{"id":22084,"date":"2015-08-28T06:00:41","date_gmt":"2015-08-28T10:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?p=22084"},"modified":"2015-08-27T21:37:00","modified_gmt":"2015-08-28T01:37:00","slug":"when-christian-voters-support-the-least-christian-candidate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2015\/08\/when-christian-voters-support-the-least-christian-candidate\/","title":{"rendered":"When Christian voters support the least Christian candidate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

There once was a time when evangelical voters favored candidates who were Christians and who modeled \u201cfamily values.\u201d\u00a0 Today the favorite candidate among evangelical voters is someone who says he has never repented of his sins, has been married three times, brags about his sexual conquests, and has made much of his fortune by building gambling casinos.<\/p>\n

At least those who once called themselves \u201cthe moral majority\u201d can no longer be accused of being \u201cjudgmental\u201d in their politics.<\/p>\n

Is this indifference to a candidate\u2019s faith and morals a sign of political maturity in the Christian right?<\/p>\n

Or is it the end of the Christian right, with its members caring more about such issues as immigration more than they do moral or religious issues?<\/p>\n

From Frank Bruni, Trump-ward, Christian Soldiers? \u2013 The New York Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

Let me get this straight. If I want the admiration and blessings of the most flamboyant, judgmental Christians in America, I should marry three times, do a queasy-making amount of sexual boasting, verbally degrade women, talk trash about pretty much everyone else while I\u2019m at it, encourage gamblers to hemorrhage their savings in casinos bearing my name and crow incessantly about how much money I\u2019ve amassed?<\/p>\n

Seems to work for Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

Polls show him to be the preferred candidate among not just all Republican voters but also the party\u2019s vocal evangelical subset.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s more beloved than Mike Huckabee, a former evangelical pastor, or Ted Cruz, an evangelical pastor\u2019s son, or Scott Walker, who said during the recent Republican debate: \u201cIt\u2019s only by the blood of Jesus Christ that I\u2019ve been redeemed.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Trump mentions blood, it\u2019s less biblical, as Megyn Kelly can well attest.<\/p>\n

No matter. The holy rollers are smiling upon the high roller. And they\u2019re proving, yet again, how selective and incoherent the religiosity of many in the party\u2019s God squad is.<\/p>\n

[Keep reading. . .]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There once was a time when evangelical voters favored candidates who were Christians and who modeled \u201cfamily values.\u201d\u00a0 Today the favorite candidate among evangelical voters is someone who says he has never repented of his sins, has been married three times, brags about his sexual conquests, and has made much of his fortune by building […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,19,36],"tags":[449,455,3881],"class_list":["post-22084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church","category-government","category-politics","tag-christian-right","tag-christianity-politics","tag-donald-trump"],"yoast_head":"\nWhen Christian voters support the least Christian candidate<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There once was a time when evangelical voters favored candidates who were 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