In 1517 Martin Luther published his 95 Theses in Wittenberg, Germany, criticizing what he considered to be corrupt practices of the Roman Catholic Church. This event would cause ripple effects in Western Civilization that are still being felt today. From the middle of the 16th century through World War I, the European royal lineages were intermingled between Protestant and Catholic families and the conflicts that had been ongoing since the middle ages now had a new religious frame of reference. Armies rallied around not only their preferred leader (whom they felt had the most legitimate claim to the throne) but that leader’s religion. The existence of a separate Ireland and Northern Ireland, as well as boundaries separating The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, for example, all are the results of conflicts dating back to the the schism between Catholicism and Protestantism throughout Europe.
Another development that emerged from the Protestant Reform movements were writings by Roger Williams and John Locke which applied Luther’s ideas related to salvation to more secular matters such as monarchs claiming a divine right to rule based on lineage. The 17th century works of Williams, Locke and others profoundly influenced a young man in the American colonies in the 18th century named Thomas Jefferson. As Jefferson and the other revolutionaries discussed how things ought to be, the concept of a secular government which was neither beholden to a religion nor interfered with its citizens’ right to worship as they pleased evolved. Too many Americans today seem to have no idea how important the concept of separation of church and state has been to the development of an industrialized world. But they should keep in mind that countries in the Middle East were world leaders in science and technology prior to becoming Islamic theocracies. Without oil, these countries would arguably be irrelevant today.
Fast forward to 1980. After the failed presidencies of traditional Republican Richard Nixon and liberal Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan emerged with a theme of “Morning in America.” He presented his vision for America that included lower taxes, fewer regulations, and less government interference in the daily lives of Americans. Reagan used religious imagery, like “city on a hill” and preached American exceptionalism. Even though Carter was perhaps the more devout Christian (my opinion), Reagan became extremely popular with the growing evangelical movement in the U.S. and they helped propel him to a decisive victory over Carter. Shortly after his inauguration, 2,500 evangelical leaders lead by Moral Majority leader, Jerry Falwell, met in Washington D.C. to celebrate an election which they saw as a sign from God. They anticipated that the 1980s would be a time of spiritual awakening in the U.S. and for the first time in U.S. history, white, evangelical churches became active in partisan politics and embraced the idea that government has a role in turning people back to God.
This shift from “separation of church and state” to a more activist Christian community stoked fear in the hearts of traditional liberals. Concerns about Christian Nationalism became common themes in universities. I took a graduate level course in 1982 in which we read five or six books discussing the emerging threat of Christian Nationalism. Fear of censorship lead the art community, Hollywood, Broadway and the popular music scene to really cement themselves as anti-Republican, a trend that continues to this day.
Today, Republicans have the stronger policy positions on many, if not most, issues that Americans care about. The Biden economy has performed better than is being portrayed on Fox News, but it’s hard not to believe that Democratic plans to continue to increase taxes and regulations, if implemented, will create a braking effect on the economy over time. Some argue it has already begun to slow. Republicans have unsuccessfully tried to make the border a significant issue over the last two election cycles, but the brilliant move by border state governors to ship migrants to blue state sanctuary cities has made immigration an election-day issue even in those areas.
But two issues are poised to haunt Trump even as he seeks to defeat the weakest incumbent presidential candidate…probably ever. The first is abortion. Trump is blamed for the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the left (and rightfully so). But Trump’s recent statement that abortion should be a state issue and not a federal one infuriated parts of his religious right base. Even the normally reliable Babylon Bee has taken jabs at Trump over his new, more neutral position.
I once worked with a staunch Republican who refused to vote for Bob Dole against Bill Clinton because Dole wasn’t strongly enough pro-life for him. He sat the election out. In a more recent example, Nikki Haley was unable to gain any support from segments of the religious right partly because of what I consider her sensible approach to the abortion issue. A recent poll by KFF indicates 12% of Americans (mostly younger) see abortion as their #1 issue when it comes to choosing candidates. Two thirds of Americans favor a national right to an abortion. As Trump backs away from evangelicals (and some Catholics) the question becomes, will he gain more votes from independents and moderates than he loses from evangelicals who have lost faith in him on the abortion issue? Time will tell.
The second issue is related but a little more complex. Perhaps in an attempt to appease those evangelicals he might have offended with his abortion comments, Trump began hawking the “God Bless the USA Bible.” Like his famous gold sneakers, Trump will receive royalties from the sale of these. In promoting this Bible that also includes copies of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence and the Pledge of Allegiance, he stated on Truth Social that “we must make America pray again.” If he gained any independent and moderate Democrat voters by becoming neutral on abortion, he likely lost them again with this move.
In reality, the evangelical movement has lost a lot of steam and political influence since the days of Jerry Falwell and Ralph Reed, but they still represent a sizable voting block. They helped elect George W. Bush and Trump, but they weren’t enthused enough about John McCain nor Mitt Romney to defeat Obama in 2008 and 2012, nor numerous enough to save Trump in 2020.
As I stated in an earlier blog, I don’t have a fear of Trump and Christian Nationalists somehow toppling our great nation and turning us into the Christian version of Iran. In fact, I have a greater fear of the influence of the progressive left driving us away from capitalism and towards some mirage that looks like a socialist utopia. The left’s support of pro-Hamas protests and riots on college campuses are a great example.
Even though I don’t see a Christian Nationalist version of that kind of violence and threats of violence happening anywhere, Trump’s pandering to a group whose influence is waning but still feared is likely to backfire. He has given the Biden team additional ammo to continue to portray his MAGA base, which includes those evangelicals, as true threats to Democracy, and they’ll use videos of Trump peddling King James versions of the Bible (the version preferred by fundamentalists, not scholars) as evidence he hopes to be the next William of Orange. America will have to decide if being stuck with (in my opinion) poor fiscal policy, poor energy policy, poor labor policy, poor border policy, and weak foreign policy is worth being protected from Christian Nationalism. I’m not sure it is, but I’m concerned I’m in the minority. Either way, we’ll get the President we deserve.