“Trump? A footnote in history…
The formula is striking in its radicality.
“In history, Trump is a footnote. HAS”
Going against dominant media readings, Sébastien Fath invites us to place the phenomenon in a long time frame.
The Trumpist episode, like that of George W. Bush before, is, according to him, a temporary “surge of fever”, amplified by political and media imaginations.
“In a few years, we will have moved on to something else. HAS”
This historical distancing constitutes one of the guiding threads of his analysis: defusing the temptation to interpret evangelicalism solely through the American prism.
Charlie Kirk: between martyrdom and instrumentalization
The assassination of Charlie Kirk acts as a revealer of contemporary dynamics.
“We made him a martyr… but not a prophet. HAS”
For Fath, the distinction is essential:
- the prophet of innovation
- the activist propagates
Kirk clearly belongs to the second category.
But the main thing is elsewhere: in the political recovery of his figure.
“We are in forms of manipulation of opinion. HAS”
The event illustrates a logic that is now well established: the transformation of religious or moral figures into identity symbols that can be mobilized politically.
France: an evangelicalism that is not very permeable to the identity right
Unlike the United States, France presents a very different configuration.
Éric Zemmour, often compared to these conservative American figures, has little appeal in evangelical circles.
For what ?
“Zemmour’s nostalgic imagination refers to a Catholic and royal France which persecuted Protestants. HAS”
In other words: a historical memory that is still active produces an effect of cultural resistance.
Result :
- a distance from identity rights
- less partisan politicization
“Normative minorities” at the heart of the culture wars
Drawing on the work of Serge Moscovici, Fath describes evangelicals as “normative minoritiesâ€.
Their particularity:
- strong moral structure
- prescriptive biblical reference
But this position places them at the center of contemporary culture wars.
“The only real subject today is values… but that’s a deception.”
According to him, the focus on societal issues (LGBTQ+, bioethics, etc.) masks a deeper reality:
“Economic and social issues have been made invisible. HAS”
Politics then becomes a theater of symbolic polarization.
Can we be a moral minority without being involved in politics?
The answer is clear:
“Yes, of course. HAS”
Fath insists on the existence of a space infrapolitics :
- associations
- averages
- ONG
- social networks
So many places where real influence is exerted without going through parties.
But the pressure of the culture wars tends to reduce this space, pushing towards politicization.
A growing gap between institutions and the faithful
One of the major findings concerns the dissociation between:
- the discourse of religious institutions
- the practices and opinions of the faithful
“The positions of the faithful are often more liberal than those of the general staffs. HAS”
This phenomenon, already observed in Catholicism in the 19th century, is accentuated today thanks to:
- to opinion surveys
- to social networks
Result: a less vertical, more fragmented religious word.
The Crisis of White American Evangelicalism
This is undoubtedly the most structuring point.
White evangelicalism in the United States is experiencing a spectacular fall:
« A real Bézine. »
The causes:
- excessive politicization
- alignment with power
- loss of spiritual credibility
“Young people no longer recognize Jesus Christ in this orientation. HAS”
Consequence: massive departure of the faithful, particularly in major institutions such as the Southern Baptist Convention.
The “exvangelicalsâ€: crisis or recomposition?
The phenomenon of “exvangelicals†translates both:
- an internal crisis
- diversification
“It’s both. HAS”
There remains an open question:
will these former evangelicals:
- se séculariser ?
- or recompose other forms of Christianity?
The decisive shift towards the global South
The analysis reaches its strategic point here.
Evangelicalism is no longer Western.
The numbers speak:
- 210 million in Africa
- 220 million in Asia
- 92 million in North America
« The heart of evangelicalism beats today in the South.»
This move implies a profound transformation:
- imaginations
- practices
- des théologies
A “glocal†Christianity
Dernière clé de lecture:
A global Christianity: both local and global. TO”
Far from caricatures, contemporary evangelicalism appears as:
- décentré
- plural
- in permanent recomposition
What Sébastien Fath shows is a double illusion to overcome:
- that of a monolithic evangelism
- that of an evangelicalism dominated by American politics
On the scale of long history, spectacular phenomena – from Trumpism to the culture wars – appear as transitional episodes.
The main thing is happening elsewhere: in the silent, global and profound transformation of evangelical Christianity.
Production: Bersier Foundation – Protestant Perspectives
Thanks: Sébastien Fath
Interview led by: David Gonzalez and Camille Perrier
Technique: Paul Drion, Quentin Sondag
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