An evangelical pastor in Ligonier, Pennsylvania is still an undecided voter. He doesn’t read anything about national politics until one week before the election. According Olga Khazan at The Atlantic, this pastor is not alone. A taste:
When Bryan Jarrell, an Evangelical pastor in Ligonier, Pennsylvania, came across an election-themed episode of a podcast, heād skip right over it. He would mute the TV when political ads came on, tried to teach his social-media feeds that he wasnāt interested in politics, and would throw campaign mailers straight in the trash. Heād skim news headlines sometimes, but if he could tell that the story was about national politics, heād keep scrolling.
Today, exactly one week before the election, he will begin researching both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump and make a decision about whom to support. Heās not sure where heāll landāhe is conservative on some social issues, but he doesnāt like Trumpās character.
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Over at Christianity Today, Harvest Prude has been doing some excellent reporting on the candidates’ appeals to faith in western Pennsylvania and elsewhere.
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The Houston Chronicle is reporting on the recent court evangelical reunion event in Georgia on Monday. The piece focuses on Prestonwood Baptist Church pastor and former Southern Baptist Convention president Jack Graham. Here is a taste:
This past Monday,Ā Jack Graham, the ultraconservative senior pastor atĀ Prestonwood Baptist ChurchĀ inĀ Plano, Texas, who’s been repeatedly telling his 50,000-member congregation this year that they’re engaged in aĀ spiritual warĀ against liberals, teamed up with aĀ group of evangelicalsĀ in praying over Donald Trump to win the presidential election next week.
Here was Graham’s prayer:
We thank you O God, and we come to you in the name of Jesus. ā¦ We thank you for our country. We love you, Jesus, and we also love our country. We thank you that you have raised up a man, Donald J. Trump, to be a warrior for the word of God and the wisdom that comes from God. Thank you for protecting him, for keeping your hand of blessing on him, and we pray as you raise him up once again to be our president that you would give him strength and wisdom and joy in the journey.
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Rev. Gabriel Salguero, president ofĀ the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, explains how the Hispanic evangelical vote is complicated:
“Politicians don’t know how to speak to us…”They say ‘Oh, well, they’re evangelical, they must be Republican,’ or ‘Oh, they’re Latino, they must be Democrat.’ Well, we are Latino-evangelicals, and so like me, I’m a registered independent. Many of us are registered independents because we are not one-issue voters.”
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As the election draws near, Christianity Today editor Russell Moore is talking about Mark 12:17: “āRender to Caesar the things that are Caesarās, and to God the things that are Godāsā A taste:
Like many other Scriptures, those words have been grossly misused. Theyāre quoted to justify churches engaging directly in political activism (often paired with a misreading of Abraham KuyperāsĀ famous declarationĀ that there is not one square inch of the universe that Jesus does not claim as āMineā). They are also quoted to make the case for a separation of Christian conscience from public justice (often with a similarly downgraded version of Martin Lutherās idea ofĀ two kingdoms).Ā
Jesusā words here actually speak sharply to what it means to be his follower in a time of pronounced divisions and high stakes. But to hear them rightly, we must pay attention to how Jesus discerned what was real and what was false. In many ways, his political situationāthough radically different, set in an ancient empire rather thanĀ a modern democracyāwas similar to the one facing us right now.Ā
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Over at The Washington Post, Hanna Allam writes about the “Rescue America Tour” (and similar MAGA-evangelical tours)featuring prosperity preacher Kenneth Copeland. A taste:
Part revival, part rally, the Louisiana stop of theĀ Rescue America TourĀ reflected the mood inside a powerful MAGA voting bloc in the countdown to Election Day. The organizers, superstars in an ascendant Christian nationalist movement, assured the crowd they could ātake backā the nation from āenemiesā within weeks, if only faithful Republicans did their duty and voted forĀ Donald Trump.
āWe have every right there is to tell the Devil: āYou take your hands off this nation!āā roared televangelist Kenneth Copeland, who put on a U.S. flag jacket and red MAGA hat when he took the stage.
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Let’s see what’s happening on X:
The satirical evangelical site The Babylon Bee is “endorsing” Kamala Harris:
Translation: May conservative Republicans win every race:
Disgraced former Trump “election fraud” lawyer Jenna Ellis is worried about Trump’s life:
The Faith & Freedom Coalition remains on the ground:
Evangelicals concerned about Harris hating Catholics:
Yes: What DO you think?
The Faith & Freedom Coalition has a take on the Madison Square Garden rally:
Satan is planting people in Washington to destroy America:
Translation: Fulfill your Christian duty and vote for Trump:
Forget about John King’s “Magic Wall” on CNN, watch Tony and Jack:
“On our side”:
Eric Metaxas:
God bless Steve Bannon:
Metaxas hopes The New York TImes burns in hell:
A theobro on “garbage ideas”:
“We are voting on world views”
Tom Buck may vote Trump after all:
Southern Baptists Tom Buck and Dwight McKissic go at it:
More wise words from Justin Giboney:
The consquences are MASSIVE:
God’s vessel:
The 2016 Marco Rubio campaign faith-adviser makes a case for Trump:
They love Trump:
Thanks to Emma Bell for her help with this roundup.
Nothing like a good wallow in the politics of white resentment (of everyone else), ‘white innocence’ and faux victimhood.