'A religious rally': Trump's Republican National Convention fuses faith and politics
MILWAUKEE — It was only a few hours into the Republican National Convention when Sen. Tim Scott, R-South Carolina, evoked a spiritual battle with former President Donald Trump at its center.
“Our God still saves. He still delivers, and he still sets free. Because on Saturday, the devil came to Pennsylvania holding a rifle. But an American lion got back up on his feet, and he roared," Scott said, sparking gathered delegates to respond with a roar of their own. "Oh yea, he roared."
There was a wide array of religious symbolism on the floor of the Fiserv Forum the first night of the convention, where a panoply of screens beamed images of the American flag and Christian cross onto an eager crowd between speeches. But the through line firmly centered on Trump, whose emergence from Saturday's assassination attempt with a minor injury has been framed in Milwaukee as a miraculous, divine intervention.
Religion and politics have long been intertwined in America, regardless of political ideology. This year's Republican National Convention is certainly not the first to feature speakers that use Scripture and faith to bolster their chosen candidate. Some of the same Biblical verses have been used by both major political parties throughout the years to advertise their nominee.
In the Republican Party of 2024, however, Trump has emerged as an unlikely spiritual figurehead as a political leader, experts said, fusing faith and politics at a level never seen before.
Arizona State University religious studies professor Terry Shoemaker said feelings of fear in the wake of the Pennsylvania shooting, relief at Trump’s recovery and excitement for his reelection chances could be a perfect storm for "a more profound kind of civil religious experience" in Milwaukee this week.
Indeed, signs of it were already present.
Inside the RNC, civil leadership and Christianity merged on top of one merchandise table, where images of Trump sat atop stacks of Bibles for sale to the GOP party faithful next to cutting boards shaped in Trump's likeness.
Sellers framed one photo of Trump pumping his fist, blood streaming down his face as he emerged from under his Secret Service detail moments after the Pennsylvania assassination attempt. For $75, RNC attendees could purchase the "God Bless the USA" Bible, officially endorsed by Trump, which includes the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence, Pledge of Allegiance, and the lyrics to the chorus to Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless The USA.”
Trump as a civil religion
The Republican National Convention could be a hotbed for civil religion, a term popularized in the 1960s that refers to a “devotion and dedication to (one’s) nation-state that mirrors a kind of traditional religious devotion,” Shoemaker said.
Republican National Committee co-chair Michael Whatley asked attendees to observe a moment of silence and prayer for those affected by the July 13 shooting, there was a performance of Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA,” and an invocation by Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America Archbishop Elpidophoros.
“Grant unto the delegates the powerful recognition of purpose, to bear witness to divine providence which has shielded this great land through the centuries and drives us to a more perfect union with one another, ever building on the labors of those pioneers of patriotism who went before us,” Elpidophoros said at one point during his nearly two-minute long prayer.
Catholic Archbishop of Milwaukee, the Most Rev. Jerome Listecki, also referenced the Declaration of Independence in his prayer.
Shoemaker described the invocations as a “civil religious blessing.”
“This is taking away from traditional Judeo-Christian ideas and linking them directly with the special foundation of the United States with its founders,” Shoemaker said.
Though the number of Americans who are religiously unaffiliated has increased over time – sitting at 26% in 2023, according to the Public Religion Research Institute – Americans’ strong belief in God endures.
That’s why Shoemaker said it wasn’t surprising to see people flock to a prayer vigil in Milwaukee the day after the assassination attempt. Similar gatherings were organized after events such as the 9/11 terror attacks and a 2020 helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant and nine others, he said.
"This is a religious rally, and I’m not even sure I’d call it a civil religion. Civil religion has always been there in generic appeals to God," said John Fea, a religious historian from Messiah University who said the religious rhetoric surrounding Trump seems unique.
"There’s something different here."
"Now what we’re beginning to see is Christian nationalism, if you want to call it that, a fusion of politics and theological Christianity."
Does RNC religious rhetoric veer into Christian nationalism?
"There is a spiritual battle underway," right wing commentator Tucker Carlson told a Milwaukee crowd on Monday afternoon.
Carlson was speaking at a "policy fest" held by The Heritage Foundation, one of the country's preeminent conservative think tanks. Heritage's profile has risen in recent weeks due to its Project 2025, a sweeping, 900-page playbook intended for the next conservative administration to follow to implement right-wing social and political priorities.
Trump has sought to distance himself from the plan, which would expand presidential powers and enshrine some conservative social ideals into law, though numerous people who worked in Trump's administration were involved in drafting the Heritage proposal.
For four decades, researcher Frederick Clarkson has tracked a rise in the "theocratic vision for American government," or Christian nationalism.
“The Christian nationalists, as we've come to understand them, believe … an idea that God and the Founding Fathers intended America to be a Christian nation, but somewhere that vision got derailed along the way and somehow has to be restored,” said Clarkson, a senior research analyst at Political Research Associates, a think thank studying anti-democratic and anti-human rights political and social groups.
The movement for years had sat on the political sidelines, but it has gained traction, especially within conservative Catholic and evangelical circles. Many in the movement have become prominent influencers in the Republican Party and even advising Trump directly.
Ed Stetzer, author and dean of the Talbot School of Theology at Biola University, in La Mirada, California, said that the term “Christian nationalism” has become frequently misused.
“People are motivated by their faith, and they're often mobilized by their faith. So, I don't think we would be surprised to see religious people in the political sphere,” Stetzer said. “Ultimately, though, we do live in a pluralistic society, and we can, should and must respect the religious liberty of people of different faiths and no faith.”
Still, Stetzer said, there are “real dangers” to think about in religion and politics, but an overreaction to any mention of God and country in the same sentence doesn’t do anyone any favors.
Praying for God to bless America wouldn’t be an example of Christian nationalism, but saying that America is “God’s special nation” would be, to Stetzer, “an inappropriate use of Christianity.”
Faith outreach isn't being made just to Christians
Though evangelical Christian themes undergird much of the RNC's programming this week, the Milwaukee stage also featured speakers from other faith traditions.
Closing out Monday night's program, Harmeet Dhillon, a prominent Republican lawyer and close Trump ally, recited the Ardas, a Sikh prayer, in front of Trump and other convention attendees.
“We thank you, dear God, for protecting his life," Ardas said.
On Tuesday, Republican Jewish Federation CEO Matthew Brooks spoke from the RNC stage, calling the 2024 election a "critical moment for the American Jewish community and for Israel."
"This is our chance to continue the pro-Israel legacy of the most pro-Israel president in history, Donald J. Trump," Brooks said.
VP pick 'strategic' move for Christian vote
That politics and religion, namely conservative Christianity, have fused so completely under the Republican leadership of Trump, a two-time divorcee beset by moral scandals who did not have a history of publicly talking about his church or his faith, is somewhat unusual in the American political tradition. Trump was raised Presbyterian and attended occasional Episcopal services during his first presidential term. In 2020 he announced he now identifies as non-denominational Christian.
"He rarely uses the kind of language many of his Christian supporters use — a personal relationship with God, seeking God’s voice or following his will, being moved by the Holy Spirit,” Emily Crews, the executive director of the Marty Center at the University of Chicago Divinity School, said.
Still, Trump's surrogates and supporters often invoke that language for him. On Tuesday, Lara Trump compared her father-in-law to "the righteous" Proverbs 28 states are "as bold as a lion."
"Two days ago, evil came for the man we admire and love so much," U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, said at a Monday night speech. "I thank God that His hand was on President Trump.”
On Tuesday, former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Dr. Ben Carson referenced the book of Romans, telling delegates, "When God is with us, nobody can stand against us."
"With this assurance from the Almighty, even the face of evil itself cannot shake our resolve," Carson said. "We will keep fighting, we will keep praying, and by the grace of God we will save our country and reelect President Trump."
And Fea said Trump has fulfilled decades-long goals of the Religious Right that even Ronald Reagan and other GOP presidents didn't fully realize, particularly on social issues such as abortion.
"Donald Trump is advancing the idea that America is a Christian nation they have been praying for since the 1970s. They see Donald Trump as the result of decades of praying and lobbying and fighting and trying to make America Christian, or reclaim a Christian consensus," Fea said. "Within the evangelical worldview, God uses flawed people to accomplish God’s ends. I think the assassination attempt only strengthened their idea that clearly the hand of God is on this man."
Now Trump has tapped his next surrogate in JD Vance, which Crews called a "wise strategic move" given the political conservative hasn't embroiled himself in scandals or criminal trials.
“Christians who are looking to vote for someone who regularly invokes his religious identity, but who has a more polite veneer and more pragmatic perspective on politics than Trump, could find Vance really compelling,” she said.
Vance is also in line with other Christian conservative values. He’s “openly adoring of his wife and children while maintaining a ‘family values’ perspective," Crews said.
“And his background in Appalachia and small-town Ohio make him appealing to Americans who live in rural states or those who buy into Trump’s critiques of political ‘elites,’” she said. “In short, Vance covers a lot of ground for Trump, especially in contested states like Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.”
Vance is a convert to Catholicism who was baptized into the faith in August 2019, as reported by The American Conservative. In an exclusive interview with the outlet that month, Vance said he was raised a Christian but “never had a super-strong attachment to any denomination, and was never baptized.”
Vance, once sharply skeptical of Trump, is working this week to distance himself of past critical comments.
In a 2016 column he penned for USA TODAY, he differentiated the religiosity of Trump’s voters and those of Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, saying the former candidate’s voters had largely “abandoned the faith of their forefathers and myriad social benefits that come with it.”
Progressive faith leaders push back
Outside the RNC's security perimeter, local progressive faith leaders have pushed back on what they characterized as rhetoric of white, Christian nationalism arising from conservative circles.
The Milwaukee Inner-City Congregations Allied for Hope, an interfaith social activism group, drew hundreds on Sunday at an event to criticize the rise of Christian nationalism.
On Monday, the Rev. Jennifer Nordstrom stood with protesters under the searing midday sun as hundreds marched for progressive causes. Nordstrom ministers the First Unitarian Society of Milwaukee, though she said she was at the protest in a personal capacity.
Nordstrom said she shares a "deep concern about the fusion of white Christian nationalism and politics" with members of her congregations.
"Separation of church and state is fundamental to who we are as a country in order for everyone to be free," Nordstrom said. "Those two things have to be separate. We believe deeply in the practice of freedom, free religion. Everybody gets to practice their faith, everybody is welcome, no matter what religion."
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: At 2024 RNC, Trumpism and religion strike a chord
