It’s axiomatic that former president Donald Trump has taken over the Republican Party, even mainstream establishment Republicans pay homage to him.

Only a handful of congressional Republicans like Sen. Mitt Romney, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Rep. Liz Cheney and Rep. Adam Kinzinger refuse to bend the knee to the orange messiah, and they are determined to save their party from Trumpism.

Any Republican who doesn’t demonstrate unquestioned loyalty to Trump is treated like an apostate. Witness the sad example of Mike Pence, for four years his mouth was permanently affixed to his boss’s rear end, but his act of betrayal on January 6 – refusing to oppose the Electoral College votes that certified President Joe Biden’s victory – is the unpardonable sin for which there is no forgiveness in every future election.

Trump has not only taken over the GOP, he has taken over the white evangelical movement as well. Trump is the Dear Leader of the Republican Party and the Messiah of white evangelicals.

White evangelicals have adopted the temperament of Trump, and they are consumed with hating their enemies instead of loving their neighbors.

The truth that white evangelicals cherish more than any other is belief in the Big Lie that the election was stolen from their cult leader. When their delusion that Trump will be reinstated soon doesn’t pan out, I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that some of the most devout among them might launch a violent crusade to restore their messiah to power.

Trump had done indelible harm to the Republican Party and the Evangelical movement, and I doubt that either organization will survive in the long run as a direct consequence of their infatuation with him.