“Good” White Evangelical Politicians

There has been considerable criticism of white evangelicals—and I have posted critical remarks myself (such as in my 2/4 blog post). But putting labels on people and saying everyone with that label is the same is a problem—and I wrote about “evangeliphobia” in my 1/30/16 blog post.

In this article, I am thinking particularly of two white evangelical politicians: Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) and Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.). I am referring to them as “good” because they take politically unpopular stances, partly or largely because of their Christian faith.

Applauding Rep. Kinzinger

Adam Daniel Kinzinger (b. 1978) has served as a U.S. Congressman from Illinois since 2011. Recently, he has been in the news largely because he was one of the ten Republicans in the House to vote for the impeachment of President Trump.

A Jan. 29 piece posted on Christianity Today’s website is entitled “Meet the Republican Congressman Who Says His Faith Led Him to Vote for Impeachment.” 

According to this Jan. 28 article in The Atlantic, Kinzinger was a kid who grew up in a Baptist Church, and now, they write,

As someone who identifies as a born-again Christian, he believes he has to tell the truth. What has been painful, though, is seeing how many people who share his faith have chosen to support Trump at all costs, fervently declaring that the election was stolen.

“The courage of Adam Kinzinger,” an article in the Feb. 6 issue of The Economist, reports on the “angry pushback” Kinzinger is getting and even how a “fellow evangelical Christian accused him of being possessed by the devil.”

Surely, though, many evangelical Christians—and most of those who are not—have to be impressed with not only the courage but also the integrity of Rep. Kinzinger.

Applauding Sen. Sasse

Benjamin Eric Sasse (b. 1972) is the junior U.S. Senator for Nebraska, having won his second term in the Nov. 2020 election.

Born in Nebraska as the son of a high school teacher and football coach, Sasse graduated from Harvard in 1994 and went on to earn a Ph.D. degree (in history) from Yale University. Currently, he is the only Republican Senator with a Ph.D. (There are three Democrats with that degree.)   

Sasse was baptized in the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. As a college student in the 1990s, he began to embrace the "reformed faith" (Calvinism). And during his college years, Sasse was active in Campus Crusade for Christ (now Cru). Later, he became an elder in the United Reformed Churches.

Sen. Sasse has long been a critic of the 45^th POTUS, and on Tuesday (Feb. 8), Sasse was one of only six Republicans (out of 50) who voted that the second impeachment trial of Trump is constitutional. And (perhaps today) he is likely to vote for Trump’s conviction.

His opposition to the Republican President has led to him being censured by Republicans in Nebraska, but he has persisted in doing and saying what he thinks is right.

Like Rep. Kinzinger, Sasse’s faith has led him also to be a man of courage and integrity.

Criticizing Rep. Kinzinger and Sen. Sasse

Applauding the evangelical Christian faith which has led Rep. Kinzinger and Sen. Sasse to be men of courage and integrity—and, as such, outspoken in their opposition to DJT—does not mean general agreement with their political ideas.

It is possible to respect and to admire people of integrity who embody and express goodwill while still disagreeing with their ideas and their political position on important issues.

And it is unfair to allow dislike for some white conservative evangelical politicians, such as Sen. Josh Hawley and Sen. Ted Cruz, to lump all conservative evangelical politicians together and to castigate them all.

Thankfully, there are “good” white evangelical politicians, and even though I am critical of some or many of their political positions, I am thankful for Rep. Kinzinger and Sen. Sasse.

What about Evangeliphobia?

At the Vital Conversations meeting that I mentioned in my previous blog article, one of the participants asked if anyone had read the novel Christian Nation. No one had—but I have now been reading it for the last several days. It is an intriguing book.

That 2013 novel by Frederic C. Rich is based on the author’s speculation of what might have happened if McCain and Palin had been elected in 2008. You will likely see me refer to Rich’s novel again in future blog articles.

As I began to read the absorbing book, though, it dawned on me that it was doing the same sort of thing that books and movies have done with regard to Islam. That is, it exacerbates fear and enmity toward people whom the author clearly dislikes and distrusts.

So, author Rich may be guilty of encouraging what might be called “evangeliphobia.” When I thought of that term, I thought that I was perhaps coining a new word. But, alas, there is nothing new under the sun.

I found use of that term as far back as 1998. And in a 2005 article posted online by The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, “Who’s Afraid of Evangelicals?” refers to “the recent rash of ‘evangeliphobia’.”

In his book The Fear of Islam, Todd Green explains that Islamophobia is closely linked to essentialism, which is the idea that the characteristics of some individuals in a group apply to all the people in the same group.

Isn’t that sort of thing happening to evangelicals (as well as Muslims) in this country (and elsewhere)? In some circles aren’t all evangelicals being looked down upon because of the outrageous statements and questionable activities of some evangelicals?

As most of you know, I am highly critical of Christian, as well as other types of, fundamentalism. My first book was titled Fed Up with Fundamentalism (2007). In that book, though, I differentiated between being a fundamentalist and being a conservative: all fundamentalists are conservatives, but not all conservatives are fundamentalists.

And, of course, the word “evangelicals” could be used in place of conservatives in the previous sentence. Often, however, all evangelicals/conservatives/fundamentalists get lumped together as if they are all the same. That clearly seems to be the case in the novel Christian Nation.

And that is the reason for using the word “evangeliphobia.”

One of the ways to combat Islamophobia is by pointing out that there is much diversity among Muslims. All should not be judged and condemned because of the outrageous behavior of a few. That is a point insisted on by moderate/liberal Christians—such as those who gathered for the discussion of Green’s book at Central Seminary on Monday evening.

But some of these same Christians—and I don’t mean to be critical of my friends at Central—are guilty of this same sort of problematic thinking when it comes to conservative evangelical Christians.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I have to tell you that I (still) consider myself an evangelical—but one who is on the far left of the evangelical spectrum, one who is a Jim Wallis or a Tony Campolo or even a Jimmy Carter type of evangelical.

However, I have many friends (and family members) who are evangelicals and far to my right theologically and politically/socially. But they are not political extremists and don’t deserve to be lumped in with the evangelicals who are exposed/condemned in Christian Nation.

Let’s beware of the unfairness of evangeliphobia as well as of Islamophobia.

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RECOGNIZING THE DIVERSITY AMONG EVANGELICALS

      For a recent article that clarifies the diversity among evangelicals, see “7 types of evangelicals — and how they’ll affect 2016.”