by Sandy » Sun Dec 09, 2018 8:32 pm
The religious right once claimed that the character of the candidate was the most important aspect of their candidacy. That was, of course, when Bill Clinton was running and it was easy to say. Perhaps the leadership that kept that theme up and running for so long didn't succeed in convincing the rest of their following that such a position needed to be consistent, or they didn't envision that the Republican party could ever let things get out of hand and nominate a candidate who, in every possible way, was worse than they accused Clinton of being. Though in defense of the hypocrisy that is demonstrated by their support they have trotted out the "both candidates were just as bad" mantra, that is a matter of opinion, and not provable fact.
But that's really not the point here. The point is that we have a branch of American Christianity exhibiting some characteristics when it comes to their perceived "worldview" that are not consistent with their own core beliefs. They are putting trust and faith in politics and in politicians to accomplish what they claim is God's to accomplish. For all intents and purposes, they are now closely identified with a right wing political perspective that is noticeably inconsistent with much of the Biblical foundation of Christian teaching, relying on a couple of points to justify a Machiavellian soup of heresy. The church membership and attendance is dwindling because more effort and resources go into making Republicans than making disciples.