The religious right makes a virtue of White supremacy. And perhaps the best evidence of that is the combination of scapegoating and sexual scandal in their ranks. The religious right leads coordinated attacks on those they deem sinful: queer people, trans people, nonevangelical Black folks, and those who have had abortions. Evangelical preachers’ revelations of queerness, adultery, and breaching of various religious rules are accompanied by tears and shunning. A more complicated dynamic is that the distinction Mencken saw, between business and higher education on one side and religion on the
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