Donald Trump, a 77-year-oldĀ Bible salesman from Palm Beach, Florida, has emerged as the nationā€™s 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 doesnā€™t 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 Trumpā€™s 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. ā€œUnaffiliatedā€ 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%.

  • rayyy@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    conservatives using religion as a cudgel for decades

    True, but the orange grifter has taken it to astounding heights.