RELIGIOUS SCHOLARS ON THE "CIVIL WAR" IN CHRISTIANITY AND THE URGENCY OF STOPPING TRUMP.

By Chauncey Debega Senior writer, / Donald Trump, supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump pray outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan.06, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo courtesy of Salon / Getty Images)

David Gushee said his faith prompted him to reject the "real surrender" of many Christians to Trump and fascism.

Christian nationalists convinced themselves that they had special claims over America during very different political and religious periods. That's not accurate. The United States Constitution was not established as a "Christian state"; it also established a clear separation between state and church, and Christianity was never the official national religion.

In addition, Christian nationalists and white evangelicals are not a "silent majority," and they do not even belong to the category of majority of any kind. In contrast, public opinion research consistently shows that Americans generally dislike policies and politics supported by the Christian right in many ways.

Ultimately, the voices, beliefs, and desires of those who profess what some scholars and observers call "white Christianity" are not entitled to any special privileges over those who profess a different faith. They don't even consider it a true belief. In reality, adherents of "white Christianity" are a dwindling minority in American society, but they are trying to become the dominant force and silence those who disagree with them at all costs. The Christian right joined Donald Trump and his MAGA neofascist movement in an effort to gain and retain power. This relationship is transactional because Trump openly violates almost all Christian principles and doctrines that are considered reasonable. He can be reasonably described as an unrepentant sinner from the point of view of almost all religions.

With the 2024 presidential election approaching, Trump is increasingly showing that he has been chosen, as if he is akin to the Second Coming or a messianic figure. He recently started a campaign ad stating that "God created Trump," suggesting that Trump is a messianic figure.

Right-wing evangelical Christians should condemn such behavior by Donald Trump and his MAGA movement as sacrilege if they are to truly live out their deeply held beliefs. Instead, they seem to have convinced themselves that Trump is in fact a divine messenger, sent to enable them to implement their revolutionary and reactionary plans on the American people. Evidently, the old warning was that fascists would come to America with a flag and a cross.

Dr. David P. Gushee—a distinguished professor of Christian ethics at Mercer University and chair of Christian Social Ethics at the Free University of Amsterdam—and I recently talked about Trump and modern American Christianity. In addition, he is a former president of the American Academy of Religion and the Society for Christian Ethics and a senior researcher at the Center for the Study of International Baptist Theology. Gushee is a published author who has penned a large number of opinion pieces and given interviews to numerous prominent media outlets, including The Washington Post, CNN, and USA Today. His latest book is "Defending Democracy from its Christian Enemies." Gushee discusses his opinion that the Christian Right is the unforgiving enemy of American democracy and discusses what it means to be a Christian and a believer in times of neofascism and rising global unrest. He said that Christians should absolutely oppose and reject authoritarianism and not support it in any way. To conclude this conversation, Gushee explains the different types of myths, conspiracy theories, and other fictional stories that the Christian Right has used to support their fight against multiracial pluralistic democracy and even against reality.

This is the first part of a two-part discussion and has been changed to be longer and clearer.

How do you feel about Trumpism, the fact that he and his MAGA movement are an existential threat to the country, and all the events that took place during the 2024 election? What do you want to do in 2024?

When I think that Trump will lead in 2024, I feel anxious. He is similar to a villain in a horror movie who seems to have been defeated or destroyed but still appears to make the environment worse. Although poll results vary, many indicate that he leads in most or all of the swing states. It is terrible that this individual does not care about the possibility of a constitutional crisis in 2024 and that his followers enjoy it. The failure of candidate Joe Biden in this circumstance only serves to increase the sense of vulnerability.

I am preparing for 2024 as a person facing great spiritual, emotional, and moral challenges. I have a limited sense of agency and have no control over what happens, but I strive to fulfill responsibilities with passion.

How did this crisis or catastrophic situation arise in America?

Since the 1960s, there has been a strong cultural polarization. The two-party system is frozen. Money for politics. It is the marriage of right-wing Christianity to the Republican Party and the uniquely violent Donald Trump that has driven the rise of what I call authoritarian reactionary Christianity.

How do you feel about being a Christian and a believer in a situation like this?

That is, I am called to act faithfully—that is, to strive to follow the ways and teachings of Jesus and fulfill my calling as a Christian, pastor, ethicist, and public intellectual. This does not mean that I will achieve a specific result, because I believe that human beings determine what happens in human history, or at least we should act as if we are fully responsible for our own choices and their results. So being Christian means resisting this surrender and participating in the internal struggle for the Christian soul in the United States. This comes amid the surrender of many Christians to Trump and authoritarian, reactionary Christianity.

What does it mean to be an evangelical Christian in the age of Trump?

In my opinion, evangelicalism as a "movement" in the United States should be rejected because it has lost its religious and moral credibility and is a source of more harm than good. From 2015 to 2018, I left him. My book "After evangelicalism "and My Writing: Still a Christian" discusses that. I fear that the definition of "evangelical" has evolved into an authoritarian and reactionary white conservative population, whose religion has become an integral part of right-wing radical politics. If someone remains "evangelical" in their self-definition and rejects their movement, they are responsible for turning it in a different direction.

What is the position of Christianity in the face of the growing crisis of democracy and neofascism here and around the world?

To be Christian means to oppose the surrender of many Christians to Trump and authoritarian reactionary Christianity and to participate in the internal struggle for the Christian soul. Christianity was supposed to be a source of resistance to authoritarianism, neofascism, and illiberalism. In my new book, that's what I consider. On the contrary, due to a poor understanding of the moral and religious demands and consequences of religion, it is often the source of neofascism and illiberalism. This shows that the Christianity of the United States is experiencing an internal civil war, which must be understood as a large part of the current state of affairs that we are facing here.

Language is important. State leaders and major news media use words likeevangelical" and d "Christia " without giving clear definitions. Another example is "Christian nationalists." What do these words mean technically?

All significant definitions have been debated. All religious communities also have disputes about its form and boundaries.

In my opinion, the term "Christian" should mean many things, including someone who is dedicated to following Jesus Christ, his life, and teachings, as well as someone who has a vague religious identity associated with Christianity rather than any other world religion, and a lifestyle that may be influenced by many factors other than his claimed religious identity. Therefore, a white American tribalist who is xenophobic and hateful towards "the other" can call himself "Christian" because they are not, for example, Muslim, Buddhist, or atheist.

"Evangelical" should mean a Protestant Christian who shows a very high degree of commitment in his relationship with Christ, respects the Bible, participates in the life of the church, and is determined to share his faith with integrity with others. This has shown many other things in practice, such as someone being right-wing white who somehow supports Donald Trump, driven in part by an unclear connection to their claimed religious identity. One of the tasks of evangelicals is to protect their own identities and boundaries so that they do not change dramatically and dangerously.

In America and around the world, there is a color line. How does race, and specifically the tradition of liberation and black prophets, complicate and revive those definitions and boundaries?

You made a significant intervention. So far, white people are the subject of political-religious movements or issues. This shows the distortion of Christianity that emerged on this continent at first and can be attributed to European colonialism. White superiority, conquest, colonialism, the genocide of the indigenous population, and the enslavement of Africans all had an impact on Christianity. Only in this framework is "white" equal to America, Christianity, nationalism, and kindness.

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