蜜桃传媒

Dr. Diane Winston, who delivered our 6th Annual Wolfe Lecture on Religion and American Politics, began her lecture with a joke about a pastor and politician in heaven. After the joke found a lot of laughs in the audience, Winston revealed that the joke was a favorite of Reagan鈥檚, and she used it to segue into an interesting discussion about the role of religion in Reagan鈥檚 political vision. Winston highlighted the ways in which Christianity was an important element of Reagan鈥檚 campaign, while also showing that it was used in a very different way than it has been by Donald Trump in recent years. Winston focused on the religious imaginary that each president crafted during their time in office. She noted that America has always had an implicit or explicit religious imaginary, but different presidents have taken this on in different ways. Reagan鈥檚 religious imaginary portrayed the United States as a shining city upon a hill blessed by God, and the apex of the blessing can be seen in the individual economic freedoms of daily life. Reagan also used cosmic language in speeches (e.g. calling Russians evil for being totalitarian). Winston noted that the news media normalized this extreme language by circulating his rhetoric. Similarly, Trump鈥檚 divisive rhetoric of white supremacy dominates the news cycle. However, Trump鈥檚 language and use of the Christian imagination has become radicalized and oriented toward stirring hatred against members of our own country. While many journalists are not buying into these harmful ideas, they are spreading the messaging and forcing it into the mainstream. An imaginary that in Reagan鈥檚 time was marked by broad platitudes about the exceptional freedom of the United States is now marked by statements about individuals within who are 鈥減oisoning the blood of our country.鈥澛�

Winston鈥檚 thought-provoking lecture sparked many questions from the audience. For example, one gentleman asked about the seemingly paradoxical solidarity of the radically individualistic MAGA movement. Winston responded by outlining Trump supporters鈥� sense of shared connection about these individualistic beliefs. The rich question-and-answer session demonstrated the interest of the crowd in the role of the religious imaginary in American society.