The "Evangelicals" Are Always in "Crisis" Mode

Of course, what this and other authors mean by "evangelicals" is in fact the religious right, and they are typically of the fundamentalist type.  I always hate the mischaracterization of the religious right as "evangelicals," as so many of the latter are NOT part of the religious right.

"Evangelicals" also include Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists, Lutherans, and a host of other mainline religious denominations that are not considered fundamentalist.  It is like this neutral term was hijacked  by the religious right years ago and they took it over.  The media didn't help matters at all by misusing the word.

In any case, the religious right is once again engaging in the paranoia it is so famous for promoting and displaying what Richard Hofstadter in the 1960s wrote about with the previous generation of nutjobs in his famous essay, "The Paranoid Style in American Politics."  It always has to have an enemy to rail against, plus the more unscrupulous have found it is more lucrative to have an "enemy" in order to take money from gullible followers.

This article is about the stubborn support by these fundies of Donald Trump despite or perhaps because of his blatant immorality in his personal life and his even more blatant corruption in his public life.  They won't budge,  not because they love Trump so much even though they do. It is because he is against the "cultural Marxists," the "libs," the people engaging in "Jezebel witchcraft," and so forth.   Whatever Trump is against, they are against, and whatever he is for, they are for.  They can't be changed.

The latest nuttery is the bizarre concept of "Jezebel witchcraft," an utterly sexist notion promulgated by the likes of crackpot Lance Wallnau, a "pastor" in Texas and a regular guest on The Jim Bakker Show.  Underlying this nonsense is clearly a salvo against women speaking out about anything.  This crapola first came to attention with the first Women's March, a march ostensibly held because of the dubious election of Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton and his bragging about sexually assaulting women.  Nothing "witchcrafty" about it.  Just a massive, massive protest by mostly women worldwide not happy with the installation of Donald Trump.  You know, a protest firmly supported by something called The Bill of Rights, something Wallnau and company evidently don't support for any groups outside his own small bubble.  Now "Jezebel witchcraft" is used as a catchall term as anything coming out of the so-called left.  Wallnau, whose organizations and church or whatever obviously receive tax exemptions for blatantly partisan politics, sees Trump as a latter-day "Cyrus" of biblical times, and therefore he is "called by God" to be president.  Wallnau claimed he predicted Trump's "victory" because he dreamed about it, apparently not under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

A sample of Wallnau's paranoia on display:



Enough of that digression.

The author of the piece mentions an exchange he had with a fellow "evangelical," and the man said the American church (sic--only the right-wing elements) has lost an entire generation of youth over this nonsense.  Well, of course.  The millennials are too busy with cults of their own like veganism/vegetarianism, radical environmentalism that has nothing to do with real environmental concerns, animal "rights" nuttery, anti-vax activism, polyamory, transgenderism, queer theory, and a host of other dumbass cults that are as bad if not worse than those on the right.  The religious right has competition these days, and many of them are worried the idiotic support of Trump might permanently marginalize them.

Not to worry at this point.  Trump is the odds-on favorite to win re-election whether through getting more votes or more help from the Russians and media hacks like Jeff Zucker.

Speaking of the Cyrus/Trump connection or comparison or whatever you want to call it, it is explained in brief here.  It is a massive con by people wanting to keep the rich and powerful, no matter how insane or corrupt they may be, in power by twisting the Bible to justify it.

A writer from Vox last year coined the phrase "vessel theology" to describe this latest crackpottery about Trump.  Because of this nonsense, the religious right can justify its otherwise inconceivable support for an amoral madman who displays no religious belief whatsoever.