The Immoral Majority Quotes

“If Hillary Clinton were to win the election, we’d be cast into a thousand years of darkness, according to these same folks who now swore that there was no reason for anxiety with President Trump. “Faith” among the faithful seemed to exist only insofar as it comported with their expectations. Listening to many who expressed this fear of a Clinton presidency, you would be led to believe that God was completely powerless unless we voted the “right” way. That is the nature of partisanship. Partisanship is the lifeblood of politics. And politics has swallowed at least the evangelical movement whole.”
― Ben Howe, The Immoral Majority: Why Evangelicals Chose Political Power Over Christian Values

“Pastor Max Lucado of San Antonio, Texas, said in an editorial for the Washington Post in February 2016 that he was “chagrined” by Trump’s antics. He ridiculed a war hero. He made a mockery of a reporter’s menstrual cycle. He made fun of a disabled reporter. He referred to a former first lady, Barbara Bush, as “mommy” and belittled Jeb Bush for bringing her on the campaign trail. He routinely calls people “stupid” and “dummy.” One writer catalogued 64 occasions that he called someone “loser.” These were not off-line, backstage, overheard, not-to-be-repeated comments. They were publicly and intentionally tweeted, recorded and presented.18 Lucado went on to question how Christians could support a man doing these things as a candidate for president, much less as someone who repeatedly attempted to capture evangelical audiences by portraying himself as similarly committed to Christian values. He continued, “If a public personality calls on Christ one day and calls someone a ‘bimbo’ the next, is something not awry? And to do so, not once, but repeatedly, unrepentantly and unapologetically? We stand against bullying in schools. Shouldn’t we do the same in presidential politics?” Rolling Stone reported on several evangelical leaders pushing against a Trump nomination, including North Carolina radio host and evangelical Dr. Michael Brown, who wrote an open letter to Jerry Falwell Jr., blasting his endorsement of Donald Trump. Brown wrote, “As an evangelical follower of Jesus, the contrast is between putting nationalism first or the kingdom of God first. From my vantage point, you and other evangelicals seem to have put nationalism first, and that is what deeply concerns me.”19 John Stemberger, president and general counsel for Florida Family Action, lamented to CNN, “The really puzzling thing is that Donald Trump defies every stereotype of a candidate you would typically expect Christians to vote for.” He wondered, “Should evangelical Christians choose to elect a man I believe would be the most immoral and ungodly person ever to be president of the United States?”20 A”
― Ben Howe, The Immoral Majority: Why Evangelicals Chose Political Power Over Christian Values

“Proverbs 14:12–15 drives this home: 12 There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death. 13 Even in laughter the heart may ache, and rejoicing may end in grief. 14 The faithless will be fully repaid for their ways, and the good rewarded for theirs. 15 The simple believe anything, but the prudent give thought to their steps.”
― Ben Howe, The Immoral Majority: Why Evangelicals Chose Political Power Over Christian Values

“On the day of the event, [Michael] Farris had an op-ed in the Christian Post in which he referenced his participation long ago at the very first meeting of Falwell Sr.’s Moral Majority back in 1980. He made a remarkable point:

"The premise of the meeting in 1980 was that only candidates that reflected a biblical worldview and good character would gain our support. Today, a candidate whose worldview is greed and whose god is his appetites (Philippians 3) is being tacitly endorsed by this throng. They are saying we are Republicans no matter what the candidate believes and no matter how vile and unrepentant his character.”
― Ben Howe, The Immoral Majority: Why Evangelicals Chose Political Power Over Christian Values

“Coming around to the idea that many Christians weren’t self-aware sinners who were striving to be Christ-like was something that I obviously took a long time to acknowledge. Recognizing that evangelicals had gone a step further, into the realm of self-delusion and moral superiority, took even longer.”
― Ben Howe, The Immoral Majority: Why Evangelicals Chose Political Power Over Christian Values

“Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord” (Romans 12:19) is one of those verses that even people who have never picked up a Bible recognize. It’s pretty indisputable that seeking vengeance is sinful, so no matter how natural and understandable it is to want vengeance, surely Christians could agree it’s not the right thing to do. Right?

Well, that’s where the interesting dynamics of a Trump-devoted conservative evangelical movement take things to the next level. In this era, sins are still sins, but they must be weighed against what are perceived to be greater concerns. In other words, almost anything these days that you would expect Christians to condemn or oppose is not condemned or opposed because, as they see it, there is a greater moral consideration that takes precedence.”
― Ben Howe, The Immoral Majority: Why Evangelicals Chose Political Power Over Christian Values

“Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord” (Romans 12:19) is one of those verses that even
people who have never picked up a Bible recognize. It’s pretty indisputable that seeking vengeance
is sinful, so no matter how natural and understandable it is to want vengeance, surely Christians
could agree it’s not the right thing to do. Right?

Well, that’s where the interesting dynamics of a Trump-devoted conservative evangelical movement
take things to the next level. In this era, sins are still sins, but they must be weighed against what are perceived to be greater concerns. In other words, almost anything these days that you would expect Christians to condemn or oppose is not condemned or opposed because, as they see it, there is a greater moral consideration that takes precedence.”
― Ben Howe, The Immoral Majority: Why Evangelicals Chose Political Power Over Christian Values

“But before you assume that he is saying something akin to “Yes, please legislate Christian values!,” consider these quotes by the same man. Nothing is more dreaded than the National Government meddling with Religion. —John Adams in a letter to Benjamin Rush in 1812 Although the detail of the formation of the American governments is at present little known or regarded either in Europe or in America, it may hereafter become an object of curiosity. It will never be pretended that any persons employed in that service had interviews with the gods, or were in any degree under the influence of Heaven, more than those at work upon ships or houses, or laboring in merchandise or agriculture; it will forever be acknowledged that these governments were contrived merely by the use of reason and the senses. —John Adams, writing in his three-volume polemic titled A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America”
― Ben Howe, The Immoral Majority: Why Evangelicals Chose Political Power Over Christian Values

“In 1798, in an address to the Massachusetts militia, President John Adams said, “We have no government armed in power capable of contending in human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other.”
― Ben Howe, The Immoral Majority: Why Evangelicals Chose Political Power Over Christian Values

“Broken Compass I will not pretend that these leaders I’ve referenced were motivated by their desire for biblical adherence. Perhaps there was a time when that case could have been made, but with the exception of Jerry Falwell Sr., who died long before the Trump evangelical was born, all of these men have utterly reversed their positions in favor of Donald Trump. After the Access Hollywood tape of Donald Trump leaked in October 2016, Ralph Reed, who was quoted in this chapter saying “character matters” in his condemnation of Bill Clinton, had a far more pragmatic view of the situation. In an email to the Washington Post, Reed referred to the contents of the recording as “disappointing” but ultimately dismissed the idea the recording should impact his endorsement of Trump, saying, “People of faith are voting on issues like who will protect unborn life, defend religious freedom, grow the economy, appoint conservative judges and oppose the Iran nuclear deal.” Translation: Character doesn’t matter now because voters don’t care.”
― Ben Howe, The Immoral Majority: Why Evangelicals Chose Political Power Over Christian Values

“And perhaps most important, the evangelicals went to great lengths to offer warnings that the ends cannot justify the means, and that to believe they can is to head down a perilous path that would lead to unintended bad consequences. Thomas More, in Robert Bolt’s play A Man for All Seasons, sums up their position well: “When statesmen forsake their own private conscience for the sake of their public duties, they lead their country by a short route to chaos.”
― Ben Howe, The Immoral Majority: Why Evangelicals Chose Political Power Over Christian Values

“As George Washington said in his presidential farewell address, “Of all the disposition and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and morality are indispensable supports . . . And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion . . . reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”9”
― Ben Howe, The Immoral Majority: Why Evangelicals Chose Political Power Over Christian Values

“Of the attacks that claimed nearly three thousand innocent American lives, Falwell said, “What we saw on Tuesday, as terrible as it is, could be minuscule if, in fact, God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us probably what we deserve.”27 After Robertson concurred with the sentiment, Falwell went on to add, “I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America, I point the finger in their face and say, ‘You helped this happen.”
― Ben Howe, The Immoral Majority: Why Evangelicals Chose Political Power Over Christian Values

“The Bible goes to great lengths to make clear that while a Christian is to submit to earthly authority, it is obedience to God that is the motivation, not devotion to those leaders. And if those authorities require you to defy God’s ultimate authority, you are to consistently place your faith and allegiance in Him, even in defiance of that government. This is illustrated”
― Ben Howe, The Immoral Majority: Why Evangelicals Chose Political Power Over Christian Values

“all of these men have utterly reversed their positions in favor of Donald Trump.”
― Ben Howe, The Immoral Majority: Why Evangelicals Chose Political Power Over Christian Values