The US in turmoil: what next for US evangelicals?

As en was going to press, Joe Biden was due to be sworn in as President, with more trouble predicted on the streets. Gerald Bray, distinguished Professor of Historical Theology at Knox Theological Seminary, and Director of Research for the Latimer Trust at Oak Hill in London, reports exclusively for en from the United States.

When Donald Trump lost the election last November there was one thing that everybody agreed on – he would not go quietly.

In the long transition period between the vote and the inauguration of a new President, he has done everything to cause as much trouble as possible. He has persuaded millions of people that the election was stolen from him, and his more-determined supporters have acted on that belief by storming the Capitol in Washington. Quite what they were trying to achieve is unclear, but whatever it was, they have given a massive boost to their opponents.

There is no doubt that the American electoral system needs an overhaul. Each state determines how it will elect the President and federal government officials, so ballots considered acceptable in one place may be rejected in another. This is especially true of absentee votes, which are counted in different ways. That is unsatisfactory, but it is not fraudulent. Nor is there any sign that the polls were manipulated. The simple fact is that Joe Biden won, and those who dispute that are deluding themselves.

Unfortunately, diehard Trumpers, following their leader’s example, have persisted in their fantasies, despite the lack of any evidence to support them. Many of them believed that they could reverse the outcome, or at worst, hold out until 2024, when their hero could stand for the presidency again.

The events of 6 January have put paid to that. It is beyond dispute that the outgoing President incited the mob to attack, and people from across the political spectrum have united to demand some form of retribution, which (at the very least) would involve Donald Trump’s permanent exclusion from political life. One of the few positive aspects of this sorry episode is that it must surely spell the end of the unholy alliance between conservative Christians and the Trump wing of the Republican Party. It is very difficult to see how someone like Franklin Graham or John MacArthur will go on publicly supporting a man who has encouraged violence against the most cherished institutions of state, and no Christian church or organisation will risk being tarred with that brush. Even those who agree wholeheartedly with the Trump agenda know that things have gone too far and that there is nothing to be gained by backing it.

In Alabama, where I currently am, a new senator was elected in November. His only campaign promise was that he would support President Trump in the latter’s efforts to clean up the Washington ‘swamp’, as he put it. But a day after the attack the same man was distancing himself as much as possible from the President, repudiating his actions and demanding the immediate restoration of law and order. There is no doubt that most Americans, including most Christians, think the same way. There may be a few crackpot pastors who will go on defending Donald Trump, but they will be isolated voices with no backing other than from their tiny and remote congregations.

This does not mean that there will be a great upsurge of support for Joe Biden. He was predicted to win the election by a landslide, but he did not. He must know that if he is to heal the divisions in American society he cannot advance the radical agenda that some of his supporters want to foist on him. Fears that he will open the floodgates to anti-Christian legislation are overblown and misguided. Most probably he will introduce some cosmetic liberalisation here and there, but he will have to concentrate on rebuilding the economy after the pandemic. Meanwhile, the Republican Party will have to rebuild itself from scratch, seeking a more consensual leader to take them into the next election.

The Christian community has so far escaped the debacle relatively unscathed, but its leaders know now that the character of politicians matters as much as their policies. A future Republican President will have to be sober, upright and serious – not unlike Joe Biden in fact. Proponents of a conservative social agenda cannot afford to be distracted by the theatrics of a disgruntled loser, and they must work quickly to distance themselves from him.

British observers are naturally appalled by what they have seen, but they should not succumb to complacency. Prominent politicians in the UK have been close to Donald Trump, and although they are now disowning him, their true views may not be all that different from his. The Christian community in Britain has never been in thrall to Trumpery in the way that some Americans have been, but it too must become more circumspect. Will anyone now encourage Trump-supporting Franklin Graham to relaunch the UK crusade that he had to suspend because of the pandemic?

The future is in God’s hands and detailed predictions are difficult. What we know for sure is that He is working His purposes out, and that whatever happens, we are safe in His hands. Earthly powers may try to co-opt Him for their own ends, but they will fail, and we must distance ourselves from them. The lesson of Donald Trump’s last stand is that God will humble the proud and not allow them to mock His holy name with impunity. Those of us who believe in Christ must take this lesson to heart and pray that His light will shine in our present darkness, knowing that however threatening that darkness may seem, it cannot ultimately prevail.