Great post, Claire. It's also possibly relevant that Noem is very beautiful. Choosing a woman would help protect Trump from claims of misogyny and violence against women. Sometimes I despair.
Thank you for highlighting our Christian nationalist problem! It's a big one and as you know not limited to just evangelicals — this community includes the fundamentalist faction of every mainline denomination and fundamentalist Christians outnumber progressive Christians. I am not completely certain of what you mean by "the unchurched quality of evangelical Christianity makes many vulnerable to being organized by political, not spiritual leaders." If I read that right - I would argue, anecdotally from a breadth of experience and also from formal study, that the "unchurched," those who identify with a particular group but really do not attend, are actually more flexible in their thinking and less susceptible to the hard-line dogma and thought control experienced by parishioners who are involved and attend every Sunday. Both the unchurched and churched are equally ignorant of their own respective church histories.
No, by the "unchurched" I mean people who identify as evangelical, but have no affiliation to a denomination or sect, or even a megachurch pastor. They are an increasingly large fraction of those who profess Christianity, and what I am guessing is that they are organizing around secular figures (like Trump) and imbue them with significance.
That's what I mean … evangelicals are a christian sect/denomination just like Lutherans, Catholics, Baptists, etc. It gets confusing because there is Evangelical the denomination/sect and evangelical the doctrine which is separate from church governance. Either way they identify as evangelical but are not practicing evangelicals. I will go further than you and say that the GOP is already officially a Christian Nationalist party. Thanks again for another great post.
Yes--and we know how much looks matter to Trump. Glad you liked it, Katha!
Great post, Claire. It's also possibly relevant that Noem is very beautiful. Choosing a woman would help protect Trump from claims of misogyny and violence against women. Sometimes I despair.
Thank you for highlighting our Christian nationalist problem! It's a big one and as you know not limited to just evangelicals — this community includes the fundamentalist faction of every mainline denomination and fundamentalist Christians outnumber progressive Christians. I am not completely certain of what you mean by "the unchurched quality of evangelical Christianity makes many vulnerable to being organized by political, not spiritual leaders." If I read that right - I would argue, anecdotally from a breadth of experience and also from formal study, that the "unchurched," those who identify with a particular group but really do not attend, are actually more flexible in their thinking and less susceptible to the hard-line dogma and thought control experienced by parishioners who are involved and attend every Sunday. Both the unchurched and churched are equally ignorant of their own respective church histories.
No, by the "unchurched" I mean people who identify as evangelical, but have no affiliation to a denomination or sect, or even a megachurch pastor. They are an increasingly large fraction of those who profess Christianity, and what I am guessing is that they are organizing around secular figures (like Trump) and imbue them with significance.
That's what I mean … evangelicals are a christian sect/denomination just like Lutherans, Catholics, Baptists, etc. It gets confusing because there is Evangelical the denomination/sect and evangelical the doctrine which is separate from church governance. Either way they identify as evangelical but are not practicing evangelicals. I will go further than you and say that the GOP is already officially a Christian Nationalist party. Thanks again for another great post.
Lady Justice is not available in a paperback edition until September 19.
True: but you can pre-order now!