Today Believe Me: The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump got its first Twitter review. Brian Franklin is Associate Director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University. Here is his review:
Here’s my 10-tweet review of @JohnFea1‘s *Believe Me: The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump.* Available 6/28. https://t.co/MarULuNf5W #Evangelicals #courtevangelicals #believemebook /0 pic.twitter.com/m5FTlrymHG
— Brian Franklin (@brfranklin4) June 25, 2018
Opens with a refreshingly open take as both a historian and an evangelical – that despite Trump’s bold-faced embrace of unabashed non-Christian behavior, 81% of self-identifying white evangelicals voted for him. “This book is my attempt to make sense of it all.” /1 pic.twitter.com/dL8d8vsvds
— Brian Franklin (@brfranklin4) June 25, 2018
A spot-on thesis: that white evangelical Christians have engaged in public life through a strategy defined by 3 characteristics: fear, power & nostalgia. What would it take – & how would it change evangelicalism & politics – to replace those w/ hope, humility, & history? /2 pic.twitter.com/sgujykj1GY
— Brian Franklin (@brfranklin4) June 25, 2018
Ch1 explores the evangelical politics of fear- how they’ve regularly taken legitimate issues/concerns, & turned them into imminent threats. Trump the strongman arose to confront these (Mexicans, Muslims, terrorists). See his @TheAtlantic piece for more https://t.co/iiwM24sXeD /3 pic.twitter.com/zInHFZ0ghn
— Brian Franklin (@brfranklin4) June 25, 2018
These fears most recently revealed under POTUS Obama, esp. feeling of marginalization on issues like same-sex marriage. I would take Fea’s point further & emphasize this key to understand evangelicals- they have really power over the decades, even if they still have much /4 pic.twitter.com/DtQYUXbY5B
— Brian Franklin (@brfranklin4) June 25, 2018
Evangelical politics since the 1970s has followed the same playbook: elect a “friendly” president, a conservative supreme court, & turn back laws that dismantled “rituals of Protestant & cultural power in America.” Choice between Trump & the culture-wars enemy was thus easy. /5 pic.twitter.com/toGlhhyeZ6
— Brian Franklin (@brfranklin4) June 25, 2018
Provocative Ch3 on FEAR at the heart of evangelicals in American history. From Puritans to Trump- fear of failure, society imploding (cue the *real* #WitchHunt of Salem), Catholics, atheists, slaves, integration, & federal government invading private (& segregated) spaces. /6 pic.twitter.com/vOVgylt5Ld
— Brian Franklin (@brfranklin4) June 25, 2018
Ch4 turns to #courtevangelicals, “religious courtiers” who want influence, & have decided that what Trump (& access) provides is more valuable than the damage he does to their Christian witness.” I wrote on this theme @washingtonpost @madebyhistory at https://t.co/zNkePyHWOz /7 pic.twitter.com/jDSe8JwNMM
— Brian Franklin (@brfranklin4) June 25, 2018
Ch5 exploration of #MAGA particularly incisive. The key word for Fea is “Again”- esp. Trump’s & #evangelicals‘ inability (or refusal?) to explain *when* that “again” was. Trump call-backs to racism of Andrew Jackson, Operation Wetback & “law & order” thus problematic, at best. /8 pic.twitter.com/ZzQvZE9u9a
— Brian Franklin (@brfranklin4) June 25, 2018
Closes with a call for hope, humility & history, w/ example of Civil Rights leaders whose faith influenced their politics, but in ways which often *cost* them. I *know* this is about the 81%, but I think a word applying these principles to the 19% may have rounded this out. /9 pic.twitter.com/2JDxIKyH1S
— Brian Franklin (@brfranklin4) June 25, 2018
This book is a model for historians who want to speak to the public. Terrific balance of clarity, critique & charity. I profited from reading it, and I’m certain that you will too – evangelical or not. Buy one, & buy another to pass along https://t.co/MCsdo6IYl4 /fin pic.twitter.com/xsYBXBFN2g
— Brian Franklin (@brfranklin4) June 25, 2018
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.