Trump's questionable morality gets a pass from evangelical voters. I decided to ask why.

[dalton99a]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2024/02/18/evangelicals-support-trump-2024-appeal-voters/72614580007/

Trump's questionable morality gets a pass from evangelical voters. I decided to ask why.
How does Donald Trump persuade voters who say they consider their faith when casting ballots to look his way and say, yeah, that's my kind of guy?
Chris Brennan
USA TODAY

Donald Trump is known for many things: bankrupt casinos, claims of adultery, bragging about sexual assault, actual sexual assault, paying hush money to a porn star, and then winning and losing the presidency.

It’s not the stuff of Sunday church sermons, unless the topic is the road to hell.

But there is one more thing Trump is known for: remarkably strong and lasting support among white evangelical Christian voters.

How does he do that?

How does Trump persuade voters who say they consider their faith when casting ballots to look his way and say, yeah, that’s my kind of guy?

I asked some people who would know. The consensus: Many evangelicals don’t need Trump to be a person of faith – or even a good person – if they feel like he has their backs.

...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


TLDR: Because they are vile despicable hypocrites

[Sibelius Fan]

1. Christianity is a self-aggrandizing and -serving system that is fueled by the conceit

that attends any system based entirely on make believe, as is Christianity. When facts/reality are ignored one can devise any reality one wishes. Pretty simple.

[Chainfire]

7. Yea, what is it they say, If you can make them believe absurdity, you can make them commmit atrocity?

Anyting can be excused if done in the name of God.

Gott Mit Uns.

[Cha]

2. Not "questionable" ... TSF Comes from Hell. he is

and Anti-Christ.

evangelical voters are. stupid.

[patphil]

3. The fact that his life story shows him to be far closer to Satan than Jesus doesn't bother them.

If your willing to let evil run the country, then what does that make you?
Kinda defines a lot of Evangelicals don't it.
Hey you guys, you're driving into deep muddy water. Turn around, don't drown!

[BOSSHOG]

4. Vile Despicable Hypocrites Indeed

And ignorant. Trump has no ones back. He is out for only one person. Evangelicals want to force people to be them. In the land of the free. Let’s do away with the separation of church and state and turn loose the assessors.

[calimary]

5. Sad, isn't it.

[LuvLoogie]

6. Because their piety is cover

for their bigotry. THAT is why they support him. They are bigots wearing Jeezuz beards.

Fuck them.

[Mopar151]

8. Because "Love thy Neighbor" is too damm hard for their candy asses!

Cowering in fear and acting out with guns is their jam..

[S/V Loner]

9. I would have to ask...

If you need a horrible, UN-christian-like, person like trump to have your back then what kind of person are you?

[keithbvadu2]

10. Right wingers still whine that Obama is a muslim but love Christian Donald.

[msongs]

11. their own bible says adulterers should be stoned to death. but they dont really practice the bible nt

[ancianita]

16. Right, not even fundies, because what Moses said/wrote in the Torah wasn't what Jesus said 1,500 years later.

Christians are not a monolith.

[Jack-o-Lantern]

12. Evangelicals and their messiah trump make my skin crawl.

[Freethinker65]

13. Because they have no critical thinking skills. They do and think as their religious leaders/carnival barkers command.

[William Seger]

14. If TFG has anyones back, it's because his hand is reaching for their wallet

They really need to do some Bible study on the Great Deceiver, or maybe just look up the definition of malignant narcissist.

[LudwigPastorius]

15. I've actually asked this of a few evangelicals I work with.

The answers range from, "God works in mysterious ways", to "God used a sinner like King David to do his will too".

There is NO getting through to cultists. History is replete with followers who willingly died for the earthly object of their worship.

[calimary]

22. They'll twist their belief systems into pretzels

just to avoid having to admit they were wrong.

And worse - that they’ve been HAD. WILLINGLY had.

[PJMcK]

17. It's really quite simple

Christians really don’t understand their religion.

It’s really that simple.

If they understood the teachings of the carpenter from Bethlehem, their behavior would be different.

Instead, they are focused on evil.

[ancianita]

19. Yep.

They're focused on temporal power and the evil that comes with that. It's pure spiritual laziness. Studies have shown that only 18% of christians actually read their Bible regularly, anyway, which is why they're so ignorant about their own religion.

[summer_in_TX]

20. Add "some" before that, or "RW Christians" before "Christians really don't understand their religion."

There are those of us who do follow Jesus and do our best to pattern our lives after his. Our behavior has changed because of that understanding and the experience of being loved unconditionally in spite of all our flaws and the ways we have hurt others.

[PJMcK]

24. You're right, of course

The folks I wrote about wear the label but they interpret the Bible with malice. That misses the whole point of Christianity.

There are many people who follow Jesus in His spirit. Sadly, it’s a religion that has historically led to terrible events.

[summer_in_TX]

30. Sadly, all religions can be misused by those who want to use it for personal benefit and power.

Religion can be abused for control, power, wealth, sex, and other personal benefits. Christianity is no exception. Perhaps it is a little more easily abused than others, but I can't say for sue. I once thought "The Scarlet Letter" was a true description of all Christians and Christianity. I wanted nothing to do with any oyf it. My parents were agnostic and anti-Christian, and the last thing I ever expected to be was a Christian. I lucked into a church that had an abundance of warm, affectionate people who didn't feel any need to try to convert me, just made me welcome. Eventually I opened up to explore, although I still was sure it was bad and I'd never become one of them. I was loved in. Accepted.

Some churches and individual Christians are radically accepting and do a lot of good for their whole community. The benefits of organized religiona that it has a lot of power to do good too. Hospitals, colleges, etc

[ancianita]

18. "TLDR: Because they are vile despicable hypocrites" -- and therefore are cultists, not Christian.

If they were Christians they'd try to find out why other Christians don't vote for him and vote for the Christian, Biden, and they'd learn from them the reality that trump loves only power and not their god, so trump absolutely doesn't have their backs, only his own.

[mwb970]

21. To me, "Christian" means "cruel and heartless".

You know, just like Jesus.

[Martin Eden]

23. From the article: "People feel that he understands them"

For a con man to be successful, he has to understand his mark. He needs the people he cons to think he has their backs, even though he's just grifting for their money and their votes.

Of course, not all evangelical Trump voters are being conned. He embodies the greed, racism, and cruelty that still simmers in these bible-thumping hypocrites. They have the ears to hear dog whistles blown by the likes of Ronald Reagan, but Trump has a bullhorn and they love him for it.

Let's not forget the Bible Belt of God-fearing Christians was the home of Jim Crow and the KKK. They could join a lynch mob on Saturday then go to church on Sunday -- not to repent the horrible sin but to validate their moral superiority.

[hvn_nbr_2]

25. "Has their backs" really means "hates the same people they hate." nt

[Lonestarblue]

26. These people believe that when Trump is president again, he will have the power to give them what they want.

What do they want? I think it’s mostly the following.

—They want all LGBTQ+ to be stripped of their rights, to endure forced and harmful conversion therapy, and to be shunned from society.
—They want women to be forced to marry and stay out of the workplace having babies to avoid any competition with men. They see complete bans on abortion and contraception as a means to force women into compliance, though they’re mostly concerned about forcing more white women to have babies.
—They want minorities to be put in their place, as the old white supremacist saying goes. Their place would be subservience to white people. Minority women would be expected to work but only in menial jobs while also having babies they can’t care for.
—They want all undocumented people forcibly removed from the US (though they might allow the white ones to stay) and the borders closed to any new immigrants.
—They want anyone who disagrees with Trump or criticizes him to be thrown in jail permanently without trials or proof of crimes.
—They don’t care at all about international treaties, relationships with allies, national security, or global interactions. They have this simplistic belief that the US would be better off withdrawing from the rest of the world—Trump’s AMERICA First—because we are an exceptional country and do not need anyone else.
—Some of them believe that the US should be a theocracy with laws based on their particular right-wing beliefs.

These are essentially the things that Trump has promised them.

[The Wizard]

27. pathological liars

[Wounded Bear]

28. Down deep, they all want to be him and get away with what he has done...

[mike_c]

29. he validates their perceived grievances

It's that simple, I think. Their "faith" includes a built in persecution complex that stokes their social grievances. TFG never actually does anything to alleviate their grievances-- they don't want relief any more than he does-- rather he flogs those grievances 24/7. Seeing the world through a lens of grievances comes naturally to TFG. Evangelicals would march into hell for him.

[muriel_volestrangler]

31. He tempts them with power. Maybe if they were reminded of the story of Jesus in the wilderness, tempted by Satan

with power over the world, a few of them might think again. Not many, I reckon - most of the white evangelical sect like it because it has power in a community - but I think a few still think about their bible.