Opinion | Today’s Opinions: The only thing ‘evangelical’ means now is Trump – The Washington Post
Plus: The IVF fight. The court bungles bump stocks. Biden’s bad polls.
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In today’s edition:
One seemingly illogical element of the United States’ political polarization over the past decade has been evangelical Christians’ support of Donald Trump — a rock-solid devotion that goes much deeper than a mere you-scratch-my-back-and-I-scratch-yours.
As Shadi Hamid wonders: “How can people who prize moral rectitude and personal witness to Jesus so faithfully support the most secular president in American history, someone who seems by his behavior at best indifferent to Christianity?”
The flabbergasting answer Shadi uncovers is that “evangelical” doesn’t even mean any of that anymore!
To be clear, Shadi is not passing judgment that these voters’ support of Trump means they forsake their morality bona fides. He is saying that an increasing number of people are identifying as evangelical despite not going to church, despite not believing in Jesus, despite (even more slanted italics here) being Muslims, Jews or Hindus in some cases!
Rarely have I been so stupefied by a piece. Just go read Shadi’s explanation of how “Trump has been able to change the meaning of ‘evangelical.’”
This revelation casts an even deeper shadow over this crew’s activism. How much is religiously motivated vs. sheer politics? Are the two different at all?
David Von Drehle is particularly troubled by the zealotry of the campaign against in vitro fertilization. In a very personal essay, he shares the pain of going through three rounds of IVF with his wife — pain endured for a small chance of a live birth.
“I don’t think any people alive care more about the miracle of conception, the viability of a fetus and the gift of life than IVF patients,” David writes. “What crabbed theology sees God at work in sperm and eggs and reproductive organs, yet finds only sin in the brains of scientists and doctors?”
I think Shadi might have a guess.
Chaser: If evangelicalism stands for whatever Trump says, you can bet that the Republican Party does, too. With that in mind, Karen Tumulty offers up a succinct GOP 2024 platform.
From the Editorial Board’s pronouncement that the president has a big polling problem and does himself no favors by ignoring it. The situation is especially bad in the states that will ultimately decide the election.
The board notes that Biden’s camp had hoped economic improvement would get people more excited about the incumbent, but that rising tide has not yet lifted Biden’s boat. So he has fallen back on polling’s caveats: They are not representative, people aren’t paying attention yet, most big shifts happen later, yadda yadda yadda.
These are all true to varying extents, but as the board warns, “rejecting the polls — relying instead on anecdotes, instincts and vibes — is political malpractice and, in this highly consequential election, dangerous for the country.”
Chaser: Then again, maybe it is the economy? Heather Long explains how a big Biden mistake on inflation is still stinging Americans.
Bonus chaser: George Will submits some questions for the coming Biden-Trump “debate” (if the collision can be dignified with such a term) that might actually be useful.
Jen Rubin needs you to understand that the Supreme Court’s dismissal of a “half-baked” challenge to the abortion medication mifepristone does not mean the court has suddenly become reasonable.
“It gets no brownie points for knocking down on technical standing grounds one of the more outlandish” arguments from antiabortion activists, Jen writes. In fact, there is still plenty to worry about in what the court wrote, both in its majority opinion and especially in a concurrence from Clarence Thomas.
If you need any more evidence of the court’s continued unreasonableness, look to its decision last week to strike down an agency ban on the bump stocks that basically turn semiautomatic weapons into machine guns — a rule that went into effect under Trump!
As E.J. Dionne writes, the six conservative justices “privileged an arrogant, misplaced confidence in their own technical expertise over a federal agency’s thoughtful effort to prevent the grotesque slaughter of innocents.”
Chaser: The Editorial Board writes that after the court’s failure on bump stocks, it’s incumbent upon Congress to ban them via legislation.
It’s a goodbye. It’s a haiku. It’s … The Bye-Ku.
Evangelicals
Get remade in Trump’s image
Born-again-again
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Have your own newsy haiku? Email it to me, along with any questions/comments/ambiguities. See you tomorrow!