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I wonder whether the predominant approach to abortion among conservative white evangelicals – i.e., vote for the explicitly anti-abortion Presidential candidate/platform – has become primarily a proxy for white evangelical identity politics. /1
I say this b/c of the irrationality evident in even private conversations – the refusal to look at hard data/historical trends, the refusal to engage w/the complexity of the issue, the uncompromising insistence on the ethical superiority of voting (not living) a particular way./2
When people so committed to an issue refuse to engage thoughtfully on the issue itself, I tend to think something else is going on. And when such a refusal is accompanied by a high tolerance for Christian nationalism and a deep disdain for the identity politics of others,... /3
I begin to suspect that the true nature of their power struggle has more (not exclusively) to do w/group identity than w/faith-driven ethics/morality. It may be difficult to recognize at first b/c the interests of the group are never articulated in racial terms. /4
But when your group& #39;s identity is an intersection of race and religion, and racial identity politics happens to be unpalatable or taboo to your group, then you& #39;ll employ the language and posture of morality to fight your identity wars. /5
What’s starting to happen is that white evangelicals are starting to break ranks with this type of groupthink, and that’s enabling very necessary intragroup confrontation/correction. /6
