Are Christian Conservatives Responsible for America’s Cultural Decline?
The answer, at least according to podcaster Tim Pool: sort of.
Pool, who hosts the popular show “Timcast IRL,” made the comments during his February 3 episode in which he emphasizes that Christian tolerance plays a role in the rapid societal changes of recent decades.
During a segment in which he and reporter Charlie Spiering discussed the Biden administration’s political strategy, Pool said the perception that Christians are “super hateful” has brought America to this point. ‘history.
“It’s really funny how the left says Christians are all extremely hateful and all that,” Pool said. “And I think about that because I’m like, you know who I blame for everything that’s happening right now? Where are we in my generation? I blame Christian conservatives.
“And it’s because they are too nice to people, and they were very tolerant and accepting of so many really bad people that they continued to act in good faith and allowed these far-left communists to infiltrate institutions.”
Pool, 37, highlighted the history of Christianity in American politics and how conservatism paved the way for evangelicals to ultimately compromise their values for political gain.
“And because we’re good people, they say, ‘Well, you know, we should give these people a fair chance,’ and now you have communists crushing everything,” he added.
As an example, he cited the ongoing lawsuits against former President Donald Trump, calling the Republican Party “powerless” for failing to respond in kind to Democrats.
“I mean Donald Trump is being prosecuted, criminally charged and mercilessly abused in these jurisdictions. Not a single Republican jurisdiction opposes it,” he said. “I mean, maybe there’s one or two small ones here and there, but where’s West Virginia or Texas?”
Last March, during a podcast along with Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida and others, Pool linked growing lawlessness in America to the steep decline of Christianity.
“If every person in this country was a devout Christian…you wouldn’t need laws or police,” Pool said at the time.
Despite the oft-repeated talking point in mainstream media, academia, and elsewhere that Christians lack empathy toward non-Christian groups, a 2019 study study found that highly religious political conservatives are as likely as political liberals to report similar levels of empathy.
“Religious identification does not signal a static identity that individuals assume en bloc,” the researchers said. “Instead, religiosity is incorporated into the lives of individuals whose identities are already racialized, classed, and gendered; it is intersectional and, therefore, religiosity has a variety of interpretations and uses in daily life.
A Gallup from June 2023 survey found a double-digit increase in social conservative ideology among middle-aged adults between the ages of 30 and 64, as well as a “modest increase in social conservative ideology among younger adults.”
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