Hello everybody - is it ok to post YouTube video links?

[Xray]

In the vid I quoted I point to parallels between the (Christian - Glenn Beck, Ann Coulter, etc.) Tea Party and a similar (secular) phenomenon in Germany.

I'm from Germany too (haven't seen the video yet) - what "similar secular phenomenon in Germany" are you referring to exactly?

I believe there to be a reason why the American Christians are (curiously) largely in the role of being defenders of capitalism which has to do with the reformation (which is a heritage of both the US and Germany, only in Germany it has secularized away).

Do you have Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism in mind here?

[john42t]

In the vid I quoted I point to parallels between the (Christian - Glenn Beck, Ann Coulter, etc.) Tea Party and a similar (secular) phenomenon in Germany.

I'm from Germany too (haven't seen the video yet) - what "similar secular phenomenon in Germany" are you referring to exactly?

I mean the extraordinary popularity of Thilo Sarrazin in harsh contrast to his condemnation by all the state media, politicians and intellectuals. There are many differences, but in both the US and Germany there is an increasing division between net tax payers and net tax receivers (intellectual / political establishment). Actually the division was always there, that's what the hippy revolution was about. But now the "conservatives" (in the net tax-paying sense) are back in both countries.

There's common ground between Sarrazin and Beck/Coulter if one looks at it in a very abstract way. It's just to abstract for those individuals (or their fans) to see, as the former is still very statist and secular, the latter are extremely minarchist and religious. But in their respective contexts they have a similar role in the debate individual vs collective and the debate itself follows similar patterns.

I believe there to be a reason why the American Christians are (curiously) largely in the role of being defenders of capitalism which has to do with the reformation (which is a heritage of both the US and Germany, only in Germany it has secularized away).

Do you have to Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism in mind here?

Yes, that's what led me there. It changed my view on religion fundamentally.