A week later, the motivation and political leanings of Trump’s would-be assassin remain an enigma even to the nation’s top investigators. Yet it was only hours after Tom Crooks fired an AR-15 and grazed the now-nominee’s ear when prominent conservatives took to X to blame the act of political violence on Trump critics.
Among the first and most ferocious finger-pointers was J.D. Vance, who is officially the Republican vice presidential candidate. “The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”
Pretty sanctimonious for someone who himself called Trump “America’s Hitler.” Pretty off-base, too, considering how supportive of political violence Vance’s party actually is—particularly Trump supporters (41%) and white evangelical Protestants (31%). And then there are, of course, the countless examples of Trump and supporters using explicitly violent rhetoric against journalists, immigrants, elected officials, protestors, women, the LGBTQ community, school employees, and democracy.
There’s no doubt this kind of divisive rhetoric has contributed to today’s political polarization and a growing acceptance of political violence. But history tells us blaming words is a slippery slope toward censorship. And bothsideism falsely equates calls for civic engagement with calls for a civil war.
American Atheists, like most Americans, condemns political violence. But criticism is not inherently violent, and dissent is democratic. We strongly reject the characterization of resistance as something to be suppressed. In fact, more than ever before, we believe it’s vital for non-Christian Americans to exercise our constitutional rights.
Before the events of last weekend, Trump was already seen as the messianic leader by members of a conspiratorial cult. Now, the religious fervor surrounding him has reached an all-time high. His survival has been called a “miracle” and “divine intervention.” The belief that God has chosen Trump has escaped the fringe and entered the mainstream as a bonafide talking point.
“Integrating” one’s personal religious beliefs into “a governing agenda,” as Vance proposed at the Republican National Convention this week is bad enough. But the reverse—wrapping a political candidate and/or a party’s platform in religiosity—is just as, if not more, dangerous. As we atheists know, little good comes from debating a person whose only source is the infallible word of God. “Trump the Martyr” is a victim, not an inciter, of political violence. “Trump the Saint” cannot be judged by mere mortals. Don’t believe this gospel? Heretic! Blasphemer!
Trump’s canonization and the vilification of his critics could have a chilling effect on free speech, but we mustn’t let it. Because our secular democracy is absolutely at stake in November’s election. That was true before July 13th, and it remains so now. The policies proposed by the Heritage Foundation and other religious extremist groups do, in fact, explicitly threaten to “take down the education system as we know it” and eliminate—not just erode—the separation between religion and government, which is a “myth” and a “misnomer” in Christian nationalist lore.
Earlier this week, in a legally questionable endorsement, three of the men overseeing the “overhaul” of Oklahoma public schools’ social studies standards called this year’s election a spiritual battle against secularism, writing: “The election ahead is more than a political contest; it is our opportunity to affirm our commitment to our nation’s Judeo-Christian values… [Trump’s] vision to ‘make America great again’ is not just a political slogan but a call to restore America’s Christian heritage… Let this be our call to arms…”
So, let that be our call to action: Help us do even more by setting up a recurring monthly gift of $10 or $20 today. With your support, American Atheists will continue boldly sounding the alarm about Christian nationalism, and we won’t waver in our effort to defend and advance the rights of nonreligious Americans.
In solidarity,
Melina Cohen
Communications Director
American Atheists is a 501(c)(3) non-partisan, nonprofit educational organization that relies on the support of members like you. Contributions are tax-deductible. Our Federal Tax ID Number is 74-2466507 and our Combined Federal Campaign number is 52217.
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