Religious Right leaders worked hard to mobilize the white evangelical vote for Donald Trump, and many have declared that Trump’s election was the result of miraculous divine intervention, so it’s not terribly surprisingly to see Religious Right groups rolling their gratitude for Trump’s victory into their Thanksgiving messaging.
The Family Research Council’s Dan Hart, in an email to the group’s members yesterday, called the election “a God-given opportunity to right some of the wrongs done to life, natural marriage, and religious liberty over the last eight years.”
“This reprieve that the Lord has given us is all the more reason to be particularly thankful this year,” Hart added. Although Hart praised the Founding Fathers for establishing a republic, he also expressed a particularly dominionist view of that republic:
Here at FRC, we are keenly aware that this wonderful democratic experiment we call America would crumble overnight if it were not held in place by the sovereignty of God Almighty. That is why we are here in Washington, to further the cause of Truth that He has laid out for us in public policy and the culture.
In a certain sense, the primary reason to be thankful for our Republic is that it allows us to live in a monarchy. In other words, we are called as Christians to live completely in the service of Christ the King. We need to let him be the King of every aspect of our lives, which in turn means that He must be King over every aspect of our society. This is the beauty of America — the freedoms we enjoy in this country allow us to attempt this wonderful mission in the first place.
The American Pastors Network’s Sam Rohrer, who is asking pastors to become more politically active through his “We Will Stand” initiative, wrote in an email Monday:
Many Christian voters are still breathing a sigh of relief after this month’s election, thankful for a presidential team that seems to be focused on their values heading into the White House. We know that this election has opened a small window of opportunity and the nation has been granted a stay… Now we ask ourselves, what must be done in that window? God has given us grace and mercy, so what can we do with that gift? God answered the pleas and the prayers of His people and provided a reprieve. His continued blessing will be linked directly to our level of obedience. Yes, He has given us a stay, but the length of that stay is dependent on whether God’s people will be obedient or will go back to sleep. We will very easily return to the same comfortable, status quo ways if we fail to lead appropriately.
This is about much more than winning an election; it’s a complete lifestyle shift and a change in the hearts of God’s people. And it starts at the pulpits of America’s churches.
