3w ago

Grand Rapids, Michigan priest defrocked over mimicking Elon Musk Nazi-like salute

www.mlive.com Grand Rapids priest defrocked over mimicking Elon Musk Nazi-like salute

The priest made the controversial salute to a crowd at the National Pro-Life Summit in Washington, D.C.

The Anglican Catholic Church has removed a Grand Rapids priest for making an alleged Nazi salute.

Calvin Robinson, priest-in-charge at St. Paul’s Anglican Catholic Church, was defrocked Thursday, Jan. 29, after church leadership learned he’d made the controversial salute to a crowd at the National Pro-Life Summit on Jan. 25 in Washington, D.C.

70 comments

On the bright side, it’s goes to show you the act of doing a Nazi salute is unacceptable, and it should be for Elon, too.
- If billionaires aren't held to the same standards and laws under the social contract as others they also should be exempt from its protections.
  
  They're protected, but not bound.
- Agreed
- It's up to who, the board of directors for X and Tesla? They will fire him if they want to, but evidently they don't.

So many people are going to face consequences for doing what Elon did, and Elon isn't going to be one of them.
- Glad to see at lest someone is though!
  
  Catholic Church is reasonably based.
  My fellow parishioners however are closer to the asshole priest than Church level officials unfortunately .
  Pope Francis is an ally we need for these times.

why do we keep saying it's nazi-like? If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck....
- Golly-gee, I sure hope Elon doesn't get hit by a bullet-shaped object.
  
  They're just death-like symptoms. It's because he's autistic and it's a hate crime to investigate further.
  
  That would make for quite the headache!
- because elon can sue anyone into oblivion with a flick of his eyebrows
- Because they've only talked about camps, they haven't actually started them yet.
  
  You don't think the Guantanamo expansion is already underway? I mean yeah, logistics, but I'm sure this was well planned before it was announced. I wouldn't be surprised if construction was already underway.

Well done to the church for sticking to the principle that Nazi salutes will not be tolerated. But apparently it's an "Elon Musk salute" - you know, that one Elon Musk invented all on his own, just like the electric cars, space rockets and PayPal.

So this is going to be the next 'Lets go Brandon' type dog whistle. People are going to say 'my heart goes out to you' with a smirk and a wink, aren't they.
- Looks like it's already starting...
  https://jalopnik.com/cybertruck-owners-say-they-are-worried-about-hate-crime-1851750336
  
  holy fuck.
  "not a cult" tho.
  
  That makes sense considering how stupid you have to be to buy one of those. Owners of other models get to claim they didn't know Elon was a POS when they bought it, but it was undeniable before pre-orders for that thing were available
- They already are lol, there was that other lady who did that exact thing
  
  Ah yes, the other lady.

Nice to see some journalist calling a Nazi salute a Nazi salute.
- You need to go away from corporate media to see it called what it really was.
- Always a small independent outlet. Never big mainstream sources.

sigh of course it was someone from Kent County.
- Is that where the Michigan Nazis are? I don't know anything about Michigan.
  
  Kent County is in the northern part of the lower peninsula. The most well known city in the area is Grand Rapids, home of the DeVos family (Amway, Former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos). In more recent history they have usually been right leaning, and the sheriff's office had been in the news for not the greatest reasons.
  That's what I know and colors my perception. I'm honestly surprised that Harris won that county, so maybe there is a culture shift up there.
  
  There are hate and white supremacist groups scattered all over the state, more so as you move further from Detroit and Lansing as the major metropolitan areas. If there was a bigotry capital though I'd put my money on Howell.
- Technically he's British. He's from Nottingham.
  He's just drawn to places where being a throbber is considered ok.
  
  So he's an immigrant, aligning himself with the immigrant-hating Trump fascists. How stupid exactly is he? I guess he thinks they'd never "deport" him to a camp because he's one of the good ones.
- IKR?

Surprisingly good response from the church.
- Yes I was not expecting that. Especially with the surprising number of nutjobs on that side of the state.

I guess kudos to them for having standards. Honestly the catholics seem to be catching a decent amount of this administrations ire. The pope has already postered against Trump. I don't find the catholic org to be a good judge of moral character, but better with us than against us.
- This was the Anglican Catholic church, not the Vatican Catholic church.
- A temporary ally at least but good while it lasts.

Huh, so when a brown guy does it, it turns out it was a Nazi salute after all.

Of course it's a fucking Continuing Anglican Church. -_-
- Hey but props to them for their swift action.
  
  That's fair. I just don't find it very shocking that that is the tradition he felt safe doing that from within.

This will be viewed as a win by the MAGA crowd.
"So much for the 'tolerant Left.' "

As someone who used to live in Grand Rapids, MI, I'm not surprised at all. West Michigan is a place of polar opposites: Both progressive in pockets, but also deeply bible-belty. You can't drive more than a mile without passing at least a half dozen churches.
Also, it's where Betsy Devos' company and one of the largest for-profit charter school organizations in the country is based.
- You're drawing a line between progressives and catholics, but the catholics just defrocked a nazi.
  
  As someone who grew up in a Catholic environment, I'm amazed that many Americans look upon highly on Catholics. It's just as bad as any religious groups, I assure you. History is repeating (or rhyming again depending on your pov) of several ultraconservative Catholic clergies being far right sympathisers. Just before World War 2, there was a Nazi sympathising American Catholic priest who regularly broadcast on the radio berating Franklin Roosevelt and his policies (his radio station was shut down after the US entered the war). The Vatican has also been criticised by many for being quiet on the persecution of the Jews by the Nazis. Although, on the one hand, many parish did shelter Jews and called out the Nazis, but many Catholics were fans of Hitler and his party.
- I grew up there, and that's pretty accurate. Very conservative Dutch christian area, but not completely dominated by that ideology. The church on every block depiction is quite true in some places. While there are little areas that can be more progressive, still not exactly a safe place to be too different. From my experience working there, LGBT folks were often understated, kept their personal life away from coworkers. Definitely a lot of quiet bigotry and discrimination, sometimes outright verbal and other abuse. Easier to recognize it now that I'm older and moved away. I've been gone for two decades, but probably still the same.
- As well as Amway. Honestly, downtown Grand Rapids has one of the best downtowns in the region. A lot of small independent bars and eateries. I especially recommend The Pyramid Scheme.

MAGA people: you are NOT in the club. Your vote was helpful, though.

Didn't take long for the qons to start taking the hood off.
Not surprised at all. A lot of dipshits think that Worthington's Law will be extended to them and I bet we see more of this shit. Just like we saw RW assholes throwing racist tantrums at Starbucks workers and so on right after donvict's "win" in 2016....
A refresher on Worthington's Law (and so very many stupid Americans think this way):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbU4VRs2rro

good ol catholic church.
nazi salute: bad.
raping children: good.
- Putting your hand up at a 45° angle: Bad
  Putting your hand up a 10 year old's dress: Fine

I'm blocked from reading this story but I read this one and am confused: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/calvin-robinson-priest-defrocked-salute-b2689335.html is this man in the UK or US?
- "Robinson was a well-known conservative commentator and priest in the U.K. before joining St. Paul’s in September 2024. The church’s website still has him listed as priest-in-charge"
  
  Thank you very much. No idea why I couldn't access the article. Can we send him back?

There should be a separation of church and state when the state is doing their 1930’s Germany impression.

It's almost like all these people are fucking around and finding out. Remember, we are the plebes not billionaries.

70 comments