What Does Bible Belt Mean for Right-Wing Christians?

 'Bible Belt' Where Right-Wing Christians Consider Trump 'Soldier of God'

Cecilia Berria
Post, BBC News
location
Oklahoma

There is a small town called Elgin in the US state of Oklahoma. The total population here consists of two thousand people.

Every Sunday there is a church here with about 100 people attending, most of them young white men. These youths have many children and come here every Sunday with their families.

On the white walls of the church's lobby are some posters, including a picture of a lifeless baby.

It is written on these posters that 'By the time you finish reading this paragraph, three children will have been unjustly killed in America.'

The poster alludes to abortion, which some call the 'Holocaust' of the era.

The poll points to a clear connection between religion and politics, as abortion is a controversial and important part of the candidates' campaigns in the November 5 US presidential election, along with the economy and immigration.

The intersection of religion and politics is of increasing importance to the far-right Protestant voting public.

What is special is that the pastor of the small church in this small town is 36-year-old Dusty Devers, who is also an Oklahoma state senator.

Dusty Devers has six children. He has done Masters in Spiritual Sciences.

Apart from being a pastor and senator, Dusty Devers also runs a property business. He preaches in church on Sundays and passes legislation in the Senate on Mondays.

Anti-abortion pamphlets at the entrance of Grace Reformed Baptist Church

In Oklahoma, politicians' close ties to the church are common. Most of the leaders here reflect the political and religious views of Senator Dusty Devers, while 80 percent of the legislators here are Republicans.

Dualist leadership in religion and politics is common in America's 'Bible Belt'. The region is home to at least nine states that are also known as Republican and Protestant states. In addition to Oklahoma, these states include Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Donald Trump won the 2017 presidential election due to the votes received from these states.

The Bible Belt is located in the southern part of the United States and is a political center for conservative Protestant leaders.

However, the center of this belt is Oklahoma. It is a religious state where 80 percent of politicians are Republicans.

Religion and patriotism play an important role in Oklahoma politics as conservative Christians feel that their traditional way of life is threatened by the liberal left.

The relationship between religion and politics

In a lengthy interview with the BBC, Dusty Devers stated that his political agenda is to end abortion and pornography and stop the collection of income and property taxes.

In the long run, however, Dusty Deavers wants to see America transform into a fully Christian country.

He said that an essential part of the strategy for this task is access to high-level political positions.

When asked if he wanted to turn the White House into the 'Kingdom of God', he said, 'Everything on earth is included in the Kingdom of God.'

"We need to change the leadership structure," he said.

Contrary to the opinion of the rest of the Bible Belt pastors, Dusty Devers feels that Donald Trump does not fully represent them.

Pastor Dusty Devers says the leadership structure in America needs to change

"Trump is pushing the Republican Party to the left," says Devers.

Working with Pastor Devers is Aaron Hofmannmil, a 37-year-old father of five daughters. He is currently preparing to become the pastor of a new Baptist church in Oklahoma - he believes that church cannot be separated from state.

Tears came to his eyes while talking about this, he said, "The people of America have forgotten the Messiah."

Trump prays with religious leaders in the Oval Office of the White House during his presidency

Political orders influenced by religion

Does this war of culture, religion and politics affect the lives of ordinary people?

Absolutely does.

In at least three states of the Bible Belt this year, political decisions were made on the basis of religion.

In Louisiana, schools were ordered to post specific Bible Ten Commandments on the walls of all classrooms.

The Supreme Court in Alabama ruled that frozen embryos are also 'children', prompting the temporary closure of some in vitro fertilization (IVF) clinics.

Recently, Oklahoma Superintendent Ryan Wolters made national news when he issued a controversial order in June that would require Bible instruction in all public schools in the state.

Oklahoma is among the states facing a severe teacher shortage. Many teachers strongly reacted to his order and said that it is against religious freedom.

Speaking to the BBC, Suzie Stephenson, a 44-year-old former primary school teacher, said: 'Church and state have to be separated.'

Susie Stephenson is a Protestant Christian. He criticized Ryan Wolters, a Christian Republican, who in May 2023 called the Oklahoma teachers union a "terrorist organization."

Ryan Wolters is an elected representative but refused to give an interview to the BBC.

Susie Stephenson quits her job as a teacher after Oklahoma makes Bible teaching mandatory in public schools.

Many parents are also dissatisfied with this decision of Ryan Wolters.

One of them is Erica Wright, founder of the Oklahoma Rural Schools Coalition. She is a Christian woman and has been voting for the Republican Party.

He said instead they should be worried about lack of funds in schools.

Erika told the BBC that many public schools in Oklahoma are underfunded and children in rural areas do not get nutritious meals at home.

Just south of the state capital, Oklahoma City, people have no homes to live in and are forced to live in trailer vans.

"People don't even have enough money to buy a Bible," Erica Wright said.

15 percent of Oklahoma's population lives in poverty. However, in some areas this rate is much higher.

University of Oklahoma professor Samuel Perry, who has written several books on politics and religion, believes that Ryan Wolters' order is part of a larger agenda.

They believe that extremist leaders are driving this agenda and want to promote the principles of Christian nationalism. This ideology aims to reconcile the daily lives of American citizens with Anglo-Protestant racist culture.

"Christian nationalism is a threat to American democracy," he said.

Pastor Jackson Lahmeier Says Trump Was 'Sent By God To Rule This Country'

By establishing small churches in the poorest communities, pastors in the Bible Belt have created a lot of fear for worshipers. There are many pastors who tend to lean toward the more conservative thinking of the Republican Party.

In recent years, Trump has become an excellent source of growth for a group of pastors called Pastors for Trump.

Oklahoma pastor Jackson Lehmeier is a Trump loyalist and founder of Pastors for Trump.

"Trump was sent by God to rule America," he said.

Their aim is to 'mobilize the religious vote bank' to support Trump in the next election.

The former president survived an assassination attempt at a political rally in July. Ko Lahmeier calls it 'a divine miracle'.

The BBC spoke on the phone to Pastor Jackson Lehmeier, who is also a former candidate for St. John's. "We were just one step away from civil war in our country," he said.

However, these Protestant clergy and political activists refuse to call themselves Christian nationalists.

He said that this is just a label that the media has put on us to present us as a threat to democracy. This is not true.

Pastor Paul Blair

Pastor Paul Blair, leader of Fairview Baptist Church in Edmond, an Oklahoma City suburb, agrees with Pastor Jackson Lehmeier.

Speaking to the BBC, he said, "Am I a Christian?" yes i am Am I a nationalist? yes i am But that does not mean that I am a Christian nationalist as these people want to make me out to be.

Pastor Paul Blair was also a candidate for the Oklahoma Senate. He was a professional football player for the Chicago Bears in the late 1980s and was known for his aggressive style.

Today, however, Pastor Blair is part of a country-wide group of local Protestant leaders who call themselves 'Patriotic Pastors'.

Pastor Blair is in charge of the 'Liberty Pastoral Training Camps' where Protestant leaders learn to promote their religious agenda in politics.

In these training camps, he says, pastors work on topics such as Christian influence in government or the defense of civil liberties. Think about doing.'

"Historically, Christians have always had an influence on the government," he says.

Blair believes that Trump was the legitimate winner of the 2020 election, while those who stormed the White House in January 2021 after his defeat are 'political prisoners'.

They hope that on November 5, Trump, who won Oklahoma with 65 percent of the vote (one of the largest majorities in the country) in the last election, will become the president of the United States for a second time.

This is the common hope of conservative Protestant political leaders in the Bible Belt who have a 'divine mission' to spread their beliefs using political power.

Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance have become the hallmarks of this political battle.

Donald Trump and Abortion

Trump appointed justices to the Supreme Court that led to a conservative majority. Many anti-abortion protesters have Trump to thank for that.

Trump's supporters credit him for, among other things, the historic appointment of three Supreme Court justices during his tenure that ensured a conservative majority on the nation's highest court for decades.

Thanks to this conservative majority, the Supreme Court in 2022 overturned a decision that had guaranteed abortion rights in the country for nearly half a century.

According to the 2022 ruling, states can legislate on abortion as they wish.

States such as Oklahoma and Arkansas have enacted strict abortion laws. Abortion is now allowed in these states only if the mother's life is in danger.

Critics, however, say it is too difficult for doctors to legally prove that a patient is eligible for such a discount.

Abortion is a key issue in the upcoming election because the Republican Party's most conservative faction, which is most powerful in the Bible Belt, would like to see a total ban on abortion. According to him, it may be possible to implement a complete ban on abortion when Trump returns to power.

However, many Christians consider former President Trump to be indifferent to deep religious values. They see him as someone who only wants to become a business tycoon in New York.

Despite these differences, however, Trump has opened the White House door to prominent conservative Protestant leaders during his administration. Trump still attends mass events with evangelical pastors.

'Trump is waging a spiritual war against the left'

Scores of Trump supporters, many with Bibles in hand, took to the streets in 2020, calling for their candidate to be declared victorious.

During his tenure, Trump signed an executive order to create a new government office called the Faith and Opportunity Initiative.

While signing the order, he said that "faith is more powerful than government and nothing is more powerful than God."

Later, when Trump lost the election in 2020, his supporters declared that the presidency had been stolen from him.

Many joined the newly formed far-right 'Reawaken America Tour' movement, co-founded by Oklahoma businessman Clay Clarke.

The movement still holds many events today, attended by evangelicals, gun rights supporters, anti-immigration, anti-LGBT rights and anti-communist activists. The events are attended by anyone who feels represented by Trump's statements.

Many believe that they are 'God's soldiers fighting a spiritual war against the left'.

Some of these ideas are included in Project 25, a controversial proposal by former Trump advisers to reform the federal government and key aspects of American life.

Although Trump has distanced himself from the plan, many believe that if he wins and returns to the White House, influential conservative and religious groups who support the initiative will try to impose the agenda on him. Will try.

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