The Washington Post calls Christianity Today, "evangelicalism's flagship magazine"; The New York Times describes it as a "mainstream evangelical magazine". And the editor in chief, Mark Galli, has some choice words for the GOP after the Alabama election, saying that "Christianity’s integrity is severely tarnished."
The magazine is not known for having a liberal bias, making the articles even more surprising and damning. Yes, there is some slamming moderate and progressive evangelicals as hypocrites for not tolerating evangelicals who don’t like Muslims, LGBTQ+, and a woman’s right to choose. (I’m an Independent Catholic myself.)
Still, a majority of the OpEd questions the deal evangelicals made with the GOP.
The race between Republican candidate Roy Moore and Democratic candidate Doug Jones has only put an exclamation point on a problem that has been festering for a year and a half—ever since a core of strident conservative Christians began to cheer for Donald Trump without qualification and a chorus of other believers decried that support as immoral. The Christian leaders who have excused, ignored, or justified his unscrupulous behavior and his indecent rhetoric have only given credence to their critics who accuse them of hypocrisy…
Our concern here is with a cabal of noisy conservatives, whom the press has apparently (and unjustly) appointed as spokesmen for all conservatives. This group pretends that the choice for someone like Moore represents unalloyed godliness and refuses to unmistakably criticize immorality in other leaders they admire. To justify or ignore the moral failings of a politician because he champions your favored policies—well, that is to step onto the path of self-deception and hypocrisy, which according to Jesus, leads to no less place than hell (Matt. 23:15)…
The problem with many Christian conservatives is this: They believe they can help the country become godly again by electing people whose godliness is seriously questioned by the very people they want to influence.
After a quick dig at the media, Galli points to the deal Conservative Christians made in endorsing Trump, equating it to the road to hell. Seems kind of obvious that one can’t continually claim to be morally righteous while fully supporting people who don’t respect your values. Galli notes that convincing non-believers that evangelicals are sincere will only get harder while on this path.
Will our political enemies be convinced of the righteousness of our moral agenda? Or will they think we are hypocrites who are using political power to force our wills on others? Will they more deeply respect us, or will they more deeply resent us and disbelieve our faith?
Based on the Alabama Senate exit polls:
- College graduates went for Jones 54% to 43%
- Non-college graduates went for Moore 52% to 47%
- White college graduate women went for Moore 52% to 45%
- White non-college graduate men went for Moore 79% to 19%
- Born-again Christians went for Moore 80% to 18%
- Young voters (18-29) supported Jones 60% to 38%
- Old voters (65+) preferred Moore 59% to 40%
The groups that Democrats feel are needed to win nowadays are headed towards their tent while groups on the decline stay with the GOP. The religious right has lost its hold among millennial Americans: About 23% are religious progressives, twice the portion of those 68 and older (12%), according to the Public Religion Research Institute. Millenials are increasingly turned off by not just evangelical hypocrisy, but the stances against queer people, climate change, and other social issues.
And while evangelicals did make up a large portion of Moore’s vote count, Christianity Today notes there was a 3% drop from 2016 and a huge shift in support by mothers of young kids.
“[Moore] lost because so many evangelicals didn’t show up,” [Albert] Mohler told CNN anchor Don Lemon. “That’s the big story … what didn’t happen. You didn’t have any major pastors or evangelical leaders [in Alabama], not a single one, willing to support Roy Moore...
“It sends a signal to the Republican party. It also sends a signal to evangelicals,” Mohler told Lemon. He later analyzed the “political earthquake in Alabama” and what it revealed about “the limits of conservative tolerance on questions of character” on the Wednesday taping of his program, The Briefing. One of his most significant examples of shifted Republican votes: 2 out of 3 Alabama women with children under 18 voted for Jones instead of Moore.
If this keeps up, it will get to the point where evangelicals aren’t convinced by the righteousness of their own agenda.