There is an interesting article by Peter Beinart in the latest issue of The Atlantic regarding religion and Trump voters. The article concludes that Trump’s core supporters are not pious evangelicals (they voted for Cruz), but rather, people who can best be described as nominal Christians. He concludes from this that the decline of faith in America actually helped Trump get elected.
He makes a persuasive case, for two reasons. First, his citations to survey data (I’ve seen similar information elsewhere) are pretty convincing. Second, his thesis is consistent with a very significant and clearly observable trend over the last ten years or so: the decline of the Christian Democrat (CD) faction of the Republican Party.
It can be difficult to remember now, but George W. Bush campaigned, and to some extent governed, as a “compassionate conservative.” The CD wing of the GOP had nearly as much influence at the time as the PBPs. Today, due largely to the failures of the Bush Administration, the CDs are wandering in the political wilderness of Trumpworld: a faction without a home in either party.
The decline of the CDs is bad news for the American political system. CDs are sober and responsible. They care about the entirety of society. You may disagree about the means with them, but you can usually agree about the ends, and you can make deals with them. They are the bedrock of reasonable, stable government.
Can their fortunes be revived? That will be the subject of a post during Holy Week.