White evangelicals don’t care as much about corruption in political leadership as they used to. A Public Religion Research Institute poll released in October reported that white evangelicals have dramatically revised their opinions about politicians’ personal morality, in recent years.
In 2011, 70 percent said they cared about public figures’ personal morality. Personal ethical behavior was connected, they believed, to faithfully fulfilling the duties of public office. In 2016, only 28 percent of evangelicals still thought this, while the majority of them told pollsters that public figures’ personal morality didn’t really matter.
.. Obama’s personal character, his family life and his finances, provided no fodder for his enemies. Attacking him on that basis was like trying to smear Fred Rogers — or Steve Rogers. So his opponents and enemies had to turn elsewhere — to fantasy, fake news, and the fetid racist fever-dreams of “alt-right” neo-Nazis, Alex Jones loons, and the “birther” lies of a lecherous faux-billionaire.
In other words, an emphasis on “personal ethical behavior” ceased to matter because it ceased to be useful.
If personal ethics and character were treated as meaningful and important, then white evangelicals would have to concede that — despite any disagreements they might have with his policies — Barack Obama, as a person, deserved their respect. And, since they couldn’t bring themselves to concede that, they simply tossed aside their earlier “principled” belief that “Personal ethical behavior was connected … to faithfully fulfilling the duties of public office.”
.. White evangelicals toyed with one unqualified not-Romney candidate after another before eventually, begrudgingly, settling on the Mormon. Mitt Romney’s scandal-free personal life wasn’t perceived as a virtue by white evangelicals, just as the rubbing of salt into an old wound — the constant reminder that Latter Day Saints always seem, as a whole, to be way better at white evangelical piety than white evangelicals have ever managed to be.)
.. Evangelical concern for the personal morality of political leaders probably peaked after Watergate, which was a big part of why, in 1976, they supported a governor from the Bible Belt who was a Navy hero, a Baptist Sunday-school teacher, and a man of almost painful personal integrity. Four years later, though, they abandoned that guy, rallying behind the religious right as it rallied behind a twice-married former Hollywood star who campaigned on states rights and saber-rattling anti-Communism.
Reagan’s history of Hollywood and divorce were, very briefly, matters of ethical concern for white evangelical voters. His pledge to support “states rights” — at a campaign kick-off in Neshoba County, Mississippi
Trump’s religious dealmaking pays dividends
“We don’t need a religious president,” said Burns, who was touched by the gift and recounted the story in a recent interview. “We need a president who can build relationships with people.”
.. And now, that transactional cycle seems likely to shape his White House agenda on issues of interest to the religious right.
.. But as much as religious conservative leaders respected Bush’s personal evangelical bona fides, they say that Trump — a man who has struggled to articulate his faith principles and is unapologetic about his tabloid-worthy personal life — has made more concrete commitments. They range from his pledge to appoint only Supreme Court justices who oppose abortion rights — a commitment Bush wouldn’t make — to his vow to defund Planned Parenthood.
.. He ultimately won the support of nearly every politically prominent Christian leader and landed 81 percent of the evangelical vote, a higher percentage than Bush netted in 2004.
.. “I think that he understood that his best and likely only chance to win the nomination and ultimately the presidency was to compete for and win the support of voters of faith,” said Ralph Reed
.. “I will say, having been involved with administrations from Reagan’s forward, this is the most solicitous that any incoming administration has been for input from evangelicals concerning personnel decisions that I’ve experienced,” Land said
.. ‘He’s very grateful for the faith community, he wants your input.’ That didn’t even happen under George W. Bush. They were willing to take our recommendations, but they didn’t actively solicit them three times before inauguration.”
.. He has not yet reached out to National Presbyterian Church, which has a rich political history — Ronald Reagan attended services there, Dwight D. Eisenhower laid a cornerstone there
.. “I think Norman Vincent Peale is the definition of a kind of transactional religion where it’s all about getting ahead,” said Blair, who has also written about Peale’s effect on the Trumps.
.. “Norman Vincent Peale’s message was, do whatever it takes to be successful, everything is transactional,”
.. Members of the evangelical advisory board certainly don’t question Trump’s faith, but they tend to be more voluble in describing his policy promises than in the particulars of what he believes. And to them, that’s what matters most.
.. “He said, ‘the only way I’m going to get to heaven is by repealing the Johnson amendment,’” which restricts tax-exempt churches from engaging in political activity, Land recalled. “Immediately, one of our people on the call said, ‘No, sir, the only way you’re going to get to heaven is by trusting Jesus Christ as your personal savior.’ Mr. Trump said, ‘Thank you for reminding me.’”
Tony Perkins Backs #DumpKelloggs: After Election Defeat, Left Will ‘Use Corporate America to Marginalize Conservative Thought’
Tony Perkins, host of the Family Research Council’sWashington Watch radio show, discussed the#DumpKelloggs boycott with Breitbart News CEO Larry Solov on Monday.
“The Left has lost control of the government – at least, it’s about to – which they have used to basically punish dissenting thought, when it comes to their politically correct agenda. So now there is this, it appears to be [a] rapid move to consolidate their control of corporate America – to use them to be their tool or their weapon of choice,”
.. “It’s like a different version of Hillary Clinton’s ‘basket of deplorables,’” Perkins observed. “Kellogg’s has their bowl of deplorables, and they’re basically dumping this on half of America.
.. “You’re right, a lot of our material is published on Breitbart. When petitions that we do on religious liberty in the military get to Breitbart, they do extremely well – because you’re right, it’s God-fearing Americans who read Breitbart,” said Perkins.
.. What that is, is an attempt – and we’ve seen it come from the Left many times – an attempt to shut down mainstream conservative thought, because they cannot compete in the realm of ideas. We know that we will win on that basis. They try to marginalize people so that you can’t get your ideas out there, and they marginalize you by calling you racist, sexist, and terms like that.”
.. maybe this long-held, long-gone-to playbook of calling conservatives racist is maybe beginning to lose some of its effectiveness,”
.. Frankly, they cannot point to a single fact, a single article on Breitbart that is white nationalist, because it has never existed.”
Franklin Graham: Best Election Choice for Christians ‘Not Difficult to Figure Out’
Celebrated evangelical pastor Franklin Graham has declared that the best choice for President in Tuesday’s elections “isn’t difficult to figure out if you are a Christian,” in evident reference to Republican candidate Donald Trump.
.. The Rev Graham, son of renowned evangelist Billy Graham, acknowledged that for many, voting for Trump isn’t easy, while insisting that it is nonetheless the better choice and that he is a “changed man.”
.. The Rev Graham, son of renowned evangelist Billy Graham, acknowledged that for many, voting for Trump isn’t easy, while insisting that it is nonetheless the better choice and that he is a “changed man.”
.. “Some candidates have entire political ads talking about how they spent their career fighting for the rights of children,” he said. “Yet they spent their entire career fighting against the rights of unborn children!”
Graham has said that while Trump’s comments might be “crude,” Hillary Clinton’s progressive agenda is “godless” and cannot be defended.
.. “Our political system is broken, and it will take strong, tough leadership to begin fixing some of this,” Graham said.
.. We’ve got to let the Christian voice be heard at the ballot box before it’s too late,” he said.