Evangelicals and Plutocrats lead the new GOP | Guest Opinion

We live in troubling times, particularly concerning democracy.

One of our two major political parties now seems to be openly suppressing voting and is led by a person who declares the Nov 3rd national election will be illegitimate, unless, of course, he wins.

Richard Nixon would have been suspicious of the neocon Republican Party of George W. Bush, which in turn was conquered and transformed by Donald Trump. How did the Republican Party undergo such profound change and what direction is it heading?

In the post WWII decades, certain capitalists and libertarians seethed at the New Deal socioeconomic revisions to society. They detested the redistribution of wealth, social security, Medicare, unemployment insurance, minimum wage… Many of these people were motivated by greed or ideology, others by fear of communism. By the late 1970s, they were a force with which to be reckoned.

At the same time, Christianity in American was growing into a business with megachurches, televangelists, expanding Christian universities. Increasing political activism by evangelicals, such as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, arose. As elucidated in Katherine Steward’s latest book, The Power Worshippers, one of the evangelicals’ most pressing concerns was that, due to their policy of racial segregation, the IRS would be successful in ending the tax-exempt status of their Christian schools.

Economic libertarians and evangelicals have a long history of parallelism, for they have a common origin in the individualistic, pro-capitalist theology of Calvinism, and they both view government as an obstacle to their goals.

According to Steward, modern organizational fusion occurred in 1979 when social-conservative activist Paul Weyrich, representing the business-friendly New Right, realized that his movement could gain strength by recruiting religion. He, therefore, began courting Jerry Falwell and other conservative pastors to his cause.

Evangelicals saw the benefit of adding muscle to both their financial and ideological concerns and aspirations, so they eagerly joined the plutocrats and many have hence received enormous donations from numerous billionaires. And, for their part, plutocrats enjoy the support at the polls and theological legitimization provided by the evangelicals.

From this coalescence came the Moral Majority and Reagan-era Republicanism. Members vowed an aggressive, no compromise attitude which has only hardened through time. Moreover, many of these people were, and still are, little concerned with, or outright antagonistic toward, the Constitution and democracy.

As the two ideologies, New Right and Religious/Christian Right, accommodated to one another and converged, deregulation and low taxation miraculously became growing Christian values.

One can easily see how the reactionary nature of this expanding movement would also appeal to people who had a problem with the Civil Rights Movement. Next the NRA was incorporated,and the combined forces became a true political juggernaut. Their timing was perfect, for numerous social and economic difficulties were fragmenting the “managed capitalism” model of the progressives.

Liberals often say, “How could someone so devoid of Jesus as Donald Trump possibly be supported by people calling themselves Christians?” But, au contraire, far-right conservative Christian leaders in America have a long tradition of supporting whoever gives them what they want, regardless of their personal flaws. The rank and file citizens of American’s right wing are often unaware of the actual motives of their leaders. Numerous everyday Republicans truly believe their party’s issues are the protection of capitalism, babies, gun ownership, and religious freedom. But they’re not! The real issues are money, power, tribal domination, and a desire to impose religious fundamentalism.

When the ultraconservative juggernaut emerged in the late 1970s, it still included many authentic Republicans who were dedicated to the norms and values of democracy. But, with its dubious goals and nefarious tactics, the crusaders slowly culled them out of the flock. It took four decades, but now radicals control the GOP.

The evangelical/ultraconservative movement, moreover, is not limited to America, for its tentacles are now worldwide, such as in Central Europe and Brazil. Ominously, one of the most influential leaders of this anti-democratic steamroller is Vladimir Putin, who wields it as a weapon to attack Western society. Lying and cheating, evangelical leaders and plutocrats are marching us into an authoritarian world, which will be a bizarre mixture of theocracy, plutocracy, kleptocracy, and fascism. Four of the many things we’ll lose, if they succeed, are (1) viable capitalism, (2) democracy, (3) hope for meaningful pay raises, and (4) ultimately, personal freedoms.

This story was originally published November 10, 2020 at 10:50 AM with the headline "Evangelicals and Plutocrats lead the new GOP | Guest Opinion."