From Texas and Iowa to Arkansas, faith leaders are wading into politics to counter the rise of Christian nationalism
“But I also think the stereotypes of Republicans being pro-faith are bullshit too. We’re seeing a current administration bastardise faith almost every day. They used the Lord’s Prayer in a propaganda video for what they’re now calling the Department of War. That should have had every single evangelical’s bells and whistles and alarms going off in their head: this is sacrilegious.”
White clergy are deciding to run for office, Ryerse believes, in part as a response to the rise of Christian nationalism and the reality that, according to a Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) survey, Trump won 85% of the white evangelical vote in last year’s presidential election.
Ryerse said: “We realise, hey, our churches and the people in our churches have been duped by this guy and so rather than hope someone else will clean up the problem, what we’ve seen is a lot of pastors respond with, you know what, I’m going to jump in and I’m going to be a part of the solution.
Can we really call it rational reasoning when making decisions about survival and safety under coercion or threat of violence?
I think they mean it’s useful for controlling the uneducated masses.
I’m using the term “rational reason” in the sense that there is a more than tangential reason is was a selected trait or at a minimum not selected against.
I do not mean it in a way that justifies the amplification of specific parts or side effects of it.