Why White Evangelicals Should Panic
Share
[aggregation-styles]
The Washington Post Subscription
The Washington Post Subscription
Much white evangelical support for President Trump is based on a bargain or transaction: political loyalty (and political cover for the president’s moral flaws) in return for protection from a hostile culture. Many evangelicals are fearful that courts and government regulators will increasingly treat their moral and religious convictions as varieties of bigotry. And that this will undermine the ability of religious institutions to maintain their identities and do their work. Such alarm is embedded within a larger anxiety about lost social standing that makes Trump’s promise of a return to greatness appealing.
Evangelical concerns may be exaggerated, but they are not imaginary. There is a certain type of political progressive who would grant institutional religious liberty only to churches, synagogues and mosques, not to religious schools, religious hospitals and religious charities. Such a cramped view of pluralism amounts to the establishment of secularism, which would undermine the long-standing cooperation of government and religious institutions in tasks such as treating addiction, placing children in adoptive homes, caring for the sick and educating the young.
Evangelical concerns may be exaggerated, but they are not imaginary. There is a certain type of political progressive who would grant institutional religious liberty only to churches, synagogues and mosques, not to religious schools, religious hospitals and religious charities. Such a cramped view of pluralism amounts to the establishment of secularism, which would undermine the long-standing cooperation of government and religious institutions in tasks such as treating addiction, placing children in adoptive homes, caring for the sick and educating the young.
By Michael Gerson | 29 Aug 2019
RELATED TOPICS:
Fresno Man Sentenced to Nearly 6 Years for $4.2 Million Tech Startup Fraud
Courts /
3 hours ago
Bryan Kohberger Pleads Guilty in Murders of Four Idaho Students, ABC News Reports
Crime /
3 hours ago
Fresno County CHP Arrest Two in Interstate 5 Drug, Gun, and Counterfeit Money Bust
Crime /
3 hours ago
Where Trade Talks Stand With Major US Partners Ahead of Tariffs-Hike Deadline
World /
3 hours ago
DOJ Announces Arrest, Indictments in North Korean IT Worker Scheme
Crime /
3 hours ago
Fresno Man Arrested in Clovis for Sex-Related Crimes Against Minor
Local /
4 hours ago
Clovis Police Seek Public’s Help in Finding Missing 82-Year-Old Woman
The Clovis Police Department is asking for the public’s help in locating an at-risk missing adult last seen on Thursday.
Pathmani Goonawarde...
Local /
1 hour ago
Categories
Latest
Videos

Local /
1 hour ago
Clovis Police Seek Public’s Help in Finding Missing 82-Year-Old Woman

Local /
2 hours ago
Fresno Woman Killed in Head-On Collision, CHP Investigating

Politics /
2 hours ago
Musk Vows to Punish Lawmakers Who Back Trump’s Spending Bill

Courts /
3 hours ago
Fresno Man Sentenced to Nearly 6 Years for $4.2 Million Tech Startup Fraud

Crime /
3 hours ago
Bryan Kohberger Pleads Guilty in Murders of Four Idaho Students, ABC News Reports

Crime /
3 hours ago