The praise music is blasting, and so is the air conditioning, as 50 or so people gather for Sunday morning service in the small worship hall of Freedom Church Assembly of God in Fredericksburg, Virginia. It is a casual affair; I'm wearing jeans but my accompanying blazer makes me a bit overdressed in a group where cargo shorts and Hawaiian shirts are the prevailing sartorial choice, at least for the men. Pastor Steve Weber is preaching today about service: service to God, service to the community, even service to the church (he needs volunteers to help mow the broad lawn that surrounds the small church).
Politics never enters Pastor Steve's sermon and it seems distant this blazing-hot Sunday morning. But in truth, politics is never that far away in Donald Trump's America. Despite speculation that evangelicals would have a hard time supporting a thrice-married locker-room jockey who bragged about grabbing women “by the pussy” and who had in the past supported abortion rights, white evangelicals rallied to Trump as they had to with Republican presidential candidates before, breaking 80-20 for him in 2016. The evangelical vote was critical to Trump's victory, and will be a factor in any Republican success in 2018 or 2020.
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