Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, center, waves to church members after attending a service at First Christian Church with his wife, Melania, top left, Sunday, Jan. 31, 2016, in Council Bluffs, Iowa. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Source: The Atlantic
Many headlines trumpeting Donald Trump’s victory in the Nevada Republican caucuses credit voters’ anger with the federal government. But the real lesson of Trump’s rise is not about fury, but faith. Trump’s momentum reveals that the conservative Christian voting bloc is a splintered remnant of the kingmaking machine it once was. And perhaps this is good news both for Trump for and the conservative Christian movement itself.
Leading up to the Iowa caucus, Tony Perkins of Family Research Council helped corral old-guard religious-right leaders for a secret meeting to determine which nominee they would support for president. Texas Senator Ted Cruz narrowly beat out Florida’s Marco Rubio.
Thirty years ago, such a blessing would have sealed the nomination. But not today.
One kind of conservative Christian—described by Yahoo’s Jon Ward as “most likely to be under 45 and less politically active than the Cruz evangelical”—instead threw their support to Marco Rubio. Another faction of the faithful—ordinary evangelicals and the more God-and-country type of Christians—rallied behind real-estate mogul Donald Trump. This group included Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University and son of one of the founders of the religious-right movement.
To an outsider, conservative Christian support for these three candidates appears to be something of a draw. But no candidate has endured more resistance from prominent Christian leaders than The Donald. The editor of the leading evangelical magazine in America, Christianity Today, declared “Trump threatens to Trump the Gospel.” R.R. Reno, the editor of the conservative Catholic magazine First Things, warned America may be heading for a “Trumpaggedon.” Russell Moore, the political spokesperson for the 15-million member Southern Baptist Convention took to the opinion pages of The New York Times to dissuade evangelicals from supporting Trump.
Again, such fierce opposition from so many evangelical leaders just three decades ago would have shipwrecked a Republican candidate for president. But not today.
Though Ted Cruz won the heavily evangelical Iowa caucuses, his win was so narrow that Trump walked away with seven delgates to Cruz’s eight. In New Hampshire, Trump won a sweeping victory including among evangelical Christians. In South Carolina, Trump won a plurality of conservative Christian votes, beating out Rubio and Cruz yet again. And in Nevada, Trump captured four out of 10 evangelical voters—his best showing to date.
Categories: America, Christianity, Politics, Religion, The Muslim Times, USA
Donald has quickly cottoned on to the art of courting popularity.
He has proved very smart in political manovering and church attendance is a sound move. There is no room for genuine fools ( I’m one ) in politics. On the whole business men make good politicians they know a lot about image and gullibility.
‘All the worlds a stage ‘and among the best actors are politicians.
I often watch the action in the houses of parliament , not to learn about policy , but for a humerous reminder of human nature.