I can agree with everything you say here. I will add a couple of details. While there has always been a strong conservative current in American Christianity, it wasn't always strongly political, and associated with only one party. The linkage became firmly established in the late 70s when a group of Republican strategists pushed abortion, which was then seen as "that Catholic issue", as THE issue which could energize what became the Religious Right. Evangelicals swung hard against Carter and for Reagan for this reason primarily. So they rejected a truly religious man in favor of a man who was only a play acting Christian. That is when they completely sold their soul. In the 1980s they added anti-Gay to the mix.
The other thing I wanted to emphasize is that there are quite a few Christians who are disgusted with Christian Nationalism. The problem is their voices are drowned out by those of the fanatics.
I wish I had some hope that these Christofascists will some day lose their outsized influence and power, at least in my lifetime. It is truly awful that they are erasing decades of progress.
White evangelicals are fleeing what the religion’s become. Literally. In 2006, white evangelicals made up about 23% of the U.S. population. Today, they’re closer to 13–14%, depending on the survey. That’s a massive demographic collapse in less than two decades.
That was the good news.
The more complicated reality is that evangelical Christianity itself hasn’t disappeared at the same rate. Latino evangelicals have grown significantly, and Black evangelical-identifying churches have remained relatively stable. So while white evangelicals are shrinking, the evangelical category overall isn’t falling as fast as many expected.
That said, the political machinery of American evangelicalism has historically been white. Its funding networks, media infrastructure, lobbying power, and electoral muscle were overwhelmingly built by and for white constituencies. Strip away that white core, and the movement wouldn’t carry the same national political weight.
This racial dynamic should, in theory, be frowned upon. But to be frank, this is one of the few cases where I don’t mind it.
I’m not surprised. Unfortunately, their political power has not been proportional to their shrinking demographic. But this can't go on forever if the trend continues.
The reason I gave you the statistics was to say there is hope. In fact, a lot.
I can agree with everything you say here. I will add a couple of details. While there has always been a strong conservative current in American Christianity, it wasn't always strongly political, and associated with only one party. The linkage became firmly established in the late 70s when a group of Republican strategists pushed abortion, which was then seen as "that Catholic issue", as THE issue which could energize what became the Religious Right. Evangelicals swung hard against Carter and for Reagan for this reason primarily. So they rejected a truly religious man in favor of a man who was only a play acting Christian. That is when they completely sold their soul. In the 1980s they added anti-Gay to the mix.
The other thing I wanted to emphasize is that there are quite a few Christians who are disgusted with Christian Nationalism. The problem is their voices are drowned out by those of the fanatics.
I wish I had some hope that these Christofascists will some day lose their outsized influence and power, at least in my lifetime. It is truly awful that they are erasing decades of progress.
White evangelicals are fleeing what the religion’s become. Literally. In 2006, white evangelicals made up about 23% of the U.S. population. Today, they’re closer to 13–14%, depending on the survey. That’s a massive demographic collapse in less than two decades.
That was the good news.
The more complicated reality is that evangelical Christianity itself hasn’t disappeared at the same rate. Latino evangelicals have grown significantly, and Black evangelical-identifying churches have remained relatively stable. So while white evangelicals are shrinking, the evangelical category overall isn’t falling as fast as many expected.
That said, the political machinery of American evangelicalism has historically been white. Its funding networks, media infrastructure, lobbying power, and electoral muscle were overwhelmingly built by and for white constituencies. Strip away that white core, and the movement wouldn’t carry the same national political weight.
This racial dynamic should, in theory, be frowned upon. But to be frank, this is one of the few cases where I don’t mind it.
Thanks for this added detail, I hadn't been aware of those statistics.
I’m not surprised. Unfortunately, their political power has not been proportional to their shrinking demographic. But this can't go on forever if the trend continues.
The reason I gave you the statistics was to say there is hope. In fact, a lot.