Donald Trump, a 77-year-oldĀ Bible salesman from Palm Beach, Florida, has emerged as the nationās most prominent Christian leader. Trump is running for president as a divinely chosen champion of White Christians, promising to sanctify their grievances, destroy their perceived enemies, bolster their social status, and grant them the power to impose an anti-feminist, anti-LGBTQ, White-centric Christian nationalism from coast to coast. That Trump doesnāt attend church and has obviously never read the book that he hawks for $59.99, seems of interest exclusively to his political opponents.
What might catch the attention of some evangelical conservatives, however, is that Trumpās ostentatiousĀ embraceĀ of White Christian militantism coincides with a precipitous decline in religious affiliation in the US. According to the Public Religion Research Institute,Ā one-quarterĀ of Americans in 2023 said they were religiously unaffiliated. āUnaffiliatedā is the only religious category experiencing growth. In a single decade, from 2013 to 2023, the percentage of Americans saying that religion is the most important thing, or among the most important things, in their life plummeted to 53% from 72%.
I was never really one of them either, I think maybe I just got tossed farther on the discard end, lol. Between that and my decades of study, there was never going to be a day when I could agree biblical canon said what it did not say, or that the authors meant other than what they classically have been understood to mean.
But regardless of the reasons or the exact form it takes, when the church fails and it no longer bears any resemblance to its own message, individually there is an inner dissonance, a struggle, that is absolutely a form of torture.
If you donāt mind me saying so, I think your exact experience and goals are more needed than they ever were ā but as an individual, walking alongside other individuals like yourself. The churches are too far gone. Help the few and far between that are as repulsed as you are.
Thatās absolutely my hope, though Iām not sure if it will ever be properly realized. Thank you for the encouragement.
For what itās worth, Iām sorry for my part in the system that hurt you and so many others.
That is truly kind of you to say. Thank you. I wish you well.