One of the best explanations for the solid support exhibited by white, American Evangelicals behind Trump, even though he claims no adherence to the biblically defined Christian faith they practice, and whose lifestyle is diametrically the opposite of the morals and values and character traits on which Jesus centered the Christian gospel is offered by Andrew Whitehead, a sociologist and Evangelical Christian who is professor of sociology at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, and who earned his Ph.D. at Baylor University. According to this piece in Baptist News Global by senior columnist Greg Garrett, in his new book, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church, Whitehead offers this explanation:
"The reason so many American Christians are committed to idolizing self-interested power, power that only serves 'us' is that we've been taught and discipled to see that route as a faithful expression of the Christian faith. We were told over and over that the only way to be a morally upright American citizen was to vote for a particular political party to ensure our specific and 'chosen' moral issues--like abortion and homosexuality--were front and center in the culture wars and to ignore other issues--like racial injustice--as merely politics."
The political position has tended to overwhelm doctrine and theology, since it is more visible and more familiar to people than their church's doctrine and theology. That's a very unfortunate statement about the state of preaching in today's Evangelical churches, and about their educational ministries, that people are willing to shift loyalties and are unable to distinguish between church doctrine, theology and practice, and something that is of a partisan, political nature. This has led to movements within churches where pastors have encountered opposition and criticism for emphasizing some of the basic, core doctrines of Christianity, things which Jesus himself preached, taught, and made part of the Christian gospel.
While I understand that some of my friends who are Democrats would just as soon avoid a discussion about Christian faith, and see no validity in its practice, I think it is important for them to develop an awareness of the kind of hypocrisy and corruption that is occurring as a result of this infiltration of far right wing extremism intersecting with Christian doctrine in conservative churches in order to be able to clearly point out the hypocrisy and help reverse the trend that has been held by a majority of white Evangelicals since back during the Reagan administration.
Knowing that this kind of religious right politics cannot be supported by the Bible is important when it comes to countering it, and then preventing it from being a decisive factor in the next election. As Garrett mentions in his article, there are Evangelicals, including some leaders, who have long been discontent with Trumpism's creeping invasion of the GOP and of the church, and they are taking note of the facts in books like this one by Whitehead. As things shape up for 2024, if this keeps 1 or 2% of GOP voters at home on election day, that's a win. From my observation point, it will do more than that.
A Lynch Mob Threatens to Toss a Man Over a Cliff for Promoting Justice
What's happening in many churches today runs parallel to similar historical events. About 2,000 years back, a local man who was gaining a reputation as an exciting, engaging preacher who was winning converts and changing the status quo decided to go back to his hometown one Saturday. His reputation had preceded him, though most people in town knew him as the carpenter, Joseph's, son. So it was that he was invited to read the scripture in Synagogue that Saturday.
Jesus read this passage from Isaiah:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
Rolling up the scroll, he said, "Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."
Apparently, though they did not use the term "woke" back then, reading the prophet was one thing. Declaring one's self to be its fulfillment, especially this particular place where there's an emphasis placed on, uh, social justice and helping those who need a hand up, was over the edge, pardon the pun. So the leaders of this congregation, a synagogue of Jews in this case, grabbed Jesus, dragged him up to the edge of a cliff and intended to throw him off. Miraculously, he escaped from them.
Jesus was almost executed, by the members of the congregation in which he grew up, for what essentially amounted to being "woke."
Thanks to Andrew Whitehead for pointing this story out and including it in his book.
Blind to the Truth
Christians are Disturbed When They Find Out Jesus was Woke
Clearly, failure to discern truth is not a new problem. In the zeal that white, conservative, Evangelical Americans display for extremism on the right in politics, they must abandon biblical principles and teachings. What we are seeing now would indicate that they are not just abandoning these things because the political pull is stronger, they no longer associate issues related to justice, especially for the poor and disadvantaged, with the Christian gospel. It's a strong temptation to think that these blessings are only for those who are the self-proclaimed righteous.
Every time I see an author or an article or something along these lines, I promote it. It's possible to remain completely committed to Christian faith and practice and be a proud, loud, enthusiastic supporter of Joe Biden and the Democratic Party. Those things are not mutually exclusive.
I was raised in an Evangelical church and have spend a lot of time in them. I know exactly how deep superstition, ignorance and stubborn resistance to the truth can run. I also know that there are people who are committed to the practice of these Christian values which are real and they are not locked in a dungeon of right wing extremism. Many pastors fear retribution, or being "starved out" by a congregation that will turn on them if their politics don't reflect cultural religious conviction rather than genuine Christian gospel values.
There can't be a connection between Christian faith and practice, and the use of political power to achieve those ends. Whitehead points out that this has become a common conviction for many Christians who miss passages of scripture in which Jesus deliberately separates the Christian gospel from the political authority of the state, and never establishes any kind of theocratic rule. That was the old covenant, which Jesus claims to have fulfilled, according to Matthew 5:17. He told Pontius Pilate, just before his crucufixion, "My kingdom is not of this world." And one of his more often quoted answers to this difficult question was "Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things which are God's."
So voting for the "right" candidate, based on perception of their position on a few moral or social issues is not a demonstration of faith or of any kind of moral "uprightness." And thinking along those lines creates a divisiveness that runs counter to Christian morals and values and everything that Jesus taught.
Jesus was the one who said, "You will know the truth and it will set you free."
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