TheCriticalMind has a rec-list post about Evangelicals Rip Up the Bible’s Rules to Promote a Porn Star Loving President. The question is, how do they reconcile their supposed Christianity with the moral lapses of Trump. Well, there’s several things at work here.
One is, Christianity is somewhat schizo, between the Old Testment and the New. Evangelicals love Jesus because of the “Get out of Hell Free Card” aspect of His Love. They know themselves to be sinners, but Jesus loves them anyway and by His grace they will be saved.
This attitude lets them forgive a lot — as long as the sinner in question happens to also be carrying out their agenda. Which, goes right to the Old Testament and the Angry God. The flip side of being saved is the satisfaction of knowing others will not, that one’s righteousness can be calibrated against how hot the Fires of Hell burn for them.
It’s about Authoritarianism. I keep going back to Sara Robinson on this and her series at Orcinus on the subject. (Scroll down the page and look in the left margin for Cracks in the Wall and Tunnels & Bridges.)
In Part 1 of Cracks in the Wall, Robinson spells out exactly what we’re up against. She looks at Authoritarian Leaders, and more important in this context, Authoritarian Followers. I’m going to quote the three characteristics of followers here, but I strongly recommend reading the whole series. She draws on several sources, including John Dean’s Conservatives Without Conscience.
While the high-SDO leaders are defined by Dean as dominating, opposed to equality, desirous of personal power, and amoral, right-wing authoritarian followers have a different but very complementary set of motivations. The three core traits that define them are:
1. Submission to authority. "These people accept almost without question the statements and actions of established authorities, and comply with such instructions without further ado" writes Dean. "[They] are intolerant of criticism of their authorities, because they believe the authority is unassailably correct. Rather than feeling vulnerable in the presence of powerful authorities, they feel safer. For example, they are not troubled by government surveillance of citizens because they think only wrongdoers need to be concerned by such intrusions. Still, their submission to authority is not blind or automatic; [they] believe there are proper and improper authorities…and their decision to submit is shaped by whether a particular authority is compatible with their views."
2. Aggressive support of authority. Right-wing followers do not hesitate to inflict physical, psychological, financial, social, or other forms of harm on those they see as threatening the legitimacy of their belief system and their chosen authority figure. This includes anyone they see as being too different from their norm (like gays or racial minorities). It's also what drives their extremely punitive attitude toward discipline and justice. Notes Dean: "Authoritarian aggression is fueled by fear and encouraged by a remarkable self-righteousness, which frees aggressive impulses."
3. Conventionality. Right-wing authoritarian followers prefer to see the world in stark black-and-white. They conform closely with the rules defined for them by their authorities, and do not stray far from their own communities. This extreme, unquestioning conformity makes them insular, fearful, hostile to new information, uncritical of received wisdom, and able to accept vast contradictions without perceiving the inherent hypocrisy.
There’s a great deal more in Robinson’s series. It should be mandatory reading in the Age of Trump. There’s no paradox in Evangelicals embracing Trump. Just as their religion explains the world to them and frames it in stark terms, they find similar assurance in strong leaders, whose chief role is to make them feel safe and give them enemies as targets for their fears and hatreds. Their Christianity is about submission to authority, whether it be God in Heaven, or Trump on Earth. Strong leader = safety.