Impolite Conversation: Religion and Politics

Impolite Conversation: Religion and Politics


IC Supplemental: Trump Vs. Democracy

June 06, 2020

On our first supplemental episode in almost three years, we talk about the president's decision to assault peaceful protesters in order to walk to a church and hold up a Bible. Here are the books and articles we referenced along the way:

How Democracies Die, by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt

"The Christians Who Loved Trump's Stunt," by McKay Coppins

"Trump's Brandishing of the Bible Plays Into a Cultural Legacy of Racism and Colonialism," by Katie Edwards and Helen Paynter

"Trump's Church Photo Has No American Precedent. Does It Have One in Fascism?" by Talya Zax

"Christian Nationalism Talks Religion, But Walks Fascism," by Samuel L. Perry and Andrew L. Whitehead

Here are the reactions to Trump's stunt by Franklin Graham, Ben Sasse, and Pat Robertson.

The New York Times reported on Trump's approval slipping among evangelicals.

And here's an early oral history of the incident.
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Finally, this happened after we recorded, but it seems only fitting to include these images of the portion Pennsylvania Avenue that has been ceremonially renamed "Black Lives Matter Plaza."