#EmptyThePews
I walked away because I do not believe in their Republican Jesus.— Linda Quest (@windmillcharger) August 18, 2017
The refusal of Trump's court-prophet evangelical preachers to renounce their role as faith advisors to the president (there is no formal advisory board), as CEOs shut down their advisory council in disgust with his Charlottesville remarks is gaining wider and wider attention:
Charles Pierce at Esquire:
Right now, the president* is wandering through American political life wearing a bell to warn people of his approach. But you know who's hanging in there?
His preachers.
If your church preaches "but both sides..." this weekend, #EmptyThePews— Dale Loepp (@DaleLoepp) August 18, 2017
As Mark Silk suggests at Religion News Service, the reason there hasn't been a blow-up between Trump and his white evangelical court prophets after his disgraceful comments about Charlottesville is that they're telling him what he likes to hear, and are determined to stand — a phrase I'm echoing from NPR's discussion of this issue.
We left evangelical churches after the pastor at our last one started endorsing Trump. #EmptyThePews— Rachel (@RachLTweets) August 18, 2017
Matthew Sheffield at Salon:
Is anyone surprised that the Religious Right has been a stronger defender of Trump than his CEO councils?
Denouncing white supremacy and racism is too political but condemning LGBTQ Christians is a yearly sermon. #EmptythePews— Nicole Obert (@nicoleobert) August 17, 2017
Jack Jenkins for Think Progress: As President Donald Trump struggles to manage the firestorm of criticism over his controversial remarks on white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, conservative faith leaders are sticking by his side — although his recent comments defending Confederate statues may be testing some of them.
A thread that every member of an Evangelical congregation should read! #EmptyThePews 👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽 https://t.co/675tYk2TTf— Donna M. Schmid (@DonnaMSchmid) August 19, 2017
As Jack Jenkins reports, one solitary member of Trump's evangelical advisory group has walked away — the one most likely to walk away: A. R. Bernard, an African-American megachurch pastor who has taken relatively a moderate (for evangelicals) stand on same-sex marriage. Jenkins also notes that Bernard's decision to walk away is provoking a backlash of belligerence among other court prophets advising Trump.
