How Did Deeply Religious MAGA Evangelicals So Completely Reject Christian Teachings?

 

How Did Deeply Religious MAGA Evangelicals So Completely Reject Christian Teachings?

“To say no to President Trump would be saying no to God… And I won’t do that… When I walk on White House grounds, God walks on White House grounds… I have every right and authority to declare the White House as holy ground because I was standing there, and where I stand is holy!” 

Pastor and Trump-appointed White House Spiritual Advisor, Paula White, in 2019.

“The Church, like a mother, accompanies those who are walking. Where the world sees threats, she sees children; where walls are built, she builds bridges. She knows that her proclamation of the Gospel is credible only when it is translated into gestures of closeness and welcome. And she knows that in every rejected migrant, it is Christ himself who knocks at the door of the community.” 

Pope Leo XIV, October 9th, a truth rejected by US VP, JD Vance, who claims to be a practicing Roman Catholic.

It’s a question that is increasingly making the rounds of protestant ministers. How did Jesus’ admonitions – telling his followers not to cast stones or sit in judgement of others, to be kind and charitable to strangers and to turn the other check in tolerance of those who challenged them – relegate those essences of Christianity to unacceptable “woke” behavior and to demonize large swaths of human beings into extreme cruelty and even death? For those who raise their hands to the heavens, steeped in passionate prayer in evangelical parishes around the United States but honor Donald Trump and all his demonization and official cruelty, what delusional force is leading them to conclude that they will rise to Heaven as a reward for these beliefs?

One of the most articulate Christian voices asking the same question is theologian, pastor, and author Jody McKewen (an excellent blogger), who has explored this mass deviance from genuine Christian teaching, a rising reflection that seems to have emanated here in the battles against segregation most evidenced by the rise of the post-Civil War KKK and its persistence into the civil rights era, which began in the 1950s and continued well into the 1970s. we witnessed the rise of a new “conservative movement” purportedly standing for traditional Christian values, which, according to McKewen (writing on February 26, 2025) saw the rise of “white Christians in the South opposed [opposing Brown vs Board of Education – 1954], claiming that racial integration went against ‘God’s natural order.’…

“By the late 1970s, evangelical leaders like Jerry Falwell Sr. took this resentment and realigned white evangelicals with the Republican Party through the formation of the Moral Majority… But in reality, it was about gaining political power and maintaining control over social change. Instead of focusing on Jesus’ message of love, justice, and care for the vulnerable, Falwell and others turned faith into a political tool—one that prioritized:

• Power over humility
• Nationalism over the global body of Christ
• Control over compassion…”

How can a purportedly devout Christian movement tolerate leadership from a convicted felon who has defied his own pledge toward complete transparency in order to protect probable pedophiles? Or accept the ultimate worshipper of gold – from bathroom fixtures and Oval Office decoration to the demolition of the East Wing of the White House to add a completely self-indulgent golden “ballroom, for a king, in its place… and spreading his name all over American iconic historical buildings… as Americans struggle to pay for necessities, watching their healthcare disappear in service to the mega-wealthy? How many evangelicals truly believe that Trump is God’s anointed one, whose leadership and mandates cannot be questioned.

Matthew McIntosh, in the October 25th Brewiminate, posits: “The digital age has supplied the perfect infrastructure for post-truth politics, a sprawling ecosystem of echo chambers, algorithmic curation, and viral storytelling that rewards outrage more than accuracy. Within that environment, MAGA became less a political movement than a shared mythology, one sustained by repetition and ritual rather than evidence or accountability.

“The danger is not only that facts are ignored, but that they are replaced, redefined by those who wield emotional authority. When evidence collides with identity, identity often wins. And when entire communities begin to live within those identity-based realities, institutions built on shared verification (courts, elections, journalism) start to lose legitimacy. What follows is not merely misinformation, but disorientation: a public sphere in which persuasion no longer requires proof, only conviction.

“This is the crisis of belief at the heart of post-truth America. It is not a temporary fever but a reordering of how truth itself functions in political life. The question that now confronts the nation is stark: can a democracy survive when its citizens no longer agree on what is real?... Digital media has amplified this shift. Algorithms that reward engagement (likes, shares, and emotional intensity) have effectively transformed anger into currency. Studies by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have shown that false information spreads faster and farther than factual reporting on platforms such as X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook. The architecture of attention itself has become post-truth, privileging speed, simplicity, and outrage over nuance and verification. The political consequence is a populace that no longer consumes information to learn but to belong.”

There is nothing preordained requiring us to descend into this hostile, cruel and uncharitable world as our future. Trump is unpopular, his policies are failing dramatically, but his slams to the system will take a long time to repair… if we are to restore the dignity that was once America.

I’m Peter Dekom, and I would like to leave you with just a few of the New Testament teachings that MAGA seems to reject (thank you Pastor McKewen):

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” (Matthew 5:9)

“Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12:31)

“The greatest among you will be your servant.” (Matthew 23:11)