If you have been around rural areas of the American Midwest and East Coast, a concerning yet fascinating pattern emerges with Trump flags, “Let’s Go Brandon” and similar slogans plastered on folks’ front lawns. Sometimes support for Trump and their Republican leaders is so passionate that households will place a flagpole on the edge of their property line to make sure that passing drivers view the MAGA or “Take Back America” message.
While I’m not against people voicing their political views and advertising them to others, it seems an institution in America is increasing its already strong relationship with right-wing politics. Christian churches are the age-old institutions I’m alluding to, and they seem to have declared a “culture war” against liberal policy in what they see as the battle for the soul of this nation.
Within an age of interconnectivity and a continuing move toward ethnic diversity that makes America the melting pot it is often called, the youth of this generation are hesitant to accept the conservative beliefs of their forefathers. In a report by the Pew Research Center, those who identify with Christianity have gone down from 90% in 1972 to 64% in 2020, with a steady projected drop to 30-40% in 2070.
With a decrease in the dominance of America’s religious space and progressive ideas challenging traditional dogma, Christian nationalists have given the political hard right the responsibility of being its executive. This intertwining of church and state has grown from extremist parts of rural communities to changes in state education curricula, a possible shrinking of the Department of Education, and, of course, Supreme Court decisions.
As more young people look to navigate society, they may be met with restrictive state laws on abortion and a school district curriculum that deemphasizes evolution and sex education.
The Bible is good literature and many churches are the center of selfless work in communities, but organized religion should not be actively trying to find its way into policy and conservative think tanks to mandate people’s lives.
— Maxwell Cason
Anchorage
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