Evangelicals Are in a Fix

For now, however, these Trump supporters are mute at best, and some even stoop to defend Trump and Bannon. That suggests a permanent abrogation of their role as guardians of Judeo-Christian values. Jones is as curious as the rest of us to see what happens next. “It will be important to see what the large evangelical organizations who did not endorse Trump — such as the Southern Baptist Convention and the National Association of Evangelicals and Christianity Today — do,” he observed. “Russell Moore at the SBC and Galen Carey at the NAE will be key figures to watch here.” Jones explained: “The challenge for these leaders and organizations is that they are addressing a membership base that has spoken decisively in support of Trump. The real question, I think, is whether white evangelicals give Trump a blank check because he is a Republican president or whether leaders might help their members find what that tradition has called a ‘prophetic voice,’ one that might just call Trump to repent if, for example, he follows Bannon’s strategic advice to use hate as a tool to achieve political ends.”