Capitol and Cathedral
On June 10, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump addressed a Faith and Freedom Coalition conference in Washington.
The coalition’s principal, Ralph Reed, has decades of experience in Christian-right political activism. He is a controversial figure in conservative Christian circles. I have heard some evangelical Republicans suggest that his public theology is not sufficiently Christ-centered or robust — that he promotes a vague, bland form of revivalistic “God-and-country” civil religion.
I don’t know the man or his heart. I really don’t have an opinion on whether his conception of evangelical political engagement differs in degree or in kind from more thoughtful, less blatantly partisan Christian conservatives.
Others believe some of Reed’s financial gains have been ill-gotten, and/or that he has traded too much on his influence (such as it is) for financial success. Aside from the well-publicized activities and associations, I don’t know that Reed is unduly rich.
In any case, no one in the evangelical political class to whom I have spoken seems at all surprised at Reed’s support for Donald Trump.
The issue of Trump’s success with religious voters remains an interesting and, to many, mystifying, storyline in a very unusual GOP nominating contest. I did not cover the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority 2016 conference because I do not think it matters much.
There are a few big conservative Christian conferences in Washington each year. My sense is that they are all over-reported-on and not nearly as consequential as their promoters (and many in the media) suppose.
Trump’s speech attacked Hillary Clinton’s policies and personal ethics. He reminded conservatives what kind of judges Clinton would appoint. He tried to reassure socially conservative activists and voters that they could count on him to reflect their views about marriage, abortion, and religious freedom.
But I found the whole thing unremarkable and overblown.
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