Who can recognize the bad faith amongst white evangelicals?

07 December 2022

Among the many problems endemic to the Washington press corps is the dearth of reporters and producers born into ultra-conservative religious traditions but had, by the grace of God, found a way out.

If there were such people involved in deciding what’s news, we would scarcely see stories about the difficulties facing white evangelical Protestants when it comes to voting for people like Donald Trump and his offspring, such as former football star Herschel Walker.

We would not see opinion pieces laboring to explain why white evangelical Protestants are hypocrites for supporting a Republican candidate who has admitted to paying for abortions in addition to fathering a covey of children with multiple women he did not marry.

We would not see, in other words, a Washington press corps grown complicit in a decades-long effort by white evangelical Protestant leaders to gaslight America into thinking their zealotry is not at all dangerous to democracy despite all appearances to the contrary.

The bad faith of white evangelical faith

Two days ago, National Public Radio aired a piece with this headline: “Evangelical voters grapple with Herschel Walker's controversial image.” “Grapple” connotes soul-searching, but the interview subject, Timothy Head of the Faith & Freedom Coalition, didn’t seem as vexed by the choice as much as he was vexed by press corps scrutiny of it.

NPR clearly does not have anyone in key positions who was born into ultra-conservative religious traditions but left. If it did, the radio network would not have given Head a chance to explain why white evangelical Protestants are still good people though their vote for Walker signals their deep desire for a return of Jim Crow caste.

That person, in a news meeting, would have said whoa hold up. These people are going to vote for a Republican no matter who it is. Religion has nothing to do with it, unless by “religion” we mean the political power to protect social hierarchies that give white people advantages. In that case, sure, it’s about religion, but let’s say that. Let’s not give an ultra-conservative zealot a chance to gaslight us.

That person, though holding unfamiliar news judgment, would have seen their premonition bear out. Incumbent Raphael Warnock won Georgia’s run-off, but Walker gleaned 48.6 percent of votes, most of it from rural areas dominated by white evangelical Protestants.

NPR isn’t alone.

The Times ran this howler: “‘Saved by Grace’: Evangelicals Find a Way Forward With Herschel Walker.” That’s pure comedy gold to anyone who grew up in an ultra-conservative religious tradition but left.

Why? Because that person would say anything can be rationalized by a religion that’s predicated on the idea that it is right and all others are wrong. Their choices are right before they have made them. Walker was toxic, but voting for him was right, because they are.

When white evangelical Protestants “find a way forward,” it’s not because they are wrestling with hardship, controversy, whatever. The decision has been made. The “finding a way” is justification. Sure, they vote according to the demands of their faith, but it’s bad faith.

Perhaps the worst offenders are liberal intellectuals possessing no conception of the bad faith undergirding white evangelical Protestantism. They then judge politics according to liberal values. The Guardian ran this Tuesday: “Georgia Senate voters have a moral choice. White Christians are choosing hypocrisy.” [Hard groan.]

No, “white Christians” are not choosing hypocrisy. They are overwhelmingly unconcerned with intellectual integrity. If they contradict themselves, so be it. They’re right. Their vote is right.

Instead, they are choosing a Republican who will preserve “their way of life” – or bring back a two-tiered system of law and democracy according to which white people get to step on everyone else and everyone else is forced to put up with it. That’s not hypocrisy.

That’s saying what you want.

Having it both ways

Anyone who was born into but left such ultra-conservative religious traditions knows this. Alas, such special people are virtually absent from the ranks of the Washington press corps. The obvious result is endless reporting about religion as if religion had nothing to do with politics – as if bad faith were not central to white evangelical faith.

If the press corps had more special people like this, perhaps we’d see reporting on how white evangelical Protestants are being held morally accountable for their choices in addition to more stories about real moral “grappling” as a result of being held accountable. In that alternative reality, they’d learn that true freedom isn’t what you can do to other people. It’s what you can do for yourself and others.

As it is, white evangelical Protestants have it both ways.

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