Bjorn Phillip Beer of Christian Democrats of America: What's Next for the Religious Left?
Sinclair Lewis said it better than I can: “When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross.” Bjorn Phillip Beer
I grew up in a small church that was affiliated with a major Evangelical denomination. I know the doctrine and theology, and all of the associated inconsistencies and explanations for them, the terminology, the practices, the values and the culture very well. I know the structures, tendencies, weaknesses, strengths and all of the other ins and outs that characterize Evangelical churches and Christians, and have shaped them into the branch of Protestant Christianity that they are today.
And I know the politics.
That's why I agree with Beer's contention that wedges can be driven into this right wing constituency and separate out enough voters to tip the balance of elections, from the local level right up to the presidential election. According to exit polls, the percentage of white, Evangelical voters who supported Trump dropped from 81% in 2016 to 75% in 2020. The overall number of Evangelical voters also dropped by 8%. If you look at the margins, especially in a state like Georgia, which Biden won and subsequently which elected two Democrats to the Senate, or North Carolina where Biden lost a very narrow race and where Democrats gained state legislative seats and the governor's mansion, you can see that the "wedge" has had an effect.
"A game-changing shift has happened in the last four years: while 81% of White Evangelicals voted for Trump in 2016, that number decreased to 75% in 2020 , according to exit polls. With the exception of Politico, I’m not finding any coverage of what is one of the more important stories out of the 2020 election. That some shift happened isn’t a surprise to me: organizations like Christian Democrats of America and Vote Common Good have been working incredibly hard at the grassroots to raise the voice of the “Religious Left.” The Religious Left vote was essential in the Georgia Senate races. It was likely pivotal in states flipping Michigan and Georgia towards Biden. You just haven’t heard this story because the mainstream media is stuck with a bogus narrative that Trumpism started in November 2016 out of thin air."
An Oxymoron
Evangelicals are not shy about making the claim that their theology and the way they practice Christianity is superior to other denominations and branches of the church. This claim is based on their belief that the original manuscripts of the Bible are without error and that their content is infallible in all matters, not just those pertaining to faith and practice. What that really means in practice, since the originals are no longer available to prove their inerrancy and infallibility, is that the individual interpretations of the pastor or preacher who is delivering the "word" is correct and is the only accurate interpretation of the two-thousand year old text.
Their "practice" is very heavy on moral behavior. They are very focused on sexual fidelity, which includes abstinence until marriage and opposition to divorce, abstaining from the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages, literal adherence to the ten commandments and any other directed behavior written into the text by the authors. Doctrinal fidelity and moral purity are considered to be the measure of the sincerity of one's faith, and dissenters are quickly labelled as trouble-makers.
So it is ironic that the former President, who built his reputation on what the Bible calls "debauchery" and general moral depravity, specifically having multiple extra-marital affairs on each of his three wives and publicly humiliating them, promoting fraudulent business ventures, failing to pay debts owed, and the pathological lying to cover it up as best as possible, attracted any Evangelicals at all. But he certainly did, and while many of them tried to justify it with some convoluted verbal and political acrobatics, most of them don't really see the contradiction between claiming to be a Christian with Christ-like behavior and Christian values, and support for Trump. That's because there's a high degree of "biblical illiteracy" among the faithful, and not many of them read or study the book they claim is the "sole authority for faith and practice," and "inerrant and infallible."
Those who do take it seriously, who read and study the scripture in its historical and cultural context and the nuances of its original languages, are also more likely to balk at supporting someone the Bible tells them to avoid because of their immorality.
For his part, Trump has carefully avoided making any kind of "conversion experience" commitment to his Evangelical admirers and supporters. Instead, he tells them that their values slow them down on the way to success, that turning the other cheek and loving your neighbor are good things to do, but they don't get you to the kind of political success and influence brought by cheating, lying and immoral behavior. The price he pays for this lavish support is cheap--he threw them a few Supreme Court justices who might, because of previous rulings or conviction, overturn Roe v. Wade, which, among politically motivated Evangelicals, is enough, regardless of what they have to swallow that comes with it.
American Evangelicals Do Not Share a Monolithic Perspective
White Christian Nationalism has always had a following among some Evangelicals, particularly those who are on the fringes and extremes of Pentecostalism and Fundamentalism. I'd say those churches and denominations make up slightly more than half of all of those who are identified as white Evangelicals, which is why they have such a large influence. Most of those who went charging into the Capitol building on January 6th were from those kinds of groups. They tend to look down on seminary training of pastors and church leaders and while they will claim to believe the Bible is without error and is infallible, interpret it by pointing to single verses lifted out of their context and claim that they are still "writing scripture" via direct revelation from God.
These are the people who follow personalities like Greg Locke, the Tennessee tent-church preacher who threatens mask wearers and vaccinated people and who claims that God tells him secrets about who the enemies are in his church, or Paula White, the prosperity gospel "Prophetess" whom former President 45 considers his "spiritual advisor." Birds of a feather, I suppose, she's a money worshipper just like he is. But there are plenty of Evangelicals who consider those people nut jobs, false prophets (Deuteronomy 18:22) and profiteers.
After January 6th, on my twitter and Facebook, I witnessed an observable shift among my friends and connections who identify as "Evangelical" and expressions of everything from muted disappointment at the visible images of the Jesus T-shirts, crosses and banners heading into the Capitol with the rest of the insurrectionists, to some who were clearly shocked, horrified and who saw the potential damage to the church's testimony and witness. There are a couple of on-line Evangelical media sources I read regularly that also mirror this same shift. I think that January 6th really was a wake up call for many Evangelical pastors and church leaders and ultimately, may have more than a single-digit percentage effect at the ballot box, especially if it is well-cultivated.
A Place to be Pro-Active
The Democratic Party needs to have some resources in place to help candidates figure out how to navigate through all of the possibilities. I tend to think that it is more likely to pick up voters out of this constituency by connecting conservative politicians to events like January 6th, or to white supremacist events and persons, or to previous remarks that put them among the "Vlad the Great" crowd. It would be a relatively small cost with a high yield. With the polarization we are now seeing in this country, flipping 5% of the Evangelical vote, helping another 3% or 4% vote for a third-party candidate, and getting another 2% or 3% to stay home will be decisive. It could help Democrats like Raphael Warnock hold his seat in Georgia, and pick up seats in Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Florida.
Plan ahead and make this kind of agenda part of the 2024 Presidential campaign. Republicans are constantly working to make inroads into Democratic constituencies, and it worked for them in 2016, when the lower turnout of African American voters for Hillary Clinton made a huge difference. This kind of strategy could also affect multiple local elections where, as Beer says in his piece, the politics have been "like the Hindenburg landing."
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