Brief blurts about tribes and tribalism — Robert P. Jones (2nd of 3 about Christian evangelical tribalism)

“But the race also cast important light on the state of white evangelical political ethics. It provided further confirmation that white evangelical Protestants have exchanged principles for partisanship, and political ethics for tribal loyalty. …
“First and foremost, evangelical support for Trump and Moore is strong evidence of the power of negative partisanship. There is a growing mountain of evidence in political science that what drives partisanship in the US is not a love for one’s own party, but a hatred of the other party. …

“The pull of partisan tribalism is so strong, in fact, that it often creates two separate realities. …

“Partisan tribalism has now fully turned evangelicals’ political ethics on its head. …

“As recently as 2011, PRRI polling suggested that character still counted among white evangelicals when evaluating candidates. When asked whether a candidate who had committed an immoral act in their private life could nonetheless behave ethically and perform their duties in their public life, only 30 percent of white evangelicals agreed this was possible. But when this question was asked again in 2017, with Donald Trump at the top of the ticket, a whopping 72 percent of white evangelicals agreed.”

http://billmoyers.com/story/alabama-election-confirms-what-now-counts-for-white-evangelicals-in-politics/