Recently I learned about the adage called Hanlon’s Razor: “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”
The
author of an article who cited those words wrote that he knows “lots of MAGA
Christians but his efforts to understand ‘why’ they honor Trump have been
futile. Since he has failed to find other reasons, he thinks that perhaps it
must, indeed, be either because of malice or stupidity.
However, I don’t agree that it must be one or the other of those two choices.
As
most of you know well, I am not a MAGA Republican supporter. But I
think that to attribute the reason that many Christians do support Trump and
the MAGA movement as being due either to malice or stupidity is too harsh and
inaccurate.
What
can we say, then, about why there are so many MAGA Christians who do support
Trump? That was an issue that Thinking Friend Jerry Jumper wrote/asked about in
an email I received from him last month, and many others of you likely puzzle
over that same question.
What
could it be other than malice or stupidity? Several other reasons
are feasible. and I think that the percentage of people who vote for Trump
because of malice or stupidity is markedly smaller than those who did and will
vote for Trump for other reasons.
Here
are five reasons that might explain why many self-identified
Christians have voted for Trump and are likely to do so again this fall, and
this list is not exhaustive:
◈ Nostalgia.
Many people who remember the 1950s—and still live in rural communities that
fondly recall then as the “good old days” with an esteemed Republican
President—wish that the U.S. could be like it was then. Thus, they are drawn to
the Make America Great Again slogan.
◈ Fear.
Closely related to the above is the fear of things changing for the worse. Nostalgic
people often fear the loss of cherished values of the past. There is a close
connection between religious and political conservatism, and one subsection of
my book on fundamentalism is titled “The Fear Factor.”*1
◈ Consistency.
Some voters say they’ve always been (or ever since Reagan have been) a
Republican, so naturally they vote for the Republican candidate. This was the
sort of response June got from close relatives when she asked why they voted
for Trump in 2016.
◈ Disinformation.
Many people get misleading/erroneous information from “news” sources such as
Fox News, “talk radio,” and publications such as Epoch Times.*2
Last week I listened to the former some each evening—and was amazed at how their
“news” differed from the “mainstream” media.*3
◈ Misinterpretation.
Influential conservative evangelical Christians such as Pastor Robert Jeffress
(First Baptist Church, Dallas), Ralph Reed (Faith and Freedom Coalition), and Franklin
Graham (Samaritan’s Purse), among many others, have fostered misinterpretation
of what the Bible says, or doesn’t say, about abortion, gay rights, etc.
Many
people who support Trump for the above reasons may, indeed, lack sufficient
understanding and/or information. But that doesn’t mean they are stupid. And while
such reasons may trigger malicious actions by some, surely those who are MAGA
supporters because of malice are few.
So,
we who are steadfast opponents of Trump and MAGA Republicans need to beware of fostering
arrogant, condescending, and/or belittling attitudes toward people we disagree
with politically. Neighbor-love must be extended to them also, and that
includes not labeling them as being either malicious or stupid.
Even
the leaders of the Christian Right who for decades have sought to change this
country into a theocracy, as vividly portrayed in Bad Faith, the new
(2024) documentary about “Christian nationalism,” were certainly not stupid nor
acting out of malice from their (mistaken) point of view.*4
But
make no mistake about it: seeking to understand and being friendly toward MAGA
Christians definitely doesn’t mean agreeing with their misguided views or
minimizing the danger lurking under their unwise support of a wholly unworthy
candidate for President.
_____
*1
Fed Up with
Fundamentalism: A Historical, Theological, and Personal Appraisal of Christian
Fundamentalism
(2007, 2020), pp. 100~103.
*2 Here is the link to an informative, and rather
long, article about The Epoch Times.
*3 One evening last week, the top
story at 8 p.m. was the campus unrest at Columbia University and elsewhere.
Repeatedly they were referred to as “pro-Hamas” activities. The next morning
the mainstream websites invariably called that unrest “pro-Palestinian.” That
is a marked difference.
*4
This film traces
the development of the Christian Right in the U.S. from the early 1970s to the
present. June and I rented it from Amazon Prime and watched it last Friday
evening. We thought it was a helpful film, fairly done but clear in showing the
ongoing threat of Christian nationalism that seeks to overthrow USAmerican
democracy. I highly recommend the viewing of, and sharing information about, that
fine documentary.
Not long after 6 a.m., I received the following comments from local Thinking Friend David Nelson:
ReplyDelete"Excellent reflection. No matter why a sibling in the human family voted for Trump, I am more curious than judgmental. It puzzles me that given the realities of today anyone would vote for the former president Trump. Your list of reasons gives me more to ponder."
Thanks for your comments, David. I have heard you mention several times how we need to be curious rather than judgmental about what people say/do. I think you are certainly right in that regard, and I hope other readers of this blog will take to heart what you wrote.
DeleteA few minutes later, local Thinking Friend Jan Buerge sent me the following brief, gratifying comments:
ReplyDelete" VERY well written, Leroy. Thank you for gathering these thoughts and carefully sharing them."
Then, brief comments from Thinking Friend Bob Hanson in Wisconsin:
ReplyDelete"A keeper, Leroy. Many thanks for taking this topic on. Hate of the other is also always present. "
Next are longer, thoughtful comments from a Thinking Friend in Arizona:
ReplyDelete"In the last several months, I’ve not kept up with your discussions. Waking up bright & early, I re-discovered your thoughtful post & scanned it a couple of times. I plan to read it carefully over the next few days.
"I appreciate your refusal to stereotype Trump’s “fan club.” I particularly liked the term 'nostalgia.' That word sets a generous tone and renews my commitment to being kind and generous to certain loved ones who seem to hang on Trump’s every word.
"Some of my relatives have said hurtful things about my daughter when she did anti-penalty work at the national level with Amnesty. They could not share my joy when she was on the front page of the NYTimes after Troy Davis from Savanna was executed. My family kept me humble but made me sad.
"My siblings say gay or recovering addicts in our family will go to hell. It is amazing how close I am with my loved ones fed by conservative news & popular evangelists! They know what I read and the stations I prefer. The bottom line is that I know my siblings really need my support. I dare say it’s nostalgia that keeps me kind - at least most days!"
And then, these kind, affirming words from local Thinking Friend Vern Barnet:
ReplyDelete"Thanks, Leroy. Your multiple explanations help me to think a little more charitably."
Great reflections here. I also think that there is a strong element of crowd-thought going on; that is, many many folks are not really examining critically each element of the MAGA ideology, but simply lining up with what all the people around them are supporting. That is the way most of us live our lives most of the time (this includes ALL of us!) and is what is encapsulated in the concept of the 'ethos' of an area and/or location. What you are pointing towards, IOW, is how it could be that something like MAGA-Trumpism could emerge as the ethos of early 21st century rural America. Once that wave is rolling, it is no longer really a question of individual persuasion. I think we have reached that point in terms of Trumpism, as baffling as that is to those outside of those parameters.
ReplyDeleteDan, I wish I knew (could remember?) who you are and where you live, but I appreciate your insightful comments, and since I can't contact you directly, I am expressing my thanks here.
DeleteTo a large degree, I think that MAGA-Trumpism is currently the ethos of rural America, such as in northwest Missouri where I grew up. For some or all of the reasons I suggested, 80% or so of the voters in the last two elections voted for Trump, and they are likely to do so again. Some of them probably don't like Trump himself very much, but since most of the people around them have voted for him twice and will probably do so again thsi year, they do the same thing, perhaps without giving it a lot of thought.
Thinking Friend David Johnson was a long-time colleague at Seinan Gakuin University in Japan. He returned to the U.S. to teach biology at Samford University in Alabama and is now a professor emeritus there. Here are comments that he shared this morning:
ReplyDelete"One Christian MAGA Republican I know told me that his support of Trump is due solely to the fact that he believes that supporting him is the only way to stop abortion. Abortion TRUMPS everything else. I do not believe that his stance is because of ignorance. He has a keen mind and is a sincere evangelical Christian. It is logic that led him to that stance. He believes that the biological evidence supports the notion that life begins at conception, so abortion is the killing of a human being and must be stopped. This would come under your category of Misinterpretation of the Bible.
"While I do not agree with this person, I believe that more moderate Christians like me need to make a place for dialogue with these folks. I am a biologist and geneticist and must admit that there is some credence to his point of view of when a human life begins. Genetically, if you had to pick dramatic events between the time of insemination and birth, fertilization would certainly one – an event in which a de novo genetic potential has formed. As I biologist, however, I also must hasten to add that “fertilization” itself in not an instantaneous event but can be broken down into a number of subevents. Even the first several divisions of the zygote are not under the control of the newly created genome. Evidence for this is seen in the fact that unfertilized eggs can be stimulated to begin division. But it is true that somewhere between sperm contact with the egg and the multicellular stage that exists a day or so later, the new genome has begun to express itself. You may want to call this person’s viewpoint Misinterpretation of the Bible, but I believe that the Bible is silent on this issue (despite the proof texting attempted by those on both sides.)
"I suppose that my own viewpoint is closer to that of my Catholic colleague who, like me, is staunchly Anti-Trump. He simply wishes there were more room in moderate/liberal pollical camps for those who want to work to eliminate the need for abortion as a birth-control method and actually see using it as such as a moral problem. He believes in actively working to make the man in the picture accountable, and making birth control freely accessible. I do not know all of his views, but I also feel like they are more akin to mine in that all abortion is not lumped into the same forbidden category, with no exceptions.
Thanks, David, for addressing this issue as a biologist as well as a thoughtful Christian believer.
DeleteIt seems to me that a decisive distinction needs to be made between "human life" and personhood. It is certainly true that human life begins at, or soon after, conception. But is that zygote, or early embryo, a person? The Catholic Church has long maintained that since life begins at fertilization, all abortion is prohibited. (Of course, contraception is also prohibited.) But my disagreement with that position, which for the last 50 years has increasingly become the position of many conservative evangelicals, is the conflation of life and personhood. Since it seems clear that this is not an issue dealt with in the biblical writings, I am unclear as to what you mean by "proof-texting attempted by those on both sides." What Bible verses have you heard that support abortion? As far as I know, there are none--just as I believe there are none that "prove" that all abortions are wrong.
Abortion (pro or con) is not in the Bible. My point was that the life-begins-at-conception folks want to prooftext their opinion with passages that imply that being a person starts in the womb (Psalm 139). Similarly, I have heard those who claim that it starts with the first breath, since in Genesis 2 it was the breath of God that turned Adam into a living being. My point is that passages like these are not to be taken out of context as final proof of when life, or personhood, begins.
DeleteThanks for responding, David. I have often seen proof-texts from "pro-life" people, such as Psalm 139:13, but I hadn't seen proof-texts from the "pro-choice" side, so thanks for giving an example. I fully agree with you that neither of the Bible passages you cited give "final proof of when life, or personhood, begins." But I also think that science/biology can't give "final proof" of when personhood begins either.
DeleteHere are more much-appreciated words of affirmation from local Thinking Friend Linda Schroeder:
ReplyDelete"Well done, Leroy❣️Thank you for your insightful, gracious, and compelling analysis."
I was delighted to receive the following comments from Thinking Friend Jesse Stark, who lives in Worth County, my home county in northwest Missouri. He is the editor of the "Sheridan Express," a weekly newspaper. Over the last few years, he has published many of my blog articles, which I slightly revise for his newspaper audience. At present, I am submitting an article only every three weeks, although earlier my submissions were more often.
ReplyDeleteHere are Jesse's pertinent comments regarding this morning's blog post, and I appreciate him making an additional suggestion as to why some people vote(d) for Trump:
"I think some people vote for reasons that have nothing to do with what the mainstream media talks about. For instance, I think the reason a lot of people voted for Trump over Clinton was because they associated her husband, Bill, with the free trade policies that led to the closure of a lot of manufacturing plants in the 1990's and saw a lot of jobs go overseas. They believed Trump's promises that he would bring jobs back to the US, and that he had some kind of special leverage with other business owners to make it happen (he didn't). I was on Twitter for a while, and when Trump was President, I would get a lot of his supporters triggered when I pointed out business that were closing during his term, proving that he was not living up to his promises to bring jobs back to America. Ironically, Joe Biden is doing the very sort of thing that Trump promised he would do, bring jobs back to America. I wasn't sold on him at first, but I am now."
"Back in 1996, my mother refused to vote for Bob Dole. She was a Democrat anyway, but she hated Bob Dole with a passion because he had an acrimonious divorce with his first wife, and she cited extreme mental cruelty as the reason why she left him. Underneath Dole's bipartisan veneer, he had a vicious and cruel side that came out from time to time. He became a diehard MAGA supporter."
Thanks, Jesse, for reading this blog article and for sending pertinent comments. I think you are probably correct in pointing out that many people voted for Trump for economic reasons, thinking business and corporate/shareholder profits would be better under Trump than under a Democratic President. But while many of those who voted for Trump for that reason may have been Christians, I doubt that few voted that way would say that doing so was because of being a Christian.
DeleteWith regard to Trump vs. Biden on economic issues, I think you are certainly right in point out that "Joe Biden is doing the very sort of thing that Trump promised he would do, bring jobs back to America." It seems amazing to me that so few MAGA Republicans fail to realize that that is so.
Wonderful post as always, Leroy. I’d like to offer my perspective which leans more Eastern philosophy/thought. Right now, what I believe we’re seeing is a war between Maleness and Femaleness.
ReplyDeleteI believe that any large population will begin to split into two groups, yin and yang, right /left, or Maleness and Femaleness with its respective energies. Male energy will always be about the survival of the fittest, culling off the weak, and domination through force, “father knows best”. Female energy would be “we don’t survive unless we all survive”, that we support the weakest and that our strength comes from our equality, tolerance, and ability to heal and create. They are opposing forces that are now out of balance. We have begun to see this play out in our current political arena, in which MAGA Trump Republicans represent the old maleness order, (patriarchy if you will), but maleness in its most toxic form, in which violence a totally acceptable form of gaining submission. The Democrats represent a new matriarchal order, trying to find peace, meet the needs of the many through a fair and just allocation of resources.
I believe that as human beings, regardless of our gender, we have both male and female energies within us. Anytime I am creating, I am using my female energy. When I am competing for a job, my male energy kicks in. When doctor heals, or a person calls for peace, or creates something out of nothing, they are using their femaleness. When a soldier kills, a rapist rapes, a call for violence or war, a takeover of a country or corporation, these are examples of our male energy. At their extremes, it can be quite ugly; it’s neither good or bad, right or wrong.
What is important is that both energies be balanced within us, as an individual, as a country, and as a planet. Each of us personally, regardless of our gender, should acknowledge and celebrate both energies within us, both male and female. Unfortunately, because of many religions (or their interpretations), especially the Abrahamic ones, where God is male, our sisters and daughters have received less than human status for ages. We were forced to play the part of our biological parts, with fathers beating any femininity out of their sons, and any masculinity out of their daughters, forming the “purity culture” alive today in the MAGA cults. (boys are boys and girls are girls!)
Trump was able to tap into this male energy that has been frustrated by the Feminist and Equality movements that rose in the 60s that questioned the power of the mostly white patriarchy. He was able to actually make Femaleness the new enemy and has effectively inspired Republicans into “wife-beater mode” in their regard towards Democrats. They view any empathy or compassion as disgusting weakness and are ready to exterminate what they see as vile filth, (gays, colored, independent women, migrants etc.…).They even view rule of law as invalid now, and with their 400 million guns, are ready to “cleanse” Sodom and Gommora America. My fear is that Maleness will murder Femaleness, not understanding he is killing himself.
I hope I am wrong. I am not a scholar, historian or theologian, and my views aren’t truth, just an observation with my particular experience base and lens I view this incredible world. Thanks for letting me share, Leroy.
GJune, I was very impressed by your insights and explanation of what is going on in our society. I agree that we all have the yin/yang energies which are certainly out of balance now in our world/society. You should write a book explaining this view. You described it very well, saying neither strength is wrong, just extremely out of balance. Thank you! PJune
DeleteTo clarify the names, PJune is Pauline June Seat, my wife; gjune is Gayle June, and he has been a personal friend since many years ago when he lived in Kansas City.
DeleteGayle, I apologize for this tardy response to your comments. Like my wife wrote above, I much appreciate the thought-provoking comments you posted. I have long appreciated the wisdom of the yin/yang philosophy, and although I think it has not been adequately implemented in China through the centuries, it remains something to think about and to learn from. Of particular importance, I think, is seeing the traditional yin/yang symbol showing that they both are the same size and thus, by implication, equal in importance.
DeleteI have tried to intellectually consider why a voter would vote for Trump and have yet to arrive at a reasonable conclusion. You are correct. It is for reasons unrelated to a rational understanding of what has made America great. Emotions play such a large part in our political positions.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments, LeRoy. Yes, unfortunately so many people vote on the basis of emotions rather than thinking deeply about the issues and how their votes will affect not only them but especially the people who are suffering in so many different ways.
DeleteNo comments
ReplyDeleteJohn Tim, when we were boys, we used to hear it said, "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." I wonder--is that why you didn't have any comments about this blog?
DeleteJust now I received more kind, affirmative words, this time from Thinking Friend Virginia Belk in New Mexico.
ReplyDelete"This is an excellent, well thought out position; thank you for articulating so eloquently!"
There are too many Christians who lack discernment. Without it they are easily persuaded. When the persuader seems rich, successful, and famous they attach a credibility to the persuader and the message. They're hooked. Funny how Jesus didn't fit their credibility profile! They like to be told what and how to think. That's easy. Critical thinking and discerning are hard work. To be bluntly honest, they're not stupid. Just lazy.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments, David. My article was specifically about MAGA Christians, and I wouldn't think they are any lazier than all of those who are not Christians but still avid MAGA supporters. But I think you are probably right: many people vote as they do on the basis of their emotions, as LeRoy suggested above, and also because they are lazy, as you suggest.
DeleteThinking Friend Eric Dollard has shared pertinent comments, as he does regularly:
ReplyDelete"Thanks, Leroy, for your observations about the MAGA people. I agree that MAGA people are not motivated, for the most part, by malice or stupidity. Of the five reasons you listed, only the last one, 'misinterpretation' (of Biblical texts) has a strong religious connection.
"I have a friend, a retired MD, who supports Trump. He is generally well-informed, although somewhat misinformed in my opinion, but he is definitely not stupid. He is well-aware of Trump's personal flaws, but he agrees with Trump's policies and his choices for the SCOTUS. My friend is not religious; so his support for Trump aligns with the first four reasons you listed.
"My friend and I have remained close friends and we exchange e-mails four or five days each week. We look for areas of agreement, but otherwise, we usually avoid issues on which we strongly disagree. Much of what we discuss involves discoveries in medical science.
"Trump has been able convince many Americans that he is a strong, decisive leader, who solves problems and who can get things done. I view that as an exceptionally false image and I believe that Trump actually creates more problems than he solves, but that is an issue for another time."
Eric, I apologize for being so slow to respond to your thoughtful comments, but I will respond briefly now. Yes, of the five reasons listed above, the last is the most explicitly a Christian reason, but the first two are often Christian reasons as well. In the county I grew up in northwest Missouri, Protestant Christianity was dominant. Community leaders, school teachers, most businessmen (and there were hardly any businesswomen), etc. were predominantly active Protestants. That is how many in my home county still expect (or want) things to be. That is the nostalgia factor--and the fear is that the position of the Christianity they knew, or knew of from their parents/grandparents, is now threatened and may disappear. So the Make America Great Again slogan to them means restoring the strength of the Christianity of the past, which they fear is in danger of being suppressed now.
DeleteAnd here is a brief comment from Thinking Friend Jerry Jumper in southwest Missouri. It was his direct, sincere question that helped motivate me to write this blog article. I am grateful for his question last month and for his gracious comment this morning.
ReplyDelete"Thank you, as always, for your judicious and thoughtful words on this subject."
Thinking Friend Glenn Hinson in Kentucky writes,
ReplyDelete"I wonder, too, Leroy, whether many got addicted to Trump through 'The Apprentice. I’ve never watched it, but it rolls off his tongue often. I’m struck especially by his comment that he could shoot someone down on 5th Avenue in NYC with impunity. "
Some years ago I read "The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind" by Julian Jaynes. One point he made sticks with me, that we are shaped by our deep philosophical definitions of things like life, death, and time. He got the tongue-twister title from his theory that a revolution in self-understanding had radically changed how we think. He uses Homer as a metaphor for this, maybe even as the source. Jaynes sees the Iliad as a swirling cauldron of consciousness, which transforms into self-consciousness in the Odyssey. People did not self-consciously decide to be self-conscious!
ReplyDeleteThose deep definitions of life, death, and time were not carefully thought out the way they would be in a philosophical discussion. Rather, they were the result of experience. For instance, if you hear the voice of a loved one after they have died, maybe even see them, that deeply impacts the boundary between life and death. In our educated world we have come up with concepts like grief and hallucinations to explain the experience. I suspect that, in a similar vein, MAGA Republicans simply have different deep philosophies than liberals. For instance, what is the relationship between rules and consequences? To totally ban abortion may feel like an intuitively obvious rule, which can result in an almost total dismissal of terrible consequences of the ban. Meanwhile, a focus on consequences determines the morality by looking a wide variety of consequences such as the significant percentage of pregnancies that involve miscarriages and other serious medical problems.
So how do we have conversations about our deepest feelings and understandings? Are we just a bunch of individuals, or are we a community? Is life radically individual, or is it a group process? I suspect that the shift Jaynes found in Homer is only one of many that have happened throughout history as deep understanding has evolved without people noticing it. Groups split all the time when a previous unity is shattered by a new situation and a new understanding. Look at the tortured history of separation of church and state in America. Every time a new understanding of it is settled, a new situation caused a need to fine tune what it meant. As government expanded into new areas of service during the twentieth century, new contact points appeared between church and state. Recently, during Covid, churches had to decide what to do with small business salary continuance payments from the government. Should they be used? Religious school funding is an ongoing source of conflict.
Plato left a great library of Socratic efforts to find deep understanding in people who did not think they needed to search. How many of us would like to have our self-understanding upended by Socrates? As Plato reports Socrates saying in his trial in the Apology, "The unexamined life is not worth living." As I recall, Jesus also said something similar involving a beam and a speck.
Thanks, Craig, for your deep, thought-provoking comments. I have to confess, though, that my classical knowledge is sadly deficient, and I don't remember ever hearing of Julian Jaynes (1920~97) or his noteworthy 1976 book to which you referred. THanks for bringing him and his seminal ideas to my attention.
DeleteI am, of course, familiar with Socrates's words you quoted in your last paragraph--and even more so with the adaptation of those words by Elton Trueblood which I first heard and was challenged by in 1957: "Unexamined faith is not worth having." That is the title of the 16th chapter of my book "Thirty True Things Everyone Needs to Know Now" (2018), and I wrote about that in my 6/20/18 blog post:
https://theviewfromthisseat.blogspot.com/2018/06/ttt-16-unexamined-faith-is-not-worth.html
Here are noteworthy comments from local Thinking Friend Don Wilson:
ReplyDelete"Thank you for your current post. I want to 'chime in.' I have been reading writings of, and listening to presentations (on YouTube) from Dr. Bradley Onishi, one of the writers concerning White Christian Nationalism. Onishi, an Asian American who grew up in Orange County, CA, in an Evangelical Christian home, identifies as a former Christian Nationalist. His research has been extensive. He brings much to the table. He has suggested that the 1960s is when the Evangelicals regard the country began slipping from their grip. Owing to the various movements of that time which awakened people to the rights of the wider community, e.g. civil rights, women's movement, etc. Many White Evangelical Christians felt increasingly threatened by increased racial activism. As time has continued and there has been a greater emphasis upon racial issues, plus the LGBTQ issues White Evangelicals were feeling a loss of the country as it had been (hence the nostalgia you mention in point #1). For many of these, the presidency of an African American, with a foreign sounding name (Barack Hussein Obama) was a bridge too far and White Evangelicals sought a hero to champion their causes and help take their country back. Onishi even goes so far as to suggest that furthermore they longed for one who was willing to 'brutalize' their enemies. Trump was their man. They were willing to overlook his many flaws, even his complete ignorance of the Bible and Christian faith. As we have seen, White Christian Nationals, and the whole MAGA movement stick with Trump through it all. Onishi notes the presence of the many Christian symbols at the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the capital was very telling, indeed.
You are likely well aware of Onishi as well as other writers on this topic, but I have been fascinated recently as I've 'dug into all this. In addition to Onishi, I am finding help in the writings of Jim Wallis in his very recent publication 'False White Gospel.,' and of Samuel Perry, Gorski 'The Flag and the Cross.'
"I do feel that White Christian Nationalism poses a substantial threat to our nation's democracy. It will surely be a significant factor in the upcoming election."
Thanks, Don, for your pertinent comments, and I am planning to write about the issue of White Christian Nationalism in my next blog post (May 20). I had seen Onishi's name, but I know little about him or his book. (Onishi is a common Japanese name, and I see that his father was a Japanese Hawaiian.)
DeleteI have put a hold on Onishi's book at the local library and should be getting it soon. I have just finished reading Jim Wallis's book "The False White Gospel," and I will be submitting a review of it to The Englewood Review of Books next week as well as referring to it at some length, probably, in my May 20 blog article.
I certainly agree with your concluding paragraph.
Bro. Leroy, I'd like to add one more reason some may support Trump over Biden. They consider him the lesser of two evils. They are not so much in favor of Trump as simply more so against Biden and the changes in our country he represents. Nostalgia is very present, dreaming of a past I doubt really existed. Fear is always an element when facing an unknown future marked by changes that are contrary to the remembered past. David Johnson above reflected much of my current thinking. I appreciate his comments which involve the turmoil that probably exists in everyone who is not sold out to one candidate/party or the other.
ReplyDeleteBy late last fall I was ready to vote for Trump simply because I so radically disagreed with decisions coming out of the White House. Now thanks to Trump's own comments, I am forced to go the other way because I so radically disagree with most of what he is saying. We cannot survive as a country ready to hear divergent ideas with a leader like Trump. My problem is Biden is so willing to hear and tolerate any idea we have lost all sense of direction if we are seeking a free country that includes accountability. Of course our founding fathers were slave owners, prejudiced, and probably had a rather shallow interpretation of God's guidance of our country. Their ideals, however, should not be shortchanged just because they did not practice them to the extent they should have.
I need a candidate who can appeal to a moral system that is above majority rule, biggest gun rule, or tradition rule. Until that candidate arrives, I am stuck with voting for the least evil candidate that gives hope the USAmerica will last a few more years before succumbing to a weak totalitarianism or becoming a nation under the influence of the economic threats of a a foreign dictatorship.
Tom, I appreciate your straightforward comments and your honesty. But I have several questions that I want to pose to you. First, though, while I sought to say in my blog article that I think most MAGA Republicans = Trump supports are neither malicious nor stupid, if you are serious about suggesting that some will vote for Trump because they think he is the lesser of two evils, I guess I would have to seriously question their reasoning ability. Of course, the abortion issue is of great concern for many Trump voters, and if they are one-issue voters, I can understand why at least in the past two elections they might well see Trump as the lesser of two evils. But please note that my good friend David Johnson to whom you referred is definitely not a Trump supporter even though he is not "pro-abortion" (as, in fact, I am not).
DeleteHere are some of the questions I have for you:
1) You mentioned Trump supporters who are so because they are "against Biden and the changes in our country he represents." Exactly what changes do they (or you) think are so negative that he would be consider the greater of two evils?
2) You said you were against Biden because you "radically disagreed with decisions coming out of the White House." What were some of those decisions you thought were so terrible?
3) What, for example, are some of the ideas that Biden was "willing to hear and tolerate" that led to the losing of "all sense of direction."
Well, I have more questions, but perhaps the three above are enough. When I was listening to Fox News last week, Biden was often criticized in general terms similar to what you wrote above. But there were no specifics. To make broad statements of the deficiencies and mistakes of a President without any factual basis is a problem that needs to be recognized.
And while my blog article was not about Trump as such but rather about the Christians who support him, the following is a bit off the subject. But an example of why I, and many of my Thinking Friends who commented above, are so opposed to Trump and seriously wonder how so many Christians can support him, consider what Heather Cox Richard reported in her newsletter yesterday:
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/april-30-2024
As an Evangelical Christian who according to you misinterprets scripture, I also don't understand MAGA Christians. I have never supported Trump and do not understand why people who I agree with on so many issues don't view Trump the same way I do. Especially since Trump is backing away more and more from the abortion views that mad the Evangelicals so enamored with him. I think your reasons are missing the point, because you are painting conservatism as the problem with Trump and it's not the conservative ideology that's wrong with Trump, it's his immaturity, narcissism, meanness, and recklessness that we should be not supporting regardless of whether his political views match with ours.
ReplyDeleteStupidity is a strong word and I would not use it as a label to identify why people fall into the MAGA/Trump category but their is a kind of a ignorance. a willfull blindness to his well chronicled failings Their emperor doesn't lack clothes but lacks the biblical principles we are suppose to clothe ourselves in and so very few in the flock lack the same principles to call Him out on it.
Thanks for commenting again, Dave--and I am still wanting to find out who you are.
DeletePlease note well that I do not think that all Evangelical Christians misinterpret all of the Bible, but if, as some apparently do, there are Christians who say they support Trump because they believe the Bible, that, I think, is highly problematic. You, obviously, are an Evangelical Christian who does not support Trump. May your tribe increase!
Please note that my article is not about Trump, as such--except, I guess for the last paragraph. It is about MAGA Republicans who support Trump. And since you are not in the latter category, I hope you will seek to help your Evangelical Christian friends to be as wise about this situation as you are.
According to this morning's Christianity Today article, "A new poll shows that a majority of white Christians would vote for Donald Trump if the election were held today, including 81 percent of evangelicals, 61 percent of Catholics, and 57 percent of non-evangelical Protestants."
ReplyDeleteHere is the article CT was reporting on:
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/04/30/voters-views-of-trump-and-biden-differ-sharply-by-religion/