Bible-believing Christians were key to Trump's victory, says American faith leader

The path to the White House still runs through America's pews, as one journalist intimated recently in Christianity Today. 

Trump increased his share of Catholic, evangelical and even Jewish voters. The Catholic vote especially saw a marked gain in support of Trump over 2020. 

The election was also about competing worldviews.

In other words, it's the classic Enlightenment-era conflict over whether Man is the measure of all things - or is God?

He added, "Like opinions, everybody's got a worldview, even if it's only implied. The dictionary definition of a worldview is that it's 'a collection of attitudes, values, stories and expectations about the world around us, which inform our every thought and action. Worldview is expressed in ethics, religion, philosophy, scientific beliefs and so on.'"  

Also, it's "a comprehensive conception or philosophy of the universe and of humanity's relation to it."

But McFarland, expressing a personal view, said the Harris campaign seemed to him to trample or dismiss biblical worldviews. The dictionary definition of a worldview is that it's 'a collection of attitudes, values, stories and expectations about the world around us, which inform our every thought and action. Worldview is expressed in ethics, religion, philosophy, scientific beliefs and so on.'" 

As one example, when some attendees of a Wisconsin rally shouted, "Jesus is King," she replied, "You're at the wrong rally" - and laughed. 

Yet when Trump's running mate, Vice president-elect JD Vance, encountered the same shouts at an event, he answered, "That's right, Jesus is King."

The Catholic League's Bill Donohue viewed it as a snub to Catholics on a global scale.

Even so, a week before Election Day, more than 1,000 religious leaders that Sunday endorsed her as part of the "Souls for the Polls." It was seen as a move to show how faith was present in her campaign and to counter the mounting attacks from conservatives saying she was anti-Catholic and anti-Christian. 

One of the endorsees, her longtime spiritual mentor, the Rev. Amos C. Brown III of San Francisco's Third Baptist Church, said Harris would oppose the "dangerous politics" that Trump and "the MAGA movement have unleashed ... and this potential for American fasicsm."

William Wolf, in an op-ed in The Christian Post, wrote, "We're witnessing a political parallel, with the incessant cries of 'fascism' coming from the left and their echo chambers in the mainstream media."

Wolfe served as a senior official in the Trump administration. He said, "Fascism, actual fascism, is characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of political opposition and strong regimentation of society and the economy."

He also pointed out, "When universities, once the bastions of free thought, become echo chambers where only one set of ideas can be safely expressed, we're not just flirting with incipient fascism - we're setting the table for it."

The term "Christian nationalism" also made its way into the mainstream media as a way to strike fear in liberals. 

Historian William Federer said, "Christian nationalism used to be called Christian patriotism ... The current usage of the term Christian nationalism started in 2006. It was a political slur. Prior to that," Federer added, "the references [were to] Christian patriotism and every president favored it."  

Regarding Trump and religion, McFarland said he could only speak for himself. 

Back in the spring of 2016, McFarland was invited with about 100 other prominent clergy to Trump's office in Manhattan, the same building where Trump descended the elevator to announce his candidacy in 2015, he said. 

After Trump won the election in 2016, he had weekly phone calls with clergy leaders.  

McFarland related, "He goes, 'Look, no politics today. It's Good Friday.' He also says, 'You guys are the theologians. I don't need to tell you, but 2,000 years ago, something really important happened. Christ died for our sins.'"

McFarland said Trump proceeded to "read from scripture, from Isaiah the prophet ... then asked Rev. Franklin Graham to pray."

McFarland added that Trump then said, "Let's talk about the things that last forever. The things that unite us. God. Family. Freedom. And let's just let's just appreciate how blessed we are."  

"Americans don't realize," he wrote, "that the distinct voice of the American Revolution largely comes from the Bible and the Book of Exodus and Deuteronomy."

Guinness said the warning came years ago from President Abraham Lincoln just before the Civil War. In 1858, he quoted Jesus as saying, "A house divided against itself cannot stand" - meaning America couldn't be half slave and half free.

"And what I'm arguing, in effect, is America cannot be half 1776 and half 1789. The two revolutions go in different directions."

It boils down to this, said McFarland: "Do people think of God or religion as something that they serve - or something that serves them? In political terms, does a biblical worldview inform your politics - or do your politics inform your biblical worldview?"

He won both the electoral and popular vote and will serve as America's 47th president.

McFarland shared words of wisdom ahead of what could be a contentious season for many people.

He added, "Remember this: A person to be loved is always more important than an argument to be won."