A new Pew Research survey finds protestants remain solidly Republican, and Catholics now tilt slightly toward the GOP.
Just dropped · Trial Balloon · Ep. 193
The Magnificent Seven
Trial Balloon · Ep. 193: The Magnificent Seven
Trump Hits Biden Over ‘Transgender Day’
President Biden is facing criticism from Donald Trump’s campaign and religious conservatives for proclaiming March 31 — which corresponds with Easter Sunday this year — as “Transgender Day of Visibility,” the AP reports.
“In 2024, the March 31 designation overlaps with Easter, one of Christianity’s holiest celebrations. Trump’s campaign accused Biden, a Roman Catholic, of being insensitive to religion, and fellow Republicans piled on.”
Tommy Tuberville Sends His Easter Wishes
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) tweeted that Democrats “are a Satantic cult.”
Conservatives Push to Put Chaplains in Public Schools
“Lawmakers in mostly conservative states are pushing a coordinated effort to bring chaplains into public schools, aided by a new, legislation-crafting network that aims to address policy issues ‘from a biblical world view’ and by a consortium whose promotional materials say chaplains are a way to convert millions to Christianity,” the Washington Post reports.
“The bills have been introduced this legislative season in 14 states, inspired by Texas, which passed a law last year allowing school districts to hire chaplains or use them as volunteers for whatever role the local school board sees fit, including replacing trained counselors. Chaplain bills were approved by one legislative chamber in three states — Utah, Indiana and Louisiana — but died in Utah and Indiana. Bills are pending in nine states. One passed both houses of Florida’s legislature and is awaiting the governor’s signature.”
Tommy Tuberville Warns of ‘Satanic Cult’
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) “had a stark warning for the approximately 100 Utah GOP delegates who crowded into a warehouse to hear him speak on Friday afternoon: Malevolent supernatural forces are working to undermine America,” the Salt Lake Tribune reports.
Said Tuberville: “I’ve traveled all over the country — all 50 states — I’ve been in good places and bad places. The one thing I saw, we are losing our kids to a satanic cult.”
He added: “We’ve lost our moral values across the country. We’ve got to get back to the Constitution, and we have got to get back to the Bible. We’ve got to get God back in our country. There’s not one Democrat that can tell you they stand up for God.”
Big Majority Say Religion Is Losing Influence in Public Life
A new Pew Research Center survey “finds that 80% of U.S. adults say religion’s role in American life is shrinking – a percentage that’s as high as it’s ever been in our surveys.”
“Most Americans who say religion’s influence is shrinking are not happy about it. Overall, 49% of U.S. adults say both that religion is losing influence and that this is a bad thing. An additional 8% of U.S. adults think religion’s influence is growing and that this is a good thing.”
Most Americans Cool to Christian Nationalism
A new PRRI poll finds 67% of Americans reject or are skeptical about Christian nationalism despite its rising influence that’s shaping education, immigration and health care policies.
Some Republicans are openly expressing Christian nationalist views, which have ranged from calls for more religion in public schools to book bans and even suggestions that democracy should die.
Republicans (55%) are more than twice as likely as independents (25%) and three times more likely than Democrats (16%) to hold Christian nationalist views.
Trump’s Holiness Rises as His Corruption Is Revealed
Ruth Ben-Ghiat: “For those familiar with authoritarian history, it is no wonder that the talking point of Trump’s holiness has become prominent as more of his malfeasance and illegal behavior has been made public. Nor is it surprising that Trump would share a depiction of himself as Jesus-adjacent during his Oct. 2023 civil fraud trial. The image implies that Jesus is with him on his righteous path and that, even in court, Trump thinks holy thoughts.”
“And how typical that Trump declared that he would govern as God’s direct emissary just when the news hit that he received millions from at least 20 foreign governments while he was president, including over $5 million from entities linked to the Communist regime of China.”
“The sudden rise of an obscure backbench politician to the pinnacle of American congressional power also makes sense within this logic. Trump had been indicted a few months prior, and some of his co-defendants were turning against him. God only knew what else might be revealed. Enter Mike Johnson, with his impeccable credentials as a religious zealot and his great potential as a faithful servant of Trump’s wishes.”
Trump Says Left Wants to ‘Tear Down Crosses’
“Donald Trump promised to use a second term in the White House to defend Christian values and even suggested he’d shield the faith’s central iconography,” the AP reports.
Said Trump: “Remember, every communist regime throughout history has tried to stamp out the churches, just like every fascist regime has tried to co-opt them and control them. And, in America, the radical left is trying to do both.”
He added: “They want to tear down crosses where they can, and cover them up with social justice flags. But no one will be touching the cross of Christ under the Trump administration, I swear to you.”
GOP Lawmaker Wants Ten Commandments in Schools
Utah state Rep. Mike Petersen (R) wants to require every public school in the state to display framed copies of the Ten Commandments in a prominent location, the Salt Lake Tribune reports.
His bill mandates that schools post a framed copy of the biblical document at least 16 inches by 20 inches.
Evangelicals Fuel Trump’s Lead
Politico: “For all the attempts by DeSantis and his evangelical allies to court the conservative Christian vote, Trump not only remains dominant with the group, but is relying on it to fuel his massive lead in Iowa ahead of the caucuses on Monday. A critical faction of the GOP that once blocked his ascendance here in 2016, evangelicals are now a primary reason he is so far ahead.”
Trump Connects With a Different Type of Evangelical
New York Times: “White evangelical Christian voters have lined up behind Republican candidates for decades, driving conservative cultural issues into the heart of the party’s politics and making nominees and presidents of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.”
“But no Republican has had a closer — or more counterintuitive — relationship with evangelicals than Mr. Trump.”
“The twice-divorced casino magnate made little pretense of being particularly religious before his presidency. The ardent support he received from evangelical voters in 2016 and 2020 is often described as largely transactional: an investment in his appointment of Supreme Court justices who would abolish the federal right to abortion and advance the group’s other top priorities. Evangelical supporters themselves often compare Mr. Trump to the ancient Persian king Cyrus the Great, who freed a population of Jews even though he was not one of them.”
“But religion scholars, drawing on a growing body of data, suggest another explanation: Evangelicals are not exactly who they used to be.”
The Factors That Made Evangelicals Ready for Trump
Tim Alberta, author of The Kingdom, the Power and the Glory: Evangelicals in the Age of Extremism, gives a fascinating interview to the New York Times:
“I think when you spend so much time swimming in these waters of ‘The end is near, they’re coming for us, brace yourself for this collision between the forces of good and evil,’ you actually start to not only anticipate it, but you start to look forward to it. That’s why I think Covid was such an extraordinary moment, not just in American life but specifically in evangelical life. People had been stewing in that prophetic talk for decades, for generations — that one day they’re going to come for you, one day the church is going to find itself in the cross hairs of the government, and you’d better be ready to stand on your beliefs and stand for your convictions. And when Gavin Newsom says, Hey, we’re shutting down houses of worship as a public health measure for a few weeks here, suddenly it was, I think for so many of these people, it was like the prophecy was being fulfilled. Like, OK, here we go.”
“What was most surprising to me in that period is that a lot of these people weren’t reluctantly entering the fray. They were charging into the fray. They felt like they’d spent a lifetime preparing for just this very clash with the culture, and here it was, and it was very binary. You’re either going to stand up for God and for your faith and fight or you’re going to be a coward and you’re going to be a collaborator and you’re going to give in.”
The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory
American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism ― A NYT Bestselling Investigation of Faith and Politics
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Christmas Celebrations Canceled in Bethlehem
The celebrations traditionally enjoyed in Bethlehem are canceled this year, as the war in Gaza and violence in the occupied West Bank continue to devastate Palestinian communities, Axios reports.
Mike Johnson and Daughter Were Profiled at ‘Purity Ball’
“Years before Mike Johnson would ascend to No. 2 in the presidential line of succession, a German TV news outlet profiled the future speaker of the House and his then-teenage daughter,” ABC News reports.
Said the news reporter: “This looks like a wedding… But they are not bride and groom — but rather father and… daughter.”
“The German news segment documented Johnson and his family preparing for and then attending a purity ball, a controversial formal dance event, popular among some conservative Christians, that gained notoriety in the early 2000s. At a typical event, fathers and their teenage daughters dress in formal ball attire for a night that involves dinner and dancing and culminates with the daughter signing a pledge to her father to abstain from dating and to remain sexually abstinent until marriage.”
“The news segment examines purity balls and the general purity movement among conservative Christians through the lens of the Johnson family.”
DeSantis Had to Order Bible on Amazon for Swearing-In
Ron DeSantis’ staff had to quickly purchase a Bible for $21.47 on Amazon just days before the governor’s inauguration in January 2019, NBC News reports.
DeSantis, who has made big push to appeal to evangelical voters, told staffers that his family did not own a Bible.
Said a former aide: “People are typically sworn in on something that is historic — a family Bible or something with historic value. It was profoundly strange that he did not care at all and treated it like it was nothing.”
Pope Francis Evicts U.S. Cardinal From Vatican Home
“Almost as soon as Pope Francis became the head of the Roman Catholic church in 2013, Raymond Burke, an American cardinal, emerged as his leading critic from within the church, becoming a de facto antipope for frustrated traditionalists who believed Francis was diluting doctrine,” the New York Times reports.
“Francis frequently demoted and stripped the American cleric of influence, but this month, the pope apparently finally had enough… Francis told a meeting of high-ranking Vatican officials that he intended to throw the cardinal out of his Vatican-subsidized apartment and deprive him of his salary as a retired cardinal.”
Biden to Meet with Muslim-American Leaders
“President Biden is expected to meet with Muslim-American leaders at the White House on Thursday as part of discussions to combat anti-Muslim attitudes,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The Biden administration has faced criticism from many Muslim and Arab-American organizations over its response to the humanitarian crisis and civilian death toll in Gaza.”
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Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
More about Taegan Goddard →