Donald Trump, a 77-year-oldĀ Bible salesman from Palm Beach, Florida, has emerged as the nationās most prominent Christian leader. Trump is running for president as a divinely chosen champion of White Christians, promising to sanctify their grievances, destroy their perceived enemies, bolster their social status, and grant them the power to impose an anti-feminist, anti-LGBTQ, White-centric Christian nationalism from coast to coast. That Trump doesnāt attend church and has obviously never read the book that he hawks for $59.99, seems of interest exclusively to his political opponents.
What might catch the attention of some evangelical conservatives, however, is that Trumpās ostentatiousĀ embraceĀ of White Christian militantism coincides with a precipitous decline in religious affiliation in the US. According to the Public Religion Research Institute,Ā one-quarterĀ of Americans in 2023 said they were religiously unaffiliated. āUnaffiliatedā is the only religious category experiencing growth. In a single decade, from 2013 to 2023, the percentage of Americans saying that religion is the most important thing, or among the most important things, in their life plummeted to 53% from 72%.
I totally get that tbh. Iām naturally drawn to religion and when I look at the benefits to society that pastors can provide I see a lot of capacity for it, but Iām queer and drawn to paganism. In a different world Iādāve been a pastor or priestess or whatever. Thankfully Iāve got another career Iām called to.
Iāve heard the term seeker used to refer to people who just feel called to religious wisdom more than to a specific dogma and I kinda like it. No matter where I go Iām looking to better understand the same things. What I saw in Catholicism and was drawn to there I find in a way that makes more sense in my current understanding of old gods.