by Bruce T. Gourley
Published June/July 2016
(Baptist Studies Bulletin Archives Index)
Married three times and a serial adulterer. A hero to white supremacists. A textbook case of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. A con man of con men, recently dismissing his life-long, pathological lying as business as usual. Involved in more than 3,500 lawsuits over his illegal and/or unethical business practices. A billionaire with a history of not paying taxes. Far and away the most dishonest presidential candidate ever analyzed by nonpartisan fact-checking organizations, and quite possibly the most dishonest candidate in the entirety of American history.
Even so and evidencing remarkable disconnect with the reality that is Donald J. Trump, some 78% of white evangelicals plan on voting for the presidential candidate whose life and actions are antichrist in nature. Among the 78% is Jerry Falwell, Jr., who insists that Donald J. Trump is “God’s man to lead this great nation.“
Prominent evangelical guru James Dobson, while endorsing Trump, declared “I can tell you most evangelicals I know have decided for various reasons that they will really have only one choice for president, and that is Donald J. Trump. I believe it’s a good choice. America needs strong and competent leadership.”
Robert Jeffress, pastor of the influential First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas, is also among the majority of white evangelical Trump supporters. He does not deny Trump’s many sins, yet enthusiastically chooses the crooked billionaire over Jesus. When asked if he would support “a candidate who embodies the teaching of Jesus” and would govern according to Gospel teachings, Jeffress declared, “Heck, no. I would run from that candidate as far as possible.”
Jeffress explained his opposition to Jesus by saying: “Nowhere is government told to forgive those who wrong it, nowhere is government told to turn the other cheek. Government is to be a strongman to protect its citizens against evildoers. When I’m looking for somebody who’s going to deal with ISIS and exterminate ISIS, I don’t care about that candidate’s tone or vocabulary, I want the meanest, toughest, son of a you-know-what I can find, and I believe that’s biblical.”
According to Jeffress’ interpretation of the Bible, an evil president is required to protect the nation from … evil persons.
Contrasting majority white evangelical support for Trump, in some states 0% of African Americans plan on voting for Trump. You read that right: zero percent. The most religious demographic in America, African Americans, historically victimized and terrorized, know evil when they see it.
The few white evangelicals who dare oppose Trump often point to the candidate’s racism.
Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission calls Trump’s racist campaign “moral sewage” and “darkness.” By extension, Moore declares that evangelicals who support Trump are rejecting Jesus. Southern Baptist evangelical and South Carolina U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham warns of the “evil force” driving Trump, whom he has derided as “a race-baiting, xenophobic religious bigot.”
What does all this mean for the (white) American evangelical movement? Even before Trump, many American evangelicals had abandoned Gospel convictions in favor of an unholy political alliance with the Republican Party. Now, many have gone even further.
Michael Gerson, evangelical and former speech writer for George W. Bush, notes that in choosing Trump, white “evangelicals are not merely accepting who he is; they are changing who they are.”
Or maybe not. Perhaps choosing Trump over Jesus is the latest manifestation of a four centuries-long racist element within white American Christianity expressed in steadfast opposition to human rights and equality for minorities.
As to what happens next, Michael Ferris, another prominent evangelical figure, insists that evangelicals’ embrace of Trump “marks the end of the Christian Right.”
Jonah Goldberg, prominent conservative political analyst and of Jewish faith, minces no words in visualizing what would happen if Trump attains the White House. “A Trump presidency is a ride straight to perdition, with a capital H.”
At the least, Donald Trump’s biography and campaign are saturated with an unprecedented litany of evil deeds and words, as even many of his supporters concede. It would seem that many white evangelicals, tempted by a political mirage of a strongman savior, have chosen to follow a new messiah into a wilderness of hatred and darkness.