If you watch the Netflix documentary on The Family about how some religiously conservative Christians have organized in order to participate in politics, eventually you will hear about 'wedge issues.' A Wedge issue is a controversial and divisive political issue that separates people. A wedge issue acts as a line in the sand that neither side dares steps across. And thus people on each side look at those on the other side as enemies.
In that documentary, an associate of The Family talked about how his group brought up wedge issues in order to unite conservatives, especially religiously conservative Christians. Those wedge issues include abortion, gun rights, and immigration. Of course those candidates who were on the conservative side of those wedge issues received a great deal of support from conservatives.
It is the amount of support that conservative voters have given conservative politicians who stand on the conservative side of those issues that should be noted. Those wedges issues have now become a political shields so that where a conservative politicians stands on non-wedge issues, regardless of how important those issues are, is of little to no consequence. It is as if standing on the right side of conservative wedge issues provides a shield that protects those conservative politicians from losing support regardless of where they stand on other issues. Thus, many a conservative politician has a few hall passes when it comes to where they stand on other issues.
An example will make things more clear. Because Trump has been on the conservative of wedge issues like abortion, immigration, gun rights, and immigration, he has received little to no criticism from his religious and non-religious conservative base for his cutting of environmental regulations and his breaking of a nuclear arms treaty. Note that Trump's approach to those two issues puts the whole world at risk for extinction. For what is happening to the environment involves more than just climate change. It involves allowing higher levels of toxic chemicals in the environment and few if any conservatives act as if they even noticed. And leaving the Nuclear Weapons treaty with Russia could put the whole world on the chopping block since with the emergence of new nuclear weapons comes a increased possibility of their use.
Of course, one can point out that neither environmental or defense spending issues are not concerns to many conservatives. However, the deficit is and it has spiked sharply under Trump's policies and yet, Trump receives no criticisms. Instead, a significant number of Christian Trump supporters regard Trump as God's man for this hour. And that is all because of where Trump has been standing on the all important wedge issues.
Thus, those conservative wedge issues have protected Trump from criticism elsewhere, even regarding a traditional conservative concern. This gives Trump a great deal of freedom to do what he wants to elsewhere without having to worry about losing support from his base.
And for some Christian supporters, it isn't just wedge issues that grants Trump more hall passes, it is saying anything that sounds Christian. None of his other actions matter to many a religiously conservative Christians when he talks as if he is a Christian.
One might be tempted to think that granting leaders hall passes because they have scratched the conservative Church's back is an American thing, but it isn't. The Churches in Syria and Egypt have, for the most part, supported their own state dictators because those dictators have protected the respective Churches from extremist enemies. Thus, many in those churches ignore how those leaders brutally oppress others and shut down dissent because they are being taken care of.
It would seem that the worst President a group of supporters could give hall passes to than Trump. Trump is not just heavily narcissistic and authoritarian, he lacks the common level of self-control. Because of that last trait, the more freedom his base gives to Trump, the more dangerous he becomes.
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