What now for America’s Presidency?
by Kenneth Bagnell
American politics actually could be worse. Moreover, there’s now news that just might even make it better, at least a bit. Maybe. As I write a small promising step has been taken by scholars of the conservative religious community in the US. Evangelicals. Southern Baptists, Pentecostals, Seventh Day Adventists and other conservative denominations are now being urged by one of their academic groups to stop beating the drum for Donald Trump. They regard him as bad news. Here’s the situation: a news release arrived on my computer May 4, on an online news site, called Religious News Service. (I recently suggested readers subscribe to it. It’s free, clear, readable and, balanced service.) A major article this time was headed: “Christians are ‘Called to Resist’ Trump.”
A substantial essay appears written by David Gushee, an ethicist at Mercer University, an hour south of Atlanta, with roughly 5,000 students. In my view he’s a conservative but compatible thinker in general, when dealing with people like me: a “centrist-liberal” Christian. Gushee’s first sentence indicates the position of his fairly large and apparently all conservative group of scholars. “On April 28 I joined a multi-racial group of Christian ministers and scholars in releasing a statement confessing resistance to Donald Trump as a Christian obligation.” That’s a strong opinion, revealed when Gushee calls it “a Christian obligation.”
The Religion News Service performs a very worthy, if not also courageous service, by carrying the entire statement, which is headed “Christians are Called to Resist Trump.” One or two aspects must suffice here to reveal how stern yet rational this evangelical group is. Halfway through its message it helpfully states the essentials of the group’s opinion. Dr. Gushee says this: “This line in the document summarizes the heart of our concern: The ascendancy of a demagogic candidate and his message, with the angry constituency he is fueling, is a threat to both the values of our faith and the health of our democracy. Donald Trump directly promotes racial and religious bigotry, disrespects the dignity of women, harms civil public discourse, offends moral decency, and seeks to manipulate religion.”
The firm but prudent tone engages me: “Our analysis is that Donald Trump has gained the following that puts him on the brink of the Republican nomination by exploiting the economic stresses and cultural tensions that exist in our rapidly changing society. He has risen by deliberately inflaming resentment in particular. Donald Trump… is manipulating anger for his own political advantage—at the expense of the common good. Trump is shamelessly using racial resentment, fear and hatred – -always dangerously preened in our society –to fuel a movement against ‘the other,’ targeting other races, women, cultures, ethnicities, nations, creeds, and a whole global religion.” He then continues: “Our statement includes an appendix which attempts to list every particular or type of act (and speech is an act, including social media speech) of Mr. Trump that we think requires specific condemnation and resistance…. These offenses go as far back as his playing the “birth” card against President Obama many years ago, and include his attacks on Mexicans and other immigrants, his statements about American Muslims celebrating after 9/11, his mocking of a disabled reporter, his numerous calumnies directed against particular women, the atmosphere of violence at some of his rallies, his attacks on certain media members and the threatening environment for reporters at his rallies, and his tendency toward making threats and personal attacks on his political opponents.”
To me this statement by conservative evangelical clergy and scholars is surprising and courageous. I’m even a touch worried for the welfare of the men and women who drafted it in the face of a demagogue like Trump and his more incendiary colleagues. (I also cannot but applaud the integrity of The Religion News Service for making the story widely public.) Having said all that I do have some worry: there may be a strong majority of evangelicals who — out of escalating resentment — will seek to undermine, ethically or otherwise, the high intentions of the Mercer University scholars and their colleagues.
The reason? some Christians, very comfortable, are not inclined or are unable to change, to relate to the rational perspective of the scholars, no matter how correct they are, no matter how honorable they are, no matter how ethical they are, no matter how reasonable they are. But one example must suffice. An article headed “Fleecing the Flock” recently appeared in The Huffington Post. It listed the extreme wealth of a number of American evangelical preachers. Number one: he flies in a $17 million dollar jet; lives in a six million mansion; has a private airstrip. Number two: drives a Rolls Royce, lives in a million dollar house in one city and a 2.5 million dollar suite in Manhattan; number three: a preacher called Miracle Worker admitted to making about a million dollars a year. Big money indeed. Inevitably these are men likely to preach from an evangelical perspective. No ethical minister, say in the great pulpits of New York -– Riverside, Madison Avenue Presbyterian or Marble Collegiate — earns anything close to the revenue just mentioned. Preachers rolling in money are a minority but almost certain to be conservatives or fundamentalists as Huffington Post listed them with names. Even the Graham evangelists, Billy and son Franklin, are very well off. The elder Graham is listed at a net worth of $25 million; the Religion News Service, last year ran a story on son Franklin reporting that his yearly income is $880,000. The latter article is headed with a telling line: “Why Franklin Graham’s salary raises eyebrows among Christian non-profits.”
Why is this relevant? Because they are all conservative evangelicals of varying slants. And they thereby are unlikely to rock the evangelical political boat. Hence I expect, that in quiet ways, and subtle styles, the courageous Mercer group is going to have its adversaries who one way or another, will try to discredit the anti-Trump effort. After all, Trump has so much money we can’t bother mentioning it. And wealthy preachers and wealthy voters like wealthy leaders. It all makes me recall a line from Cicero who over a century before Christ, said: “Never go to excess. Let moderation be your guide.” Jesus would agree. I wonder: did Donald Trump ever read Cicero?
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