THE RISE OF RELIGIOUS CONSERVATISM IN THE U.S. SINCE THE PRESIDENCY OF DONALD TRUMP
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.71361/gjtm.v14i2.127Keywords:
Religious, Conservatism, Politics, ElectionAbstract
It has long been understood that there is something peculiar, even paradoxical, about conservatism in America. For most Europeans who came to America, the whole purpose of their difficult and disruptive journey to the New World was not to conserve European institutions but to leave them behind and to create something new, often an entirely new life, and even a new identity, for themselves.
Conservatives have been divided into: (1) those who are most concerned about economic or fiscal issues, that is, pro-business or “free-enterprise” conservatives; (2) those most concerned with religious or social issues, that is, pro-church or “traditional-values” conservatives; and (3) those most concerned with national-security or defense issues, that is, pro-military or “patriotic” conservatives. For a while, especially during the 1980s, it may have seemed that these three kinds of conservatives were natural allies, that they had an “elective affinity” for each other, and that there was no significant contradiction between them. In a pattern similar to that of economic conservatism, in Europe an established state church shaped religious and moral conditions.
In America, particularly after the adoption of the U.S. Constitution, religious and moral conditions were instead shaped by the separation of church and state and even by religious pluralism. Following the 2016 presidential election of Donald Trump, many scholars have recognised the crucial role of Christian evangelical support for his triumphed victor. Here, we realize there is an interesting relation between faith and politics in the American voting system. the underlying arguments that we wish to portray in this article is: 1) that Trump facilitated more religious conservatives through a socially constructed approach, and 2) that this approach of conservatism has further led to the decline of U.S. social and political legitimacy due to the massive social issues that happened.
References
Abramowitz, Alan I. The great alignment: Race, Party Transformation, and the Rise of Donald Trump. Yale University Press, 2018.
Burchill, Scott, Andrew Linklater, and Richard Devetak. Theories of International Relations. Red Globe Press, 2017.
Finnemore, Martha. National Interests in International Society, 1996. https://doi.org/10.7591/9781501707 384.
Fox, Jonathan, and Shmuel Sandler.Bringing Religion into International Relations. Palgrave Macmillan US eBooks, 2004. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781403981 27.
———. Bringing Religion Into International Relations. Palgrave Macmillan US eBooks, 2004.
Principles and Policy-making; Handbook for the European and International Cooperation of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, 2011.
Kratochwil, Friedrich V. Rules, Norms, and Decisions: On the Conditions of Practical and Legal Reasoning in International Relations and Domestic Affairs, 1989. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/cbo97805 11559044.
Guth, James. "Obama, religious politics, and the culture wars." Online. In Transforming America: Barack Obama in the White House, 77–100. Furman University, 2011. https://www.furman.edu/wp- content/uploads/2019/03/Obama- Religion-and-Culture-Wars.pdf.
Williams, Daniel K. "Reagan." In Oxford University Press eBooks, 187–212, 2010.
https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9 780195340846.003.0009.
Abramowitz, Alan, and Jennifer McCoy. "United States: Racial Resentment, Negative Partisanship, and Polarization in Trump’s America." The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 681, no. 1 (December 20,2018): 137–56.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716218 811309. DeLaet, Debra L., and Rachel Paine Caufield. "Gay Marriage as a Religious Right: Reframing the Legal Debate Over Gay Marriage in the United States." Polity 40, no. 3 (February 18, 2008): 297–320.
https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.pol ity.2300103. Gorski, Philip. "Why Evangelicals Voted for Trump: A Critical Cultural Sociology." American Journal of Cultural Sociology 5, no. 3 (July 31,
2017): 338–54.
https://doi.org/10.1057/s41290-017- 0043-9.
Haynes, Jeffrey. "Donald Trump, the Christian Right and COVID-19: The Politics of Religious freedom." Laws 10, no. 1 (January 30, 2021):
6.
https://doi.org/10.3390/laws100100 06. Hirsh, Jacob B., Megan D. Walberg, and Jordan B. Peterson. "Spiritual liberals and religious conservatives." Social Psychological and Personality Science 4, no. 1 (April 24, 2012):
14–20.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550612 444138. Knuckey, Jonathan. "Religious Conservatives, the Republican Party and Evolving Party Coalitions in the United States." Party Politics 5, no. 4 (October 1, 1999): 485–96.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068899 005004004. Malka, Ariel, Yphtach Lelkes, Sanjay Srivastava, Adam B. Cohen, and Dale T. Miller. "The association of Religiosity and Political Conservatism: The role of Political engagement." Political Psychology 33, no. 2 (March 27, 2012): 275–99.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467- 9221.2012.00875.x. O’Brien, John, and Eman Abdelhadi. "Re- examining restructuring: racialization, religious conservatism, and political leanings in contemporary American life." Social Forces 99, no. 2 (March 17,2020): 474–503.
https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soaa029. Parker, Charles F., and Christer Karlsson. "The UN Climate Change Negotiations and the Role of the United States: Assessing American Leadership From Copenhagen to Paris." Environmental Politics 27, no. 3 (February 22, 2018): 519–40.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2 018.1442388. Perry, Samuel. "President Trump and Charlottesville: Uncivil Mourning and White Supremacy." Journal of Contemporary Rhetoric 8, no. 1/2 (2018): 57–71.
http://contemporaryrhetoric.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Perry8_1_ 2_5.pdf. Roof, Wade Clark, and Robert Wuthnow. "The Restructuring of American
Religion: Society and Faith Since World War II." Review of Religious Research 30, no. 4 (June 1, 1989):
426.
https://doi.org/10.2307/3511305.Sawyer, Stephen, and William Novak. "Emancipation and the Creation of Modern Liberal States in America and France on JSTOR." Www.Jstor.org 3, no. 4 (December 2013).
https://www.jstor.org/stable/260620 97.Wendt, Alexander. "Anarchy Is What States Make of It: The Social Construction of Power Politics." International Organization 46, no. 2 (January 1, 1992): 391–425.
https://doi.org/10.1017/s002081830 0027764. Whitehead, Andrew L, Samuel L Perry, and Joseph O Baker. "Make America Christian Again: Christian Nationalism and Voting for Donald Trump in the 2016 Presidential Election." Sociology of Religion 79, no. 2 (January 1, 2018): 147–71.
https://doi.org/10.1093/socrel/srx07 0. Young, Olga Antonenko, Robb Willer, and Dacher Keltner. "‘Thou shalt not kill’: Religious fundamentalism, conservatism, and rule-based moral processing." Psychology of Religion and Spirituality 5, no. 2 (May 1, 2013): 110–15.
https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032262.
BBC News. "UK Military Chiefs Praise Transgender Troops," July 26, 2017.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk- 40733701. Blazina, Carrie. "Republicans and Democrats Alike Say It’s Stressful to Talk Politics with People Who Disagree." Pew Research Center, April 14, 2024. https://www.pewresearch.org/short- reads/2021/11/23/republicans-and- democrats-alike-say-its-stressful-to- talk-politics-with-people-who- disagree/.
Dagger, Richard, Terence Ball, Kenneth Minogue, and Peter Viereck. "Conservatism | History, intellectual foundations, & Examples." Encyclopedia Britannica, November 22, 2024.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/c onservatism. DeYoung, Kevin. "What Is Conservatism?" Clearly Reformed, January 26, 2021.
https://clearlyreformed.org/what-is- conservatism.
Farrell, Stephen. "Why is the U.S. moving its embassy to Jerusalem?" May 7, 2018.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us- usa-israel-diplomacy-jerusalem- explai-idUSKBN1I811N/. Francois, Willie Dwayne. "The Muslim Ban May Be Unconstitutional, but It’s Not Un-American." Religion Dispatches, January 12, 2024.
https://religiondispatches.org/the-muslim-ban-may-be- unconstitutional-but-its-not-un- american/.Geiger, Abigail. "18 Striking Findings From 2018." Pew Research Center, December 6, 2024.
https://www.pewresearch.org/short- reads/2018/12/13/18-striking- findings-from-2018/. Hagerty, Barbara Bradley. "Has Obama waged a war on religion?" NPR, January 8, 2012. https://www.npr.org/2012/01/08/14 4835720/has-obama-waged-a-war- on-religion.
America Magazine. "How Has Religion Played a Role in Donald Trump’s Presidency?" August 24, 2020. https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-ociety/2020/08/24/religion- donald-trump-presidency.
Husser, James. "Why Trump is reliant on white evangelicals." Brookings, April 6, 2020. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fix gov/2020/04/06/why-trump-is- reliant-on-white-evangelicals/.
Newport, Frank, PhD. "How Many Highly Religious Conservative Republicans Are There?" The Christian Post, April 10, 2015. https://www.christianpost.com/news
/how-many-highly-religious- conservative-republicans-are- there.html.
The White House. "President Donald J. Trump Stands up for Religious Freedom in the United States – the White House," May 3, 2018.
https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.go v/briefings-statements/president- donald-j-trump-stands-religious- freedom-united-states/.
The College of Behavioral and Social Sciences. "Sadat Chair Poll: Evangelical Republicans Favor Pro- Israel Policies at Odds With Majority of Americans," n.d.
https://bsos.umd.edu/featured- content/sadat-chair-poll- evangelical-republicans-favor-pro- israel-policies-odds-majority.
Shear, and Cooper. "Trump Bars Refugees and Citizens of 7 Muslim Countries." New York Times, January 28, 2017.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/ 27/us/politics/trump-syrian- refugees.html.
Smith, David. "Extreme abortion laws shine light on Trump’s courting of religious right." The Guardian, June 20, 2024.
https://www.theguardian.com/us- news/2019/may/13/donald-trump- evangelical-christians-republicans- abortion-supreme-court.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Obergefell V. Hodges | Summary, History, Ruling, & Facts." Encyclopedia Britannica, November 12, 2024.
https://www.britannica.com/event/O bergefell-v-Hodges.
The University of Texas at Austin Department of History. "Muslim Travel Ban - Immigration History." Immigration History, April 20, 2020.
https://immigrationhistory.org/item/ muslim-travel-ban/. Treisman, Rachel. "The End of Roe Has Implications for Abortion Rights Around the Globe." NPR, June 29, 2022.
https://www.npr.org/2022/06/29/11 07656228/the-end-of-roe-has- implications-for-abortion-rights- around-the-globe.
Walker. "Understanding Why Religious Conservatives Would Vote for Trump." National Review, February 10, 2020.
https://www.nationalreview.com/20 20/02/2020-election-religious- conservatives-trump-voters/.
Keohane, Robert, and Joseph Nye. "Power and Interdependence: World Politics in Transition." Data set. The SHAFR Guide Online, October 2, 2017.
https://doi.org/10.1163/2468- 1733_shafr_sim280020670.Pew Research Centre. "Detailed tables on the evangelical electorate." Online, Data set. Pew Research Centre, 2014.
https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp- content/uploads/sites/12/2016/03/F T_16.03.14.EvangelicalVote2.pdf.
"The Paris Agreement." The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (2015), https://unfccc.int/process-and- meetings/the-paris-
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 GENEVA: Jurnal Teologi dan Misi
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
