Dem
47
GOP
53
Yesterday was the annual National Prayer Breakfast. Donald Trump, as readers will know, pretends to be a Christian for the benefit of his base. We don't believe he's the first president to execute this particular masquerade, though his pretension is the least believable, given the life he leads, and has led. As you might imagine, given the nature of the event, not to mention that Trump is in the middle of a frenzied period of "doing stuff," he took the opportunity to announce yet another initiative of dubious legality and/or questionable efficacy.
Via executive order (naturally), Trump told the audience that he will create a task force to "eradicate anti-Christian bias." He decreed: "While I'm in the White House, we will protect Christians in our schools, in our military, in our government, in our workplaces, hospitals and in our public squares. And we will bring our country back together as one nation under God."
Let us imagine, for a moment, that the new task force was dedicated to combating Islamophobia and/or antisemitism. If that was the case, and if the plan was substantive as opposed to performative, we might well be on board. The reason is that we are well aware of concerning expressions of both Islamophobia and antisemitism in American society (some of them from Trump himself, or else members of his administration). We are not aware of such expressions of anti-Christian sentiment. This is not surprising, since Christians have vastly more power in American society than members of any other religious group.
Is it possible that we have our blinders on, as godless pinko commie academics? Perhaps. However, that brings us to another relevant point. Every time a Fox or a Breitbart starts squawking about anti-Christian stuff, it invariably seems to be nonsense, like whining about whether or not you can say "Merry Christmas," or complaining about this year's winter cup designs at Starbucks, or talking about how schools really should be allowed to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms, First Amendment be damned. We operate under the assumption that if there were real, legitimate expressions of anti-Christian bias in American society, it would not be necessary to invent things to carp about.
And this, in turn, is why we describe the new "task force" (never a promising start) as being of dubious legality and/or questionable efficacy. It appears rather obvious to us that either the administration is going to pursue objectives that will not hold up in court, or the whole thing is just an empty gesture for the benefit of the Prayer Breakfast audience. We would guess it's mostly or entirely the latter, but it could be both.
On a very related point, the National Prayer Breakfast—which was first held in 1953—is supposed to be an occasion where partisan differences are left at the door, and the unity of the American people is put front and center. But Trump doesn't do "unity." So, as part of his announcement of the anti-Christian-bias task force, he went on an extended harangue about the "Godless" Democrats:
After years of decline, Americans are reasserting our true identity as a people ordained by God to be the freest and most exceptional nation ever to exist on the face of the earth.
But we weren't that for four years. I don't believe we were. And we're getting there very soon.
Very quickly, I'll be able to say it and we'll be able to say it again. As I said in my inaugural address two weeks ago. A light is now shining over the world, the entire world.
And I'm hearing it from other leaders, I'm hearing it from leaders that have traditionally not been on our side, that there's so much more there's such a good feeling in the air, so different than it was just a short time ago.
Because here in America we are once again a nation that believes in ourselves. We believe in our destiny and trust in the providence of almighty God.
And I can tell you the opposite side, the opposing side. And they oppose religion. They oppose God.
Such remarks would be in poor taste if they were coming from an actual believer. Despite religious fundamentalists' claims to the contrary, a person whose relationship with God (or with the gods, or with the universe, or with "ultimate reality," to use the scholars' term) is different from yours is not inherently "Godless." The fact that these remarks are coming from someone who doesn't give a damn about God, the Bible, church or Christianity adds an additional, very thick, layer of hypocrisy.
The great irony here is that pushing Christianity on people does not create more Christians, it creates fewer, by driving people away. On the whole, (some) nonbelievers are open to a moderate version of [Religion X] or [Religion Y]. They are not open to an extreme version, and the extreme version of Christianity is what Trump's base wants him to promote (impose?). About 27.7% of Americans identify as members of one of the religious groups that the President is pandering to. It will be interesting to see if that percentage is higher or lower than Trump's approval rating on the day he leaves office in 2029. (Z)