As we see the start of the 2024 election cycle in Iowa where Evangelicals are said to be Dominate.

Let’s take a look at this from a personal perspective.

I personally am witness to what I am saying herein. My grandfather grew up in the Amish faith and my parents and their siblings raised me my siblings and all of my maybe 40 cousins one step away in an Evangelical church. I am 80 years old at this point and can provide a bit of perspective at this point.

First, Evangelicals are used to living by rules and discipline handed down by elders, primarily white males having seen a vision. This is hard core Old Testament history stuff, from a time before Christ died for the sins of all.

So it is no stretch that Evangelicals would vote for an authoritarian immoral demagogue like Trump. In a sense that is the historical thread on which Nazi Germany thrived.

The things that Jesus aspired to in the New Testament are mostly alien to the Evangelicals. Things like “love”, “doing to others as you would like done to you” are not core beliefs.

A core point in the 2024 election is that Evangelicals don’t see that as rejecting Democracy. Most Evangelical immigrants from the big immigration period, maybe 1860 to 1920, were not escaping religious persecution, but were coming here for economic reasons. With the indigenous Native Americans having been successfully killed or driven West to OK or KS, west of the Missouri River, there was a whole bunch of land that was being offered by the government and all those who didn’t want to farm could live off building the infrastructure or providing services.

At this stage in 2024 it is important for the Evangelicals that immigration be curbed, they believe that will leave more of their wealth to be handed down to their families.

The core point, Democracy for Evangelicals is about personal wealth, not the common good.

Another important point is that morality of the country’s leaders is not an important factor for Evangelicals. Morality for them is doing what they believe they need to do to get into heaven personally. Everyone else is on their own.

It probably is important to factor in that going to church is becoming less important to Evangelicals. The internet has made it easy to download the goals and rules for being an Evangelical. God is much closer now, he can be on your iPhone. Trump is playing into that dynamic, he is doing his God act directly, he doesn’t have to cozy up to local Pastors anymore.

The answer to all this for me is live by what all peaceful god loving , regardless of religion, people around the world abide by. Love, and treating others the way you would like to be treated. You don’t need some elder with a vision telling you how to live your life or who to vote for.