I read an essay by a christian a while ago that pointed out that the separation of church and state wasn’t about protecting the state from religion - it was about protecting religion from the state.
The gist of the argument was that religion should be concentrating on the eternal, and politics, by necessity, concentrates on the immediate. The author was concerned that welding religion and politics together would make religion itself political, meaning it would have to conform to the secular moment rather than looking to saving souls or whatever.
The mind meld of evangelical christianity and right wing politics happened in the mid to late 70s when the US was trying to racially integrate christian universities, which had been severely limiting or excluding black students. Since then, republicans and christians have been in bed together. The southern baptist convention, in fact, originally endorsed the Roe decision because it helped the cause of women. It was only after they decided to go all in on social conservatism that it became a sin.
Christians today are growing concerned about a falloff in attendance and membership. This article concentrates on how conservatism has become a call for people to publicly identify as evangelical while not actually being religious, because it’s an our team thing.
Evangelicals made an ironically Faustian bargain and are starting to realize it.
It’s absolutely real too. https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/03/05/real-message-behind-that-golden-trump-statue/
Worth noting also WHY racially integrating universities was such a big deal to Southern Baptists.
The sect was founded as a splinter group from the Triennial Convention in 1845 because the group that would become the Southern Baptist Church opposed the abolition of slavery. The largest sect of protestant Christianity in the US is literally founded upon the idea that chattel slavery was a right and just thing. And they are doomsday cultists.
19th-century American Christians were even able used the Bible to justify slavery: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_Ham?wprov=sfti1
It’s not like they ever followed his teachings anyway…
It’s a sad irony that christians are rejecting one of the few tolerable parts of christianity (namely, the teachings of compassion, brotherly love, and peace promoted by jesus).
It’s as if they aren’t capable of the basic logic needed to comprehend where the word “christianity” comes from.
They love the supply side Jesus who says fuck the poor.