David Shribman

Andrews McMeel Syndicate

Of the many changes in our politics, the one that might be the most astonishing may be the dramatic increase in the recent prominence of religion in political life.

The founders all made bows to religious values, arguing in one way or another that liberty and religion were inextricably united and, moreover that religious liberty was indispensable to a free people.

Abraham Lincoln, whose principal textbook for life was the Bible, sprinkled scriptural quotations and allusions throughout his speeches, especially in the Gettysburg Address and his two inaugural addresses, one of which included the sobering reminder that ‘the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether (Psalm 19:9).

Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued a “D-Day Prayer” as the 1944 invasion of France began to unfold that opened with the words “Almighty God” and argued that America’s forces “have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization …”

So religion has never been far from American civic life, and the memorial service for the conservative activist Charlie Kirk underlined how intimately politics and religion have become entwined in the Trump years.

But before we proceed further, let’s stipulate that the presence of religious themes in a memorial service is entirely appropriate and indeed unremarkable.

Kirk was a religious man, and no accounting of his life can reasonably, or fairly, be made without sufficient acknowledgment of the role that faith paid in his work.

Most presidents have spoken of religion in general terms meant to be inclusive of all faiths, more recently adding, as George W. Bush pointedly did after the terrorist attacks of September 2001, Muslims to the triptych of Catholics, Protestants and Jews.

They also have sought blessings for American military personnel and concluded addresses with the anodyne phrase “God bless the United States of America.”

But it is arguable that Donald Trump, the beneficiary of the support of religious conservatives, has taken this impulse farther since beginning his third campaign for the White House.

He has employed messianic language–“I’m being indicted for you” (June 2023)–that has no precedent in American political life, even from the fundamentalist William Jennings Bryan, a three-time Democratic presidential nominee. In recent weeks the president, who has come to say that he was saved from assassination by God, has spoken of hoping to go to Heaven, and worrying he might not (“I want to try and get to heaven, if possible,” adding,”I’m hearing I’m not doing well. I am really at the bottom of the totem pole”).

Three times he’s sent followers a fund-raising email (“This is very personal to me — I’m only sharing it with close friends”) that opens, “Since the day I returned to the White House, I have felt the mighty hand of God guiding this movement.”

Trump is preaching to the converted. A 2024 Pew study found that, by a margin of nearly two-to-one, more Republicans than Democrats consider themselves highly religious.

At the same time, a Gallup poll found that 34 percent of Americans believe religion is increasing its influence in American life — a dramatic increase from the 20 percent who said so only a year ago.

John F. Kennedy argued his Catholic faith attracted too much attention. “While the so-called religious issue is necessarily and properly the chief topic here tonight,” he said, “I want to emphasize from the outset that we have far more critical issues to face in the 1960 election.”

For his part, Mitt Romney argued that religion is best used in politics to unite rather than divide. “It is important to recognize that while differences in theology exist between the churches in America, we share a common creed of moral convictions. And where the affairs of our nation are concerned, it’s usually a sound rule to focus on the latter.”

Romney lost the election. But given the divisions in our own time over religion in politics, he might be regarded to have the winning argument.