Evangelicals who oppose Trump worship try to build a new movement WaPo gift article [View all]

[irisblue]

subtitle-" Fifty years after the rise of the religious right, some evangelicals want to rebrand and create a public presence that adheres to faith, not a party or person."

https://wapo.st/3SBHjnD

snip-"So Leavitt, preparing for a bruising 2024 election season, joined a new national group of theologically conservative pastors who talk weekly about how to reject polarization and religious nationalism and to defend democracy./i]Last month, his congregation began a slick new six-part interactive video series aimed at reshaping evangelicals’ relationship to politics. Called “The After Party,” the curriculum, which has been used by some 75,000 people since it was released in April, says Christians should focus less on partisanship and more on how to relate to others so that they “better reflect Jesus … in 2024 and beyond.”

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snip-"The Midtown church’s “After Party” sessions have been made more intense recently by the attempted assassination of Trump and the response to it by many of his Christian supporters: that God intervened to protect the former president. But the politically diverse group was able to agree that, in their view, the God of the Bible doesn’t work that way — and to keep their focus."


snip-"Leavitt is part of an increasingly organized national movement of mostly White evangelicals who, 50 years after the rise of the religious right, want a rebranding. They hope to overhaul a mix of religion and politics that many feel has been toxic and polarizing, and has led to a time when political scientists say the word “evangelical” often has meant “Republican.”

snip-"Because [Trump] opened this can of worms, our mission will still be necessary no matter who wins in November,” said Napp Nazworth, an evangelical political scientist who leads one of the new groups working to combat religious extremism among fellow conservative Christians. He believes focusing on Trump right now would be counterproductive."


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