In Trump, White Evangelical Christians, and American Politics, political scientists Anand Edward Sokhey and Paul A. Djupe bring together a wide range of scholars and writers to examine the relationship between former President Donald Trump and white American evangelical Christians. They argue that, while this relationship—which saw evangelicals supporting a famously unfaithful, materialistic, and irreligious candidate despite self-defining in opposition to these characteristics—prompted many to wonder if Trump himself transformed American evangelical religion in politics, this alliance reflected both change and the outcome of dynamics that were in place or building for decades.
Contributors contextualize the Trump presidency within the story of religious demographic change, the growth of politicized religion, nationalistic religious expression, and the ways religion and politics in the United States are enmeshed in the politics of race. These investigations find that the idea of religious “transformation” is not accurate. Instead, the years 2015 to 2022 saw mainly minor changes to the ways religion appeared in public life—but these changes ultimately complemented and advanced an existing white evangelical strategy to increase political and social power as they became a demographic minority in the United States. Taken together, this collection reveals new insights for readers seeking to understand the religious dimensions of Trump’s rise, the reasons evangelicals become political activists, and the multifaceted alliances between secular politicians and conservative religious subcultures.
Contributors: Abraham Barranca, Ruth Braunstein, Ryan P. Burge, David E. Campbell, Jeremiah J. Castle, Paul A. Djupe, John C. Green, Sarah Heise, Geoffrey C. Layman, Andrew R. Lewis, Gerardo Martí, Eric L. Mc Daniel, Napp Nazworth, Shayla F. Olson, Enrique Quezada-Llanes, Kaylynn Sims, Anand Edward Sokhey, Hilde Løvdal Stephens, Kyla K. Stepp, Allan Tellis.
Table of Content
1. Introduction: Deliver Us from Evil
Paul A. Djupe and Anand Edward Sokhey
Part I. Religious Change and Continuity in the Trump Years
2. The Shifting Religious Vote: Compositional Changes in the Religious Electorate Post-2008
Ryan P. Burge and Kaylynn Sims
3. Making America Secular: The Growing Political Impact of Secularism in the Trump Era
David E. Campbell, Geoffrey C. Layman, and John C. Green
4. A Tale of Two Evangelicalisms
Napp Nazworth
Part II. The Growth and Effects of Politicized Religion
5. How Sermons Became More Political in the Trump Era
Shayla F. Olson and Enrique Quezada-Llanes
6. And They Shall Know Me by Your Trump Support: The Tightening Link Between Christian Conservatives and the Republican Party
Paul A. Djupe
7. Embattled and Radicalizing: How Perceived Repression Shapes White Evangelicalism
Ruth Braunstein
Part III. How Race Ramps Up Religious Politics
8. American Religion and Attitudes Toward Reparations for Slavery
Allan Tellis and Anand Edward Sokhey
9. In God’s Image: White Evangelical Protestants and Threats to White Masculinity
Eric L. Mc Daniel, Sarah Heise, and Abraham Barranca
10. Public Schools, Critical Race Theory (CRT), and the Christian Right: How Trump Refueled Family Value Politics
Hilde Løvdal Stephens and Gerardo Martí
Part IV. Religion Has Been Nationalized
11. Is Public Support for Religious Freedom Nationalistic?
Andrew R. Lewis
12. Using the Pen as a Sword: Donald Trump’s Use of Unilateral Presidential Power to Fight the Culture Wars
Jeremiah J. Castle and Kyla K. Stepp
13. Conclusion: The Trump Revival Moves On
Anand Edward Sokhey and Paul A. Djupe
Contributors
Index
Acknowledgments
About the author
Anand Edward Sokhey is Professor of Political Science and a faculty fellow at the Institute for Behavioral Science at the University of Colorado at Boulder.Paul A. Djupe is Professor of Political Science and director of the Data for Political Research program at Denison University.
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