Leading up to the Presidential election of 2016, it was obvious the Trump campaign had made a dirty deal with some Russians; however, it was less obvious the deal Trump made with the devil — Evangelical Christians.
In June of 2016, Trump met with several hundred evangelical leaders in New York City. He agreed to advance the movement’s opposition to abortion and LGBTQ rights. Trump embraced “Project Blitz’s” legislative and judicial agenda. Project Blitz is a collection of religious bills written by the Congressional Prayer Caucus. Trump promised to appoint judges that would overthrow Roe V. Wade, defund planned parenthood, eliminate same sex marriages, and allow discrimination of LGBTQ rights.
“PURPOSE:
To protect the free exercise of traditional Judeo-Christian religious values and beliefs in the public square, and to reclaim and properly define the narrative which supports such beliefs.” — Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation, Inc.
Since the election, President Trump has appointed more judges on federal appeals courts than any previous President in modern history. The most notable appointment was Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Al Jazerra reported, “One group had backed Kavanaugh’s nomination from the beginning: The religious right in the US, which is a strategic, highly organized minority that has found itself more powerful than ever under President Donald Trump.”
Under the Trump presidency, non-white and non-Christians have been under attack. The “Travel Ban” targets Muslims. “The Wall” is proposed to keep out “criminals, rapists and drugs.” Wikipedia reports, The Trump administration embraced the Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy (RAISE) Act in August 2017.[23][24] The RAISE Act seeks to reduce levels of legal immigration to the United States by 50% by halving the number of green cards issued. The bill would also impose a cap of 50,000 refugee admissions a year and would end the visa diversity lottery.
The damage Trump has caused to the Republican Party may best be described by Michael Gerson in the Washington Post, “The damage radiates further. Trump evangelicals are blessing the destruction of public norms on civility, decency and the importance of public character.
And the ultimate harm is to the reputation of faith itself. The identification of evangelical Christianity with ethno- nationalism and white grievance is a grave matter. Evangelical Christians hardly distinguished themselves during the civil rights movement. Some used Christian academies as a cover for continued segregation. Getting this issue wrong again would be particularly damning in a nation — and in Christian churches — growing inexorably more diverse.”
Trump has led the Evangelical Christians in hijacking the Republican Party for their religious agenda.
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