Former president ‘lacks any kind of moral compass,’ but delivered what most Christian voters want, author says
Vendors sell T-shirts this past Feb. 22 in Nashville, where Donald Trump came to speak at the National Religious Broadcasters Association International Christian Media Convention.On a Sunday morning in eastern Washington, Ken Ortize stands in front of the congregation he has led for decades and reads a biblical passage about the end times. It isn’t long before he is talking about“It’s a contrast between globalism and nationalism,” he says. “And Donald Trump is an unapologetic nationalist.
Mr. Trump has, in return, pledged solidarity. Others “want to tear down crosses where they can, and cover them up with social justice flags,” Mr. Trump said in recent remarks to the National Religious Broadcasters International Christian Media Convention. “But no one will be touching the cross of Christ under the Trump administration, I swear to you.”
They also feel a new boldness to mix messages from politics and the pulpit. “There’s this lie, the separation of church and state lie, that has really silenced a lot of churches,” said Caleb Collier, who is the senior regional manager for the western U.S. at TPUSA Faith, a religious outreach arm of the Turning Point organization that has been a major supporting force for Mr. Trump.
Conservative politicians in the U.S. have spent decades courting evangelicals, whose churches provided networks that could be used to motivate action and become a source of funds. “The government has come into our lane,” said Mr. Bingle. “Now it’s incumbent on me as a shepherd to protect my sheep.”