Why Evangelicals voted for Trump: religious persecution
nytimes.com
nytimes.com
Because evangelical groups have been very vocal about each of those claims for a very long time.
1. America as a "Christian nation": partly true, due to settlers being mostly Puritans seeking shelter from religious persecution. Ex: Harvard created by Puritans
2. Evangelical power grab: Yes, they might have infiltrated the government. Watch a Netflix documentary called “The Family” based on an insider’s investigation.
3. Religious persecution: from varied, unconventional sources (not from mainstream liberal media)- Christianity is the most persecuted religion internationally (in terms of gravity of consequences): beheadings, incarceration, beatings, etc. The US still has it easy.
Although Evangelicals sometimes wanders off from mainline Christianity, their points are not exactly without merit.
Trump: not religious, mostly respects human life, fits well with prosperity theology, promises to stop bringing in people who really hate Christians
Hillary: not religious, barely respects human life, fits OK with prosperity theology, promises to bring in more people who really hate Christians
If you were an evangelical Christian, wouldn't that be an easy decision? The negatives would be painful, but the balance of attributes clearly points one way.