Few presidents were as divisive in the American society as Donald J. Trump. Numerous controversies surrounding his actions and statements have polarized Americans. Even the Republican Party, which supported him, also faced substantial division of opinion regarding Trump. Yet, one surprising fact remains: after Trumpâs term, the number of evangelicals in the US has increased despite the common belief that there is a general tendency of Americans becoming more atheistic (Burge, 2021). Understanding how modern American Christian worldview derives from process philosophy is essential in ascertaining why the Republican Party is currently associated with evangelicalism.
The entire conception of process philosophy is centered around change. Each entity in the universe exists in relation to another one, thus affecting it, being affected by it, and changing as a result (Martin, 2006). Subsequently, any society exists in relation to the surrounding circumstances that shape it as a result. This implies that the Republican Party originated as a response of American society to particular challenges. However, it continues to exist and change because the environment influencing it changes as well. As such, the unexpected increase in the number of Republican evangelicals after Trumpâs term should follow a certain social development that forced many Americans to change religious affiliation.
The presumed aspect of personal philosophy that that has impacted American society is the reaction toward social changes. One of the reasons why Trump won the 2016 election lies in his appeal to conservative ideas. From using Reaganâs era slogan âMake America Great Againâ to promising to take a more hardline approach with competing powers such as Iran and China, Trumpâs aggressive rhetoric was met with sympathy from many American voters who believed that the USâ position in the world was weakening (Gorski, 2019). The same fear also caused the Republican Party to slightly change its party platform, which was evident when more Republicans started to âplay upon rising Islamophobia by framing Muslims as cultural enemiesâ (Whitehead et al., 2018, p. 150). Essentially, Trump applied process philosophy in that he used the US foreign relations to influence the decisions of voters.
However persuasive Trump was he could not have achieved victory had the society not been apprehensive of external threats. This is where Christian worldview was reinforced with ideas of nationalism and fears of immigrants. Trump knew that a large proportion of Americans believed that America was âmuddied by non-European immigrants, corrupted by ââsecular humanists,ââ and infiltrated by ââradical Islamâ (Gorski, 2019, p. 348). Furthermore, Trump was extremely subtle in showing his acceptance of Christianity, which could be seen in images of him sharing a prayer (Burge, 2021). Whether Trump was really religious or merely using Christianity to win support is irrelevant, as the fact remains: many Americans did become evangelicals because they believed in Trumpâs conservative appeal. The Republican Party attracted more white evangelicals and became more religiously unified.
Altogether, it should be evident that the interconnectedness of process philosophy explains how Trump used religion to win public support and inadvertently increase the number of evangelicals in the US. Process philosophy presupposes that everything changes in relation to each other. As fears of immigrants and Islamophobia were on the rise, more Americans supported Trump who used Christianity to win support. As a result, by the end of Trumpâs term the number of evangelicals has increased, which has also significantly affected the Republican Party.
References
Burge, R. (2021). Why âEvangelicalâ is becoming another word for âRepublicanâ. The New York Times.
Gorski, P. (2019). Why evangelicals voted for Trump: A critical cultural sociology. American Journal of Cultural Psychology, 5(3), 338-354.
Martin, G. R. (2006). Prevailing worldviews of Western society since 1500. Triangle Publishing.
Whitehead, A. L., Perry, S. L., & Baker, J. O. (2018). Make America Christian again: Christian nationalism and voting for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. Sociology of Religion, 79(2), 147-171.