Congregations and Households Are Divided Over Trump
Moore has extensive experience speaking up for what he believes is right. The former chief ethicist for the Southern Baptist Convention received criticism for opposing Trump early on.
Over the last five years, the climate at churches nationwide has become polarized and divided. Topics such as how church leadership handled COVID-19 protocols, racial reconciliation, and politics grew greater chasms between church members and friends.
Todd reflected on the 2016 election:
Many came down on the side of, “Well, if the choice is between Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton, Donald Trump will appoint the judges that I like.” You seem to indicate after Donald Trump announced his reelection plans after the November 2022 midterms that you didn’t sense a divide anymore in the evangelical community, that politically they’re all in. Do you still sense that?
“One of the most dismaying aspects of the Trump years is the fact that Donald Trump is at the center of everything,” Moore answered. “Almost every congregation that I know is either divided or tense about these sorts of political controversies coming out of the Trump years.”
Moore continued, “Almost every family that I know has people who don’t speak to each other anymore about this personality and this figure.”
Russell Moore Looks to the 2024 Election
With the 2024 election quickly approaching, Todd asked about the possibility of other conservative candidates and surmised that few were wanting to make a “character case against the former president.”
“We’re not just choosing what kind of entertainment we’re going to have for the next six years,” Moore said. “We’re talking about the direction of the country. And we’re talking about what our children are seeing and potentially will replicate.”
Todd asked if there was any chance of Moore supporting Trump in the future. “Well, I can’t speak for all evangelicals. I can only speak for myself,” answered Moore. He then quoted a portion of Matthew 5:37, “And Jesus said, ‘Let your yes be yes and your no be no.’ I’ll let my never [be] never.”
