It goes without saying that Christian voters are having a, shall we say, strenuous debate right now about the challenge of rallying behind Donald Trump to avoid the fate of Kamala Harris.
But as big as that issue is, there appears to be a far bigger problem. According to a new Institute on Faith and Culture-Lifeway Research survey, American evangelical Christians are having a problem rallying behind anything at all.
While 93% of respondents said it is important to interpret the events of the world through scripture, only 35% said they are ready for discussing controversial social and political issues, and just 38% say they seek out such opportunities as citizens.
You don’t have to like everyone in your coalition, but you had better dislike nonexistence, imprisonment, or worse even more.
Uh-oh. That’s not a Donald Trump problem. That’s a “We, the People” problem and a “salt and light” problem. To be a better people and a better church, we need to get much better at acknowledging what reality is by growing in the sort of courage that follows the truth wherever it leads.
Understanding this is crucial: Politics in America has become a zero-sum game. You either win or lose. There aren’t enough conscience clauses or exceptions to protect your way of life while the spirit of the age ravages everything else. That’s not how this works. Never in American, world, or human history has there been a peaceable mass transfer of prosperity, property, and liberty — and there never will be. So we must win.
I’ve had to change my own paradigm. I entered this field believing we had simply abandoned the principled conservatism of the Reagan era. I thought that returning to those ideals could bring about another “morning in America” — instead of relying on the fake, pro-wrestling version of conservatism we’ve been seeing. While I kept noticing evidence that my paradigm might be flawed, it wasn’t arrogance that slowed me from evolving. It was concern.
Once politics turns into a zero-sum game, we are legitimately fighting for our right to exist. That shift changes the rules of engagement and requires a level of commitment and sacrifice that I fear we aren’t ready for. It doesn’t come with social media clicks, grifter money, or narcissism disguised as principle. Instead, it demands conviction, civil disobedience, and active citizenship — things we, by and large, seem unprepared for or uninterested in.
But here we are.
The social compact is badly broken, and the left-right political Venn diagram is irrelevant now. You may still technically have a marriage, but you’re sitting in your La-Z-Boy and your wife is upstairs with her boyfriend in your bed. And depending on the day or whether the game is on, it’s tough to tell if you even care.
This is where America is right now. The government is not coming to save you from that. In fact, it’s all part of the plan, and it makes the government very happy. You are Helene-ravaged Western North Carolina to them. Please just drown quietly while your corpse is taxed to give aid to illegal immigrants and Ukraine.
It’s time to learn some hard lessons. Like it or not, it’s red America versus the rest of America. We’re on our own in a cold civil war, and the Constitution only partially guarantees our genuine, God-ordained rights. This reality means we’ll need to establish our own charity networks, our own doctors, our own health care systems, and our own information streams.
We are truly on our own.
The long march through the institutions we once relied on is complete, just as progressives intended. We lost. We must accept this to survive and move forward in this zero-sum game. The cavalry isn’t coming, unless it’s coming for us. God help us if we don’t fight back against this reality now, so that our children can thank and honor us instead of resenting our cowardice and inaction.
You don’t have to like everyone in your coalition, but you had better dislike nonexistence, imprisonment, or worse — like your daughters being raped or your sons being coerced into transitioning — even more. Whether you vote for Trump or not, wake up. Open war is upon you, whether you acknowledge it or not, with an adversary who will show no mercy. We must build stronger communities and stand by one another. We must be prepared to fight.
Failure to act won’t appear in any survey of Christian evangelicals, in case you were wondering, because they don’t poll people in the gulag.