Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
Religion News
The Religious Right and Their Trumpist Confirmation Biases

The Religious Right and Their Trumpist Confirmation Biases

Last updated on: May 18, 2022 at 2:18 pm by Matthew Distefano

The Religious Right and Their Trumpist Confirmation Biases 2022-05-18T14:18:57-06:00 Matthew Distefano

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

We are all familiar with the brand of fundamentalist Christianity that gravitates toward Trumpism, conspiracies, anti-science, and a whole host of white-bred -phobias. We are also all familiar with many of the explanations for such a disastrous ideological marriage. In this piece, I’d like to explore one of them: their eschatology.

To start, our brains are wired a certain way. We tend to see patterns in nature, and then attach meaning to those patterns. What we already believe impacts those patters and meanings. As we observe, we notice the things that fit the narratives we’ve created while remaining blind to those things that don’t. This is called confirmation bias.

Such is the case with the fundamentalist-touting, QAnon-believing, science-denying, Trumpist Christian.

The cycle of their delusion goes like this:

As we move toward the End Times, the chosen people of God will be persecuted more and more. The Bible makes this clear. So, every time our theories, beliefs, and worldviews are rejected for supposedly being racist, homophobic, xenophobic, and so on, we believe we are on the right track. The proof is in the secular world’s rejection of us. So, we stand firm in our convictions, and are rejected even more, which is more evidence that we are in the right.

Of course, they may phrase it a different way, but those of us who don’t think like them see this cycle plain as day.

This creates an impossible situation. There is only a no-win scenario for the rest of us. The more we push back against their bad ideas, the more they see that as clear evidence that the secular world has rejected God. “In rejecting us, you’re rejecting God,” they’d argue. Then they’d point back to the Bible and always read themselves as the good guys (faithful Israel, Jesus’ disciples, the Apostle Paul), and the rest of us as the bad guys (Babylon, Rome, Judas, Pilate, Herod, the Pharisees).

The fascinating (albeit sometimes frustrating) thing about this whole situation is that there those of us who would do the same thing but in reverse. Maybe I’m just out of my league here, but don’t tell me you haven’t noticed how Trump (not Obama) actually fits the role of anti-Christ? I no longer believe in such a narrative, but think about it: a self-righteous rich man with a history of alleged sexual abuse, thrice married, boastfully equates himself with Jesus in many ways, and then deceives much of Evangelical Christianity into following him blindly . . . is that not the story we were told would happen toward the so-called “end?”

So, what do we do?

First, we have to acknowledge that we aren’t going to change their minds. As Trump once famously said, he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and not lose any supporters. So, I’m not sure what we can do, given this is perhaps the most accurate thing Trump has ever said.

Second, we have to focus our attention on those who haven’t been swayed by the Trumpism, the conspiracies, and the fear being espoused by the Rightwing alarmists. The moderates who lean Right. We also have to stand firm in how we educate children. There has to be standards. We have to teach our history, even if it’s uncomfortable to admit our nation’s Sin. We can’t let education go to shit, not unless we want future generations raised up believing this fundagelical garbage.

And third, we have to be persistent like the widow in Luke 18.

In this parable, there is a widow who is seeking justice. So, to obtain it, she goes to a judge, over and over and over and over again, in order to be granted justice against the one who wronged her. Of course, the judge is annoyed by her. “Oh, her again,” he probably mutters more than once. But eventually, the judge does relent and grants her justice. Not because he had a change of heart, but because she wasn’t going to go away until he did.

That’s how we have to be. The judge represents systems of oppression. Racism. Patriarchy. Heteronormativity. Gender norms. And we are the widow; but to be like the widow, we can never shut up about injustices until justice is granted.

As we do this, ironically (or not, depending on how you look at it), the Evangelical church will be the ones left behind. We will progress, probably out of necessity due to climate change kicking into high gear, and they will stand firm in their antiquated ideologies, their heels dug into the sand where they’ve built their houses.

Nevertheless, we must not relent. The widow in Luke 18 never did, and neither shall we. Roe v. Wade may be overturned, but we must not relent. More race-driven crimes will be committed on U.S. soil, but we must not relent. More Black folks will be locked up for nonviolent crimes, but we must not relent. More LGBTQ+ folks will be kicked out of their homes by their Christian parents, but we must not relent.

It may be too late to help those who have already been sucked through the vortex of Trumpism, but it’s never too late to seek justice, to educated those who are curious and inquisitive, and to do our part in the small ways we are called.

If you wanna get to know me better, please follow me on social media. I’m pretty active on all platforms:

Also, if you’ve been digging my work on here, and want to see me be able to continue writing as close to full-time as humanly possible, please take a look at my Patreon page at www.patreon.com/mjdistefano. Even $1 a month helps bigly!!!

About Matthew J. Distefano

Matthew J. Distefano is an author, blogger, podcaster, and social worker. He lives in Northern California with his wife and daughter You can read more about the author here.

Previous Post

May 17, 2022

We Say Their Names

Next Post

May 22, 2022 Is The Earth REALLY Only 10,000 Years Old?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Atonement Book Review Early Church Eschatology eternal torment Hell Hermeneutics LGBTQ+ Mimetic Theory Mysticism News Old Testament Podcast Poetry Politics Prayer Religion Sacrifice Satire Soteriology Theology Uncategorized Violence

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 June 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 June 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: David committed adultery with Bathsheba and arranged for her husband Uriah to be killed.

Select your answer to see how you score.

FALSE TRUE

Books by This Author Books by All Set Free

See All Titles »