Why "Christianity Today" Is Irrelevant.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. I don't think it's irrelevant - the editorial has received so much publicity

that it might have more effect than is reflected by the small number of regular readers. While it might not change many minds, maybe a few seeds have been planted here and there. The focus of the editorial, along with a follow-up piece is important because it points out that the evangelical movement's devotion to Trump will ultimately harm the church:

The problem is that we as evangelicals are also associated with President Trump’s rampant immorality, greed, and corruption; his divisiveness and race-baiting; his cruelty and hostility to immigrants and refugees; and more. In other words, the problem is the wholeheartedness of the embrace. It is one thing to praise his accomplishments; it is another to excuse and deny his obvious misuses of power.

Similarly, this is neither a criticism of the evangelical Trump voter nor an endorsement of the Democrats. The 2016 election confronted evangelical voters with an impossible dilemma: Vote for a pro-choice candidate whose policies would advance so much of what we oppose, or vote for an extravagantly immoral candidate who could well damage the standing of the republic and the witness of the church.

We nevertheless believe the evangelical alliance with this presidency has done damage to our witness here and abroad. The cost has been too high. American evangelicalism is not a Republican PAC. We are a diverse movement that should collaborate with political parties when prudent but always standing apart, at a prophetic distance, to be what Martin Luther King, Jr. called “the conscience of the state.” That is what we believe. This is where we plant our flag. We know we are not alone.

In other words, they are calling on evangelicals to back away from being so closely allied with Trump that their own reputation and that of their evangelical churches will eventually be harmed - as seems to be happening already. Religious affiliation is decreasing among young people in general, and the word "Christian" has come to be associated entirely with the extreme evangelical/fundamentalists, even though there are plenty of churchgoing liberals - I know a lot of them, and they detest Trump and Trumpism as much as I do. I think it's a small crack in a wall where many other small cracks are starting to appear, and I'm glad for that.