There's a lot I agree with in this thread responding to the photo of Christian music stars with Trump at the WH.
But having covered religion & politics for decades now, my head reels at the idea that "Christians feel like they belong for the first time in a long time" /1
But having covered religion & politics for decades now, my head reels at the idea that "Christians feel like they belong for the first time in a long time" /1
Even setting aside (and these are big caveats) the definition of "Christian" as white, conservative, and evangelical; setting aside Amy Grant, aka my QUEEN of Christian music, singing in Obama's White House--DOES ANYONE REMEMBER THE GEORGE W. BUSH PRESIDENCY? /2
Michael W. Smith sang at the 2004 Republican National Convention, for goodness sake. The entire appeal of Bush's signature domestic agenda--the faith-based initiative--was that the federal government was finally going to support religious (but mostly Christian) Americans. /3
Every popular Christian figure of the time that you could name visited, or was invited to, the White House. Bush might not have flattered them as crassly as "The evangelicals are the best people ever" but he wasn't subtle. /4
Obviously, the same tribalism that has been analyzed ad nauseam wrt other corners of Trump's base is at play here.
But this is also about being held up as *more* special than everyone else, and with a kind of visibility that Jesus says we should not crave. /5
But this is also about being held up as *more* special than everyone else, and with a kind of visibility that Jesus says we should not crave. /5
Indulge me, please, as I walk us through a short history of religious leaders who were welcomed into Democratic circles. They may be unfamiliar examples because they weren't leveraged as photo ops. /6
We'll start with an event I wrote about in THE PARTY FAITHFUL: a prayer breakfast Bill Clinton asked his staff to organize during his first summer in the WH. His aides, not knowing any better, drew up a guest list of black pastors, Jewish leaders, and some liberal Protestants. /7
Clinton didn't see the list of attendees until the morning of. And when he did, he completely lost it. I'll talk about what that led to in a moment. /8
But first, let's take a look at Clinton's remarks. Some poor speechwriter had drafted a few feel-good lines about how religious communities have enriched society, blah, blah, blah.
Clinton tossed it out and instead riffed off Stephen Carter's THE CULTURE OF DISBELIEF. /9
Clinton tossed it out and instead riffed off Stephen Carter's THE CULTURE OF DISBELIEF. /9
Clinton referred to his job as a "ministry," and mused that "Sometimes, I think the environment in which we operate is entirely too secular." Freedom of religion, he insisted, "doesn't mean that those of us who have faith should not frankly admit that we are animated by it." /10
Six months before this WH breakfast, Clinton met w/10 evangelical leaders--including Max Lucado & fmr SBC prez Adrian Rogers--in Little Rock to make sure they knew he still wanted to hear from them when he moved into the WH. /11
After that first faith breakfast, Clinton got personally involved in welcoming evangelicals to his WH. In Sept. '93, he met with a group of Southern Baptist heavyweights. Al Gore, also Southern Baptist, joined. It was tense. They argued about abortion. BUT THEY WERE WELCOME. /12
A few weeks later, Clinton met with a dozen more moderate evangelicals. Richard Mouw, David Neff, Philip Yancey, Mark Noll, Jack Hayford.
Again, after Thanksgiving '93, he brought in religious leaders including Ed Dobson, Jerry Falwell's fmr Moral Majority deputy. /13
Again, after Thanksgiving '93, he brought in religious leaders including Ed Dobson, Jerry Falwell's fmr Moral Majority deputy. /13
By the end of Clinton's first year in office, his WH had a religious liaison division, a first for a Democratic administration. And Clinton himself kept meeting with leaders, including sit-downs with Catholic bishops that had their tense moments as well. /14
When Bill and Hillary visited China in 1998, they specifically pressured the Chinese over religious freedom concerns and brought along the then-head of the National Association of Evangelicals to help make their case. /14
I could go on with more examples. But what I think is more important is to note not only that Clinton (and Obama after him) regularly brought in religious leaders from across the theological and ideological spectra, but that they challenged him--and he kept talking to them. /15
Clinton had plenty of tense conversations about abortion with some religious figures. His preferred way to set up a commission on religious freedom lost out to the conservative version. Progressive leaders like Jim Wallis gave him hell over welfare reform. /16
AND THESE CLOWNS WHO ARE TRIPPING OVER THEMSELVES TO LITERALLY TOUCH THE HEM OF TRUMP'S GARMENT ARE TOO TONGUE-TIED TO SAY, "HEY, DIDJA KNOW CHILDREN ARE DYING IN ICE DETENTION? THAT'S NOT COOL."
::whew:: /17
::whew:: /17
The reason you likely didn't know these Clinton examples is bc he didn't call in the press corps to take photos & publicize the access that top evangelicals enjoyed.
GWB mostly didn't either. Nor did Obama. (Did you know he met w/Franklin Graham during the '08 campaign?) /18
GWB mostly didn't either. Nor did Obama. (Did you know he met w/Franklin Graham during the '08 campaign?) /18
There's a long, honorable tradition of preaching truth to power. That's not what is happening in the Trump WH. It is transactional. He uses their images and implicit endorsement, they utter not a word of challenge or criticism, and everybody gets a nice, shiny photo. /19
To my knowledge, only one religious leader has used an invitation to the Trump WH to preach truth to power. And that's probably only because someone forgot to update the guest lists. Much respect for @RevRobSchenck1 /20
