The Moral Majority was riding high in the early eighties; they had a powerful ally in Ronald Reagan, and he was extremely popular. It appeared that the sky was the limit. Today, fundamentalist Christians have been reduced to engaging in a cynical tactical alliance with a man who repudiates all of their values in order to protect their ideological interests. Church attendance is falling, and the talk is not of a “moral majority,” but of the “Benedict Option” of withdrawal from an overwhelmingly pagan society.
What went wrong? Two things:
1. The connection with the Republican Party boomeranged. The alliance with the GOP created three very serious problems. First, Christianity became connected in the eyes of the public, not with love and public service, but with angry Trump and Cruz voters screaming about immigration and socialism, which was not exactly a selling point to younger people. Second, the libertarian wing of the GOP was only too successful in convincing the public that the government, and by extension other forms of authority, should give way to the desires of the individual, who knew what was best for him. If the government had no right to be in my business, what right did it have to be in my bedroom? Third, by rejecting science, particularly with regard to climate change, the GOP and the fundamentalists made themselves look ignorant.
2. The treatment of gay marriage by the courts was a serious blow to the right. The gay marriage decision essentially told Christians that thousands of years of tradition and moral teachings were now worse than useless, and that anyone who believed as they did would be dismissed as a bigot. This transition was jarring, to say the least; it made Christians feel unwelcome in their own home. Is it any surprise they voted to “Make America Great Again?”