Some Protestant preachers accuse their flocks of being more faithful to the Republican Party than to Christianity

benfell

Gilead

Evangelical Protestants


Fig. 1. “You shall have no other gods before me.”[1] Photograph posted to Twitter by Antonia Lee Donnelly, February 16, 2020,[2] fair use.

Y’all know I deeply distrust survey research now as response rates have plummeted to single digits.[3] But first, I don’t know how that applies to surveys conducted among specialized groups like, in this case, Protestant pastors;[4] to assume it’s the same would be the ecological fallacy. Which is to say that what is true at one level of analysis (for example, a group) is not necessarily true at another (for example, an individual). And second, that preachers are raising these issues[5] is interesting in itself, regardless of the rate at which they do so.

That said, I should hasten to add that fealty to political party was way down on the list of reasons pastors said they were burning out,[6] so while interesting, the headline is more to grab attention, and perhaps to advance a particular agenda, than it is to reflect actual sentiment.

Barna [Research Group] asked pastors to elaborate on how “current political divisions” have emerged as a source of stress, causing them to consider stepping away from full-time ministry. Majorities of both mainline (66%) and non-mainline Protestant pastors (53%) expressed concern that “Christians are more loyal to their political views than their faith.” . . .

Roughly equal shares of mainline (21%) and non-mainline Protestants (16%) [pastors] reported that “debates about racial justice issues has made it harder for me to lead.” Additionally, 29% of mainline pastors and 19% of non-mainline pastors maintained that “the church is too aligned with political conservatism.” Far smaller shares of both mainline (8%) and non-mainline pastors (4%) believed that “the church is too aligned with political liberalism.”[7]

Ryan Foley, “Many pastors say Christians are more loyal to their political party than to the faith: survey,” Christian Post, November 20, 2022, https://www.christianpost.com/news/barna-pastors-cite-political-division-as-major-source-of-stress.html

Gun nuttery


Fig. 1. “Rally Against Gun Control ‘Come and Take it’ flag at the Minnesota State Capitol,” photograph by Fibonacci Blue [pseud.], April 28, 2018, via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Jonathan D. Silver, “A deadly tide: Officials blame violence in Pennsylvania on relentless flow of guns,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 20, 2022, https://triblive.com/news/pennsylvania/a-deadly-tide-officials-blame-relentless-flow-of-guns-on-violence-in-pennsylvania/

Twitter


Fig. 1. “Elon Musk shared a video of his entrance on his Twitter account.” Photograph attributed to Elon Musk, October 26, 2022, via the New York Post,[8] fair use.

[Elon] Musk’s latest tweet depicts Twitter as a drug that [Donald] Trump will be sorely tempted to return to. The billionaire Twitter owner’s courtship of the network’s controversial figures — beside himself — threatens to further alienate advertisers, who have been wary about associating their brands with the service in recent times.[9]

Faiz Siddiqui and Jeremy B. Merrill, “Musk issues ultimatum to staff: Commit to ‘hardcore’ Twitter or take severance,” Washington Post, November 16, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/16/musk-twitter-email-ultimatum-termination/

Joseph Menn, Nitasha Tiku, and Faiz Siddiqui, “Hundreds said to have opted to leave Twitter over Musk ultimatum,” Washington Post, November 17, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/17/twitter-musk-easing-rto-order/

Johana Bhuiyan, “Elon Musk summons Twitter engineers amid mass resignations and puts up poll on Trump ban,” Guardian, November 18, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/18/elon-musk-twitter-engineers-workers-mass-resignation

James Clayton and Peter Hoskins, “Twitter locks staff out of offices until next week,” British Broadcasting Corporation, November 18, 2022, https://www.bbc.com/news/business-63672307

Annie Gaus, “Twitter Teeters as Offices Shut Down, Employees Flee,” San Francisco Standard, November 18, 2022, https://sfstandard.com/business/twitter-teeters-on-collapse-as-offices-shut-down/

Elon Musk, “How do you make a small fortune in social media? . . .” Twitter, November 18, 2022, https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1593415171149791232

Sky News, “World Cup risks knocking out Twitter after staff exodus, industry expert warns,” November 18, 2022, https://news.sky.com/story/twitter-reportedly-closes-offices-over-sabotage-fears-as-more-employees-resign-12749959

Faiz Siddiqui, Drew Harwell and Isaac Arnsdorf, “Elon Musk restores Trump’s Twitter account,” Washington Post, November 19, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/19/trump-musk-twitter/

Vlad Savov, “Musk Welcomes Ye Back to Twitter After Inviting Trump’s Return,” Bloomberg, November 20, 2022, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-21/musk-welcomes-ye-back-to-twitter-after-inviting-trump-s-return

Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh

Unauthorized violence


Fig. 1. “A woman reacts at a makeshift memorial outside the Tree of Life synagogue following Saturday’s shooting at the synagogue in Pittsburgh, Oct. 29, 2018,” photograph by Cathal McNaughton for Reuters, via ABC News, October 29, 2018,[10] fair use.

Jonathan D. Silver, “A deadly tide: Officials blame violence in Pennsylvania on relentless flow of guns,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 20, 2022, https://triblive.com/news/pennsylvania/a-deadly-tide-officials-blame-relentless-flow-of-guns-on-violence-in-pennsylvania/

  1. [1]Exod. 20:3.↩
  2. [2]Antonia Lee Donnelly, “Now I've seen everything,” Twitter, February 17, 2020, https://twitter.com/DonnellyAntonia/status/1229227422836559873↩
  3. [3]Courtney Kennedy and Hannah Hartig, “Response rates in telephone surveys have resumed their decline,” Pew Research Center, February 27, 2019, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/02/27/response-rates-in-telephone-surveys-have-resumed-their-decline/; Steven Shepard, “Report: Phone polls aren’t dead yet,” Politico, May 15, 2017, https://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/15/pollsters-phone-polls-238409↩
  4. [4]Ryan Foley, “Many pastors say Christians are more loyal to their political party than to the faith: survey,” Christian Post, November 20, 2022, https://www.christianpost.com/news/barna-pastors-cite-political-division-as-major-source-of-stress.html↩
  5. [5]Ryan Foley, “Many pastors say Christians are more loyal to their political party than to the faith: survey,” Christian Post, November 20, 2022, https://www.christianpost.com/news/barna-pastors-cite-political-division-as-major-source-of-stress.html↩
  6. [6]Ryan Foley, “Many pastors say Christians are more loyal to their political party than to the faith: survey,” Christian Post, November 20, 2022, https://www.christianpost.com/news/barna-pastors-cite-political-division-as-major-source-of-stress.html↩
  7. [7]Ryan Foley, “Many pastors say Christians are more loyal to their political party than to the faith: survey,” Christian Post, November 20, 2022, https://www.christianpost.com/news/barna-pastors-cite-political-division-as-major-source-of-stress.html↩
  8. [8]Thomas Barrabi, “Elon Musk barges into Twitter HQ as deal nears: ‘Let that sink in,’” New York Post, October 26, 2022, https://nypost.com/2022/10/26/elon-musk-barges-into-twitter-headquarters-as-deal-nears/↩
  9. [9]Vlad Savov, “Musk Welcomes Ye Back to Twitter After Inviting Trump’s Return,” Bloomberg, November 20, 2022, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-21/musk-welcomes-ye-back-to-twitter-after-inviting-trump-s-return↩
  10. [10]Bill Hutchinson et al., “Pittsburgh synagogue-shooting suspect wheeled into courtroom; Trump to visit city Tuesday,” ABC News, October 29, 2019, https://abcnews.go.com/US/pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting-suspect-discharged-hospital-set-make/story?id=58825389↩

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