christian fundamentalist to follow this logic: perpetuate your beliefs and the structures built on their foundation by colonization, assimilation, eugenics, and lifelong indoctrination. whatever your flavor of fascism, it’s going to follow those principles.
there’s a reason why the court overturned roe v wade but buck v bell, which ruled in 1927 that compulsory sterilization of institutionalized disabled people was entirely constitutional and does not violate the fourteenth amendment, has not been touched in nearly 100 years. if they cared so much about a theoretical child’s right to be born, they wouldn’t be okay with the idea of forced sterilization. what they actually care about is eliminating and/or punishing undesirables: BIPOC, poor people, mad people, sick/disabled people, trans/queer people, intersex people, fat people, and literally any other demographic that they feel is a threat to the system.
another aspect of fundamentalism is prosperity gospel, which says that wealth and good health and happy circumstances are all rewards from god for honoring him. the implication of this is that sickness, poverty, or really any kind of misfortune are all moral failings. so long as you’re a good person, it won’t happen to you, and you don’t have to lift a finger to help the dirty sinners who have to sort out their own problems, unless your aim is to evangelize them. we see this ALL THE TIME from right wingers, whether in a religious context or not. individualist bootstrap ideology is exactly the same thing. if you’re in trouble, that’s YOUR problem. pull yourself up by your bootstraps and quit asking for handouts. if you die in the streets, well, your bad choices aren’t my problem.
it’s important now more than ever to reject this shit and to reach out to the vulnerable people around us and protect them as best we can. DO NOT let TERFs and white feminists dominate this conversation. their ideas have more in common with the fascists and the fundies than with us. pay attention to evangelist rhetoric, the ways cults use the BITE model to abuse people, the way people rationalize and justify child abuse, or abuse of patients by medical institutions, or employees by their employers. there’s a reason why all these systems echo each other in weird ways whether or not religion seems to be involved: systems of power seek nothing but to perpetuate themselves, no matter what that system is.
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