We have no doubt that the evangelical operators who long ago cast aside faith and morality in favor of access to power are not going to be jolted out of their religious coma by an editorial. The evangelicals who view Trump as a bully of their own, a leader who justifies their grievances and normalizes racist and xenophobic rhetoric, will ignore CT’s admonitions and indeed vilify the publication. However, this should not minimize the importance of declaring that the emperor (both Trump and his idolaters) has no clothes. The public condemnation of Trump might at least begin a discussion among evangelicals about whether they have damaged their own religious values and credibility.

If CT sparks at least some soul-searching and prompts some Trump cultists to reevaluate their Faustian bargain, the publication would have made a major contribution both to faith and to the country. After all, it is not merely that evangelicals have kept in power a corrupt, disloyal and immoral president, but in that in doing so they have stained the reputation of “values voters."

A crack in Trump’s evangelical wall of defense that has the potential to split off even a small number of Trump supporters has the potential to deprive Trump of another term. One can only imagine the fury raining down on CT’s owners and editors. They have shown real courage here. We hope that their courage is contagious.