Those who actually try to follow Biblical precepts such as “love your neighbor as yourself” and “deal out your bread to the hungry and provide shelter to the poor” (Isa. 58:7, one of my favorites, slightly paraphrased) find it bizarre, to say the least, how the religious right can support a man like Trump, who is practically a model for the antichrist: he commits adultery (and even boasts about it), he swears falsely (and also profanely), he bears false witness, he covets Jared’s wife, and he most certainly does not love our neighbors. There are a number of reasons for this unholy alliance (see, in particular, this evaluation), but there is also the matter of shared values: Both Trump and the religious right are heavily invested in denial of reality.
The religious right first:
- They deny the Earth is 5 billion years old, and that humans have been human for at least a couple hundred thousand years (the date keeps getting pushed back).
- They deny that there can possibly be legitimate gender variations.
- They deny that life gradually begins rather than all at once at conception. (Throw in that they also deny that as many as 1/3 of all conceptions cannot survive until birth.)
- They deny the proven stories of the harm done to women (and those who love them) by their attacks on reproductive rights.
- They deny our history of racism and white privilege.
- They deny the possibility that maybe, just maybe, they could be wrong.
All this (and more) comes from their reliance on a revelation that is at best obscure and open to multiple interpretations, not to mention revisions, and that has been historically proven to be a human invention.
Now, The Orange Menace:
- He denies that he lost the election (this is the big one).
- He denies that he did anything wrong in taking those documents (including a total reverse reading of the Presidential Records Act).
- He denies that ever met, much less could be attracted to, E. Jean Carroll (though he mistook her for one of his wives in a photograph, and not that attraction is a necessary prerequisite to sexual assault). Throw in his denial of having had sex with Stormy Daniels while we’re at it.
- He denied the scientific evaluations of Covid, and then denied that he had denied them.
- He denies the possibility that maybe, just maybe, he could be wrong.
In short, both Trump and the RR foundationally deny any science, any history, any evidence, that contradicts or even challenges their view of reality. (In Trump’s case, that view is strictly transactional, so he is capable of denying something he held as truth five minutes earlier.) They make common cause in their denial of reality, and they support Trump because they are sure he will support them in their increasing efforts to make reality bow to their revelation.
Take note how Trump and his minions are trying to enforce their denial of reality using many of the same techniques religions have traditionally used:
- Any deviation from, or challenge to, the current doctrine is denounced as heresy (the RR) or disloyalty (tfg). (NB: The current doctrine is subject to change without notice, so the faithful must be sure to stay current.)
- No sign of devotion is enough. The faithful must always sacrifice more for the faith.
- The faithful and their leaders are being unfairly persecuted for their faith.
- The faithful must continually give MONEY! Or God will call me home / the authorities will put me in jail.
- Close your ears and eyes, and denounce as devils, anyone who tries to tell you otherwise. Listen only to the approved messages and messengers.
- You must believe in Jesus to be saved / You must believe in me to make America great again.
Trump will betray the religious right without a second thought if he thinks it’s to his advantage or i he no longer has a use for them. The religious right will undoubtedly do the same once he has demolished the safeguards that have kept them from forcing their religion on everyone else. (The Supreme Court has gone so far in this direction already that the RR may decide they don’t need Trump now.)
We should not make the mistake of thinking the religious right is representative of all religion, any more than Trump is representative of all politicians. But we also should not think of the religious right as a monolithic unit. It is made up of many different Protestant groups (and the Catholic hierarchy — though not so much the laity — are in the mix as well, as are to a much lesser degree some ultra-Orthodox Jews) who will stay united only for so long as it takes to gain general power. After that, they will tear other apart as each tries to gain all the power.