If you view the U.S. as blessed by God, yet falling into decline due to liberals, Pence is your guy. Leviticans support the GOP because the GOP throws them legislative bones often enough to secure their allegiance. Promises to repeal Roe v. Wade alone have bound the evangelical base to the Republican party long enough to push through legislation congenial to corporate interests. Is the Muslim ban another prize meant to keep the coalition together despite the decidedly unChristian behavior of President Trump? Or was it an invention of Steve Bannon, to further polarize the electorate? Either way, strange times are afoot. One can only hope that enough of the Leviticans remember Leviticus 19:33-34.
Part 1 of this series addressed Trump’s executive order suspending travelers from seven majority Muslim countries, save for the ones where he engages in business dealings (and, ironically, the countries whose nationals have actually harmed Americans). Part 2 addresses a deeper reason behind such orders and, perhaps, one reason that the Trump/Pence ticket enjoyed such popularity with evangelical voters. Conservative evangelicals, the sort of voters who strongly favor an anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage platform, seem to revere an entirely different version of Jesus than do more liberal Christians. Their rule-heavy religious worldview is less about the Beatitudes and more about Leviticus. As science fiction author John Scalzi suggested, it may be more fitting to call them Leviticans.
To quote Scalzi, “To suggest that a Christian is actually a Levitican is not to say he or she is false in faith — rather, it is to suggest that their faith is elsewhere in the Bible, in the parts that are easy to understand: The rules, the regulations, all the things that are clear cut about what you can do and what you can’t do to be right with God. Rules are far easier to follow than Christ’s actual path, which needs humility and sacrifice and the ability to forgive, love and cherish even those who you oppose and who oppose and hate you… This is why Leviticans love Leviticus (and other pentateuchal and Old Testament books): Chock full of rules. And you can believe in rules. That’s why they’re rules.”
When Pope Francis came out against the Muslim ban, he explained his view as a Christian might, hoping to speak to the heart of other Christians. “It’s hypocrisy to call yourself a Christian and chase away a refugee or someone seeking help, someone who is hungry or thirsty, toss out someone who is in need of my help… If I say I am Christian, but do these things, I’m a hypocrite.” What the Pope may not fully realize is that his words are unlikely to resonate with Trump-supporting American Leviticans. They are not moved by the same images. They have their own authorities.
Leviticans have seen their political fortunes decline in recent years. The perception of liberal overreach in the culture wars backed them into such a corner that their only legitimate electoral hope was a brash, flashy grabber of genitals who has five children by three different baby mamas. However, their main interest may not have been Trump per se, but his vice presidential pick, Mike Pence. Pence, known especially for his anti-gay “Religious Freedom Restoration Act” and his advocacy for debunked conversion therapy (and for paying his mortgage with campaign funds, but I digress) is something of a hero for Leviticans. He’s the closest they have yet gotten to Executive control of the government, a major coup. That said, the Evangelical push for dog-whistle concepts like religious freedom and parental rights hide a very long-view plan to tilt government their way.
Former labor secretary Robert Reich recently posted on Facebook about a conversation with a Republican colleague who revealed that perhaps not just Leviticans but also Republicans in Congress prefer Pence.
If you view the U.S. as blessed by God, yet falling into decline due to liberals, Pence is your guy. Leviticans support the GOP because the GOP throws them legislative bones often enough to secure their allegiance. Promises to repeal Roe v. Wade alone have bound the evangelical base to the Republican party long enough to push through legislation congenial to corporate interests. Is the Muslim ban another prize meant to keep the coalition together despite the decidedly unChristian behavior of President Trump? Or was it an invention of Steve Bannon, to further polarize the electorate? Either way, strange times are afoot. One can only hope that enough of the Leviticans remember Leviticus 19:33-34.
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