12-13-2017, 03:17 PM
So, I listened to this podcast recently, and in addition discussed some of this in a class at about the same time, and it got me thinking about a conversation about this on the boards. The declaration of Jerusalem as Israel's capital spurred the conversation, but overall, this helps us understand why some of us may see cognitive dissonance when these people are not aware of any.
The root of it all comes down to dispensational premillennialism (they have it wrong on the site, FYI). The tl;dr version is that the rapture is coming, and then the kingdom of God on Earth. These believers look forward to this period in time and, in fact, often try to hasten it. The Jewish people having Jerusalem again is a sign of these times to come, and so the policy of making it happen is based on triggering the rapture. Other policy positions that members of certain denominations that are heavyweights in the evangelical Christian right pull for are aimed at this same goal. They focus only on that aspect, and if a candidate is going to further that cause, then that is all they care about.
Now, your average voter is not going to be thinking about this consciously, but the evangelical leaders are, and this is what they are spreading with their message. These voters often listen to these leaders, and so as a result will vote as they are often told, in a bloc. This is why we often see what appears to be contrary voting to values. None of that matters in the grand scheme of things to them.
Now, admittedly, by understanding of this particular theology is limited, especially with eschatology. So I welcome any corrections to this and hope to have some discussion about this.
The root of it all comes down to dispensational premillennialism (they have it wrong on the site, FYI). The tl;dr version is that the rapture is coming, and then the kingdom of God on Earth. These believers look forward to this period in time and, in fact, often try to hasten it. The Jewish people having Jerusalem again is a sign of these times to come, and so the policy of making it happen is based on triggering the rapture. Other policy positions that members of certain denominations that are heavyweights in the evangelical Christian right pull for are aimed at this same goal. They focus only on that aspect, and if a candidate is going to further that cause, then that is all they care about.
Now, your average voter is not going to be thinking about this consciously, but the evangelical leaders are, and this is what they are spreading with their message. These voters often listen to these leaders, and so as a result will vote as they are often told, in a bloc. This is why we often see what appears to be contrary voting to values. None of that matters in the grand scheme of things to them.
Now, admittedly, by understanding of this particular theology is limited, especially with eschatology. So I welcome any corrections to this and hope to have some discussion about this.
