tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/evangelcals-63203/articlesEvangelcals – The Conversation2020-10-13T13:25:33Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1468162020-10-13T13:25:33Z2020-10-13T13:25:33ZAppealing to evangelicals, Trump uses religious words and references to God at a higher rate than previous presidents<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362786/original/file-20201010-23-a8u26s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C17%2C3976%2C2622&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Reading material or preparing a speech?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/president-donald-trump-holds-up-a-bible-outside-of-st-johns-news-photo/1216826602?adppopup=true">Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Speaking from the hospital while undergoing treatment for COVID-19, Donald Trump <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-physician-provide-details-about-president-s-covid-19-condition-n1241973">faced the camera and touted therapeutics</a> that “look like miracles coming down from God.”</p>
<p>The choice of words shouldn’t come as a surprise. President Trump has
used religious language at a higher rate than any president from the last 100 years. I know this because <a href="https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/8484/2547">I have analyzed 448 major public addresses</a> by every president from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Trump for their use of both religious terms and explicit references to God. What I found was the current president uses them at much higher rates than any predecessor. Furthermore, his use of religious language has increased during his presidency.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://cerihughes.com/">scholar of political communications</a>, I believe Trump’s evolving use of religion in speeches fits into a strategy to appeal to an important part of his voting base: religious conservatives.</p>
<h2>Evangelical support</h2>
<p>In the 2016 election, Trump won <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/11/09/how-the-faithful-voted-a-preliminary-2016-analysis/">overwhelming support from the white evangelical</a> community. This in itself was not a shock, as the constituency typically votes Republican. But perhaps more surprising was the fact that he received a higher percentage of the white evangelical vote than <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/11/09/how-the-faithful-voted-a-preliminary-2016-analysis/">any previous presidential candidate</a>. Meanwhile, despite his <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/203198/presidential-approval-ratings-donald-trump.aspx">low overall approval ratings</a>, white evangelicals have <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2017/12/07/stark-partisan-divisions-over-russia-probe-including-its-importance-to-the-nation/">largely remained loyal in their level of support</a>.</p>
<p>Trump’s policy agenda is largely in line with many white evangelicals’ priorities, such as his support for <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2020-09-25/trump-supreme-court-pick-barrett-known-for-conservative-religious-views">installing conservative justices</a> on the Supreme Court and <a href="https://www.newsday.com/news/nation/president-trump-celebrates-traditional-values-with-conservatives-1.14453564">promoting the evangelical worldview</a> of the “traditional” family.</p>
<p>Yet, while his agenda in these areas no doubt accounts for much of this continued loyalty, his communications have also played an important role.</p>
<h2>Tweeting the God word</h2>
<p><a href="https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/8484/2547">My research</a> suggests that President Trump seems to have developed a rhetorical style to appeal to this constituency.</p>
<p>To examine how Trump compares with his predecessors in terms of the language he uses, I looked at the frequency of 111 religious words and phrases established by <a href="https://www.abebooks.com/book-search/isbn/0195326415/">previous researchers</a> to have, religious – specifically Christian – meaning. These included “pray,” “church” and “bless” and also variations of each term such as “prayer,” “praying” and “prayers.” </p>
<p>Within this list were specific “God” terms which consisted of nine explicit references to the Christian God: for example “God,” “Lord” and “Supreme Being.”</p>
<p>In the presidential speeches I examined, Trump used 7.3 religious terms per thousand words of speech – far higher than any other president from the last 100 years. In fact it was more than double the average rate of 3.5 terms per thousand used by presidents in general. Similarly, explicit mentions of “God” by Trump came at a rate of 1.4 per thousand words – almost three times the average of 0.55. </p>
<p>The average length of presidential speeches in the archive was around 3,000 words, with each speech containing on average 10 religious terms and one or two specific mentions of God. Trump’s speeches were similar in length but contained on average 22 religious terms and four mentions of God.</p>
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<p>President Trump also has the speech with the highest rate of use of religious terms: an address following a 2017 <a href="https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-shootings-las-vegas-nevada">Las Vegas mass shooting</a>. That national address contained 52 religious terms per thousand words – although I would note that it was a short speech, only 754 words long. Other presidential speeches following national tragedies – such as the 1986 Challenger disaster, Hurricane Katrina and the deaths of previous presidents – had a relatively high rate of nine religious terms per thousand words. Yet Trump’s Las Vegas speech is still over five times the average rate for these types of national addresses.</p>
<p>I <a href="https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/12691/3220">also examined</a> Trump’s main form of campaign communications: rally speeches and tweets. Looking for the same religious terms and “God” variants, I reviewed 175 rally speeches from June 2016 up to the November 2018 midterms and more than 30,000 tweets from @realDonaldTrump dating from 2009 to November 2017, when Twitter changed the character limit allowed on its messages.</p>
<p>I found that in the 2016 primary campaign, there was almost no religious language in his speeches. Notably, for example, he did not use the almost obligatory presidential speech conclusion asking God to “bless America.” But once he became the official Republican nominee, he sharply increased his use of religious language, and has maintained that high frequency into his presidency.</p>
<p>Interestingly, in speeches in states <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/02/29/how-religious-is-your-state/">with a more religious population</a> he used significantly more religious language than in more secular states. In the most religious states, such as Mississippi and Texas, Trump used on average 1.7 religious and 0.36 God terms per thousand words. In the least religious states, like New Hampshire and Maine, these figures were 1.2 and 0.24.</p>
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<p>Trump’s prolific tweeting yields some interesting insights. Prior to his inauguration, citizen Trump used just 1.2 religious terms and 0.19 God terms per thousand words in tweets. Yet, President Trump tweets at a rate of 3.2 religious terms and 0.60 God terms per thousand words of tweets – triple his previous rate.</p>
<p>It is unknown how much of Trump’s speeches are written by him personally and how much are simply ad-libbed. Similarly, we don’t know with certainty which tweets are written by Trump personally and which by his staff – a <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/07/09/739906562/u-s-appeals-court-rules-trump-violated-first-amendment-by-blocking-twitter-follo?t=1601302947323">2017 First Amendment case</a> confirmed that Trump writes most but not all of his tweets. Whatever the truth, both forms of communication are presented as coming from President Trump.</p>
<h2>Finding his faith?</h2>
<p>My data shows that President Trump has significantly changed how he uses religious language in communications.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>Why this is the case is unclear. Some supporters, such as evangelical leader James Dobson, argue that Trump is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/26/us/politics/a-born-again-donald-trump-believe-it-evangelical-leader-says.html">finding his faith</a>. And it could be that these findings reflect an increasing importance of religion to Trump personally.</p>
<p>Cynics may argue that my data are more reflective of how politically important to him the religious right community is.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/146816/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ceri Hughes does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Trump uses more religious terms in his set-piece addresses than any other president in the last 100 years.Ceri Hughes, Knight Research Fellow of Communication and Civic Renewal, University of Wisconsin-MadisonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1332242020-03-18T21:21:03Z2020-03-18T21:21:03ZHow strong a role does religion play in US elections?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321281/original/file-20200318-37407-77y4v9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C30%2C2048%2C1272&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Joe Biden at McKinley Elementary School in Des Moines, Iowa. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flickr.com/photos/tabor-roeder/49331527821/in/photolist-2iafYx8-9wGwJJ-2iEAYWc-2ieZWHo-dhWfEE-dhWfK3-5pR7Gk-2ivodQE-2h46nqc-29XvNv9-7f6MAn-2if4udv-2if4uzN-2itnDgh-2if14oN-2if1533-2h1heYp-ch6i4y-ch6i1J-2if3t3F-2itnDqL-2gY4K1q-2gv9Ld7-2gX99DF-2itnDm2-5praP8-2h88ZgH-2h88Z4D-2gvUMxt-2gX86fh-2gX8oNP-2gZdqwr-2h88Yf4-mHfN3-mHfJr-2ioq3BS-2h88eRW-2h88YSb-2iah7nv-2h46mCL-5vfQh4-mHfPo-e3q1ox-2h45LXy-2h45AmP-2h46wXZ-2gY4KgA-2gY3Xtc-2iah8sb-f731Vs">Phil Roeder/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On March 17, Joe Biden took firm control of the Democratic nomination process, winning primaries Florida, Illinois and Arizona by significant margins. The ongoing coronavirus epidemic is in part responsible, having <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/12/us/politics/coronavirus-2020-campaign.html">reshaped votors’ worries and expectations</a>, but the role played by religion in Biden’s resurrection should not be overlooked.</p>
<p>Indeed, Biden’s comeback began in South Carolina, where his win gave much-needed momentum for Super Tuesday. In that state, black voters make up a <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/02/25/democratic-presidential-hopefuls-need-support-black-voters-sc-biden-steyer-buttigieg-warren/4867208002/">majority of the Democratic electorate</a>. So it is no surprise that all the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/warren-works-to-overcome-hurdles-with-black-voters-in-sc/2019/08/18/e311f94c-c1e0-11e9-9986-1fb3e4397be4_story.html">Democratic presidential candidates</a>, including <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaP9U5oGEaQ">Bernie Sanders</a>, <a href="https://religionnews.com/2019/08/20/as-democrats-vie-for-african-american-votes-the-black-church-is-paying-attention/">flocked to African-American churches</a> before the primary.</p>
<p>Black Americans, who are <a href="https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/464680-poll-overwhelming-majority-of-black-voters-choose-any-given-2020-democrat-over">largely Democrats</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/04/us/politics/on-politics-biden-super-tuesday.html">older and less liberal</a>, are the most religious group: <a href="https://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/racial-and-ethnic-composition/">83%say they believe in God</a> (compared with 61%of whites). They are also more likely to attend church and pray.</p>
<h2>Greater presense of religion in American life</h2>
<p>Even outside the African American community, the American people as a whole continue to <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/09/05/u-s-adults-are-more-religious-than-western-europeans/">stand out for their religiosity</a>:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://www.statista.com/chart/17865/daily-prayer-worldwide/">55% say they pray regularly</a> (compared to about 10% in France and 6% in the UK).</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/268205/americans-believe-god.aspx">87% say they believe in God</a>.</p></li>
<li><p>56% say they believe in God <a href="https://www.pewforum.org/2018/04/25/when-americans-say-they-believe-in-god-what-do-they-mean/">“as described in the Bible”</a>.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>In other words, Americans are still far <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/07/31/americans-are-far-more-religious-than-adults-in-other-wealthy-nations/">more religious than people in any other wealthy nation</a>.</p>
<h2>A match between a secular socialist and a centrist Catholic</h2>
<p>Of all of the presidential candidates, Bernie Sanders is probably the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2016/04/14/politics/bernie-sanders-religion/index.html">least religious</a>. He identifies himself as both <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/bernie-sanders-the-devout-secular-jew-b3575b13c5d3/">Jewish and secular</a>, does not participate in any <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/bernie-sanders-finally-answers-the-god-question/2016/01/26/83429390-bfb0-11e5-bcda-62a36b394160_story.html">organized religion</a> and defends the <a href="https://secular.org/2019/05/senator-bernie-sanders-on-separation-of-church-and-state/">separation of church and state</a>.</p>
<p>Sanders has a political vision of religion. He connects religious beliefs in general, and his Jewish heritage in particular, to <a href="https://feelthebern.org/bernie-sanders-on-religion-and-beliefs/">social and economic justice</a>. He often <a href="https://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/the-old-and-new-socialism-of-bernie-sanders-should-catholics-support-it">praises Pope Francis</a>, and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2016/02/22/exclusive-watch-bernie-sanders-call-pope-francis-a-socialist/">calls him a socialist</a>.</p>
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<p>But the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/4/26/18306125/white-identity-politics-trump-racism-ashley-jardina">rise and success of identity politics</a> suggests that <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/03/07/why-bernie-sanders-economic-message-isnt-enough-to-win-over-black-voters-118197">race or religion may matter more</a> than economic justice.</p>
<h2>Sharing faith, making connections</h2>
<p>Joe Biden’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/15/us/politics/biden-busing.html">record on race</a> may be great, but he was vice president to the first black president, Barack Obama. Contrary to Sanders, he has not been talking about religion but rather about his faith. And he has done so not in political terms but in emotional and personal terms. For instance in a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/26/politics/joe-biden-pastor-charleston-church-shooting/index.html">town hall meeting in South Carolina</a>, he was able to connect with an African American pastor whose wife was killed by a white supremacist by sharing personal tragedy: the loss of his own wife and daughter in 1972 and his son in 2015.</p>
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</figure>
<p>By building an empathetic bond with voters, he also avoids taking pointed positions on controversial issues such as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/29/us/politics/biden-abortion-rights.html">abortion</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/20/us/politics/lgbt-forum-2020.html">same-sex marriage</a>. This seems to be working: he is the only Democratic candidate considered “rather religious” by more than half of American adults (<a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/02/27/most-americans-dont-see-democratic-candidates-as-very-religious/">55 percent</a>).</p>
<p>While expressing genuine grief, he has turned his sorrow and pain into political assets, having no qualms about using them in this campaign ad, for example, where he says almost word for word what he expressed in the CNN town hall interview with the pastor.</p>
<p>He won <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/black-voters-know-what-they-want-tuesday-it-was-joe-n1151001">65% of the most religious black voters</a> in South Carolina as well as a good size of the religious white voters (<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/south-carolina-primary-election-live-updates-stream-2020-02-29/">43% compared to 16% for Buttigieg and 14% for Sanders</a>).</p>
<h2>Religion in Congress</h2>
<p>If you have doubts about the relevance of religion in politics in the United States, just look at the US governing bodies. The 116th American Congress is more diversified on the religious level, but remains overwhelmingly Christian (<a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/01/03/5-facts-about-the-religious-makeup-of-the-116th-congress/">88% against 71% of the adult American population</a>).</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319192/original/file-20200308-118913-1cieykf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319192/original/file-20200308-118913-1cieykf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319192/original/file-20200308-118913-1cieykf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319192/original/file-20200308-118913-1cieykf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319192/original/file-20200308-118913-1cieykf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=659&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319192/original/file-20200308-118913-1cieykf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=659&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319192/original/file-20200308-118913-1cieykf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=659&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">PF FaithOnHill political makeup px.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Only one elected representative, <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2013/01/03/first-member-of-congress-describes-religion-as-none">Senator Kyrsten Sinema</a> (Democrat of Arizona), claims to be nonreligious and no member describes themselves as an <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/congress-atheists-representation_n_5c2f9b03e4b0bdd0de588425?ri18n=true&guccounter=1">atheist</a>. Even someone as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/13/nyregion/ocasio-cortez-democrats-congress.html">far to the left</a> as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez mentions <a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2018/06/27/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-her-catholic-faith-and-urgency-criminal">her Catholic faith in Congress</a> and even <a href="https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1088200188089565184">quotes the Bible on social networks</a>.</p>
<h2>Religion in the White House</h2>
<p>Religiosity is even more <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9781403977717">visible in the White House</a>. US presidents have been invoking faith and God ever since George Washington expressed his “fervent pleas to this Almighty Being who rules the universe” in his <a href="https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/inaugural-address-16">1789 inaugural address</a>. Moreover, <a href="https://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195326413.001.0001/acprof-9780195326413">scholars observe</a> that the use of religious language and even explicit references to God have increased in presidential rhetoric since the 1980s. For example, <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?redir_esc=y&hl=fr&id=T3viBwAAQBAJ">David Domke and Kevin Coe write</a> that iterations of the phrase “God bless America,” the most explicit statement linking God and country, are now expected in all major speeches, although they were almost entirely absent prior to Ronald Reagan.</p>
<p>According to a <a href="https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/8484">recent study by semantic scholar Ceri Hughes</a>, this trend seems to be even more pronounced with Donald Trump.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319197/original/file-20200308-118881-y6esub.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319197/original/file-20200308-118881-y6esub.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319197/original/file-20200308-118881-y6esub.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319197/original/file-20200308-118881-y6esub.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319197/original/file-20200308-118881-y6esub.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319197/original/file-20200308-118881-y6esub.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319197/original/file-20200308-118881-y6esub.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Religion in Presidential rhetoric.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although he <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2015/08/28/politics/donald-trump-church-member/">claims to be a Presbyterian Protestant</a>, there is ample evidence, as <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?id=0p1WDwAAQBAJ">historian John Fea has shown</a>, to suggest that the current tenant of the White House is the least religious president of the modern era. Yet he invokes religion the most, and the political strategy is obvious: after all, in 2016, <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/11/09/how-the-faithful-voted-a-preliminary-2016-analysis/">81% of white Evangelicals voted for Trump</a>. His promise: to defend them in <a href="https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/11/02/culture-war-liberals-conshttps://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/11/02/culture-war-liberals-conservatives-trump-2018-222095ervatives-trump-2018-222095">the culture wars</a>, especially on the subjects of <a href="https://www.economist.com/united-states/2019/07/20/abortion-laws-get-more-attention-in-the-culture-wars">abortion</a>, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-may-want-you-to-think-hes-lgbtq-friendly-dont-be-fooled/2019/08/20/c2b7a7be-c36b-11e9-b72f-b31dfaa77212_story.html">LGBTQ rights</a> and <a href="https://apnews.com/897f550e2d5b809acaeffdf489aa62c9">school prayer</a>.</p>
<p>Beyond the particular case of Donald Trump, all presidents of the modern era have <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/01/20/almost-all-presidents-have-been-christians/">identified as Protestant Christians</a>, with the notable exception of John Kennedy whose Catholicism proved <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/john-f-kennedy-on-catholicism-video">to be a campaign issue for him</a>. No person of the Jewish faith has received a presidential nomination from a major party (Joseph Lieberman received only the Democratic vice presidential nomination in 2000), and the Mormon affiliation of Mitt Romney, the Republican candidate in 2008, was <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/mormonism-hurt-mitt-romney-in-2008-what-about-2012/2012/05/22/gIQAerBjiU_story.html">not without controversy</a>.</p>
<h2>A changing religious landscape</h2>
<p>The ever-increasing presence of religious rhetoric in political discourse is both the reason for and the consequence of <a href="https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/4113">the politicization of religion</a>, particularly of white Evangelicals, since the 1970s. This politicization has highlighted the racial divide that exists in the United States. According to <a href="https://www.prri.org/research/american-religious-landscape-christian-religiously-unaffiliated/">the PRRI</a> (Public Religion Research Institute), a non-profit, non-partisan organization, “no religious group is more closely linked to the Republican Party than white Evangelical Protestants.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319194/original/file-20200308-64601-iy18ea.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319194/original/file-20200308-64601-iy18ea.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319194/original/file-20200308-64601-iy18ea.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319194/original/file-20200308-64601-iy18ea.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319194/original/file-20200308-64601-iy18ea.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319194/original/file-20200308-64601-iy18ea.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319194/original/file-20200308-64601-iy18ea.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Party Religious Affiliation.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The label “evangelical,” however, is <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/12/evangelical-christian/418236/">a complex one</a>. It is a trans-denominational movement mostly within Protestant Christianity based on a <a href="https://www.nae.net/what-is-an-evangelical/">set of personal core beliefs</a>:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>The Bible at the center of faith</p></li>
<li><p>The atonement for sins through Jesus’ death on the cross.</p></li>
<li><p>Personal conversion and salvation.</p></li>
<li><p>The sharing of the gospel, from which this movement takes its name.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>But not all evangelicals are white and conservative. There is a small proportion of non-white Evangelicals (<a href="https://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/racial-and-ethnic-composition/">about 25%</a>) as well as some white Evangelicals who are progressive (<a href="https://www.prri.org/research/american-religious-landscape-christian-religiously-unaffiliated/">about 15 percent</a>) and tend to vote for Democrats.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, statistics show a slow <a href="https://www.pewforum.org/2019/10/17/in-u-s-decline-of-christianity-continues-at-rapid-pace/">erosion in the number of Americans who identify as Evangelical Protestants</a>__ since the 1990s, particularly in the younger generations. Similarly, the number of Catholics has slowly declined, while the number of historic <a href="https://religioninpublic.blog/2018/06/28/what-is-a-mainline-protestant/">Mainline Protestants has virtually collapsed</a>.</p>
<p>See this <a href="https://twitter.com/ryanburge/status/1108183399364263936">graph</a> by political scientist <a href="https://twitter.com/ryanburge/status/1108183399364263936">Ryan Burge</a> (based on <a href="https://gss.norc.org/">GSS data</a>) :</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319193/original/file-20200308-118885-1ppphsq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319193/original/file-20200308-118885-1ppphsq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319193/original/file-20200308-118885-1ppphsq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319193/original/file-20200308-118885-1ppphsq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319193/original/file-20200308-118885-1ppphsq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319193/original/file-20200308-118885-1ppphsq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319193/original/file-20200308-118885-1ppphsq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">America s Changing Landscape.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The trend most discussed by academics (<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13537903.2018.1535379">here</a>, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13644-020-00400-7">here</a>, or <a href="https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/injlaseq6&div=17&id=&page=">here</a>) is the increase in the number of Americans who do not identify with any religion, namely the <em>nones</em> (not affiliated with a religion). They are now at least as numerous as evangelicals, if not more. But as researcher <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335929198_THE_OTHER_SLEEPING_GIANT_THE_NON-_VOTE_OF_THE_RELIGIOUSLY_UNAFFILIATED">Lauric Henneton notes</a>, <em>nones</em> have in common only that they do not want to be counted as belonging to a religious group or established traditions. It says nothing about their actual beliefs. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/">2014 Pew Research Center survey</a> shows that atheists and agnostics are on the rise, but still account for less than a third of nones, with the rest identifying themselves as “nothing special.” Unsurprisingly, Bernie Sanders is <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/02/07/bernie-sanders-religion-values-how-both-shape-his-politics/">a favorite among the <em>nones</em></a>.</p>
<h2>Religion and younger voters</h2>
<p>Younger generations are increasingly <a href="https://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/">unaffiliated with a religion or a church</a>, but they are also the generations <a href="https://www.axios.com/2020-election-youth-vote-gen-z-895c7c4b-3ee2-4068-8b83-96178249d3f0.html">least likely to vote</a> which reduces their impact on the elections. Even if they voted more, as <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/5/29/18644145/vote-2018-election-gen-x-z-millennials-baby-boomers">they did in 2018</a>, America’s institutional political structure <a href="https://books.google.fr/books?id=1G6gDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT72&dq=electoral+college+further+amplifies+the+power+of+whiter,+more+rural,+more+Christian+voters+Klein,+Ezra#v=onepage&q=electoral%20college%20further%20amplifies%20the%20power%20of%20whiter%2C%20more%20rural%2C%20more%20Christian%20voters%20Klein%2C%20Ezra&f=false">amplifies the power of whiter, more rural, more Christian voters</a>. </p>
<p>Religion is thus likely to continue to play a major role in US elections for years to come. And with the help of what <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/mar/03/bill-dallas-christian-nationalist-right-donald-trump">Katherine Stewart calls</a> the “Christian nationalist machine,” Donald Trump will certainly make religious identity a central element of his campaign.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/133224/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jérôme Viala-Gaudefroy ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>Joe Biden has taken control of the Democratic nomination with a string of big primary wins. The ongoing coronavirus epidemic is in part responsible, but the role of religion should not be overlooked.Jérôme Viala-Gaudefroy, Assistant lecturer, Université Paris Nanterre – Université Paris LumièresLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1106912019-02-28T11:41:16Z2019-02-28T11:41:16ZWhat drives the appeal of ‘Passion of the Christ’ and other films on the life of Jesus<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261100/original/file-20190226-150712-1kfq6or.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A still from Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Courtesy 20th Century Fox.</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Church isn’t the only place people go to learn about Jesus.</p>
<p>At the beginning of Lent, 15 years ago, devout evangelical Christians did not go to church to have ashes marked on their foreheads. Rather, they thronged to theaters to <a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/march/100.100.html">watch</a> a decidedly Catholic film to begin the Lenten season.</p>
<p>That film was Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ,” which would go on to gross over US$600 million globally. It brought to screen a vivid portrayal of the last few hours of the life of Jesus and even today many can readily recall the brutality of those depictions. The film also stirred up a number of <a href="https://www.firstthings.com/article/2004/06/the-passions-passionate-despisers">cultural clashes</a> and raised questions about Christian anti-Semitism and what seemed to be a <a href="https://www.chron.com/g00/entertainment/movies/article/Will-a-recut-Passion-still-stir-debate-1568750.php?i10c.ua=1&i10c.encReferrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8%3d&i10c.dv=22">glorification</a> of violence. </p>
<p>This wasn’t the only film to bring Jesus to cinema in such a powerful way. There have, in fact, been hundreds of films about Jesus produced around the world for over 100 years. </p>
<p>These films have prompted devotion and missionary outreach, just as they have challenged viewers’ assumptions of who the figure of Jesus really was.</p>
<h2>From still images to moving images</h2>
<p>For the last two decades, I have researched the <a href="https://cup.columbia.edu/book/religion-and-film/9780231176750">portrayal of religious figures on screen</a>. I have also looked at the ways in which <a href="http://theconversation.com/when-do-moviegoers-become-pilgrims-81016">audiences</a> make their own spiritual meanings through the images of film. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520286955/the-forge-of-vision">Images of Jesus</a>, or the Virgin Mary, have long been part of the <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Image_as_Insight.html?id=lrpLAwAAQBAJ">Christian tradition</a>. From amulets to icons, paintings to sculptures, Christianity incorporates a rich visual history, so perhaps it is not surprising that cinema has become a vital medium to display the life of Jesus. </p>
<p>Inventors of cinematic technologies, such as <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0151913/">Thomas Edison</a> and the <a href="http://www.acinemahistory.com/2016/04/la-passion-1898-passion.html">Lumière brothers</a>, were among the first to bring Jesus’s life to the big screen at the end of the 19th century. Hollywood continued to cash in on Christian audiences all through the 20th century. </p>
<p>In 1912, Sidney Olcott’s <a href="http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6aaafe24">“From the Manger to the Cross”</a> became the first feature length film to offer a full account of the life of Christ. </p>
<p>Fifteen years later, crowds flocked to see Cecil B. DeMille’s <a href="https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/10078">“The King of Kings”</a>, demonstrating the power of a big budget and a well-known director. Writing about DeMille’s film some years later, film historian Charles Musser <a href="https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/900-the-king-of-kings">commented</a> how the film evoked “Christ’s charisma” through “a mesmerizing repertoire of special effects, lighting and editing.” </p>
<p>In Hollywood’s portrayal, Jesus was a white, European man. In Nicholas Ray’s 1961 film, <a href="https://catalog.afi.com/Film/20301-KING-OF-KINGS?sid=b96a394a-6a48-4f41-b7a4-6d05b5042fc3&sr=3.1776974&cp=1&pos=0">“King of Kings”</a> Jeffrey Hunter made a deep impression on his audience in the role of Jesus with his piercing blue eyes. Four years later, George Stevens’s <a href="https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/22336">“The Greatest Story Ever Told”</a>, cast the white Swedish actor Max von Sydow in the lead role.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261086/original/file-20190226-150715-11xig4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261086/original/file-20190226-150715-11xig4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=620&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261086/original/file-20190226-150715-11xig4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=620&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261086/original/file-20190226-150715-11xig4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=620&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261086/original/file-20190226-150715-11xig4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=779&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261086/original/file-20190226-150715-11xig4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=779&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261086/original/file-20190226-150715-11xig4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=779&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jesus, portrayed by Swedish actor Max von Sydow, moves through a mass of people in this scene filmed on May 1, 1963, at Pyramid Lake, Nevada, for</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Watchf-AP-A-ENT-NV-USA-APHS235600-Von-Sydow-Gre-/7512ad76f6cf4dbc9fa68cce3071aa97/155/0">AP Photo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In all these films, evidence of Jesus’s <a href="https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1853&context=jrf">Jewish identity</a> was toned down. Social or political messages found in the gospels – such as the political charge of a “kingdom of God” – were smoothed over. Jesus was portrayed as a spiritual savior figure while avoiding many of the socio-political controversies.</p>
<p>This was, as Biblical studies scholar Adele Reinhartz <a href="http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195146967.001.0001/acprof-9780195146967">put it</a>, not Jesus of Nazareth, but the creation of a “Jesus of Hollywood.” </p>
<h2>Global moral instruction</h2>
<p>Many of these films were useful for Christian <a href="https://brill.com/view/journals/exch/33/4/article-p310_2.xml">missionary work</a>.</p>
<p>An <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=k-KOCMRN1yYC&pg=PA116&lpg=PA116&dq=%22destined+to+be+more+far-reaching+than+the+Bible+in+telling+the+story+of+the+Saviour%22&source=bl&ots=qfNYKdafRF&sig=ACfU3U1thBDr3oVzabJSRUbpLHjMhCtMZA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiZ">advertisement for Olcott’s film</a>, for example, stated how it was “destined to be more far-reaching than the Bible in telling the story of the Savior.” Indeed, as media scholars <a href="https://www.vwu.edu/academics/majors/communication/meet-the-faculty.php?person=tlindvall">Terry Lindvall</a> and <a href="https://www.regent.edu/faculty/m-a-andrew-c-quicke/">Andrew Quicke</a> have <a href="https://nyupress.org/books/9780814753248/">noted</a>, many Christian leaders throughout the 20th century utilized the power of film for moral instruction and conversion.</p>
<p>A 1979 film, known as <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/cros.12121">“The Jesus Film”</a>, went on to become the most <a href="https://religionnews.com/2017/12/20/jesus-film-project-premieres-1500th-translation-of-jesus/">watched</a> film in history. The film was a relatively straightforward depiction of the life of Jesus, taken mainly from the gospel of Luke.</p>
<p>The film was translated into 1,500 languages and shown in cities and remote villages around the world. </p>
<h2>The global Jesus</h2>
<p>But, as <a href="https://www.firstthings.com/article/2006/12/believing-in-the-global-south">majority Christian population shifted</a> from Europe and North America to Sub-Saharan Africa, South America, and South Asia, so did portrayals of Jesus: they came to reflect local cultures and ethnicities. </p>
<p>In the 2006 South African film <a href="https://www.sheffieldphoenix.com/showbook.asp?bkid=232">“Son of Man”</a>, for example, Jesus, his mother and disciples are all black, and the setting is a contemporary, though fictionalized, South Africa. The film employed traditional art forms of dance and music that retold the Jesus story in ways that would appeal to a South African audience.</p>
<p>It was the same with a Telugu film, <a href="https://brill.com/view/journals/exch/36/1/article-p41_3.xml">“Karunamayudu” (Ocean of Mercy)</a>, released in 1978. The style resembles a long tradition of Hindu devotional and mythological films and Jesus could easily be seen as part of the pantheon of Hindu deities.</p>
<p>For the past four decades in southern India and beyond, villagers have gathered in front of makeshift outdoor theaters to watch this film. With over 100 million viewers, it has become a <a href="https://brill.com/view/journals/exch/41/2/article-p120_3.xml">tool for Christian evangelism</a>. </p>
<p>Other films have responded to and reflected local conditions in Latin America. The Cuban film “<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1212065?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">The Last Supper</a>,” from 1976, offered a vision of a Jesus that is on the side of the enslaved and oppressed, mirroring Latin American movements in <a href="https://library.brown.edu/create/modernlatinamerica/chapters/chapter-15-culture-and-society/essays-on-culture-and-society/liberation-theology-in-latin-america/">Liberation Theology</a>. Growing out of the Cold War, and led by radical Latin American priests, Liberation Theology worked in local communities to promote socio-economic justice. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, the appeal of some of these films can also be gauged from how they continue to be watched year after year. The 1986 Mexican film, “La vida de nuestro señor Jesucristo,” for example, is broadcast on the Spanish-language television station Univision during Easter week every year.</p>
<h2>The power of film</h2>
<p>Throughout history, Jesus has taken on the appearance and behavior of one cultural group after another, some claiming him as their own, others rejecting certain versions of him. </p>
<p>As the scholar of religion <a href="https://dornsife.usc.edu/cf/faculty-and-staff/faculty.cfm?pid=1003260">Richard Wightman Fox</a> puts it in his <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/9780060628741/jesus-in-america/">book “Jesus in America: Personal Savior, Cultural Hero, National Obsession:”</a> “His incarnation guaranteed that each later culture would grasp him anew for each would have a different view of what it means to be human.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261302/original/file-20190227-150724-tqp0oq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261302/original/file-20190227-150724-tqp0oq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261302/original/file-20190227-150724-tqp0oq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261302/original/file-20190227-150724-tqp0oq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261302/original/file-20190227-150724-tqp0oq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261302/original/file-20190227-150724-tqp0oq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261302/original/file-20190227-150724-tqp0oq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Films about Jesus can move around the world quickly. Posters promoting ‘The Passion of the Christ’ in Bucharest, Romania.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Associated-Press-International-News-Romania-ROM-/b486e0efd6e0da11af9f0014c2589dfb/1/0">AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Cinema allows people in new places and times to grasp Jesus “anew,” and create what I have <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Representing_Religion_in_World_Cinema.html?id=tQGc8oHH5fkC">called</a> a “georeligious aesthetic.” Films, especially those about Jesus, in their movement across the globe, can alter the religious practices and beliefs of people they come into contact with. </p>
<p>While the church and the Bible provide particular versions of Jesus, films provide even more – new images that can prompt controversy, but also devotion.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110691/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>S. Brent Rodriguez-Plate does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When it was released 15 years ago, Mel Gibson’s ‘Passion of the Christ,’ was a box-office success. The theme of Jesus has been a successful one that many filmmakers around the globe have cashed in on.S. Brent Rodriguez-Plate, Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Cinema and Media Studies, by special appointment, Hamilton CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1064262018-12-02T15:29:11Z2018-12-02T15:29:11ZHow Hanukkah came to America<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248046/original/file-20181129-170253-111de2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In the United States, Hanukkah has gained much significance.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/grandmother-grandfather-grandparents-embrace-their-grandson-543199741?src=-i6Vd57GC-Gl7WVXZ1Nksw-1-75">Tercer Ojo Photography/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Hanukkah may be the best known Jewish holiday in the United States. But despite its popularity in the U.S., Hanukkah is ranked one of Judaism’s minor festivals, and nowhere else does it garner such attention. The holiday is mostly a domestic celebration, although special holiday prayers also expand synagogue worship.</p>
<p>So how did Hanukkah attain its special place in America?</p>
<h2>Hanukkah’s back story</h2>
<p>The word “Hanukkah” means dedication. It commemorates the rededicating of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem in 165 B.C. when Jews – led by a band of brothers called the Maccabees – <a href="https://jps.org/books/jerusalem">tossed out statues of Hellenic gods</a> that had been placed there by King Antiochus IV when he conquered Judea. Antiochus aimed to plant Hellenic culture throughout his kingdom, and that included worshipping its gods. </p>
<p>Legend has it that during the dedication, as people prepared to light the Temple’s large oil lamps to signify the presence of God, only a tiny bit of holy oil could be found. Yet, that little bit of oil remained alight for eight days until more could be prepared. Thus, each Hanukkah evening, for eight nights, Jews light a candle, adding an additional one as the holiday progresses throughout the festival. </p>
<h2>Hanukkah’s American story</h2>
<p>Today, America is home to <a href="http://ajpp.brandeis.edu">almost 7 million Jews</a>. But Jews did not always find it easy to be Jewish in America. Until the late 19th century, America’s Jewish population was very small and grew to only as many as 250,000 in 1880. The basic goods of Jewish religious life – such as kosher meat and candles, Torah scrolls, and Jewish calendars – were often hard to find.</p>
<p>In those early days, major Jewish religious events took special planning and effort, and minor festivals like Hanukkah <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/search/node/american%20judaism">often slipped by unnoticed</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://nyupress.org/books/9780814707395/">My own study of American Jewish history</a> has recently focused on Hanukkah’s development. </p>
<p>It <a href="http://www.uapress.ua.edu/product/Isaac-Harby-of-Charleston-1788-1828,621.aspx">began with a simple holiday hymn</a> written in 1840 by Penina Moise, a Jewish Sunday school teacher in Charleston, South Carolina. Her evangelical Christian neighbors worked hard to bring the local Jews into the Christian fold. They urged Jews to agree that only by becoming Christian could they attain God’s love and ultimately reach Heaven. </p>
<p>Moise, a famed poet, saw the holiday celebrating dedication to Judaism as an occasion to inspire Jewish dedication despite Christian challenges. Her congregation, Beth Elohim, publicized the hymn by including it in their hymnbook. </p>
<p>This English language hymn expressed a feeling common <a href="http://www.uapress.ua.edu/product/Isaac-Harby-of-Charleston-1788-1828,621.aspx">to many American Jews</a> living as a tiny minority. “Great Arbiter of human fate whose glory ne'er decays,” <a href="https://hymnary.org/hymn/HAJW1887/118">Moise began the hymn</a>, “To Thee alone we dedicate the song and soul of praise.” </p>
<p>It became a favorite among American Jews and could be heard in congregations around the country for another century. </p>
<p>Shortly after the Civil War, Cincinnati Rabbi Max Lilienthal <a href="https://www.wsupress.wayne.edu/books/detail/max-lilienthal">learned about special Christmas events for children</a> held in some local churches. To adapt them for children in his own congregation, he created a Hanukkah assembly where the holiday’s story was told, blessings and hymns were sung, candles were lighted and sweets were distributed to the children. </p>
<p>His friend, Rabbi Isaac M. Wise, created a similar event for his own congregation. Wise and Lilienthal edited national Jewish magazines where they publicized these innovative Hanukkah assemblies, encouraging other congregations to establish their own. </p>
<p>Lilienthal and Wise also aimed to reform Judaism, streamlining it and emphasizing the rabbi’s role as teacher. Because they felt their changes would help Judaism survive in the modern age, they called themselves <a href="https://nyupress.org/books/9780814707395/">“Modern Maccabees</a>.” Through their efforts, special Hanukkah events for children became standard in American synagogues. </p>
<h2>20th-century expansion</h2>
<p>By 1900, industrial America produced the abundance of goods exchanged each Dec. 25. Christmas’ domestic celebrations and gifts to children <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/search?cc=us&lang=en&q=restad,%20penne">provided a shared religious experience to American Christians</a> otherwise separated by denominational divisions. As a home celebration, it sidestepped the theological and institutional loyalties voiced in churches. </p>
<p>For the 2.3 million Jewish immigrants who entered the U.S. between 1881 and 1924, providing their children with gifts in December proved they were <a href="https://cup.columbia.edu/book/adapting-to-abundance/9780231068536">becoming American and obtaining a better life</a>. </p>
<p>But by giving those gifts at Hanukkah, instead of adopting Christmas, they also expressed their own ideals of American religious freedom, as well as their own dedication to Judaism.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248049/original/file-20181129-170223-b9e46f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248049/original/file-20181129-170223-b9e46f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248049/original/file-20181129-170223-b9e46f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248049/original/file-20181129-170223-b9e46f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248049/original/file-20181129-170223-b9e46f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248049/original/file-20181129-170223-b9e46f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248049/original/file-20181129-170223-b9e46f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A Hanukkah religious service and party in 1940.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/center_for_jewish_history/8232639754/">Center for Jewish History, NYC</a></span>
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<p>After World War II, many Jews relocated from urban centers. Suburban Jewish children often comprised small minorities in public schools and found themselves <a href="http://www.adathjeshurun.info/Perspectives/Rabbinical_Perspective-12.2011-01.2012.pdf">coerced to participate in Christmas assemblies</a>. Teachers, administrators and peers often pressured them to sing Christian hymns and assert statements of Christian faith. </p>
<p>From the 1950s through the 1980s, as Jewish parents argued for their children’s right to freedom from religious coercion, they also <a href="https://nyupress.org/books/9780814707395/">embellished Hanukkah</a>. Suburban synagogues expanded their Hanukkah programming. </p>
<p>As I detail in my book, Jewish families embellished domestic Hanukkah celebrations with decorations, nightly gifts and holiday parties to enhance Hanukkah’s impact. In suburbia, Hanukkah’s theme of dedication to Judaism shone with special meaning. Rabbinical associations, national Jewish clubs and advertisers of Hanukkah goods carried the ideas for expanded Hanukkah festivities nationwide. </p>
<p>In the 21st century, Hanukkah accomplishes many tasks. Amid Christmas, it reminds Jews of Jewish dedication. Its domestic celebration enhances Jewish family life. In its similarity to Christmas domestic gift-giving, Hanukkah makes Judaism attractive to children and – according to my college students – relatable to Jews’ Christian neighbors. In many interfaith families, this shared festivity furthers domestic tranquility. </p>
<p>In America, this minor festival has attained major significance.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106426/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dianne Ashton received funding for her research on Hanukkah from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Gilder Lehrman Institute, the American Jewish Archives, and Rowan University.</span></em></p>Hanukkah is ranked one of Judaism’s minor festivals, but its popularity in the US has a lot to do with America’s Jews trying to fight assimilation into a culture that welcomed them.Dianne Ashton, Professor of Religion, Rowan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.