In August 1982, Ronald Reagan's father-in-law was dying. Nancy Reagan's beloved father, Loyal Davis, was an atheist – a troubling fact for the fortieth president. So Reagan wrote a personal, handwritten note by which he recounted how the prayers of colleagues and friends had healed him of a painful stomach ulcer.
Offering hope for what lay beyond, Reagan pleaded with the older man: “We were promised that that is just an element of life and that a greater life, a greater glory awaits us… and all that’s required, is that you simply consider and tell God. “You put yourself into his hands.”
For a long time, Some of Reagan's critics have questioned his religiosityHe noted that he rarely went to church. But writing to his father-in-law reveals a deep and heartfelt faith. This belief also had a significant influence on his political stances and policies, as I discuss in my book: “Achieving the American Dream: How the Media Made Reagan's Evangelical Vision Mainstream.”
In recent years, Donald Trump, one other former president and current Republican presidential candidate, has done this often talked about his faithposed for photo ops with right-wing preachers and praised his “favorite book” – the Bible.
The most up-to-date such demonstration was a video by which Trump promoted sales an expensive version of the Bible for $59.99. “Let’s get America praying again,” he urged viewers. “As we begin Good Friday and Easter, I encourage you to pick up a copy of the God Bless the USA Bible.”
While Reagan and Trump—two of essentially the most media-savvy Republican presidents—used religion to advance their political visions, their messages and missions differ significantly.
Why religion plays a task in politics
In my book, I explain that American politics relies on a spiritual vision that connects residents with civic values. The most generally held vision is that God blessed America and commissioned its residents to spread freedom and democracy. It is an concept that has underpinned Americans' patriotism inspired American domestic and foreign policy for a long time.
Reagan illustrated his belief in a God-blessed America by describing the United States as “a shining city on a hill.”Reagan has reversed the unique meaning a biblical sentence from a Puritan sermon from the seventeenth century. In Matthew 5:14, Jesus warns that the world will judge whether or not his disciples, a symbolic city on a hill, adhere to their ideals. By adding “shining,” Reagan sanctified American exceptionalism and the United States’ role as a worldwide model of freedom.
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Once elected, Reagan practically wanted Ways to use his faith in the liberty that he, like many evangelicals, believed got here from God. By cutting taxes, eliminating industry regulations, and privatizing government functions, he hoped to offer individuals more economic and political freedom.
Reagan's love of freedom also fueled his hostility toward the Soviet Union. He described his communist government as “an evil empire“since it denied its residents freedom. Reagan framed geopolitics as a cosmic battle between good and evil and made defeating communism a spiritual calling.
I argue that Reagan's evangelical vision was disseminated through the media that covered his interviews and public statements. This vision was not all the time obvious, but Americans liked his policies even in the event that they missed their religious dimension. In other words, when Reagan proposed letting the free market run the economy, limiting federal power, and advocating for democracy around the globe, you didn't should be an evangelical to agree.
A brand new religious vision
When Trump ran for president in 2016, he saw the chance for a brand new kind of spiritual politics. But unlike Reagan's vision of spreading freedom and democracy at home and abroad, Trump's vision stays closer to home.
I’d argue that Trump's religious vision is rooted in white Christian nationalism, the religion of the white Christians who founded America hoped to spread Protestant beliefs and ideals. According to white Christian nationalists, the Founders also desired to limit the influence of non-Christian immigrants and enslaved Africans.
Likewise, Trump's rhetoric spread by the media portrays “real” Americans as white Christians. Many of them are afraid of secularists and non secular, racial and ethnic minorities want to switchif not eliminate, then.
By most standards Trump is personally not religious, despite the fact that the fans compete this claim. But he has convinced conservative Americans, particularly white evangelicals, that he’s “God’s instrument.” Earth.”
When confronted about his financial misconduct, sex crimes and outrageous lies, that is what supporters say God works by flawed men. And evidence of that work—the U.S. Supreme Court's repeal of abortion rights, the development of the border wall, and the relocation of the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem—has earned him their support.
Trump's mainstreaming of white Christian nationalism is obvious in his latest plan. The cover of the God Bless the USA Bible features an American flag. The scriptures include the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the handwritten lyrics to singer Lee Greenwood's “God Bless the USA.” A portion of sales will profit Trump's organization.
Christianity and nationalism go hand in hand
Trump rejects America's role as a “shining city on a hill” and its mission to spread freedom and democracy. His goal is to revive what he calls “the vision of the Founding Fathers.” It's a vision shared by Americans who consider the United States did it founded as a Christian nation, despite evidence on the contrary.
Religion generally is a force for good or bad. Reagan believed that his religious vision would promote individual freedom and spread democracy worldwide. Americans may agree or disagree about whether he succeeded and at what cost.
But Trump's religious vision – one which hawks Bibles, denigrates democracy And mocks governance – is one Reagan wouldn't recognize.
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