Donald Trump and Right Wing Evangelical Masculinity - Religion & Politics

In the end, many right wing evangelicals did not vote for Trump despite their beliefs, but because of them.

Many right wing evangelicals long ago replaced the suffering servant of Christ with an image that more closely resembles Donald Trump than many would care to admit.

They’ve traded a faith that privileges humility and elevates the least of these for one that derides gentleness as the province of wusses.

Having replaced the Jesus of the gospels with an idol of machismo, it’s no wonder many right wing evangelicals speak of Trump himself in terms of  "saving" them or the country

In the end, many right wing evangelicals did not vote for Trump despite their beliefs, but because of them.

It is not difficult to imagine how evangelicals, steeped in literature claiming that men were created in the image of a warrior God, might be receptive to sentiments like those expressed by the late Jerry Falwell, in his 2004 sermon “God is Pro-War.”

In fact, surveys demonstrate that traditionalist evangelicals are more likely than other Americans to approve of U.S. engagement in a preemptive war, support military action against terrorism, and condone the use of torture.

This brand of militant masculinity also helps explain the lack of outrage on the part of many evangelicals when it comes to Trump’s character issues.  Trump’s testosterone-fueled masculinity, which aligns remarkably well with that long championed by evangelicals. What makes a strong leader? A virile (white) man. And what of his vulgarity? Infidelity? Bombast? Even sexual assault? Well, boys will be boys.

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