Vince Greenwood, Ph.D.
7 min readMar 6, 2021

Q’VANGELICALS: THE LIFEBLOOD OF TRUMPISM

by Vince Greenwood, Ph.D., founder of DutyToInform.org

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White Evangelicals, Trump’s most populous and unwavering base throughout his Presidency, were at the heart of the assault on the Capitol on January 6. From the moment Trump declared that the election was stolen from him on election night to his bellicose Save America speech on the 6th, white Evangelicals were active collaborators in the apocalyptic messaging that culminated in the attack.

Once Biden was declared the winner on November 7, it became an article of faith in the white Evangelical community that he had stolen the election through widespread voter fraud. How could it be otherwise? Four years earlier, in their telling, Donald Trump had been chosen by God to restore Christianity to an America that had fallen to secularists, elites, aggressive women, and people of color. Trump was the central figure in the sacred schematic in which God anoints a flawed person to be the Messiah to save Christians from persecution and humiliation at the hands of Satan-worshipping Democrats. It was not God’s will to elect Joe Biden, and so the election must be a fraud. Ergo, Stop The Steal.

Yes, Trump blared that he “won in a landslide” and that Biden was an “illegitimate” President-elect. Still, it was the Religious Right and megachurch messaging, along with a swath of GOP politicians and right-wing media, that turned those baseless claims into a fervent movement. Yes, in 2015, Trump had opportunistically sniffed out the need in white Evangelicals to restore their perceived lost status; and provided the simple narrative that his Presidency would enable good to triumph over evil. But it was the white Evangelicals who needed that narrative and ran with it.

Before the Save America March on January 6, Evangelical Christians had organized the Jericho March. This March was held on December 12 in Washington D.C. and six other state capitols where the election results were close. The mission of the March, spelled out on their website, was “to go to Capitol buildings and pray, fast, and march around them until the walls of voter fraud and corruption fall down, and the American people are allowed to see the truth about the election.” The March’s name was based on Jericho’s biblical story, “a city of false Gods and corruption,” where God commanded the Israelites to march around the walls of the city for a week, at which point such walls would collapse.

Many of the participants in the Jericho March were in the crowd on January 6. The reported atmosphere that day was more like a religious crusade than a political protest. The Save America rally began with a prayer by Paula White, a renowned Florida televangelist and White House advisor, who urged God to “let every adversary against democracy, against freedom, against life, against liberty, against justice, against peace, against righteousness, be overturned right now in the name of Jesus.” God’s will be done. Within hours, after Trump’s order “to fight like hell”, marauders were rampaging thru the halls of our Capitol.

Christian symbols and rituals were pervasive throughout the assault. A “Jesus 2020” banner was unfurled on the West steps of the Capitol. A man held up a white cross declaring “TRUMP WON” in all caps. When the rioters took over the Senate Gallery, the first thing they did was to convene a prayer “ in Christ’s holy name.” As they tried to track down Nancy Pelosi and Mike Pence, many had their arms raised in the air just as millions of evangelicals and charismatic parishioners do on the Sabbath. Onward Christian soldiers.

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By the time January 6 arrived, the three major players in the effort to overturn the election results — white Evangelical Christians, QAnon conspiracy theorists, and Trump and his acolytes — had melded into a unified and potentially violent movement. By early January, pretty much all the nonviolent means for challenging the election had been exhausted. Under the banner cries of “Stop The Steal” and “Save America” these three groups were united and primed for armed insurrection.

Each group had a slightly different explanation for the forces behind the stolen election. White Evangelical Christians view the world as always engaged in a cosmic struggle of good versus evil. There are Satan-worshippers (mostly liberals and immigrant “usurpers’) who are out to silence Christianity and demean their status; and Trump is the vessel of God who will restore the White Christian Nation. QAnon-inspired followers believe the country is run by deep-state bureaucrats and elites — globalists, scientists, and intellectuals — who oversee child sex rings and, yes, worship Satan. Trump did not have a consistent narrative about the stolen election but frequently accused Democrats and big city people of color of using nefarious means to undermine his “landside” victory.

However, these differences between white Evangelical Christians and QAnon followers about the stolen election’s narrative proved inconsequential compared to the similarity in their underlying core assumptions and ways of thinking that shape their pronouncements and drive their behavior. Psychologists use the term deep structure to capture the broad organizing frameworks that dictate what we attend to and how we process information about ourselves, others, the future, and the world. Analysis of the deep structure thinking of white Evangelical Christians and QAnon supporters reveals three shared core organizing features.

First, both have a Manichean view of the world that breaks everything down to intrinsically good or evil. In particular, they have a strict all-or-none view of others. Obama, then Clinton, and now Biden are not political opponents but the embodiment of the AntiChrist. Celebrities (Tom Hanks), media figures (Anderson Cooper), and Democrats (all) are not seen as legitimate actors with different points of view, but a cabal of Satan-worshipping elites who run a child sex ring and are trying to take over our politics. White Evangelicals and QAnon followers process information through a lens of moral certitude that does not allow any nuance, responsiveness to circumstances, or humility about human fallibility.

Second, Evangelicals and QAnon followers view the future in apocalyptic terms. Apocalyptic thinking, of course, has always been central to Evangelical faith. And it is at the heart of the conspiracy mindset espoused by QAnon. Both groups assume we are at or near the end of times, and God has mandated a Holy War to bring about the Kingdom of God. The two Georgia US senate elections, giving Democrats control of Congress, only heightened the sense that Armageddon had arrived. Both groups believe that God directed them to mount an insurrection against the evil-doers who had stolen their country.

Third, Evangelicals and QAnon followers share the bedrock assumption that only they can discern truths the rest of us cannot. Televangelical audiences hunger for depictions of supernatural reality and the deliverance of miracles. Christian radio tells its listeners not to trust mainstream media, that consensual reality can be a mirage; indeed, they proclaim Satan is hiding amongst us. Likewise, the core message of QAnon is that there is an underlying reality that only those enlightened by QAnon can perceive.

Trump, to be clear, does not share these deep structure assumptions of Evangelicals and QAnon. Where they see evil, the coming Armageddon, and the workings of a deep state cabal in the “stolen” election, Trump simply sees an opportunity. He is supportive of any narrative as long as it supports his interests. His deep structure psychology is the stuff of clinical psychopathy: the remorseless manipulation of the truth and the electorate to satisfy his domineering and selfish impulses.

If it were in his interest to support the Green New Deal, raise taxes, praise the Squad, stand up for secularism, and appoint progressive judges, Trump would skip over to the Blue team in a heartbeat. But of course, it was the Religious Right and QAnon that depicted Trump as a Messianic figure who would save the country from evil forces. And,they portrayed Trump as the suffering protagonist who has to overcome a “stolen” election.

The Religious Right loved Trump, and he loved them. They loved him because he used openly white supremacist language and spoke in terms of good and evil. They loved him because he promised to restore and protect America as a white Christian nation and dismantle liberal democracy. He loved them because, with the election results not in his favor, their apocalyptic views aligned with his desire to hang on to the Presidency. He loved them because they fed his martyred self-image.

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Thus, Evangelicals and QAnon share three deep structure organizing frameworks: politics as an Armageddon battle of good versus evil, end of times prophecies, and conspiratorial and delusional narratives. These basic modes of thinking, coupled with Trump’s predatory psychopathic cunning, lead to two unavoidable and disturbing conclusions.

First, these two groups (along with Trump and his cultists), which make up approximately 25% of the population, are inherently anti-democratic. Democracy requires the separation of Church and state. Evangelicals require the union of Church and state. Democracy requires moderation and compromise. Fundamentalists and conspiracy theorists demand certainty and reject any dialogue that might threaten their convictions. They view political opponents as evil and thus deserving of disenfranchisement. Non-Christians, Democrats and elitists are not entitled to a seat at the table. Undermining democracy is an affirmative value for Trump, QAnon, and white Evangelicals.

Second, the path they are heading down is destined to become ever more violent. They see themselves as God’s army, and their God is demanding an insurrection against the Anti-Christ. Trump was cheated out of his victory by evil-doers. They cannot relent. Also, they can’t avoid the reality they are in the minority and must resort to extra-legal means to fulfill their mission. Worship is a war song.

Since January 6, those few who have called for moderation, the rule of law, or a way forward based on a semblance of shared truth (Romney, Liz Cheney, McConnell) have been quickly dismissed. Only radicals and true believers are welcome. The line between the Religious Right and the Republican Party has dissolved. The GOP is stumbling toward a party of nothing more than white grievance and infotainment. They are not leading but following. Since 2016 they have given up on even the pretense of a governing philosophy. What they now embody is the fundamentalist certainty in the perfidy of all those on the other side.

And so the Capitol is shuttered at the moment, as it should be. There is a large, anti-democratic, insurrectionist force that is let loose in the country. They have couriers in Congress. They will not relent. Our tent is pitched not in a paradise, but on a field of battle.

Vince Greenwood, Ph.D.

Vince Greenwood, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist who lives and works in Washington D.C. He founded DutyToInform.org.