Summary: With Billy Graham's (the pastor and evangelist) recent passing, the question of why some evangelical Christians support Trump has risen again. Since 2006, the number of white evangelical Christians has been decreasing while the number of non-white, younger evangelical Christians is increasing. Throughout his presidency, Trump's main line of support has come from white evangelical Christians who have stood by him despite his many personal failings to ensure that a culturally conservative nominee was appointed to the Supreme Court, "with the broader goal of keeping America an essentially Christian nation with the moral values that white Christians support." What has not been highlighted is that non-white evangelicals have been calling out their fellow Christians for hypocrisy. Some white evangelical leaders are listening. Russell Moore has called on evangelicals to support the Dreamers who are increasingly making up a big part of their congregations. Ultimately, the growing population of non-white Christians is giving "pastors a reason to reflect on what policies and politics best suit their congregants."
Discussion Questions:
1. Will the growing number of non-white evangelical Christians force the broader evangelical community to rethink their support of Trump?
2. What more would it take for Trump to lose the support of the white evangelicals? Do you think evangelicals will become increasingly Democratic?
Link: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-trump-and-race-are-splitting-evangelicals/
1 comment:
I believe people have a general misconception of the evangelical voting base. Many do not recognize minorities and simply assume that all evangelicals are white. With America’s growing minorities, these liberal voices are getting stronger and stronger, which may even sway the evangelical vote to democrat in the long run. Overall, Trump’s actions have not been pleasing any political group. His response to the new gun debate has created opposition from much of his voting base. However, his remaining supporters have still not been swayed and there will most likely be little deviation from these die-hard supporters.
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