As Donald Trump increasingly infuses his campaign with Christian trappings while coasting to a third Republican presidential nomination, his support is as strong as ever among evangelicals and other conservative Christians.
“Trump supports Jesus, and without Jesus, America will fall,” said Kimberly Vaughn of Florence, Kentucky, as she joined other supporters of the former president entering a campaign rally near Dayton, Ohio.
Many of the T-shirts and hats that were worn and sold at the rally in March proclaimed religious slogans such as “Jesus is my savior, Trump is my president” and “God, Guns & Trump.” One man’s shirt declared, “Make America Godly Again,” with the image of a luminous Jesus putting his supportive hands on Trump’s shoulders.
Many attendees said in interviews they believed Trump shared their Christian faith and values. Several cited their opposition to abortion and LGBTQ+ rights, particularly to transgender expressions.
Nobody voiced concern about Trump’s past conduct or his present indictments on criminal charges, including allegations that he tried to hide hush money payments to a porn actor during his 2016 campaign. Supporters saw Trump as representing a religion of second chances.
Sometimes I wonder what it’s like to be this dumb.
My life is needlessly difficult because I try to understand stupid people. It wears me out.
It’s like somewhere in the ancient past someone wished that stupidity was painful, but forgot to specify who it should be painful for.
A historical context helps out with this. They’re just us from 500 years ago. Even this divinely ordained stuff is straight out of history textbooks, the divine right to rule that medieval kings claimed.
Some people are completely lost in the modern world. They shut down completely whenever anyone aims any critic at them and congregate to unquestioningly hold on to what they recognize. It is basic human instinct and being smart sometimes just pushes some of these people into taking advantage of the system and leading this herd mentality, instead of taking a risk trying to wake them up.
Unfortunately, it’s well understood that political engagement especially when in a debate is an emotional undertaking.
Complicated further by the fact that we tend not to change our assumptions even when presented with data that proves otherwise.
We are a tribal species whose emotions are not geared towards understanding the far reaching and nuanced decisions we are faced with.
