What A Christian Singer's Crimes Tell Us about the Epstein Saga
#MeToo for MAGA. Will this change anything?
We had to cancel our weekly Live with
& this morning because of technical issues, but what they were planning on discussing was so powerful and important that it’s worth covering in a post.The story starts with Michael Tait, the Christian rock superstar from the 1990s, who was the frontman of Christian maga bands DC Talk and Newsboys. Even many of us who didn’t grow up listening to Christian music or who weren’t particularly religious have probably heard of at least one of those bands.
But for those who grew up in conservative Christian circles, these bands were like the Beatles. His song, God’s Not Dead, became a huge hit on the MAGA playlist.
Michael Tait rode that fame into legend, his songs promoting abstinence, sobriety, and heterosexuality to his legion of young Christian fans. You’ll be surprised to learn that he, himself, lived up to none of those standards.
But it’s dramatically worse than his own hypocrisy. He was also abusing men and boys around him, destroying their lives and, in many cases, their careers. The stories are gruesome and horrifying, and I won’t go into them here. But if you have the stomach, the Guardian has covered this story in great detail HERE and HERE.
It’s reported that Tait believed he was invincible, immune to consequences for his actions.
If this sounds familiar, it should. MAGA — and the people who would one day become MAGA — have exulted male sexual predators for decades, while simultaneously refusing to believe the gut-wrenching accusations of their accusers.
The Christian right has built a doomsday machine of propaganda aimed at non-Christians, LGBTQ+, and anyone who doesn’t adhere to the wild strictures of their cult.
But they’ve cast stones at phantoms — the Deep Staters drinking the blood of newborns, etc — while their heroes, who are actual pedophiles, have literally infiltrated the government while they looked the other way.
Andra Watkins has spoken at length not just about the Christian Nationalist doctrine, but how CN men can do no wrong because they were ordained by God to act. Therefore, whatever those actions may be, they cannot be wrong.
You have to twist yourself into a pretzel for that to make sense. But now, as Trump considers pardoning Ghislaine Maxwell, a woman who has destroyed the lives of countless children, and the victims of Christian rock legend Michael Tait step into the light, we are seeing the results of this ignorance.
In a just world, people who victimize children would be punished and ostracized. But in the MAGA world, they are put in a position to pull the levers of power.
Lisa and Andra would have had a lot more to say about this. But I also wanted to make sure you saw this from Andra, because it’s a banger. All of the hypocrisy, all of the judgment, it’s all coming to a cubicle near you.
After All This, How Can Women STILL Support Trump? | Andra Watkins joins Lisa Senecal
“I was expected to look up to men who were weak and pathetic — and I knew they were even as a child.”
Again i wonder why each time i read some new "news". i hang my head down in disbelief ...by now i should know that nothing really nothing new this orange person will do , can surprise me .
does he really have these corrupt , mean atrocious ideas all by himself , or does he have a group of slaves like people searching for him , finding new unknown ways to show his cruelty ...?
i know a lot of people over seas , they ask questions , i am shamed .
Thanks, Sam. I wondered what happened to Lisa and Andra. This was indeed a powerful story concerning Christian conservative music and their influence on the MAGA movement. Actually, I don't know if I ever heard any of their songs. I have a very stubborn adversity to anything that reeks of fundamentalism--even music. How the CN men think they can do no wrong is not a surprise. For some reason I am not surprised that Tait did not live up to what you pointed out he wrote in his songs. They do protest or profess too much? After reading this I think I will clear my head by listening to Celtic Thunders, "A Place in the Choir." A little joy is warranted at this moment. Take care.