An American political scientist has recently argued that the Trump presidency led to more Americans leaving church.
Ryan Burge specialises in the study of religious data.
Drawing on data from Harvard University’s Cooperative Election Study, he said there has been an “exogeneous shock” since 2016.
“For every action there is a reaction,” Mr Burge said.
“Donald Trump is the action. His election caused all these ripple effects in American society, and you can see it in the pews.”
In an interview with Christianity Today, Mr Burge said that left-leaning and moderate Christians had become disenchanted with their churches. He said that the rate of self-identified Democrats giving up on church in their 20s–50s doubled from the end of Barack Obama’s presidency to the end of President Trump’s. At the same time, he said, more Republicans started to identify more as ‘evangelicals’ without attending church.
Like most US Presidents before him, Donald Trump often made reference to his own faith during his presidency, including holding a Bible in front of a church for a photo op, after protestors were forcefully removed. Christianity Today called for Trump to be removed from office, a call the publication also made for Presidents Nixon and Clinton. President Trump dismissed the editorial, and Christianity Today as being a radical, left wing magazine.
The church exodus data comes after findings that COVID-19 also accelerated people leaving their churches.
1 thought on “Trump Presidency saw people leave church, political scientist says”
As a Christian, I don’t see signs or actions that honor Christ in Trump. I also do not see Christ in Biden. Trump is only concerned with Trump. I do not agree with the Democratic platform. Trump is transparent. More than 90 charges against Trump were found to have reasonable grounds or probable cause and admitted into courts of law. The effort and logistics required and the absence of individuals in DOJs and law enforcement coming forward with evidence of false charges make the probability of a witch hunt minuscule. The sensitive and classified documents at Mar-a-Lago were not planted by the FBI, DOJ, or Democratic Party. Trump and his GOP are, willingly or not, Russian assets. Trump is the last person on the planet who should be elected as leader of the largest member nation of NATO. Saying that Trump is a Godly man is like saying that Vladamir Putin is a model Eagle Scout. Moral leadership is absent in Washington DC. There is no basis for calling Trump an ethical man. He is not Godly just because he is not Joe Biden. In reality Trump is worse than Biden. If only truth mattered in belief and elections.