Evangelical pastors deviate from Trump faith advisers: Focused 'more on food than revival of Christian power'

President-elect Donald Trump has plenty of detractors and critics within Christianity, from devout Catholics like outgoing President Joe Biden and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) to the Rev. Al Sharpton and Sen. Raphael Warnock (R-Georgia).

Yet among far-right white evangelicals, Trump has enjoyed considerable support. And they were among his most ardent supporters during the 2024 presidential race.

According to Religion News Service (RSN) reporter Bob Smietana, some evangelicals in Tennessee are stressing that that United States, post-election, is still facing major challenges.

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Smietana, in an article published on November 15, reports, "While Donald Trump's faith advisers were elated that voters returned him to the White House, some evangelical pastors in Tennessee were more muted in the days after the election. Like their congregants and voters around the nation, who said in exit polls that the economy determined their vote more than any other issue, the pastors RNS interviewed were focused more on the cost of day-to-day items like gas and food than a revival of Christian power."

Bob Cowell, pastor of the Brownsville Baptist Church in Tennessee, is troubled by how politically divided the United States continues to be. And he believes that social media is a big part of the problem.

Cowell told RSN, "I would joyfully welcome a mass crash of multiple servers, where X is brought down and Facebook is brought down, and all of these social networking sites. I think people have now grown full jobs out of making people angry at and mistrusting people who hold different ideas…. People wondered why we're more divided than we've ever been. Well, we did it to ourselves."

Cowell added that, for economic reasons, he is glad Trump won — saying, "I’d like to see milk not be $6 a gallon, or gas, $4 a gallon”

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Mike Waddy, pastor of First Baptist Church in tiny Maury City, Tennessee, sees the economy as a key factor in Trump's victory over Harris.

Waddy told RSN, "Our people watched some of their friends fall under their ability to make it. Food pantries like ours wound up heavily supplementing some people's ability to eat."

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Read Religion News Service's full report at this link.