I loath identity politics in all of its forms and bristle at trite labels that serve as a foundation for widespread incivility, vitriol, and xenophobia, but I will submit to the label “evangelical Christian Republican” in this op-ed as short-hand for a world view and political identity that is often misunderstood and under-represented in the content and dialogue that take place in so-called mainstream media.
I am a minority within a minority in the Republican party: I hold evangelical conservative views on a wide range of issues, but I have never been a supporter of former President Trump. Evangelicals have been handed the credit or blame for the rise of Trump to the presidency, but evangelicals are not a monolithic voting block and, even for many who supported Trump, the nod was given reluctantly with much inner turmoil and after much debate.
Trump has done substantial damage to the office of the presidency, the nation, the Republican Party, and evangelical Christianity itself. As one author lamented, “When the Christian faith is politicized, churches become repositories not of grace but of grievances, places where tribal identities are reinforced, where fears are nurtured, and where aggression and nastiness are sacralized. The result is not only wounding the nation; it’s having a devastating impact on the Christian faith.” (Peter Wehner, “The Evangelical Church is Breaking Apart: Christians must reclaim Jesus from his church,” The Atlantic, October 24, 2022).
Quoting historian George Marsden, Wehner further explains, “When Trump was able to add open hatred and resentments to the political-religious stance of ‘true believers,’ it crossed a line… Tribal instincts seem to have become overwhelming.” The dominance of political religion over professed religion is seen in how, for many, the loyalty to Trump became a blind allegiance. The result, Wehner says, is that many Christian followers of Trump “have come to see a gospel of hatreds, resentments, vilifications, put-downs, and insults as expressions of their Christianity, for which they too should be willing to fight.” (Id.)
When America looks at the evangelical expression of Christ’s church and the outcome of the church’s political activism in the Republican party, sadly they see the angry rich businessman and former president, Donald Trump, who grabbed power for power’s sake and not for the sake of the Jewish carpenter, Jesus Christ, who meekly gave up his life to the political and religious establishment of the day to show humanity the power of love.
Mr. Trump replaced the beatitudes with an attitude that disregarded facts, exalted arrogance, appealed to the angry grievances of some Americans while verbally abusing others, and undermined our system for peacefully passing power from one leader to the next. However, “Jesus specifically told us that we are not to emulate the ugly ways of Caesar in grasping for power and dominance. Instead we are to choose the counterintuitive way of humility, service, and sacrificial love. These things are inherently beautiful. But we have a hard time learning this lesson.” (Brian Zahnd, “Beauty Will Save the World: Rediscovering the Allure and Mystery of Christianity,” 2012)
If time permitted, I could cite at least 1,000 destructive Trump statements and actions that are not consistent with our country’s shared ideals and values. Further, Trump completely destroyed our shared understanding of what leadership in this country should act like, sound like, and symbolize. Trump certainly does not act or sound like a president — or a Christian. (I would not hold him to this high standard but for his alleged profession of faith and the related zealous support he has among my evangelical Christian brothers and sisters.) Character matters when we call ourselves by the name of Christ.
As Mark Galli, the editor in chief of Christianity Today, pointed out, “Trump’s…
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