Donald Trump’s role as the country’s first white president is obvious and omnipresent. He campaigned on white identity politics, racism and nativism. As compared to his racism and White identity politics, Trump’s “Christian” faith is likely more befuddling if not unbelievable to those who do not follow politics closely.
Trump’s version of Christianity is performative and strategic. Trump, in both his public and private life, has repeatedly demonstrated by his behavior and values, that he violates almost every tenet of Christianity (as well as human decency and morality more broadly). He embraces cruelty, violence, greed, avarice, selfishness, revenge, lying, lust and dissembling. In total, Trump appears to worship power and himself instead of God and Jesus Christ.
At their core, Trump’s “Christian” values are defined by his transactional relationship with the Christian right, and specifically White Christian nationalists, a group he has promised to elevate to supreme power in the country if they gave him what he wants: their votes, money and control over many tens of millions of people. The bargain was extremely fruitful for both sides: a majority of White Christians voted for Trump (again). With his return to the White House, Trump is poised to make White Christianity (better described as White Christian authoritarianism) the de facto official state religion of the country, with all of the power and privilege(s) that comes with it.
-Chauncey Devega in Salon.com
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