Now That Some Evangelicals Have Sold Their Souls to Donald Trump, Will They Ever Recover?

The evidence for the corrupting power of tribal and religious politics and Donald Trump’s cult of personality is all around us. In 2011, for instance, only 30 percent of White Conservative Evangelicals said that “an elected official who commits an immoral act in their personal life can still behave ethically and fulfill their duties in their public and professional life.” In 2016, after Donald Trump was elected President, that number more than doubled to 72 percent. And it’s getting worse. White Conservative Evangelicals who were once the bastions of family values and traditional ethics are now far more tolerant of immoral acts than the average American. (1)

Terrified by Unquestionable Allegiance
Consequently, any religious movement that was created by the ideas of an original founder can be destroyed by the ideas of an imposter. America’s White Conservative Evangelical Movement is no exception. Donald Trump’s relationship to Christian truths are entirely ad hoc by his own admission. They are moreover far removed from what Jesus taught in the Gospels, such as humility and service or loving others as yourself. Not only does he get enjoyment from destroying anyone who stands in his way, but a history of repeated lying and distorting the truth has all but rained down shame and disgust on America, including its Constitution rule of laws.

Jesus warned of the Father of Lies, of greed and the love of wealth, and of people in positions of power who abuse and destroy others by “lording it over them.” He also warned of those who would deny refugee status to those fleeing war-torn countries, denying them a cup of cold water and food. In fact, he reserved his harshest denunciations for those who love their “chief seats,” who devour widows’ houses, who leave undone the weightier matters of justice and mercy, and who make their religion a cloak for their immoralities. Surely, this includes favoring some racial and religious groups over others. Or bragging about “grabbing women’s pussies.”

This unqualified support of a leader regardless of their ideas and actions is precisely what terrified Jesus and the crafters of the U.S. Constitution. Both were concerned about abuses of power, of putting decisions in the hands of people who pay no price. President Trump’s promise to veto a bill which will prevent the U.S. from funding a Saudi-led war in neighboring Yemen that has been likened to genocide is one example. Another is the complete silence over three black churches burned down in Louisiana due to hate crimes, or the recent arrests at the border of Christian militia members trained to assassinate Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and George Soros.

The Gospel According To Trump
For now, former House Rep. Michele Bachman, R-Minn., speaks for many White Conservative Evangelicals when she exalted President Trump as being “highly biblical.” Speaking with “Understanding These Times,” a Christian radio show with millions of listeners, she offered praise of the commander-in-chief, adding there were so many examples of the president’s “standing for righteousness.” Their “standing for righteousness” of course consists of more war, of protecting more white privilege, and of denying a historical reality that the U.S. was ever an immigrant nation or founded on slavery.

It also includes Israel. Thanks to Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s new capital and his support of annexing the Golan Heights and West Bank, she said: “Americans will in all likelihood never seen a more godly, biblical president in our lifetimes.” Adding that “we need to not only be praying for him” but “we need to support him, in my opinion, in every possible way we can,” she then entreated her listeners to ensure that Donald Trump would be able to remove Iran and Venezuela’s leaders. Sanctions against China and Russia should continue too, especially since they’re known to some Evangelicals as God and Magog and figure into Armageddon.

Some warn that all this is a small example of a much larger pattern and problem of how White Conservative Evangelicals have unquestionably surrendered to Donald Trump. They also think it’s a new “Christian-like” version of them, grounded not so much in the ideals of Jesus as in white nationalistic grievances and a cult of personality. The same evangelicals, for example, who insisted that Bill Clinton’s affair with an intern was a cause for impeachment saw little to object to in a man whose commitment to marital fidelity is arguably even weaker than Bill Clinton’s. This includes Donald Trump’s many criminal activities, at least according the Mueller Report.

A Hill to Die On
Political scientist Ryan Burge just found that the percent of Americans claiming no religious affiliation is now so large it rivals the other two largest groups, Catholics and Evangelical Christians. According to the General Social Survey, White Conservative Evangelicals rank near the top of losing church members. It appears though that they’ve already chosen their hill to die on. And it’s not Calvary. To be sure, it’s a hill that contains Donald Trump’s “win at any cost” attitude. This goes for his ideas and presidency which are far removed from reality. It’s far removed from Jesus’ reality as well, a reality in which healing and love and peace was supposed to reign.

Whether White Conservative Evangelicals will ever recover from selling their souls to Donald Trump remains to be seen. Either way, he’s completely transformed the face of the United States and the faith of some Christians. This includes America’s character and American’s behavior towards others and the world. Both of which some think is now in grave danger.

Dallas Darling is the author of Politics 501: An A-Z Reading on Conscientious Political Thought and Action, Some Nations Above God: 52 Weekly Reflections On Modern-Day Imperialism, Militarism, And Consumerism in the Context of John’s Apocalyptic Vision, and The Other Side Of Christianity: Reflections on Faith, Politics, Spirituality, History, and Peace. He is a correspondent for www.WN.com. You can read more of Dallas’ writings at www.beverlydarling.com and www.WN.com/dallasdarling.

(1)Goldberg, Jonah. Suicide Of The West. New York, New York: Crown Forum Books, 2018, p. 347-348.