Trump Reveals the End of the Religious Right's Preeminence

[Lodestar]

Conservative Christian leaders have proven unable to steer the race, exposing the splintered state of their movement.

Many headlines trumpeting Donald Trump’s victory in the Nevada Republican caucuses credit voters’ anger with the federal government. But the real lesson of Trump’s rise is not about fury, but faith. Trump's momentum reveals that the conservative Christian voting bloc is a splintered remnant of the kingmaking machine it once was. And perhaps this is good news both for Trump and for the conservative Christian movement itself.

Leading up to the Iowa caucus, Tony Perkins of Family Research Council helped corral old-guard religious-right leaders for a secret meeting to determine which nominee they would support for president. Texas Senator Ted Cruz narrowly beat out Florida’s Marco Rubio.

Thirty years ago, such a blessing would have sealed the nomination. But not today.

One kind of conservative Christian—described by Yahoo’s Jon Ward as “most likely to be under 45 and less politically active than the Cruz evangelical”—instead threw their support to Marco Rubio. Another faction of the faithful—ordinary evangelicals and the more God-and-country type of Christians—rallied behind real-estate mogul Donald Trump. This group included Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University and son of one of the founders of the religious-right movement.

To an outsider, conservative Christian support for these three candidates appears to be something of a draw. But no candidate has endured more resistance from prominent Christian leaders than The Donald. The editor of the leading evangelical magazine in America, Christianity Today, declared “Trump threatens to Trump the Gospel.” R.R. Reno, the editor of the conservative Catholic magazine First Things, warned America may be heading for a “Trumpaggedon.” Russell Moore, the political spokesperson for the 15-million member Southern Baptist Convention took to the opinion pages of The New York Times to dissuade evangelicals from supporting Trump.

Again, such fierce opposition from so many evangelical leaders just three decades ago would have shipwrecked a Republican candidate for president. But not today.

cont'd
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/02/the-demise-of-conservative-christian-political-prominence/471093/

[Hydra]

1. We can only hope their time is passing

The amount of damage the RW religious establishment has done to every form of progress is staggering.

[Lodestar]

2. I think the religious right constituency was more about winning than faith.

They had been disenfranchised and left behind by society and saw a chance to
gain a voice. Trump, they hope, will be the winning horse this time around.
Plus this constituency, (like so many in BOTH parties) have felt used and disgarded
by the GOP. Unfortunately for them, with a Trump presidency I think their disappointment would
be almost immediate because Trump could really care less about this group's agenda and wouldn't
even bother to pretend otherwise.

Plus the whole basis of the religious right's faith has to do with an authoritarian God and so it's
no wonder they would choose Trump as their leader.

[world wide wally]

3. What people don't get is that the "religious right" has nothing to do with religion.

They are simply a wing of the Republican machine that needs an excuse and there is no better excuse than "God told me to". As soon as they realized they could use abortion as bait, the Republican manipulation machine went to work on them. Falwell and Robertson are their original con men and the rest is history. They in no way emulate their "Savior" nor do they care to.

[YOHABLO]

4. Well maybe if Trump is the nominee, they will all stay at home in November.