After the Republican National Committee adopted its 2024 party platform July 8, many Evangelicals felt blindsided by a decision to weaken the party’s long-held stance on abortion.
And the surprise hasn't stopped, either. The party's view on marriage is weaker, too. It dropped the 2016 platform that defended husband-and-wife marriage, arguably the bedrock of human civilization and the family. The new platform makes a passing refence only to the importance of marriage, a change that was praised by Log Cabin Republicans, the homosexual group affiliated with the GOP that likely influenced the change.
That liberal stance is a big one, especially since many Evangelicals argue "same-sex marriage" is morally and biblically impossible regardless of court rulings and the culture.
Meanwhile, prominent homosexuals in the GOP include talk show host David Rubin, voting activist Scott Presler, and Gateway Pundit founder Jim Hoft. One of the party's biggest big-money backers is billionaire Peter Thiel, the PayPal co-founder, who is also homosexual.
"This is a platform that is inclusive of many communities, including LGBT Americans,” Charles Moran, president of the Log Cabin Republicans, told The Washington Blade. “It promotes the sanctity of marriage, but doesn’t exclude our marriages."
GOP on winning streak
A wildly successful GOP convention is wrapping up this week, which comes after a bloody-faced Donald Trump not only survived an assassin's bullet but urged Americans to "fight!"
Republicans are also watching Democrats flail as top party officials are getting closer and closer to pushing out their nominee, Joe Biden.
With all of that positive buzz, some Christians are now wondering about their place in the party.
Reacting to that concern, Blaze TV host Steve Deace says Evangelicals don't need to give up. They need to make sure they don’t underestimate Nazareth.
Upon first hearing of Jesus in John 1:46, it was Nathaniel who asked, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
“You have to recognize that a political party is not a substitute for the church,” Deace said on American Family Radio Thursday. “The most pharisaical statement in the New Testament is nothing good could come from Nazareth. We need to pause and make sure we understand what is possible that God is doing and why he’s doing it. It doesn’t necessarily always go by our playbook.”
At this week's Republican National Convention, a video posted to X shows Trump telling a small group of supporters about his near-fatal incident on a Pennsylvania stage.
"In many ways, it changes your attitude, you viewpoint on life," Trump shared. "In may ways it changes your attitude, your viewpoint on life. And I think, honestly, I think you appreciate God even more."
Estimates put the white Evangelical vote between 76 and 81 percent in 2020, similar to the rock-solid support the group gave him in 2016.
Sometimes numbers like that can cause a campaign to feel that votes are secure, but will the decreasing emphasis on key social issues cause Christians to stay at home when it’s time to cast ballots?
Trump’s fingerprints on GOP platform
Republicans’ strong stance against abortion has been present in their platform since the ’70s, but it represents Trump’s influence.
The lack of a call for a national abortion ban is in line with Trump’s April statement on Truth Social in which the former president said “whatever (the states) decide must be the law of the land.”
This is, in fact, what the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2022 when it returned control of abortion to the states.
In the Blade story, Moran said Trump did not influence the 2016 platform but credited Trump with changing that "old platform" to help the GOP in "major geographic and critical demographic areas."
“The platform was definitely worth fighting over," Moran said, "because we know that the presidential nominee needs to get the party in the best position possible to appeal to the broadest number of people.”
Trump filled a void
Deace told show host Jenna Ellis that too many evangelical leaders have remained too silent on key social issues. Referring to Trump, whose religious faith has been questionable, God has found someone else to carry the banner, he said.
“The problem with pastors today is no one wants to put them in prison,” Deace said, borrowing a quote from renowned 19th-century Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon.
“Would we all prefer that the man who believes and has lived a one-man, one-woman marriage, was a virgin on his wedding night and so was she, and all their kids adore them and all are well-adjusted, and all are going to church and following after the Lord? We would prefer that person is the hero of the story,” Deace said.
That person never stepped forward to lead Republicans through the war of culture, Deace said, and the void was filled by Trump.
“It really is a weird time for Christians and the relationship with the Republican party,” Memphis radio voice Todd Starnes told Ellis.
Politics in our church houses
What Starnes sees is the “transactional” nature of the Trump personality. He appreciates the support of Evangelicals but doesn’t feel they are turning out to the polls in large enough numbers.
The platform represents Trump’s belief, he said.
“When you have a transactional guy, and he sees that the other side isn't holding up their end of the bargain, then I think that’s what we’ve got here, and it's not a good place for us to be," Starnes observed.
Both sides are at fault and need to work out their differences, Starnes said.
“First of all, evangelical Christians have this mindset. We want the Republican Party to be our standard bearer. We want them to defend our issues at the ballot box and on Capitol Hill, but when it comes time for the politicians to want to come into the church and to talk about their issues, we say, ‘Oh, no, no, no. You can't come into our church houses. You can't put out the voter guides. You can't come here. This is untoward. This is off limits,” he said.
Regardless of the level of disenchantment, no voices among evangelical leaders are calling for Christians to skip the electoral process.
That means supporting Trump, who remains in stark contrast to the Democrats on the life issue.
“It’s not as if that he has not faced accountability for his missteps. That's the beauty of God. He's both eminent and transcendent,” Deace said.
“God has held him accountable at the same time He’s used him. God has done this with Trump. He’s lost millions upon millions, more money than we can count on lawyers lost business opportunities. His family can never go back to the life they had before of global financiers and celebrities. They'll never do that. He almost went to prison. They still might try that in September when they sentence him,” Deace said.
Disappointed Evangelicals need to refocus and consider the times. They need to give in to their beliefs and try to interpret God’s will for their lives.
Life in a post-Christian culture
“No. 1, you’re seeing what life in a post-Christian culture looks like. We lost the culture war. We surrendered it. We didn’t even go fight,” Deace said. “No. 2, something will emerge to fight against darkness. It may or may not be Godly. If this is God, we can’t stop it anyway. After a generation of sitting here and losing the Culture War, I think we’d all be real wise to sit back and see what this actually is.
“Let’s make sure we’re not the nothing good could come from Nazareth people.”
