The catastrophic failure of the Democrats in the recent USA election which resulted in the triumph of the Bad Orange Man has had a fallout of comic proportions. Many conservatives have been metaphorically ‘bathing in liberal tears’ as the realisation hits the wokerati that what was unimaginable has happened.

Ignoring celebrities

Social media has been full of progressive women shaving their heads and wearing blue bracelets in order to identify the ideologically pure with whom they can sit and commiserate now that they have entered into the realms of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’. Some have gone so far as to swear off sex for the next four years, which at least has the upside that there might be fewer abortions.

It is entertaining to speculate on the emotional wellbeing of all the Hollywood celebrities who are waking up to the harsh reality that ordinary Americans don’t care about their political opinions and have rejected their electoral advice and instructions, for which it emerges the Harris campaign paid them handsomely.

Questions are being asked about when all the celebrities who vowed they were going to leave the USA in the event of a Trump victory are actually going to up sticks.

Questions are being asked about when all the celebrities who vowed they were going to leave the USA in the event of a Trump victory are actually going to up sticks. That one has an easy answer. Never. They will still be around in 2028 when it will be J D Vance’s turn to usher in the right-wing apocalypse which will destroy democracy, instal a dictatorship and force them to leave the USA.

Reasons

Of more interest are the reasons being given for the Trump victory. Voting patterns are being assessed and fault apportioned. It seems that Black men in large numbers have voted against their own best interests, as have Latinos, Indians and even Native Americans. Minority groups have seen a swing towards Republicans and away from woke. Who would have thought that labelling Republicans as white supremacists, Nazis, fascists and Trump as ‘literally Hitler’ would have no effect whatsoever? Progressives are scratching their heads and muttering, ‘They’re not doing what we tell them to do. It’s almost as though these people believe they can think for themselves.’

Prior to the election Pew Research Centre found that 82% of white evangelical Protestants, 61% of white Catholics and 58% of white non-evangelical Protestants backed Trump, while Harris was backed by 86% of Black Protestants, 85% of atheists, 78% of agnostics, 65% of Hispanic Catholics and 65% of Jewish voters. Although it is quite early to say, it would appear that this is what happened on 5th November.

If white female evangelicals voted for Trump it indicates they have been conditioned by the patriarchy to vote against their own best interests.

Progressives know why white male evangelicals voted overwhelmingly for Trump. It’s nothing to do with the economy or the woke insanity distorting American life: it’s obviously because they are racist, misogynist white supremacists who could never bring themselves to vote for a woman of colour. If white female evangelicals voted for Trump it indicates they have been conditioned by the patriarchy to vote against their own best interests.

Amish background

In all the hullabaloo over election analysis and attempting to find reasons for defeat other than the fact that Harris and Walz were terrible candidates, there is one group who have slipped below the radar, the Amish.

The Amish are a conservative Anabaptist Christian community who have resolutely turned their back on modern technology. They are renowned for their self-sufficiency, the simplicity of their lifestyle, and plain dress. They much prefer face-to-face communication to telephones and don’t use television, preferring to spend time together as a family.

It was not the Amish vote which pushed Trump over the line, but it exemplifies why many did vote for Trump.

Fleeing persecution in 18th century Europe, they arrived in the New World where William Penn offered them refuge in Pennsylvania. Due to their work ethic and emphasis on family ties the community boomed over the years. It is estimated that of the 400,000 Amish in America 92,000 live in Pennsylvania. The largest of the swing states with 19 votes in the electoral college, after going Democrat in 2020, it swung Trump’s way 2024. It was not the Amish vote which pushed Trump over the line, but it exemplifies why many did vote for Trump.

Government interference

The Amish like to keep themselves to themselves and their political involvement is usually minimal. Their stance changed this year largely due to a government raid on the Bird-in-Hand farm of Amish farmer Amos Miller. Pennsylvania’s Department of Agriculture found that Miller didn’t have a permit to sell milk in the state, despite the fact that he and his family had been selling milk for generations. Agents from the Department of Agriculture raided his farm and seized much of his food and dairy products. In the ensuing case, Miller was banned from selling milk in Pennsylvania, with the case ongoing.

The case was seen by the Amish community as government tyranny and helped mobilise them against the party of Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat. The Republicans grasped their opportunity and initiated a serious registration drive, the first in Amish history, and the Amish responded by voting for Trump in ‘unprecedented numbers’.

They are not hypocrites, they are simply people who want to get on with their own lives without being badgered by an overweening government which thinks it knows best about everything.

What was viewed as an overzealous government was rejected by the Amish who responded by voting for Donald Trump, whose Republican party favours less government intervention in the life of the people. ‘That was the impetus for them to say, “We need to participate”,’ a source said of Amish voters. ‘This is about neighbours helping neighbours.’

Idealogue control

The Amish are people of high moral principle, who value family life and who view gambling as a sin. Yet they voted for the much-married, casino-owning Donald Trump. They are not hypocrites, they are simply people who want to get on with their own lives without being badgered by an overweening government which thinks it knows best about everything.

For the Democrats, as other progressives, it is all about control. From pronouns, DEI, required quotas, to mandatory speech, Democrats demand the right to control what people say and do. Let us hope they and other progressives have learned that ordinary people do not like to be controlled by power hungry ideologues and they will rebel, even Christians.

The Rev. Dr Campbell Campbell-Jack is a retired Church of Scotland minister; now a member of the Free Church of Scotland. Check out his many incisive articles on his blog, A Grain of Sand.