2017 Has Been A Rough Year For Evangelicals
Self-described "evangelical" Christians helped elect President Trump in 2016. But this year, the label lost coherence. Some evangelicals reconsidered what it stood for, while others disowned the term.
As 2017 ends, evangelical Christians in the United States are suffering one of their periodic identity crises. Unlike other religious groups, the evangelical movement comprises a variety of perspectives and tendencies and is therefore especially prone to splintering and disagreement.
The latest challenge to evangelical unity arises from the extent to which a large majority of self-identified "evangelical" voters have aligned themselves with such politicians as Donald Trump and Judge Roy Moore, both of whom have a record of stoking cultural resentments rather than building community. To some evangelicals, a pattern of narcissism, lies, misogyny, and vilifying immigrants and refugees disgraces their religious tradition.
