RELS 390B - Tumblr Assignment

I have written 6 posts regarding current religious influence in politics. These posts are specifically chosen as it relates to RELS 390B class material.

[hannahmoha26]

Is 2020 really the year for America's first Jewish president? As Sanders and Bloomberg surge, here are their paths to victory. - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Bloomberg may prefer to face a democratic socialist and Sanders might like the prospect of running against a billionaire.

           We live in a time where many events in U.S history were thought would never happen at least during this era, but carried through. For instance, we experienced having the first African American president and we also experienced having female presidential candidates. We have seen Muslim congress members and we even saw legalized gay marriage in all 50 states. We have come such a long way, but we still have some more surprises in store for us.

          This election we have not one, but two Jewish members running for president. These two men, Bloomberg and Sanders, are said to have a good chance to appear on ballots in November according to this article provided by Jewish Telegraphic Agency. To refresh our memory from class lectures and readings, we learned that Jews occupy 2% of the US population and have a very successful community. America has been welcoming to the Jewish community compared to other religious minorities due to the injustices they have faced such as the Holocaust and their long-standing history in the US. We can see from their time in America, they have done a decent job in building up their community and co-existing with American values. For this reason, Jews have a home in the US with religious tolerance and have been able to thrive in regards to education and socio-economic status.

          Jews have historically been more liberal than conservative in terms of Politics. For instance, 78% voted for Obama in 2008 and 69% voted again for the re-election in 2012. With this in mind, we can have a good guess without knowing that Sanders and Bloomberg are indeed democrats. These two candidates are highly respected and said to make a mark in US politics for different reasons. Sanders is a highly attractive candidate for the American Jewish community that has been more progressive and liberal and who stands with left-wing activism. Whereas, Bloomberg becomes the top choice for others who are more concerned with protecting their assets and who identify closely with the right-wing position. Sanders has been especially popular in California taken that it is more of a liberal state filled with progressive citizens. He is a common name mentioned on university campuses all throughout California and has been a favorite within social activists and the LGBTQ+ community. On the other hand, Bloomberg has made a lasting impression among Jewish citizens across the US taken that he is a former mayor of NY and a successful billionaire funding his own campaign. Many Americans are interested in a candidate with the ability and financial resources to persevere and beat Trump which arguably gives Bloomberg an advantage.

          Within my own circle, Bernie Sanders has definitely been the preference of my friends but Bloomberg has been the top pick of the older folks in my life as they have ruled him to be more realistic in his expectations. I’m unsure what America is ready for at this time, is the country ready for a liberal progressive Jewish President or are we ready for a conservative Jew that will take care of our personal assets during uncertain times? Maybe the honest question is: are we even ready for a Jewish president all together?

[hannahmoha26]

Americans' Views on Trump, Religion and Politics

White evangelicals largely see Trump as fighting for their beliefs and advancing their interests, and they feel their side generally has been winning recently on political matters important to them.

           It is embarrassing to admit, but before this class, I was completely ignorant when it came to politics. I sat back and did not understand anything related to US politics, but would occasionally chime in and share my views on the current president. I hated when people would say that people who don't vote shouldn’t even have an opinion or share their thoughts, but I’m here now sharing my thoughts about our current president. I might not have voted for the last election when I had the chance to, but now I am more educated and definitely have the intention to vote for this upcoming election.

         Before taking this class, I never understood how politics worked, but one thing that really boggled my mind was how on earth did Trump win? My bias is showing right now, but I really thought his crazy and discriminatory comments were empirical to everyone. Each person that I came in contact with always commented on how they thought he was never going to win and that he was an absolute racist. Now that this semester is almost done and that we have experienced enough class readings and lectures, I finally understand the different dynamics that took place for this man to be president. My mind was a bit narrow back then and my exposure to the world outside was limited. First off, I only accounted for what I was hearing, I never accounted for all the various states in the U.S including the southern states. Also, I did not account for how prominent religion played in politics.

         In this article, he speaks mainly on what we covered in class regarding evangelical protestants being such a huge part of Trump’s support base. One aspect of the article that I found interesting is that, most Americans do not see Trump as a religious person and have mixed emotions about his morality and if he truly practices what he preaches rather they care more about him standing up for their religious beliefs. One argument that I’ve heard to combat this argument is that it doesn’t matter what Trump does in his own time or his character, what matters more is that he passes laws and stands up for religious beliefs because that will affect the population as a whole.

         This article also brings up the point that many protestant Christians and Catholics are loyal republicans and see Trump as a source that will keep Christianity alive in America and restore Christian values in the country. It mentions how they see Christianity declining specifically because of, “more permissive attitudes about sexual behavior and sexuality in popular culture”. This makes sense that many Christians would want a president who has strict views on limiting anything to do with sexual behavior such as abortions and the services provided by organizations like Planned Parenthood that respond and advocate for safe sex behaviors. There are many aspects that played part in Trump’s rise to the presidency that I did not mention, but these are important factors to understand the influence he has in politics. Knowing that the numbers don’t lie and considering the huge support system he has in place and who have been loyal to him throughout the years, should we even be surprised at this point?

[hannahmoha26]

         This month was a very important one in terms of politics and the future of this nation. The third of this month was the presidential primary election. Being a college student, there was so much coverage on the primary election in lectures, class readings, posters and people handing out flyers on campus. I could not help, but to consume all the news I was receiving from school and the media.

         I shared a video clip of the Daily Aztecs in Downtown, San Diego where they participated in watching Bernie Sanders kick off his California campaign. It was quite nice to know that because of his huge support in San Diego, he made this city his first stop. As we see in the video, many SDSU students and San Diegans are huge supporters of Bernie and share with us how his views are progressive and liberal and what the nation needs to move in the right direction. San Diego State University as a campus has a huge following for Bernie Sanders which has gained him the majority vote among students. We might ask how come? Why is Bernie winning out all the other candidates when it comes to SDSU and several universities throughout California? One reason might be because college students tend to be more progressive and liberal and many tend to be members of the “nones” group.

         In class, we learned that most “nones” tend to be college-educated, young, more liberal, and a bit removed from the beliefs on traditional marriage and wanting children. Bernie Sanders is a huge appeal to this crowd because his views are very liberal compared to the other candidates. Bernie is the complete opposite of Trump when it comes to what he stands for. He supports gay marriages, the right to have an abortion and stands for women having control over their own bodies, affordable housing, and that college tuition should be free. The list goes on and on of his unpopular views among the candidates, but quite popular in the “none” category. Now, we can understand on one extend of why Bernie is such a popular choice within SDSU students and other university students within the state.

         I’m not the one to speak about politics much or share my opinion, but Bernie has been pretty likable and would serve in our favor. He appeals to crowds that have been disenfranchised and continues to receive the short end of the stick and makes women feel acknowledged and respected. In lecture and in assigned readings, we learn that the majority of the U.S population constitutes Christian evangelicals which we know by now have been Trump’s main support base. It has helped him win an election not only by the voters but because many evangelicals are government officials. Knowing this, does this outweigh all the support we have been hearing about the college favorite, Bernie, and all the other Democratic candidates? We have yet to know. As I have mentioned, I have never been interested in politics, but this election and the result of being more educated and having awareness has made me not skip a beat with all of this. Although many of us might think this month has been an intense one, we are going to be pleasantly surprised and potentially not prepared for what is yet to come. 

[hannahmoha26]

         In class readings, chapter 3 of Religion and Politics in America: Faith, Culture, and Strategic Choices we learned about the major non-christian religions in the United States. The chapter addresses faiths such as Judaism and Islam. This video I discovered on YouTube brings light to islamophobia in the United States and the anti-muslim rhetoric expressed by populists such as President Donald Trump. The video demonstrates how difficult it is to be in a position of power if you are not a part of the Christian faith. In the video, we see Trump make offensive comments to Muslim politicians such as Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and states that if she does not like it here, she can go back to Somalia although she has earned her right as an American citizen.

          The chapter also highlights that ever since September 11, 2001, Muslims have been working endlessly to repair their representation and have been fighting false perceptions that most Muslims are anti-American and terrorists. It was difficult to watch the amount of hate collected towards Muslims from the segments shared in the video. Omar along with all the other U.S Muslim representatives have to face constant ugly stereotypical comments about their background and their own religion. Due to the unfortunate circumstances, it seems like certain minority religions such as Islam will be at a constant disadvantage in U.S politics.

         This discourse personally affects me as I grew up with a Muslim upbringing and hold the last name Mohammed which has shown me through life experiences that it is a very powerful and distinct name to have in this country. Regardless of my experience of being here since the summer of ‘03 and not identifying myself as a Muslim, the first thing people see is my last name and sometimes that’s all that matters to them. It is rhetoric like this that continues the effect of islamophobia to carry a life of its own and that teaches young children that all Muslims are bad.

         Instead of celebrating the diversity in Congress, President Trump has targeted muslim individuals to further his agenda. I believe that if diversity was celebrated this would enhance political campaigns, but then again we learn time and time again that racism always rises up in one form or another. To use words like “Muslim ban” and to have such things in effect only creates more hostility that is likely to hurt the country as we see in the video of the terrorist using Donald Trump’s name in his manifesto. Of course, it is easier said than done to create a co-existence between all faiths in the U.S and to wish that we can re-set our minds to erase any prejudice we have towards others, but the reality is that it is HERE.

         I honestly don’t have the perfect solution and don’t necessarily know where I can start with the agency that I have. So I pose the questions to you all, what are ways that we can dismantle islamophobia other than confronting ignorant comments? What can we do? My hope is that from class lectures and readings along with this whole semester of actively trying to stay up on world events and politics, I will be able to know how to exercise my agency and rights to create a new narrative for immigrants and minorities in this country. I cannot speak for everyone and probably can’t march in millions, but my word may leave a lasting impression on the youth ahead.

[hannahmoha26]

Among Democrats, Christians lean toward Biden, while ‘nones’ prefer Sanders

Early indications are that candidate preferences by religion will be familiar in November – and closely linked to each group’s party leanings.

         Professor Whitaker shared this article in class several weeks ago and thought it would be a great opportunity to tie in what we have learned in lecture and readings so far. This article written by Lipka and Smith examines what the presidential election this year will look like among the various religious groups. The authors examine groups such as Protestants, Catholics, Jewish, and the unaffiliated sanction. The statistics shared from a national survey administered by Pew Research Center that was conducted this past January showed that although the majority of Protestants and white evangelicals are voting for Trump, a good percentage of them are starting to drift into the democratic party. Protestants and Catholics leaning towards the democratic side identified Joe Biden as their first choice whereas the religious unaffiliated Democrats are shifting to Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren as their primary choice.

         During lecture, Professor Whitaker mentioned that the white evangelical serves as the base for Trump's support and that they are his targets and we can gather from the statistics of this national survey, it truly shows that he has been executing his plan accordingly on marketing himself to his desired crowd. White evangelical Protestants stated that they will definitely vote for Trump (59%) or probably will vote for Trump (17%) and a total of 79% of them said they will be relieved or excited if he wins reelection.

         As far as we can see, Trump is still winning the majority vote taken that the United States' main religious groups are protestant and white evangelicals. In lecture, we learned that liberals “left” and nones are more focused on social justice issues and we see this demonstrated as they are primarily voting for Bernie Sanders whose campaign is strongly associated with social justice issue and equality rights vs. Trump who has highlighted the importance of the Christian faith. We discussed in class that the more progressive and liberal movement has been declining, because they have been more directly involved in social issues instead of politics and have not been focusing on the evangelical aspect of making their forces stronger in politics. This is a huge weakness of there’s if they want to see a different result this November. Political problems and laws and social justice issues are hand in hand which means that involvement in both is necessary to see lasting changes.

         In the last election, I’ll admit that I was young and ignorant with zero interest in politics. Now, I’m much more aware and actually can appreciate what is going on in American politics. This article gave me useful information on what to expect this election along with which candidates are trending. A part of me feels incredibly small and useless, but I’m learning in this course that unity and making forces stronger is what influences politics. History has a chance to either repeat itself IF people choose not to do be active and create a new narrative. I’m having a hard time figuring out what stage we are in right now.

[hannahmoha26]

Trump fights to keep evangelicals on his side ahead of 2020

Recent, high-profile defections have left the president and his campaign spooked about losing a key component of his base

         I came across this interesting article as I was having my daily dose of news on the internet. It appealed to me because it mentioned many concepts we learned in class this week about evangelicalism. In Greve’s article, “Trump Fights to Keep Evangelicals on His Side Ahead of 2020″ written for The Guardian, the consistent attempts President Trump has made to keep his past followers in support of him for this upcoming election was brought to light.

         Evangelicals have been faithful supporters of Trump since 2016, but have been slowly dwindling away due to some acts he has committed in office that have been characterized as indecent. The editor-in-chief for a popular evangelical magazine called Christianity Today, accused Trump of being “profoundly immoral” and committing “a violation of the constitution” by reaching out to Ukraine to dig up some dirt on Joe Biden. Trump retaliated on Twitter and created controversy which is not unusual behavior for the president as it has been demonstrated time and time again in his time in office. Trump attacked Christianity Today and labeled it as a “far left magazine” who would choose a “Radical Left nonbeliever” in the White House. The president’s attempt to defend himself did not serve him well as many people were in support of Christianity Today including other evangelical news sources. Trump’s team took note of this decline in supporters and immediately took action by announcing that he would be holding an event to launch “Evangelicals for Trump”. Nevertheless, many of the lasting Trump supporters have written letters affirming their support for Trump and their interest in seeing him win another election. 

         Greve also brings to our attention that the president has impacted the political system by attracting many young conservatives who are willing to do whatever it takes to fight against abortion and LGBTQ+ rights. The author concludes her article by sharing a message stated by Christianity Today which emphasizes on Trump’s flawed moral history and to warn evangelicals to consider their justification for Trump in regards to their Lord and Savior. This article highlights many important evangelical distinctions we discussed in class lecture such as their strong faith in Jesus, the need for moral urgency, the regulation and laws to protect from human sin, and the need for continuous support to survive in the American marketplace. This is a common thread placed throughout this article. For instance, it mentions the criticism against Trump as being “immoral” which is treated as a problem because it does not align with the evangelical code of ethics. The continuous topic of the ban on abortion and gay rights is focused greatly in politics on the evangelical side since they see it as sinful acts that need to be regulated by the people to make sure that America stays pure. Lastly, the author brings up the announcement from Christianity Today that stresses the importance of morality and their Lord and Savior which is the very message that evangelicalism is based on. 

          I could say that I am not a religious person and would rather prefer to sit on the sidelines when it comes to evangelicalism and their presence in politics, but the truth of the matter is that it does impact my life regardless if I would prefer to be ignorant and turn the other cheek. The article mentions that a quarter of the US circuit court judges are relentless young conservatives ready to take down abortion and gay rights which means that if Trump supporters grow and spread, I might be restricted to follow evangelical beliefs that I don’t align with because they were turned into legal laws. This scares me. This makes me realize that there is no such thing as being silent without being indirectly affected.