Wednesday, February 10, 2021

Trump-supporting evangelicals should share blame for January 6 insurrection

Editor's note - the video below contains graphically violent footage of the January 6 attempt to overturn Biden's presidential victory. I saw it and couldn't stop wincing. I considered not posting it, but after talking with friends on Facebook, I am convinced that a point has to be made.

 

 During the first day of Trump's impeachment trial, the Democrats played the above video montage linking his lie about a stolen election to his supporters storming the Capitol in DC. Justifiably, it shook a lot of people to their core by showing them - probably the first time for some - how serious and historically obscene the situation on January 6 was.

Some have said that the January 6 riot will be his legacy. But it shouldn't be his alone. Many have pointed to his enablers such as Sens Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz, former NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani and so many others who either chose to remain silent or passive-aggressively pushed Trump forward through his presidency and sad attempt to seal the November election.

But one group is missing:










The religious right needs to answer for how they enabled Trump. They gave him "mulligans," made excuses for his immoral behaviors, and diverted attention away from his obvious lies, while embracing him as a great Christian leader even though they knew he was far from it.

For the sake of attaining a conservative judiciary and White House access, so-called Christian leaders such Franklin Graham, Tony Perkins, James Dobson, etc surrendered the moral authority they claimed to have had and in doing so, chose Trump over America and, some would argue, God   And now as everything collapses under the weight of the consequences of Trump's dismal term, they have either chosen to downplay or ignore their once loudly touted connections to Trump. 

Or, even worse, doubling down on their support of Trump.

Not only should Trump be found guilty but every time people remember January 6, they should also remember the deliberately missed opportunities conservative evangelicals had to be the moral leaders they have claimed to be by attempting to reign him in.   

Or maybe they shouldn't have been considered moral leaders in the first place.