scholarly journals Politics before God

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 169
Author(s):  
Kit Kirkland
Keyword(s):  
Religious Tradition ◽  
Law And Order ◽  
Four Dimensions ◽  
Faith Tradition ◽  
Political Opportunities ◽  
2016 Election ◽  
Evangelical Protestants ◽  
Partisan Identification ◽  
White Evangelicals ◽  
Moral High Ground

America’s 2018 midterm elections provide an opportunity to assess white evangelical Protestants’ counterintuitive embrace of Trump. Reports of the President’s past infidelities, suspicious business deals, and possible electoral collusion with Russia appear to have done little to abate the support of America’s most socially conservative law-and-order voters - white evangelical Protestants. PRRI (Public Religion Research Institute) data demonstrates though Trump never polled above 50 percent favourability with white evangelical-Protestants during the primaries, since his 2016 election the constituency has only grown more ‘Trump-drunk’ with a record 75 percent endorsing the President and his commitment to put ‘America First’.  Although America’s Christian right have long-standing Republican inclinations, evangelicals’ self-abasement under Trump remains difficult to understand. White evangelicals have migrated from a Christian movement guilty of overt partisan identification to a movement willing to corrupt their faith values and religious tradition for political opportunities. The effect, as Gerson (2018) notes, is a faith tradition now riddled with ‘political tribalism and hatred for political opponents, with little remaining of Christian public witness.’ Keller cuts deeper, saying ‘evangelical’ used to mean those who took the moral high ground, but now it’s nearly synonymous with ‘hypocrite’ (Keller cited in Gerson, 2018). ‘With an end-justifies-the-means style of politics that would have been unimaginable before [Trump]’ (Jones cited in Coppins 2018a), it seems America’s evangelicals are putting politics before God.  Subsequently, this article reflects on four dimensions of Trump’s success with white evangelicals. First, it discusses howTrump and the GOP presented 2016 as the ‘last chance election’. Secondly it explores Trump’s ‘priestly rhetoric’ and evangelicals’ ‘priestly faith’ in him. Thirdly, what have white evangelical-Protestants achieved under Trump in return for their votes? Lastly, how has Trump changed American evangelicalism and the nation? Is nativism and tribalism consuming their faith-tradition just as it’s dividing the country?

Masao Abe and Comparative Theology

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leo D. Lefebure
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Religious Tradition ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Western Philosophy ◽  
Comparative Theology ◽  
Graduate Course ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Faith Tradition ◽  
Mahayana Buddhist

A leading form of comparative theology entails commitment to one religious tradition but ventures out to encounter another tradition, with the goal of generating fresh insights into familiar beliefs and practices reliant upon both the tradition of origin and the newly encountered faith tradition. This chapter, based on a graduate course at Georgetown University, examines how Zen Buddhist thinker Masao Abe engages in a dialogue with Western philosophy and Christian theology. Abe interpreted the meaning of the kenosis (emptying) of God in Jesus Christ in Christian theology in light of Mahayana Buddhist perspectives on Sunyata (emptying) and the logic of negation. The chapter includes responses to Abe from various Christian theologians, including Georgetown graduate students.

Who Wants to Make America Great Again? Understanding Evangelical Support for Donald Trump

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele F. Margolis
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
The United States ◽  
Electoral Behavior ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Conservative Politics ◽  
United States Today ◽  
Electoral Support ◽  
2016 Election ◽  
White Evangelicals ◽  
Definition Of

AbstractWhite evangelicals overwhelmingly supported Donald Trump in the 2016 election, producing extensive debate as to who evangelicals are, what it means to be an evangelical in the United States today, and whether the electoral results are surprising or not. This paper offers empirical clarity to this protracted discussion by asking and answering a series of questions related to Trump's victory in general and his support from white evangelicals in particular. In doing so, the analyses show that the term “evangelical” has not become a synonym for conservative politics and that white evangelical support for Trump would be higher if public opinion scholars used a belief-centered definition of evangelicalism rather than relying on the more common classification strategies based on self-identification or religious denomination. These findings go against claims that nominal evangelicals, those who call themselves evangelicals but are not religious, make up the core of Trump's support base. Moreover, strong electoral support among devout evangelicals is not unique to the 2016 election but rather is part of a broader trend of evangelical electoral behavior, even when faced with non-traditional Republican candidates. Finally, the paper explores why white evangelicals might support a candidate like Trump. The paper presents evidence that negative partisanship helps explain why devout evangelicals—despite Trump's background and behaviors being cause for concern—coalesced around his presidential bid. Together, the findings from this paper help make sense of both the 2016 presidential election and evangelical public opinion, both separately and together.

Recommending a Child Enter a STEM Career

2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 251-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher P. Scheitle ◽  
Elaine Howard Ecklund
Keyword(s):  
Religious Tradition ◽  
The United States ◽  
Religion And Science ◽  
Stem Careers ◽  
Interest In Science ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
Evangelical Protestants ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
Religiously Unaffiliated

Apparent conflicts between religion and science are often observed in the United States. One consequence of such conflicts might be that religious individuals will be less likely to recommend their children pursue a career in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). We examine this possibility using a nationally representative survey focused on a variety of issues related to religion and science. We find that, compared to religiously unaffiliated individuals, evangelical Protestants, mainline Protestants, Catholics, and Jews are less likely to say that they would recommend a child enter the pure STEM careers of physicist, engineer, or biologist. These differences are weaker or nonexistent for the more applied STEM careers of physician and high school chemistry teacher. The religious tradition effects observed for the pure STEM careers are primarily mediated by lower levels of interest in science and higher levels of creationist views among those groups relative to the religiously unaffiliated.

The Evangelical Vote and Race in the 2016 Presidential Election

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janelle Wong
Keyword(s):  
Survey Data ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
Political Attitudes ◽  
Economic Resources ◽  
Racial Groups ◽  
2016 Election ◽  
Evangelical Identity ◽  
White Evangelicals ◽  
Economic Anxiety

AbstractThis paper highlights differences in evangelical identity and its association with political attitudes across racial groups. It finds that White evangelicals hold more conservative views than Black, Latinx, and Asian American evangelicals, despite similar levels of religiosity. White evangelicals' more conservative political attitudes are driven by a sense of in-group embattlement, or the idea that their group faces as much or more discrimination as persecuted outgroups. This sense of in-group embattlement is distinct from the effects of economic resources, economic anxiety, partisanship, region (South) and generalized conservative outlook. The paper draws on survey data collected in the immediate aftermath of the 2016 election.

Encouraging accountability: Evangelicals and American health care reform

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 184-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Berkeley Franz
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Reform ◽  
Social Action ◽  
Ethic Of Care ◽  
Future Health ◽  
Government Programs ◽  
American Health Care ◽  
Evangelical Protestants ◽  
Personal Accountability ◽  
White Evangelicals

Although scholars have thoroughly assessed American Evangelical Protestants’ beliefs about government intervention in addressing socioeconomic stratification and racial discrimination, they have paid considerably less attention to interpretations of health care reform. Especially important is that American Evangelicalism in recent years has incorporated personal accountability in such a way that makes this group distinctive when considering social responsibility toward others. Whereas earlier Evangelicals were instrumental in furthering the social gospel, American Evangelicals today prioritize matters of personal accountability ahead of social action. The cultural toolkit available to Evangelicals includes a rationale for caring for others, but an emphasis on personal accountability shapes how they evaluate government health care interventions. This paper employs qualitative methods to understand how Evangelicals link such individualism with strategies for caring for others in the context of health care. The findings suggest that Evangelicals emphasize personal accountability, especially when evaluating government programs. However, personal accountability is accompanied by a conflicting ethical responsibility to provide care to others. The priority given to personal accountability or an ethic of care, however, varies according to the situational context or social location of white Evangelicals. These findings may be helpful in framing future health policies to draw Evangelical support.

scholarly journals A Double Whammy for the History of Evangelical Protestantism

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 269-272
Author(s):  
David A. Hollinger
Keyword(s):  
Religious Tradition ◽  
The Political ◽  
Creative Work ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
White House ◽  
Evangelical Protestantism ◽  
2016 Election ◽  
History Of ◽  
Political Success

Most histories fail to convincingly explain why 81 percent of American white evangelical voters supported Trump in the 2016 election. Many scholars, like political pundits, hold an idealized vision of the evangelical past, which leads them to assume that “real” evangelicals are actually not so enthusiastic about the deeply anti-intellectual, frankly authoritarian, materialistic, and sexually promiscuous media personality who won the White House. The history of evangelical thought and action after all includes many examples of sensible, humane, and intellectually creative work. How could such a wholesome religious tradition as evangelical Protestantism possibly share responsibility for the political success of Donald Trump?

Measuring Evangelicals: Practical Considerations for Social Scientists

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 745-759 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan P. Burge ◽  
Andrew R. Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Religious Affiliation ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Religious Tradition ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Identification Schemes ◽  
Practical Examination ◽  
The Social ◽  
Simple Question ◽  
White Evangelicals ◽  
Born Again

AbstractEvangelicals garner much attention in polling and public opinion research, yet measuring white evangelicals remains elusive, even opaque. This paper provides practical guidance to researchers who want to measure or analyze evangelicals. In the social sciences, many have adopted a detailed religious affiliation approach that categorizes evangelicals based on the religious tradition of the denominations to which they belong. Others have used a simpler self-identification scheme, which asks respondents if they consider themselves “born-again or evangelical”. While the affiliation and self-identification schemes are predominant, a practical examination of these approaches has been absent. Using several waves of the General Social Survey and the Cooperative Congressional Election Study, we compare them. We find almost no statistical differences between the two measurements in prominent demographic, political, or religious factors. Thus, we suggest that for most a simple question about broad religious affiliation followed by a born-again or evangelical self-identification question will suffice.

scholarly journals Daughters do not affect political beliefs in a new democracy

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Clayton ◽  
Daniel de Kadt ◽  
Nicolas K Dumas
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Political Behavior ◽  
Women's Rights ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Women’S Rights ◽  
Equivalence Testing ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Political Opportunities ◽  
Partisan Identification ◽  
New Democracy

Having a daughter shapes parents' attitudes and behaviors in gender-egalitarian ways, a finding documented in multiple industrialized democracies. We test whether this travels to a young middle-income democracy where women's rights are tenuous: South Africa. Contrary to prior work we find no discernible effect on attitudes about women's rights or partisan identification. Using a unique dataset of over 7,500 respondents and an equivalence testing approach, we reject the null hypothesis of any effects of 5 percentage points or greater at conventional levels of statistical significance. We speculate that our null findings relate to opportunity: daughter effects are more likely when parents perceive economic, social, and political opportunities for women. When women's customary status and de factor opportunities are low, as in South Africa, having a daughter may have no effect on parents' political behavior. Our results demonstrate the virtues of diversifying case selection in political behavior beyond economically wealthy democracies.

Funerals of the Unaffiliated

2003 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 287-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Garces-Foley
Keyword(s):  
Religious Tradition ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Shared Meaning ◽  
Theological Interpretation ◽  
Major Life Events ◽  
Major Life ◽  
Four Dimensions ◽  
Lay Participation ◽  
Belief In God ◽  
Religious Professionals

Over one-third of Americans do not claim membership in a religious congregation, but the vast majority of the “congregationally unaffiliated” continue to mark major life events, such as death, through communal rituals officiated by religious professionals. If bereaved families do not have a clergyperson or a religious tradition to guide them in planning a funeral, to whom and to what do they turn? This article presents findings from an ethnographic study that explored four dimensions of unaffiliated funerals: creativity versus standardization, the process of ritual creation, lay participation, and shared meaning. The findings suggest that despite their informal character and emphasis on spontaneous sharing, unaffiliated funerals utilize a highly standardized ritual structure. Furthermore, though unaffiliated services focus on the life of the deceased rather than a theological interpretation of death, they articulate shared meaning by emphasizing belief in God, personal immortality, and the importance of ethical living.

The paradox of American evangelical views on immigration: A review of the empirical research

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 252-268
Author(s):  
Craig Ott ◽  
Juan Carlos Téllez
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Immigration Reform ◽  
Law And Order ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Current Crisis ◽  
Evangelical Churches ◽  
The Subject ◽  
White Evangelicals ◽  
Personal Ethics ◽  
Christian Nationalism

In view of the current crisis and controversies related to immigration, this article examines views of American evangelicals on the subject. Statements issued by national evangelical leaders and organizations generally call for immigration reform balancing concerns for law and order and border security with a call for the compassionate treatment of immigrants and creation of pathways to citizenship. But a survey of the numerous empirical studies on grassroots evangelical views on immigration reveals several paradoxes. Not only are the opinions of average evangelicals on immigration more restrictive than those expressed in the aforementioned statements, but their attitudes and the manner in which they form their opinions appear inconsistent with evangelical convictions. Compared to all other religious groups, white evangelicals have the most negative views regarding immigration. Underlying factors include the failure of evangelical churches to address the topic of immigration, a separation of personal ethics from views on public policy, lack of interaction between evangelicals and immigrants, Christian nationalism, and other social influences.

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