{"id":150927,"date":"2020-08-09T16:55:36","date_gmt":"2020-08-09T22:55:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=150927"},"modified":"2020-08-09T16:55:36","modified_gmt":"2020-08-09T22:55:36","slug":"small-town-evangelicals-talk-about-why-they-support-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2020\/08\/09\/small-town-evangelicals-talk-about-why-they-support-trump.html","title":{"rendered":"Small town evangelicals talk about why they support Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Fascinating, disappointing, interesting, and concerning article, talking with people in Sioux Center, Iowa, where Donald Trump gave his famous &#8220;Fifth Avenue&#8221; shooting comment during his 2016 campaign, but where he also promised his evangelical Christian audience that, under his presidency, &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/08\/09\/us\/evangelicals-trump-christianity.html\">Christianity will have power.<\/a>&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/svc\/oembed\/html\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2020%2F08%2F09%2Fus%2Fevangelicals-trump-christianity.html#?secret=X4TetEBtel\" data-secret=\"X4TetEBtel\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" title=\"\u2018Christianity Will Have Power\u2019\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI will tell you, Christianity is under tremendous siege, whether we want to talk about it or we don\u2019t want to talk about it,\u201d Mr. Trump said.<\/p>\n<p>Christians make up the overwhelming majority of the country, he said. And then he slowed slightly to stress each next word: \u201cAnd yet we don\u2019t exert the power that we should have.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If he were elected president, he promised, that would change. He raised a finger.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChristianity will have power,\u201d he said. \u201cIf I\u2019m there, you\u2019re going to have plenty of power, you don\u2019t need anybody else. You\u2019re going to have somebody representing you very, very well. Remember that.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>What struck me in reading this was the irony that a religion whose founder was killed by those in power, and who taught the virtue demonstrated and grace given when refusal to compromise principle for power leads to persecution, has so many followers who just want to be the ones &#8220;in charge.&#8221; To have Caesar promise them power in exchange for their support at the ballots.<\/p>\n<p>Not necessarily malicious power (though clearly there are some), but just <em>comfortable\u00a0<\/em>power. Their scripture in all public places. The assumption that they are &#8220;normal&#8221;. Laws that adhere to their religious code. And those who aren&#8217;t of their belief, left on the margins, at best.<\/p>\n<p>And if their perceived rights conflict with those of others? Women who want equal treatment, or those of other races, or sexual orientation or gender expression or religious faith? Well, the advantage of firmly believing God is on your side is that you don&#8217;t worry about others who don&#8217;t believe as you do. You can argue that you need the power to have the nation do what you want, but frame it as making sure someone isn&#8217;t oppressing <em>you<\/em>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Explained Jason Mulder, who runs a small design company in Sioux Center: \u201cI feel like on the coasts, in some of the cities and stuff, they look down on us in rural America. You know, we are a bunch of hicks, and don\u2019t know anything. They don\u2019t understand us the same way we don\u2019t understand them. So we don\u2019t want them telling us how to live our lives.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>One has to consider some are projecting concerns that they will find themselves being treated as poorly on the margins as Jews, or Muslims, or atheists, etc.<\/p>\n<p>The irony is that the nation&#8217;s history shows that when Christianity &#8220;has power,&#8221; it turns on itself as much as on those outside. Along racial lines. Wealth lines. Most importantly <em>doctrinal<\/em> lines. Catholic vs Protestant. Evangelicals of different flavors. James Madison grew up seeing Baptists tarred and feathered, which led to his pressing for protections against the church being entangled with the state.<\/p>\n<p>When <em>Christians<\/em> &#8220;have power,&#8221; it&#8217;s not <em>all<\/em> <em>Christians<\/em>, ever.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cObama wanted to take my assault rifle, he wanted to take out all the high-capacity magazines,\u201d Mr. Schouten said. \u201cIt just \u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2014 felt like your freedoms kept getting taken from you,\u201d said Heather\u2019s husband, Paul, finishing the sentence for him.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Is Christianity &#8220;under siege&#8221;? Well, it&#8217;s losing numbers. And it&#8217;s losing (to coin a phrase) the &#8220;special rights&#8221; of being the assumed norm, of having the presumed power when push comes to shove, of having its values be the values everyone has to adhere to (in theory).<\/p>\n<p>And, weird thing, as that norm has faded, some people in some groups who have been pushed around by Christians following what they think is Christian doctrine, when they get a chance, they speak out. They verbally attack Christianity. Sometimes they push back, too.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>She worried that the school might be forced to let in students who were not Christian, or hire teachers who were gay.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSilly things. Just let the boys go in the boys\u2019 bathroom and the girls go in the girls\u2019,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s just something you\u2019d think is never going to happen, and nowadays it could. And it probably will.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust hope nobody turns it upside down,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut we feel like we are in a little area where we are protected yet,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are afraid of losing that, I guess.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>And it all feels so much like a zero-sum game. That the only way for someone to <em>get<\/em> freedoms, liberty, rights, is to <em>take<\/em> them from someone who already has them. The idea of rights being a universal pool to which only some people have been invited, and that those people were now insisting on their fair share &#8230; doesn&#8217;t matter to them, maybe because they don&#8217;t know or acknowledge some of the groups insisting on\u00a0<em>their<\/em> freedom, liberty, rights.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The years of the Obama presidency were confusing to her. She said she heard talk of giving freedoms to gay people and members of minority groups. But to her it felt like her freedoms were being taken away. And that she was turning into the minority.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI do not love Trump. I think Trump is good for America as a country. I think Trump is going to restore our freedoms, where we spent eight years, if not more, with our freedoms slowly being taken away under the guise of giving freedoms to all,\u201d she said. \u201cCaucasian-Americans are becoming a minority. Rapidly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But if Christianity is diminishing in the US, it&#8217;s not because of those attacks. It&#8217;s not because of Hollywood, or liberals, or Satan whispering in the wings. It&#8217;s ultimately because Christians, in all their different flavors, are not being persuasive that theirs is the better way, the <em>right<\/em> way. That the salvation they trust is coming, and the peace and joy they claim to feel in their lives, and the righteousness of their cause, is worth it as a belief system and lifestyle.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Taking a shortcut by having\u00a0<em>power<\/em> in secular terms doesn&#8217;t seem to fit into any of the New Testament teachings I can find. And the more they grasp at that, the more they drive people away,<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>They want America to be a Christian nation for their children. \u201cWe started out as a Christian nation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can\u2019t make people do these things,\u201d he said. \u201cBut you can try to protect what you\u2019ve got, you might say.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>One might think, if this were simply a matter of faith, the folk talked with here would be focused on their beliefs and their relationship with God. They would bear the insults and slights as signs that they&#8217;re doing something right. (They might also consider any justice of the accusations against them, but one step at a time).<\/p>\n<p>Instead, what we hear about is all about Us and Them, and fear, and discomfort, and change, and Donald being the guy who will Restore Our Power, take away the insecurity, the questioning, the (gasp) marginalization, the laws and culture that say they&#8217;re &#8220;wrong&#8221; or &#8220;silly&#8221; or &#8220;hurtful.&#8221; He&#8217;ll keep them safe, their religious schools pure, their bathrooms binary, their neighborhoods white &#8230; just like they&#8217;ve always been.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cTrump\u2019s an outsider, like the rest of us,\u201d he said. \u201cWe might not respect Trump, but we still love the guy for who he is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs he a man of integrity? Absolutely not,\u201d he went on. \u201cDoes he stand up for some of our moral Christian values? Yes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The guys agreed. \u201cI\u2019m not going to say he\u2019s a Christian, but he just doesn\u2019t attack us,\u201d his friend Jason Mulder said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Trump-Bible.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-150930\" title=\"Trump Bible\" src=\"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Trump-Bible-650x366.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"650\" height=\"366\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Trump-Bible-650x366.jpg 650w, https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Trump-Bible-150x84.jpg 150w, https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Trump-Bible-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Trump-Bible-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Trump-Bible.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 984px) 61vw, (max-width: 1362px) 45vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s a transactional scam on Donald&#8217;s part &#8212; he&#8217;s no more pro-Christian than my cat is &#8212; but they don&#8217;t see it, or they don&#8217;t care. They&#8217;re terrified, they feel that power, power from the modern Caesar, is the only <em>cultural<\/em> salvation for them in the short run, and they don&#8217;t care what it is costing them in the long run.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>He offers them power against the scary cultural tide<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":150930,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[109,532,1142,740,1071],"tags":[2076,2077,1077],"class_list":["post-150927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-state","category-elections-2016","category-elections-2020","category-race-racism","category-trump","tag-christianity","tag-power","tag-trump"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Trump-Bible.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":129157,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/12\/17\/putin-loves-trump-of-course.html","url_meta":{"origin":150927,"position":0},"title":"Putin loves Trump. Of course","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 17-Dec-15 6:05pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Two billionaires with egos the sizes of major continents, who belittle (or worse) folk who disagree with them, and who exhibit fascist tendencies. What's not to love?What's truly crazy is the idea that this might actually increase Trump's support in the US. Putin -- who would just as soon see\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;~PlusPosts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":131945,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/11\/06\/selling-out-for-trump.html","url_meta":{"origin":150927,"position":1},"title":"Selling Out for Trump","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 6-Nov-16 5:28pm","format":false,"excerpt":"A look at Christian Evangelicals voting for Trump -- from one of their own.'Now, it would be one thing if those individuals said, \u201cIntegrity still matters, but, man, we are stuck with two people who have integrity problems, and I am going with [candidate] in spite of my integrity concerns.\u201d\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;~PlusPosts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":136813,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2018\/06\/22\/ideals-pragmatism-and-the-evolving-gop-vote.html","url_meta":{"origin":150927,"position":2},"title":"Ideals, pragmatism, and the evolving GOP vote","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 22-Jun-18 7:58am","format":false,"excerpt":"This article discusses how (many, not all) evangelical types in Nevada are rallying around a notorious brothel owner who has won the GOP nomination for a seat in the state legislature.\u275d \u201cThis really is the Trump movement,\u201d Hof, 71, told Reuters in an interview at Moonlite BunnyRanch, his brothel near\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;~PlusPosts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":129908,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/02\/25\/the-one-small-silver-lining-regarding-donald-trumps-primary-victories.html","url_meta":{"origin":150927,"position":3},"title":"The one small silver lining regarding Donald Trump&#039;s primary victories","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 25-Feb-16 4:46pm","format":false,"excerpt":"... Is the chance to watch Ted Cruz and his zany father Rafael melt down over it. Such as Rafael's suggestion that those \"evangelical Christians\" who have been voting (in plurality, at least) for Donald Trump instead of the guy who counted on them, Ted Cruz, aren't real evangelicals after\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;~PlusPosts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/702841.0.teddad5B15D.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/702841.0.teddad5B15D.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/702841.0.teddad5B15D.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":130992,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/07\/05\/donald-trump-is-the-god-guy-in-this-election.html","url_meta":{"origin":150927,"position":4},"title":"Donald Trump is the &quot;God Guy&quot; in this election","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 5-Jul-16 6:48pm","format":false,"excerpt":"David Barton has serious right-wing evangelical chops. I mean, he's the founder and leader of Wallbuilders, he's the former vice chair of the Republican Party of Texas, he's the director of Keep the Promise PAC which sought to nominate Ted Cruz for president, and he's on the board of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;~PlusPosts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/David-Barton-620x4005B15D.pngimgmax%3D660.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/David-Barton-620x4005B15D.pngimgmax%3D660.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/David-Barton-620x4005B15D.pngimgmax%3D660.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":134118,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/08\/10\/republicans-support-delaying-2020-elections-fearing-voter-fraud.html","url_meta":{"origin":150927,"position":5},"title":"Would Republicans support delaying the 2020 elections, fearing &#8220;voter fraud&#8221;?","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 10-Aug-17 5:00pm","format":false,"excerpt":"It's become almost cliche in modern times that conspiracy theorists on the side opposite the incumbent President speculate about their sworn foe delaying the elections so as to hold onto power and become a mad tyrant. I first heard that sort of rumbling back during the Clinton Era, where a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Poor Citizenship&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Poor Citizenship","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/poor-citizenship"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/VoterFraud_intro1_Trumptweetsupdated_8001.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/VoterFraud_intro1_Trumptweetsupdated_8001.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/VoterFraud_intro1_Trumptweetsupdated_8001.gif?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/VoterFraud_intro1_Trumptweetsupdated_8001.gif?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150927"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150927\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":150931,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150927\/revisions\/150931"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}