海角大神

Students at Liberty University have disavowed university president Jerry Falwell Jr.'s support of Donald Trump, revealing fractures in the once cohesive evangelical voting bloc.

Many evangelical 海角大神s have continued supporting Mr. Trump, despite the candidate's personal conduct that contrasts sharply with 海角大神 teachings. Now, a group of Millennials at the world's largest 海角大神 university says that there are factions within that religious group who think about politics differently than those in generations before.

鈥淎 40-year partnership between the 海角大神 right and the Republican party is cracking up,鈥� David Gushee, a professor of 海角大神 ethics at Mercer University in Macon, Ga., tells 海角大神.

鈥淚t was a kind of a mutual agreement that the 海角大神 right 鈥撀爌astors, presidents, lobbyists, and other bigwigs 鈥撀爓ould support whoever the Republican party put forward for president as long as that person promised to advance their agenda," he says. "Younger evangelicals have been less satisfied by this arrangements for a good long time.鈥�

On Wednesday, students at Liberty University launched a campaign dubbed 鈥淟iberty United Against Trump,鈥� issuing an online statement that takes a stance against the Mr. Falwell and his vocal support of Trump's run for president. The group quickly went viral, surprising some who had assumed evangelical students would stand behind the Republican candidate as the voting bloc had in previous elections.

with President Falwell's endorsement聽and are tired of being associated with one of the worst presidential candidates in American history,鈥� the students wrote. 鈥淒onald Trump does not represent our values and we want nothing to do with him.鈥�

While Falwell has said his personal politics don鈥檛 reflect any official university position, the students argue that his public and unwavering support has led those outside of the university community to believe Liberty students agree with his political views.

In the statement, the students don't endorse Hillary Clinton or any third-party candidate, but solely denounce Trump for his inappropriate actions, noting that any staff member at the school would likely be fired for saying the sexually aggressive remarks made by Trump on a hot mic in 2005.

鈥淲e Liberty students are often told to support Donald Trump because the other leading candidate is a bad option. Perhaps this is true. But the only candidate who is directly associated with Liberty University is Donald Trump,鈥� they wrote.

They referred to a passage from Jesus's Sermon on the Mount, writing:

Jesus tells a story in the Bible about a man who tries to remove a speck of dust from his brother鈥檚 eye, while he has a log stuck in his own. 鈥榊ou hypocrite,鈥� Jesus says, 鈥榝irst take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother鈥檚 eye.鈥�

... While our president Jerry Falwell Jr. tours the country championing the log in his eye, we want the world to know how many students oppose him.鈥�

Young evangelicals, while still predominately Republican voters, have become more moderate, or even liberal, than their predecessors, says Dr. Gushee. Today, some 20 percent would not vote for a Republican candidate, he adds.

This shift began during the tail end of George W. Bush鈥檚 presidency, and became more clear in the 2008 election. Some evangelicals became concerned with how President Bush handled human rights, including allowing the US to engage in torture practices. Young people began to look at a wide array of issues when casting their ballots, rather than simply choosing a candidate who opposed abortion and gay marriage, two of the group鈥檚 strongest shared beliefs.

The students at Liberty may be some of the most outspoken young people to assert the value of character over policy.

鈥淸Falwell] likes very populist messages. That鈥檚 what a lot of the old generation was,鈥� Tyler McNally, a student in the group, tells the Monitor. 鈥淭his younger generation doesn鈥檛 want to hear their ears tickled, as much as they want to hear answers whether they like it or not.鈥�

Mr. McNally says students have become concerned with how the outside world will view the school, and wonder if employers will look at "Liberty University" on their r茅sum茅s and assume the graduates follow Falwell鈥檚 views.

McNally stressed that the group doesn鈥檛 intend to disrespect their president鈥檚 personal views, but to distinguish themselves as independent thinkers and voters.

Falwell on CNN, saying Wednesday evening that he took the candidate 鈥渁t his word鈥� when it came to denying recent allegations of sexual assault. The college president also separated Trump's conduct from his own without severing support.聽

"I'm a college president. I'm an attorney. He has his own style. He has his own way of saying things. He's a New York businessman. He grew up in a different culture than I did," Falwell said. "What sounds raunchy to me might not sound raunchy to him. But the point is, I think he's a changed man. I think he has seen the pain of the American people. I think the reason that he's come so far in this campaign, in this election is because he is not for the elitist. He's for the average American."

By accepting Trump鈥檚 remarks, some observers say that Falwell and other evangelical leaders have shown they鈥檒l stretch their character standards for a leader if he or she backs party polices that are important to them.聽

鈥淭hey鈥檙e dropping the consideration of character, but this is very unnatural for religious people, for most religious people who have always cared very deeply about character and not just policies,鈥� Gushee says.

Trump may still carry the evangelical voting bloc. A poll released Tuesday by PRRI, an independent, nonpartisan research organization, found that . The poll was taken between Oct. 5 and 9, so some respondents were surveyed before the "Trump tape" came out on Friday, Oct. 7.聽While the support from 2 in 3 white evangelicals is less than in past years, the drop isn鈥檛 as large as some expected for such an unconventional candidate.聽

Gushee says he expects that evangelical voters will return to their party in future elections and rally around more subdued figures like Mike Pence and Ted Cruz. For younger voters, character could continue to prove just as 鈥� if not more 鈥撀爄mportant than policy platforms.聽

鈥淲e like to see the church be the church, not necessarily the church being involved in politics for its own sake,鈥� McNally, the Liberty student, says. 鈥淲e want to see the gospel spread because we want to see people become part of Christ鈥檚 body, but we don鈥檛 want to see it sacrifice its values for political gain.鈥�