Why Do So Many Christians Support Trump?

I'm going to break my rule about not commenting or reporting on current events for this op ed. I decided this because I saw a clip on the news recently of a energetic (mostly mask free) rally by evangelical Christians in support of Donald Trump and it triggered my gag reflex. I've always found Christian conservatives troubling. This isn't because I am a Christian (I'm not---I'm a Daoist) or even because I was raised a Christian (I wasn't). It is because I've studied Christianity in great detail. Or, to be more accurate, I've studied the Gospels which purport to be the teachings of Christ---which is often a very different thing.   

I did a lot of research on line to try to find some sort of explanation for what is going on here, and I think I found it through a short You Tube animation put out by act.tv. 

The main point of the video is that old thing about people and privilege. White evangelical Christians in the USA are used to seeing America as "their country", instead of it belonging to everyone equally. That's why they complain bitterly, for example, if someone suggests that Christian religious symbolism doesn't belong in the public sphere. If you are used to being in a privileged position, having those special privileges removed doesn't seem like a move towards equality---instead it seems like you are being discriminated against.

This hypothesis not only explains why many white evangelicals support Trump, it has the added bonus of explaining why most non-white ones don't. While it's true that Hispanic and Black Americans tend to be more religious than whites, they certainly have not had much experience believing that America is a "Christian nation". They certainly don't have a privileged position in society, which means that the legal and demographic changes identified in the above video don't necessarily seem threatening to them. 

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I think that this is an excellent argument and I think it captures a key element that is fuelling the nuttiness that is 2020. But I'm a philosopher by training and vocation, and I'd like to tease out another strand and share it with my readers. 

In particular, I'd like to take a look at that idea that America is a "Christian nation". When I spent time reading the Gospels I found that one of the key features of it was what the King James version calls "the kingdom of God" and what the Scholar's version calls "God's Imperial domain". The conclusion that I came to was that this is not the modern nation state---like the USA. Instead, it refers to a minority population of individuals who've chosen to associate with one another based upon a shared conception of the universe. 

This is a key point. People are born American citizens, but from what I could see they have to freely choose to live the Christian lifestyle. This sets them apart. And that lifestyle means that they are never---nor should they aspire to be---dominant members of a society. That's a key point, and I believe that that is what the "parable of the leaven" is all about. 

Heaven's imperial rule is like leaven which a woman took and concealed in fifty pounds of flour until it was all leavened. (Matthew 13:33, Scholar's Version. Repeated in Luke 13:20-21)

"Leaven" is yeast, and this is about adding it to flour to make bread. The idea is that God's imperial domain isn't about taking over and ruling, instead, it's about a minority of people exerting influence subtly and without being obvious about it.

This is an idea that I found repeated over and over again in the "Good News". For example, take a look at Matthew 6:1-4.

Take care that you don't flaunt your religion in public to be noticed by others. Otherwise, you will have no recognition from your Father in the heavens. For example, when you give to charity, don't bother to toot your own horn as some phony pietists do in houses of worship and on the street. They are seeking human recognition. I swear to you, their grandstanding is its own reward. Instead, when you give to charity, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so your acts of charity may remain hidden. And your Father, who has an eye for the hidden, will applaud you. (Scholar's Version)

and

And when you pray, don't act like phoneys. They love to stand up and pray in houses of worship and on street corners, so they can show off in public. I swear to you, their prayers have been answered! When you pray, go into a room by yourself and shut the door behind you. Then pray to your Father, the hidden one. And your Father with his eye for the hidden, will applaud you. And when you pray, you should not babble on as the pagans do. They imagine that the length of their prayers will command attention. So don't imitate them. After all, your Father knows what you need before you ask. (Matthew 6:5-9, Scholar's Version)

Of course, everyone has heard about the division between God and Caesar's "due". This seems to be be a pretty strong endorsement of the idea of the division of church and state. 

--tell us what you think: Is it permissible to pay the poll tax to the Roman emperor or not?" 

Jesus knew how devious they were, and said, "Why do you provoke me, you pious frauds? Let me see the coin used to pay the poll tax."

And they handed him a silver coin.

And he says to the, "Whose picture is this? Whose name is on it?"

They say to him, "The emperor's."

Then he says to the, "Pay the emperor what belongs to the emperor, and God what belongs to God!" (Matthew 22:17-21, Scholar's Version)

That's about it for the "God talk" in this post, but I wanted to give readers a bit of a feel for the Gospels as I read them. 

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I take away two things from the above quotes. 

First, the Jesus of the Gospels didn't have a lot good to say about hypocrites (the "phonies" of the Scholar's Version). This is very different from my understanding of modern conservative Christianity, which is a lot more concerned about "rebellion" than hypocrisy. That's why they seem to have a bottomless supply of patience for the awful behaviour of many evangelical leaders. It is also why they put up with the disgraceful way Trump treats people---especially women. Instead, what really seems to grind their gears are folks who won't even pay lip service to the idea that America is a "Christian nation". (If you wonder what I'm talking about here, I've written an extensive post on this subject in another blog I did for years.)

Second, it seems to me that God's imperial domain isn't so much about gaining power and using it to exert influence on society. Instead, it seems to be more about creating an alternative "marginal" community that lives within mainstream society but isn't "of" it. That's how I read the "leaven" parable. It's also how I understand the early church operated before it became the state religion of the Roman Empire.

The Jesus of the Gospels isn't someone who hangs out with the powerful, instead he's someone who lives with the poor, downtrodden, and, the "outsider". I don't see him as being invited to the White House---instead, he'd be in a soup kitchen handing out bread or standing in between a safe injection site and a mob seeking to shut it down. He'd be hiding illegal immigrants from government agents, not rallying around and supporting a racist who separates children from their parents.

Indeed, I simply cannot see how a real Christian could possibly support Donald Trump. Moreover, I cannot see how one could support a lot of conservative causes. That's because whenever I look at the people who talk about the USA or Canada being "Christian nations" it seems to me that they have a much, much, much greater emphasis on the "nation" (as they define it) part of that label than they are putting on the "Christian" bit. And as I read the book, it seems pretty obvious that Jesus was really teaching something very, very different from any type of nationalism.

Boston Globe, Fair Dealing provision.

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Furthermore I say unto you, the Climate Emergency must be dealt with!