I live in a fairly homogenous rural community just 30 minutes from a large, more diverse urban area. The history of my neighborhood is rooted in ranching which dates back to the late 19th and 20th Centuries. The ranchers took advantage of the federal Homestead Act at the time to claim land for cattle raising and farming. Today, the area is predominantly white (over 86%), and there’s practically a church on every corner.
Given the cultural make-up of my community, I was not surprised by a neighbor flying a brand-spanking new “God, Guns and Trump” flag. But I was both taken aback and disappointed.
To someone not familiar with America’s history, the flag’s message is self-contradictory, but not so. This and other flags that occupy truck beds, and fly over homes all over the US are a symbol of racism and white supremacy, justified by religion, which has chronically haunted our nation since its inception.
A 2017 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center found that 4 in 10 white evangelicals own a gun, the highest share of any religious group and that 74% of all gun owners in the U.S. agree with the statement that their right to own a gun is essential to their sense of freedom. The study also found that four out of five self-identified white evangelicals have fired a gun. Ironically, only three states and Washington, D.C., prohibit firearms inside places of worship.
Professor of sociology at Wake Forest University, David Yamane, also found that evangelical Protestants were more likely to be gun owners, compared with mainline Protestant church members, members of other religions, and people with no religious affiliation. Yamane stated that “The connection between gun ownership and religion is different depending on whether you are talking about religious behaving, belonging or believing.” He also found that more theologically conservative Americans are more likely to own guns, in comparison with Americans who are more active in their churches and in church activities. Yamane adds, “These differences are essential to keep in mind if we want to have an accurate understanding of the connection between religion and guns.”
As a pastor’s kid, I have long tried to wrap my head around how a self-proclaimed Christian would be a gun owner and a Trump supporter. The “former guy” has lived a less than Christian life: Three wives, multiple affairs and accusations of sexual assault, the tendency to engage in shocking, un-Christian-like behavior at the slightest provocation, appointing his unqualified family members to top administration roles in the White House, and the telling of over 30,000 lies while in office. Let’s not forget his key role in the January 6th insurrection to overthrow democracy and his almost obsequious praising of murderous dictators such as Putin and Kim Jong Un. The list is long.
In spite of Trump’s wide range of sins, white evangelical support for Trump is still at 73%, and more than 80 percent of white evangelicals voted for him in 2016.
It took me a while to realize that despite the disconnect between “God, Guns, and Trump,” these three things actually make perfect sense to this particular group. These three things keep the support for racism firm and ingrained in the white evangelical psyche.
Let’s face it. White evangelicals have a long history of racism. In the 19th Century South, conservative denominations like the Southern Baptists (who defended slavery through their readings of scripture) emerged and grew in popularity, and at the same time, African American Protestants formed their own denominations. The multitude of evangelical denominations formed at this time was mainly made up of members who supported slavery (or who had profited from it).
Post Civil War, many evangelical churches were more likely to have supported the Ku Klux Klan and approved of (or participated in) lynching. The KKK burning cross is a prime example and has become a symbol of white Christian supremacy and righteousness, designed to terrify African Americans.
During the civil rights movement in the 1960s, many white evangelicals opposed Martin Luther King Jr., and religious leaders such as Billy Graham danced around segregation and joined forces with politicians to weaponize white evangelical influence. In the 1970s, evangelicalism became synonymous with being “born again,” and “pro-life,” and today we are witnessing the aftermath of the Moral Majority’s grip on moral and political power.
Perhaps the appeal of “God, Guns, and Trump” lies in Trump’s appeals to evangelicals because of his focus on the decline and destruction of the American Dream. This apocalyptic view of the nation fits into evangelical beliefs about the “end times.” When Trump used the term “American carnage” in his inaugural address, that spoke to strongly evangelicals, who continue their support for the twice-impeached ex-president.
The imagined powerlessness and persecution of white Christians is at the heart of their need for a strong authoritarian leader to protect them from educated women, LGBTQ people, immigrants, blacks, Muslims, socialists, and yes, democrats. Feelings of fragility (despite holding positions of power and influence), make this group vote for right-wing, “god-fearing,” second-amendment, dominionist candidates such as Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, and Doug Mastriano (the recent GOP primary winner running for Governor of Pennsylvania).
Each time I drive by that house, I have the urge to knock on the door and explain that myself, women, gays, LGBTQ people, immigrants, blacks, Muslims, socialists, and democrats are your neighbors and friends, not your enemies.