Evangelicalism Makes People “Stupid.” That’s Why They Won’t Care About Trump’s Taxes.
By: Shannon Ashley
Tags: Education, Psychology, Christianity, Society, Politics

I don’t think that anyone can claim that evangelicals today have true political power. As The Atlantic said back in July, evangelicals don’t have much to show for their betrayal of Christ as they steadfastly hold onto Trump. They took a gamble and they lost, or to be fair, they won a cruel prize of chaos.

Regardless of anything they say, is anybody truly happy in 2020? Do everyday people feel a happiness or peace about politics, the economy, racism, policing, or COVID-19?

To say there is a great deal of unrest is, of course, an understatement. But it’s not just the Left that’s been left unhappy. Evangelicals are unhappy too. They think they’re fighting in some holy war against evils like socialism. They turn on Netflix and fear they’re losing a cultural war.

Trump’s poor leadership has impacted us all. Further divided us. I daresay it’s even served as the devastatingly perfect experiment for some of the issues discussed in the recent docudrama, The Social Dilemma. Director Jeff Orlowski says the internet is undermining democracy, and that lies spread six times faster online than truth.

As it turns out, Trump’s presidency and evangelicalism’s blind spots have converged at this frighteningly ideal point with social media where the facts no longer matter because everybody’s perception of the facts have been clouded by what they want those facts to mean.

I wish like hell that I could tell you the solution here is easy, but it’s not. There’s a saying that “You can’t fix stupid but you can vote it out.” Even that is too simplistic, though. Americans are wrestling with mental illness, social media influence, and frankly, stupidity, in a way we’ve never done before.

Problems in the world are nothing new. Racism, inequality, and all sorts of political unrest are not issues exclusive to 2020. We shouldn’t be surprised by struggles and unrest, but we should recognize no generation gets through life unscathed.

And when we think about American history, not to mention world history, we need to remind ourselves that we are in it. We are making history every damn day. Our actions and errors have consequences with the power to reverberate for generations.

It reminds me of the Billy Joel song, “We Didn’t Start the Fire.”

After all, we didn’t start the fire. So much of what is happening right now was put into motion long before any of us were old enough to make our own choices. Like me, some of you were raised in an evangelical bubble that stunted your cognitive growth. Maybe it made you more gullible or even “stupid” about certain things.

Ironically, there’s no shame (or sin) in being stupid. It’s very human and natural to take the path of least resistance and believe what we’ve been taught when we were very young. And in addition to stunting critical thinking, evangelicalism has had a hand in teaching folks to respond, well, positively to authoritarian parenting and leadership. Of course, authoritarian parenting isn’t limited to evangelicals, but it’s quite common among them and Christians in general.

As research professor Peter Gray, Ph.D. writes:

“People with an authoritarian mindset believe, first and foremost, in obedience to authority. So, of course, obedience is high on their list of ideal traits for a child; but obedience is also high on their list of ideal traits for people in general. Leaders, especially strong, confident leaders, are to be followed. Authoritarians also tend toward simplistic ways of thinking; things are black or white, right or wrong. If something is right for one person, it should be right for everyone and everyone should see it as right. They don’t tolerate ambiguity and have little taste for subtlety or dissenting opinions. To an authoritarian, the way to solve problems is to find a powerful, confident leader—a sort of superhero who claims in unambiguous language that he can solve your problems—and then follow that person.”

I see this weird sort of lust for authoritarian rule a lot, lately. Arguments supporting Trump aren’t debates at all. They’re generally just screaming matches to “get with the program.”

For the Trump-supporting, authoritarian-loving person, the President’s critics are just grasping at straws to bring up taxes. They paint any reasonable and valid criticism against Trump as biased or “fake news,” because those are the only options when you lack appropriate critical thinking skills.

While it’s no one’s fault to be raised this way, it is up to each individual to not remain stunted in their ability to think critically. Furthermore, we have a responsibility to ensure that younger generations are equipped with the tools they need to think for themselves and acquire the critical thinking skills they will need to make this world a healthier place.

This is a big ask. This is going to take work. There’s a reason why evangelicals so often complain about indoctrination from the Left, like this “lovely” rant my friend ran into on social media about evil… teachers:

Screenshot shared to Facebook

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teachers!! Teachers are thoroughly indoctrinated by the enemies of America. This started a long time ago, 1930s, when atheist Marxists like John Dewey took over the TEACHER COLLEGES and warped them with lies, taught them to use methods of teaching reading that just confused children (“Look-Say”), and turned the classroom into a psych lab to eliminate the independent thinkers. I have the documentation to prove every word. Why TEACHERS? Because they have the souls of children in their hands. Teachers are “God” to young people, a source of truth, strength, love, and courage -- teachers mold the character as well as give skills for the future. So, teachers are a primary target for being unwitting useful idiots in the grinding down of America. The Marxists knew they could not conquer us with bullets, so they had to be sneaky, sly, and dirty and deceive teachers -- who are mostly women, and women are more easily deceived because their hearts are designed to trust. I don’t know how to fix it. How do we undo the lies that have affected so many? That have caused so many bright, talented people to abandon the living water of liberty and jump into a stinking sewer? I wish God Himself would come down and tell these young folks the truth, but I guess for now, all they get is the “bigots” down the street.

This is the sort of stupidity we’re fighting against, people. Evangelical Trump supporters believe they are independent thinkers. Adherence to the narrative that Trump is good all the time and that the Left is out to lead their children astray runs deep and it’s rooted in their fight against critical thinking.

As The Social Dilemma points out, social media has allowed us to dig deep into our perception of reality without any regard for its accuracy, or if that perception is even good for us.

Only one thing is certain right now. We’ve got a helluva lot of work to do. And Trump’s taxes aren’t enough to break his thrall over evangelicals. Americans have to learn how to be critical thinkers first.