TENSIONS BETWEEN SDO, R-WA, PREAMBLE AND BIBLE
Although different surveys use different definitions of “Republican Christians,” most 2024 exit‑poll data indicate that a substantial majority of Trump’s voters identified as Christian and leaned Republican, with white evangelical Protestants providing his strongest support. It is reasonable to expect, therefore, that those supporters would be strongly influenced by scripture. While they do often boast about their Christian values and quote scripture, their record of obedience to scripture is weak to mixed.
One category of scripture in which Republican Christians do not obey scripture is with respect to judging and justice. Here are four verses about judging and justice:
- Proverbs 18:5:
It is not good to be partial to the wicked and so deprive the innocent of justice.
- Leviticus 19:15:
You must not pervert justice; you must not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the rich; you are to judge your neighbor fairly.
- Deuteronomy 16:20:
Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, so that you may live and possess the land which the LORD your God is giving you.
- Corinthians 10: 23-24:
All things are permitted, but not all things are of benefit. All things are permitted, but not all things build people up. No one is to seek his own advantage, but rather that of his neighbor. 1 Corinthians 10: 23-24
All Americans should be able to see the similarity of these scriptures to the principles of the Preamble.
Popular Sovereignty:
Authority derives from the people, as emphasized by “We the People.”
Union:
Aims to strengthen ties among states and individuals for a “more perfect Union.”
Justice:
Seeks fair legal systems and impartial rule of law.
Domestic Tranquility:
Promotes peace and order within the nation.
Common Defense:
Ensures collective security for all Americans against external and internal threats.
General Welfare:
Advances public well-being and prosperity for all Americans.
Liberty:
Protects freedoms for current and future generations.
The Preamble and scriptures both articulate a vision of community/government grounded in justice, fairness, and shared responsibility. Each insists that a healthy society depends on impartial judgment, equal worth of every person, and a commitment to the common good over personal advantage. They reject systems of favoritism and exclusion, calling instead for a social order where dignity, unity, and mutual care guide community life and government. In this sense, the Preamble’s aspiration to “establish justice” and “promote the general welfare” echoes the biblical mandate to pursue justice, avoid partiality, and seek the well‑being of one’s neighbor.
Biblical justice centers on equality, impartiality, and the protection of the vulnerable. These are principles that resonate with the Preamble’s call to “establish justice” and the Constitution’s commitment to equal protection and the common good.
This kind of “quid-pro-quo” exchange is common and legal in most cultures but not in God’s kingdom because God sees “quid-pro-quo” as bribery. The problem is that when people show favoritism and partiality, they do it for their own advantage — not for the benefit of their neighbor. In these kinds of transactions. the neighbor ends up at a relative disadvantage in one way or another. When favoritism/partiality extended to one person or group happens at the expense of others, favoritism/partiality is not beneficial from God’s point of view. Actually, he sees it as sin. He also sees it as oppression of the disadvantaged person and group.
Favoritism and partiality create cultural systems of haves and have nots, insiders and outsiders, winners and losers, great and small, rich and poor, masters and slaves. These kinds of separations of people totally contradict God’s standards of unity and oneness. God feels so strongly about this principle that he calls favoritism/partiality sin.
God takes this very strong position on favoritism/partiality because these attitudes are inconsistent with his often-repeated commands to love your neighbor as you love yourself which he says is equal in value to loving him. The way to interpret this radical position, therefore, is to say that showing favoritism/partiality to a human person is to place that person whom you favor ahead of God in your heart. That, of course, is idolatry.
Biblical justice opposes quid-pro-quo exchanges, bribery, and favoritism, which create divisive hierarchies of haves and have-nots—directly contradicting God’s vision of unity and oneness. God deems disunity and partiality a sin because they undermine the command to love your neighbor as yourself, an imperative equal to loving God Himself. Ultimately, extending favoritism to Trump or any individual or group at the expense of others elevates that person or group above God in the heart. It is perhaps the most extreme consequence of identity fusion. Trump’s MAGA followers are emotionally fused to Trump and other MAGA members — not God. They listen to Trump’s words and the words of one another in their echo chambers in their natural ears — not to God’s voice in their spiritual hearts.
Such intimate affection for Trump amounts to heart-felt idolatry and reveals a profound disconnect between Republicans’ professed faith and the following biblical commands:
Exodus 20:3
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Deuteronomy 5:7
“Thou shalt have none other gods before me.
Deuteronomy 6:14–15 “Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you; (For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you,) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.”
Individuals high in social dominance orientation (SDO) who identify as Christians ignore these texts and instead cite biblical passages that emphasize hierarchy, authority, and distinct social roles to align with SDO ideology, which favors group-based inequalities. Commonly cited texts include:
- Romans 13:1-7 instructs submission to governing authorities, as “there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God”.
- Ephesians 5:22-6:9 and Colossians 3:18-4:1 outline household codes reinforcing male headship over wives, parental authority over children, and masters over servants.
- Genesis 3:16 describes post-Fall dynamics where “your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you,” interpreted as endorsing male dominance.
- 1 Corinthians 11:3 states “the head of every man is Christ; the head of a wife is her husband.”
- 1 Timothy 2:12 limits women from teaching or having authority over men.
- Proverbs 29:4 praises kings who uphold justice through structure, countering “social justice” emphases on equality.
SDO oriented Christians (typically radical, evangelical Pentecostals) view societal hierarchies as divinely ordained reflections of God’s order, from patriarchal families (e.g., Abraham in Genesis) to kings and judges. In the minds of these religious conservatives, texts cited above justify opposition to egalitarianism by framing egalitarianism as rebellion against God’s design for order. Such interpretations require mind-bending irrationality enabled by fear.
Across religious and political history, religious SDO oriented leaders have cherry-picked biblical passages to defend social hierarchies (e.g., gender roles, slavery, monarchy, etc.) and justify their elevated roles in government and religion. This is exactly what has happened in the Trump era promoted by Christian Nationalists. Because these high-SDO leaders are motivated to preserve and justify dominance hierarchies in which they preside as religious and political leaders, they are unlikely to argue against a “natural order” using biblical texts. When they invoke the Bible, their interpretation is always consistent with SDO theory that treats social hierarchy as divinely sanctioned rather than as something God forbids. This is possible only because they interpret biblical texts literally — not symbolically.
In contrast, arguments against hierarchy from the bible (e.g., emphasizing equality in Christ, servant leadership, critique of oppression, love your neighbor, etc.) are more often made by people and theologians who are lower in SDO and/or who explicitly oppose dominance-based structures like those promoted by Trump and Christian Nationalists. Unlike high SDO and high R-WA Christians, they have reconciled their politics with their faith.
In the 2024 election, a large majority of Donald Trump’s voters identified as Republican Christians publicly emphasized their commitment to scripture and Christian values by quoting the bible and God as authoritative influences in their lives. This kind of identity fusion and rhetoric designed to pander to Christian Nationalists for the sole purpose of gaining votes. Their strong support for Trump, their high SDO ranking, their support for R-WA and rejection of DEIA reflect a weak, unbiblical alignment with biblical teachings on favoritism, partiality and idolatry even when these scriptures are interpreted literally. It is fair, then, to label them as hypocrites.