Welcome to Begg to Differ, the Bullworks Weekly Roundtable discussion featuring civil

conversation across the political spectrum.

We range from center left to center right.

I'm Mona Charen, syndicated columnist and policy editor of the Bullwork, and I'm joined

by our regulars Bill Galston of the Brookings Institution and Wall Street Journal and Linda

Chavez of the Nisganan Center.

Damon Linger is off this week, but we are delighted to welcome two guests, Pete Weiner of the

Trinity Forum and Kristen Dumay, professor of history at Calvin University, and author of

a book that made quite a splash.

It's called Jesus and John Wayne, how white evangelicals corrupted a faith and fractured

a nation.

Welcome, one and all.

I think it's particularly good timing to check in with professor Dumay because the role

of evangelicals, specifically white evangelicals, is incredibly important in our politics, and

it is also a source of a lot of worry.

Pete, you've written about this in the Atlantic about how politics seems to have overtaken

many denominations, many congregations in this country, where pastors are leaving,

they're demoralized by the fact that their congregants seem to want politics instead

of religion.

But, Kristen, I'm going to start with you.

Your thesis, as I understand it, is that the embrace of Trump by evangelicals, and by

the way, listeners, yes, we are going to get to the indictments, so hang tight.

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