Most People Will Never Understand Evangelicals and That’s the Danger
Unless you’ve been a member of an evangelical group, preferably grew up in this dire situation, you’ll never understand how they think. Never. It’s impossible. It’s like asking someone who’s never jumped out of an airplane to describe the feeling of jumping out of an airplane. They can’t. They’ve never jumped out of an airplane.
There lies the power of the far right, my friends.
Because most people can’t imagine how they think, they underestimate the far right at every twist and turn. No one can grasp how tenacious a man can be who believes he’s been chosen to represent god.
A man on a godly mission is formidable.
Sure the rest of us can feel deeply about universal health care, free college, gay rights, climate change, women’s rights, world peace, refugees, and a slew of other important political causes, but if you haven’t been called upon by the one and only god on high, you simply pale by comparison. Your mission is misdirected. You’re working for the devil no matter how great you think your cause may be.
As promised in a previous essay, I’m back at it again. That’s right. I’m writing about the overturning of Roe v Wade.
It’s BIG. No, it’s HUGE. There’s no denying that. But it’s bigger than we think. And, there lies the problem. Sure we can see that the stacking of the Supreme Court with conservative judges is not a good thing. I mean we were warned back in 2015, but a lot of democrats got their panties in a twist and voted third party in spite of the dire possibilities. By the way, where the hell is that unimpressive Jill Stein now? Right? Right.
Sure, we can invision the domino effect of a Roe v Wade reversal — NOW. Whoopee ding!
Most people couldn’t imagine that Trump would win the election, but he did. They also couldn’t imagine that a real reversal of this magnitude was possible either. Democrats instead felt that they had the luxury of reinventing their party during an election year.
Boy! Are they sorry now.
Everything that I warned people about has happened. I’m not tooting my own horn. I have an advantage. I was raised in a religious cult. That means I know how they think.
They understand unity and that a united minority can TRUMP a splintered political party.
Of course, I tried to share my insights back in 2015 as I began to see the dreaded handwriting on the wall. I was being triggered right and left by the right and left every damn day. It was an exhausting year.
No one listened to me.
Oh, and don’t forget that Trump appointed a large number of federal appeals court judges in a mere four years. Almost as many as Obama appointed in two terms.
While democrats were still squabbling over Bernie or bust, republicans weren’t wasting a minute on our progressive opinions.
Nor were they fighting one another every chance they got. They were making hay while the sun shines.
So what holds them together as such a tightly knit and powerful minority?
They’re united around a couple of core principles and they have evangelicals in their corner. Dems can’t compare. We don’t seem to have a few core causes that bring us together, and we certainly don’t have god cheering us on.
If we did, we could get by with a lot more.
Trust me. I’ve seen how that works. Men with power who are on a mission for a god can do and say almost anything without losing their blindly dedicated flock. I met these men all across America as my parents searched for a church that they felt still followed their god. Far right christians are a different breed.
In a nutshell, here’s the evangelical philosophy with variations in the details according to the denomination.
Man is the head of the house. Women live in subjection to their husbands. Children live in subjection to their parents. Women are seen as the great temptresses, luring men away from god and into their net. Children are seen as born in sin and require the tough hand of a father to raise them up in the way they should go. Beatings aren’t spared. Girls are to remain virgins until married. However, they were designed by a god to give a man (their husbands) pleasure and, of course, children.
Unfortunately, many men battle carnal desires and often are tricked by Satan.
I know what I’m talkng about on a personal level. The spirit of prostitution was a phrase directed at me and my sisters when we were as young as twelve and totally void of sexual experiences. More than one older man in the church, often a minister, came on to me as a young girl. Once again not uncommon.
Fundamentalism seems to breed sexual deviance.
I’m sure there’s been studies conducted that explains this very common occurrence among the most devout. The Catholic Church also comes to mind with many, many scandals involvng priests and young boys or girls. All I’m saying is that this need to control women if allowed to permeate the government is to be expected. Birth control, divorce, interracial marriages, gay marriages, and almost anything that pertains to sexual expression has always been heavily monitored and restricted by the highly religious, not just evangelical Christians.
The more strict a church becomes, the more likely they are to see everyone else outside the church as sinners.
So, the feeling that democrats are lost pagans, without a sense of morality, and anxious to persecute Christians is to be expected. Once a group believes firmly that they have a god on their side and are carrying out a mission for the glory of this god, there’s no stopping them.
Zealotry follows. Zealotry within a government is as frightening as hell.
I’ve painted a very small picture of what goes on inside the head of an evangelical far right Christian. So small that I’m frustrated because I could write an entire book about what makes them tick.
I mean they constantly see themselves in the role of saving the world from going to hell.
Proselytizing is so akin to political stumping that it’s no wonder the devout can get out there and get it done. They went to boot camp when they were kids, perfecting the art of spreading propaganda.
Don’t forget, Christians like rules, lots of rules.
They also like tough leaders. As much as they like to talk about how much their god loves us, they worship a creator that would throw them in hell for eternity if they don’t conform to his wishes. They really adore this god they’ve invented. They actually believe that they can talk to him and he is listening. They get their daily direction from this god. They see science as a precariously steep slope into godlessness.
Furthermore, if they think for one moment that their god has handpicked a man to carry out his wishes here on earth, the level of inspiration will carry them into battle.
I see the heads shaking in disbelief. I hear the chorus of democrats whispering to each other that I’m going a bit overboard. I’m totally aware that proud progressives think that they have such good solutions to offer America that in the end they’ll win the fight.
I contend that in spite of how much this country has been altered since 2016, the refusal to believe that the minority of far right Christians could keep winning is the main reason that they keep winning.
While we’re smugly talking about BIG ideas, the future of the planet, and bettering the lives of people, the far right is preparing for the big win. They’ve never taken their eyes off the goal.
Onward Christian soldiers!
Teresa Roberts is a retired educator, author, world traveler, and professional myth buster. You can find her books on Amazon.
