The problem that I see is the failure of the Christian religionists to understand their role as a minority.
This gets to the heart of it. Back in the Reagan ’80s, Jerry Falwell told them they were the moral majority, and Protestant Evangelical Christians believed it. They followed Falwell into a devil’s pact with the Republican Party, and to this day Christianity has not recovered. They still sincerely believe they are the majority, despite all evidence to the contrary. There’s a huge difference in messaging here, and therein lies the problem. In exchange for their souls, for their complicity in great crimes, the GOP tells Evangelicals how important and special they are. The most well meaning Democrats and other liberals, at best, offer them irrelevance. The Right says “You are kings, you are God’s chosen,” while the Left says “You must accept your minority status, your cultural irrelevance.” This is what Evangelicals mean when they say that Christians are oppressed. The Left proclaims them a cultural minority who should not be allowed to wield political power. Trump and the Republicans offer them raw political dominion over their oppressors. Are Christians really oppressed? Reality is irrelevant here. The victors write the history books. It would be much better for everyone if the Democrat Party, and liberals in general, would make a welcome and equal place at the table for Christians. If the Left stays committed to ghettoizing them instead, they are leaving them little option but war. It boggles my mind that smart liberals cannot see this and change course. There are lots of Christians in America who look at Trump with horror. But he’s all they’ve got, because no one else will have them. That’s a recipe for disaster.
