The Religious Right in the Time of Donald Trump—Part 1
Should we fear a resurgent religious right? I'm not so sure. Might we be on the verge of a Christian revival that will sweep away secular-liberal America? I’m skeptical.
I’m heading into an intense couple of weeks. In addition to my usual teaching load, I have some big podcast appearances to tape, some non-Substack writing obligations to fulfill, and a short trip to take with my wife in celebration of our upcoming 30th wedding anniversary. And, on top of all that, I’m giving a lecture at a university in upstate New York a week from now. This post and the second part, which will run on Tuesday, are a first draft of what I will say in those remarks. Other than these two posts, I will publish what I can when I can between now and the week of October 13, when a more regular schedule of posting will resume.
It’s happening again: Warnings about a Republican president using political power to advance the agenda of a religious right animated by “Christian nationalism.” It was exactly 20 years ago that a series of books began to appear, making the case that the U.S. was in jeopardy of a theocratic imposition of religiously based moral restrictions on individual freedoms. Indeed, I was the author of one of those books. The parallels really are quite remarkable: A Republican wins a presidential election while losing the popular vote, convincing Democrats that he has no mandate in public opinion. Then he wins a second election by a wider margin, inspiring waves of panic and alarm about whether he might actually have sufficient support to pursue and enact a religiously infused agenda.
In these remarks, I want to make the case that, in retrospect and in light of subsequent developments in American politics, those fears were somewhat overstated during the administration of George W. Bush—and that, although we have much to be worried about with regard to the second Trump administration, a transformation of the country into a theocracy shouldn’t be anywhere near the top of the list. Yes, the religious right is an important part of President Trump’s base of support, but so are many other non-religious groups, and there is little reason to think that groups of religiously motivated voters pose the greatest threat. As for the possibility that we’re on the cusp of a religious revival, let’s just say I’ll believe it when I see it. And so far, I just don’t see it.
The Fleeting Theocon Moment
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