I wrote about JD Vance's visit to Dachau today, and how Christians appropriate sites of Jewish murder into Christian penitential narratives: religiondispatches.org/jd-vance-is-... - ThreadSky

joelhs.bsky.social • 8 days ago

I wrote about JD Vance's visit to Dachau today, and how Christians appropriate sites of Jewish murder into Christian penitential narratives: https://religiondispatches.org/jd-vance-is-merely-the-latest-conservative-christian-to-use-nazi-camps-to-cleanse-his-antisemitism-sins/

Comments

511ian.bsky.social•8 days ago

One of the most powerful images from my day at Dachau a few years ago. I doubt JD took a moment to read it

vjm4democracy.bsky.social•8 days ago

If he did read it, he didn’t get it.

erinpraline.bsky.social•7 days ago

No he read it and agreed with the Nazis

urbanexile.bsky.social•8 days ago

They are disgusting.

hazyshadeofwintyr.bsky.social•8 days ago

I genuinely believe that to some Christians, all Jews are (metaphorically) Jesus on the cross. That's why they only seem to care when we start dying, but not a moment sooner.

I always think back to one tweet I saw shortly after Oct 8th—someone apologizing for not taking our discussions about

hazyshadeofwintyr.bsky.social•8 days ago

the dangers of antisemitism seriously until then. Because, of course, bomb threats at our preschools and people explicitly organizing political radicalization based on antisemitism aren't "serious enough" to warrant giving a shit.

This even extends to entire governments who provide lip service

hazyshadeofwintyr.bsky.social•8 days ago

and financial aid to Israel instead of doing anything to help their own Jewish neighbors, to say nothing about our own VERY mixed opinions about Israel—"we sent Bibi a few hundred million, so that's our 'get out of accusations of antisemitism free' card for the year."

hazyshadeofwintyr.bsky.social•8 days ago

They see the shoes and think not of the millions of people stripped of their humanity—but of Jesus politely taking off his shoes before stepping up to be crucified.

mnadelhaft.bsky.social•8 days ago

This is a brilliant piece. Thank you for writing and posting it.

authorlevai.bsky.social•8 days ago

I'm glad this article made a reference to "cheap grace" because that is the only kind Vance seems to believe in.

noisybrooklyn1.bsky.social•8 days ago

📌

elise1966.bsky.social•8 days ago

Even money he posts a selfie with a cringe caption that precipitates a divorce filing by his hostage-wife.

astill73.bsky.social•8 days ago

📌

neilforreal.bsky.social•8 days ago

J.D. Vance and his ilk would turn in Anne Frank in a Nuremberg minute.

orangecookie.bsky.social•8 days ago

There's something creepy about how he's holding her hand.

wojdyla13.bsky.social•8 days ago

Well done, Joel. These trips are nothing more than performative photo ops and drive-through penitence…hallmarks of modern Christian nationalism in the US. Vance, Musk, etc get to go right back to dehumanizing people (immigrants, LGBTQ) and can head back one day to “absolve” themselves again.

lenecharlotten.bsky.social•8 days ago

He scream out to EU this minute 😳😳😳😳🇺🇸🆘⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️

mrsdewinter.bsky.social•8 days ago

I'm a Lutheran, and your use of "cheap grace" is dead-on.

elisheva.bsky.social•8 days ago

in the immortal words of dara horn: people love dead jews

downerdog.bsky.social•8 days ago

Yes. I immediately thought of Dara Horn's insightful book "People Love Dead Jews," which helped me understand a lot of weird contradictions some Christians (and others) display towards Jews.

sirocco52.bsky.social•8 days ago

Hypocrite!

yrabl.bsky.social•8 days ago

With these people you can't tell whether it is just a visit or if they are taking notes

mleeds2048.bsky.social•8 days ago

JV Vance is a professional LIAR! He’s a sick & disturbed NAZI scum & he’s dead inside. No soul,shame or humanity.He has no remorse or regret about his actions,lies told, what he has done, & what he’s about to do. He has made his choice. He will receive no mercy in the end & will face retribution!

dmittelman.bsky.social•8 days ago

Well done, Joel.

antisocialworker77.bsky.social•8 days ago

So was the cosplay hillbilly out there doing research for our migrant concentration camps?

jpalmerdubs.bsky.social•8 days ago

I still it a bit of a chin scratcher that there is a Protestant church, a Catholic church, and a Carmelite convent at Dachau.

babajaga83.bsky.social•8 days ago

Although jewish people were majority of the victims there were also other victims including catholic priests

flere-imsaho.circumstances.run•8 days ago

dachau started as kz for the political prisoners; if my memory stll serves, these actually comprised the majority of the dachau prisoner numbers (closer to two thirds).

flere-imsaho.circumstances.run•8 days ago

*KL.

islandofreil.bsky.social•8 days ago

Of course there is. It's always about them, even when it's about what they did to us.

ausir.bsky.social•8 days ago

To be fair there were a lot of Christian clergy among Dachau prisoners too, it was the chief camp used for that purpose.

ausir.bsky.social•8 days ago

Not that it was not used for extermination of Jews as well eventually, but to a lesser extent than e.g. Auschwitz

ausir.bsky.social•8 days ago

I think the cross at Auschwitz is bad, but at Dachau somewhat more justified

islandofreil.bsky.social•8 days ago

I understand and appreciate the historical context, but -- outside of sympathizing with the ones who were slaughtered and with Righteous Gentiles -- I just don't have much charity for Christians in general when it comes to the Shoah.

donnaml.bsky.social•8 days ago

Don't forget the giant cross that's been ptominently displayed at Auschwitz since 1985, when Carmelite nuns put it up. All the efforts by Jewish groups to have it removed have been unsuccessful.

hrryan.bsky.social•8 days ago

Seriously? Wow. Talk about appropriation.

nancyannn.bsky.social•8 days ago

It’s all a fucking reality show where they perform for the ignorant, who read into the performances whatever they need to to keep supporting these monsters.

callidusdominus.bsky.social•7 days ago

It's grotesque seeing these creepy evangelicals use memorials to such slaughter to push their horrible narratives. Vance pretending to care about antisemitism is just another example of this.

fuzg.bsky.social•8 days ago

He may be visiting as a fan of the Nazis.

sharmake.bsky.social•8 days ago

This quote explains a lot of the weirdness around both expecting people who have suffered horror to be better people, and why people get disproportionately mad at people who have suffered doing bad things:

“that notion of suffering is a very Christian notion, that somehow you’re ennobled by it.”

nuitsdeyoung.bsky.social•8 days ago

Let's face it, Christianity is a cultural appropriation.

milesew.bsky.social•8 days ago

Very insightful piece. I knew that these visits bothered me and felt cheap and fake, but I hadn't made the connection to a certain brand of Christianity. Thank you

jay-baller-reborn.bsky.social•8 days ago

Dragging his immigrant wife around

itswanda.bsky.social•7 days ago

Usha is not an immigrant and unfortunately seems to be a willing participant in Christian fundamentalism and white supremacy. If anything, she's the ambitious recently right-wing one.

erbhedgehog.bsky.social•8 days ago

And then he will swear it is all a front and fake and that Nazis are really good people and Hitler is just misunderstood and then he will throw the Seig Heil Hitler salute

alexanderr.nafofellas.com•8 days ago

While whitewashing Russia's ongoing genocide of Ukraine.

blue44wp.bsky.social•8 days ago

Was he measuring the barracks?

patrick6669.bsky.social•8 days ago

It's like he's going for ideas.

godhelpus2025.bsky.social•6 days ago

I kept scrolling till I found it! My thoughts exactly!

margaretlarson.bsky.social•7 days ago

Grotesque

cynthiadolliole.bsky.social•8 days ago

Vance is void of any moral character, decency or integrity! A pitiful inhumane fool flailing to be relevant while exposing his corrupt soulless malignant Narcissism and evil demonic agenda. A truly disgusting and despicable fool indeed!🥴🤯😵‍💫🤮

helenchris20.bsky.social•8 days ago

https://www.zeit.de/politik/ausland/2025-02/jd-vance-afd-brandmauer-migration-sicherheitskonferenz-muenchen

deesdav.bsky.social•8 days ago

Bloody shameless

foxep2001.bsky.social•8 days ago

Vance is a Fasciolic.

soniachawla.bsky.social•8 days ago

He also met with AfD leaders. Kind of makes you wonder if the reason he visited Dachau wasn't to memorialize those imprisoned there.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/02/14/vance-munich-europe-security-ukraine/