Protestants & Politics 12/23/20
Trump as God's 'Divine Plan.' Leaving SBC over CRT rejection. Christian Nationalism. Larycia Hawkins. Religious diversity and social connections.
News
In Texas, evangelical Republicans rally to keep Trump: He’s part of ‘the Divine Plan’
Some faith-and-values Republicans accepted the outcome of the election as divine plan. But others are preaching a QAnon-like conspiracy theory about Trump’s plan for an imminent reversal.
A few are even investing time and money in what has become the perpetual Trump campaign, complete with fundraising and ongoing rallies.
A Dec. 12 “Jericho March” for Trump in Washington ignited a national debate over whether evangelical Republicans’ worship of Trump has become outright idolatry.
Ignoring warnings, Kirk Cameron hosts 2nd caroling event as COVID-19 surges in SoCal
Dozens of people, most of them not wearing masks, showed up for a second caroling event hosted by actor Kirk Cameron in Thousand Oaks, as all of Southern California deals with a dangerous and massive surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths.
The crowd, appearing to be about 75 to 100 people, was caroling outside The Oaks mall - right next to a COVID-19 testing center.
There were people of all ages, from children to senior citizens, in the group. Few, if any, could be seen wearing masks or distancing from each other in aerial footage from AIR7 HD.
Opinion
‘We out’: Charlie Dates on why his church is leaving the SBC over rejection of critical race theory
I’ve learned there is an unwritten rule in the SBC: Don’t criticize an entity head.
It’s the same approach that created President Donald Trump, that makes sure that no Republican leader will challenge him publicly. That philosophy has weakened whatever prophetic potential the SBC has.
Mohler, to take one example, endorsed a philandering, racist president, thereby betraying his Black and brown Christian family. He told his trustees to uphold the slaveholder for whom his college is named. He hijacked the affirmation meeting of the Baptist Faith & Message, turning it into a conservative resurgence revival. In all that, he can never be criticized within his ranks. That’s the good ol’ boys’ club. That’s the old SBC.
The Biggest Threat to Christianity in the US
But what has done more damage to the witness of Christianity in the United States–Critical Race Theory and racial justice efforts generally or an allegiance to Christian Nationalism and political support for Trump?
Are Christians abandoning the “evangelical” label because people are saying “Black Lives Matter” or because some Christians cheer on a man who advocates a ban on Muslim immigration and separates children from parents at the border?
Are Black people leaving predominantly white churches because their pastors are preaching too much about racism or because they are parroting Republican talking points?
Are people leaving the Christian faith altogether because they can’t stand the talk of systemic racism and power structures or because they cannot reconcile a faith that commands adherents to “love your neighbor as yourself” with supporting a president who loves only himself?
Why Do They Hate Us? Race, Christian Nationalism, and White Evangelical Alienation from America
But there’s also a less comforting—and also quite true—answer to the question, “Why do they hate us?” There is a growing cultural divide between white Evangelical America and much of the rest of the nation that has nothing to do with Christian faithfulness.
No, I’m not talking primarily about Donald Trump. Support for the president is a symptom, not the disease. Instead, I’m talking about race, immigration, history, and the vast and growing gulf between white Evangelicals and the rest of the United States on issues that dominate so many American hearts.
Last month, the University of Virginia’s Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture published a report called Democracy in Dark Times that was designed to take a deeper look at the different beliefs and motivations of red and blue America. Its findings regarding white Evangelicals were startling. Evangelicals, it said, were emerging as the “cultural other”:
Five years later, Larycia Hawkins’ canceling foreshadowed evangelicals under Trump
Over the years that I filmed Hawkins, white evangelicals shocked the world by helping to elect Donald Trump, crowning him their “Cyrus” — a biblical reference to a pagan king appointed by God himself. The new president promptly enacted his so-called Muslim travel ban, and Muslim-Americans officially became pariahs in the U.S. At a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where Heather Heyer was murdered, those who fulminated the violence were called “very good people.”
Many of my African American church friends were anguished, flabbergasted that their white brethren seemed unable or unwilling to comprehend their trauma. Then came the killing of George Floyd — and COVID — and the barely suppressed tensions over race erupted on the streets.
If there was room in 2015 at the time to be surprised at how quickly Hawkins was ousted, that’s no longer the case. In the current climate, only a fool would wear a hijab or publicly support Black Lives Matter without anticipating being exiled from evangelical precincts.
Research
Religious diversity and change in American social networks: How our social connections shape religious beliefs and behavior
Past research has shown that regular participation in worship services is strongly associated with higher rates of sociability, civic involvement, and political engagement.[7] But the social benefits of regular religious participation may be disappearing or more limited than previously thought. Americans who are involved in religious communities do not report having more extensive social networks than those who are not. Americans who attend religious services at least once a week have similarly sized social networks as those who seldom or never attend. Seventeen percent of Americans who attend services once a week or more often report having no close social ties, while an identical number (18 percent) of those who seldom or never attend also report having no immediate social connection. However, Americans who regularly attend religious services are slightly more likely to have social networks with at least six members (29 percent vs. 25 percent).
The Coronavirus Pandemic’s Impact on Religious Life
White evangelical Protestants (75%) and white Catholics (59%) are the only major religious groups among whom majorities believe that churches should be able to hold in-person services even when the government has issued orders limiting social gatherings. Substantial majorities of Hispanic Catholics (63%), non-Christian religions (67%), and religiously unaffiliated Americans (75%) oppose allowing churches and other religious organizations to continue to hold in-person services. Other religious groups are more evenly divided on this question: white mainline Protestants (48% favor vs. 51% oppose), Hispanic Protestants (49% favor vs. 50% oppose), Black Protestants (44% favor vs. 53% oppose), and other Christians (53% favor vs. 44% oppose).