How Christian Trump voters chose fear over compassion
Fear is a terrific uniter, but it's a strange way to carve out a Christian life.
There are many explanations for why white, conservative evangelicals have doubled down on their veneration of a president whose resentments, narcissism, moral failings, and regular disregard for truth belie most tenets of biblical Christianity. But one reason for such loyalty seems to supersede all others: the sense of fear that Donald Trump invokes on a daily basis. For reasons that don’t make a lot of Christian sense, plenty of once observant evangelicals have fallen for an ideology of fear over what could be a way of life rooted in deep principles of faith.
It’s not an overstatement to say there’s a fear epidemic in America these days. Swapping stories of fright has become our national pastime. It has always been true that if you want to kill an idea, a piece of legislation, or another person’s dignity, you just get people good and scared of what that idea, policy, or person might do. Trump brought his own fearfulness into the presidency, which the religious right has incorporated into its own. He rolled into office terrified of Muslim immigrants, Mexican criminals, and foreign competition. The portrait of the world he paints is one of others taking advantage of America and threatening white culture, national security, business health, and the Christian community in particular.
“We’re going to protect Christianity,” Trump told Liberty University students while on a campus visit. His depiction of Christians as a beleaguered lot, under assault from multiple threats, has shaped numerous conspiracy theories and even guided his pledge last year to defend Christmas.
