I don't quite know how to put this and yes there are exceptions and blah blah but I'm not wholly unsurprised at the behavior of Trump's supporters and specifically the Evangelical Christian ones who are losing it over this election.

As someone who grew up in that kind of church, I wouldn't say truth and reality are high on their list of values. Look at things like the War on Christmas (completely manufactured nonsense) or the idea of Christian persecution in America (a thing that does not exist).

They get their followers sucked in by manufacturing crisis and perpetuating the idea that they're morally superior to those who "haven't found God" and "don't share their values" without considering the contradictions of being anti-abortion but not supporting public programs.

There's a lot of dizzy spinning and an assumption that if others only truly heard their way, they'd come running to the religious and superior way of life. I was fed a lot of lies and bullshit as a kid about God and conservative values.

They truly believe they're fighting a righteous war (the Sunday after 9/11 we sang the Battle Hymn Of The Republic in church) and many conservatives believe that the cultures, ways, and beliefs of others are somehow an assault on their own. It's wild and dangerous and misleading.

For whatever reason, they've strayed from Jesus as a focus and gone to maintaining their values, which are decidedly not those of Christ. And this feels like a last gasp. Trump has gotten in their psyche in a way I find horrifying, but not surprising.

When you're obsessed with forcing everyone to value what you do, and you have someone yelling about it (not living it) and being willing to lie to protect those values no matter how it affects others, it's easy and tempting to go forth and follow him.

Also, churches aren't exactly great about holding leaders accountable (what's up Catholics!) if they feel that their overall work matches what they want done in the world. It's...wild. And detached.

But I cannot overstate how many of them -- since birth -- have been told that other ways of life are a threat to them. They've been taught to be in the world but not of it, and for many, that means fighting back. The rhetoric the church has used in recent years is coming to life.

It's scary, but again, when you're taught to view everything as a war on you, at some point, you're going to fight back by any means necessary (like voter suppression, guns everywhere, etc.) so you retain your "power."

Also: RACISM. CHURCHES ARE UNBELIEVABLY RACIST. LIKE...to an unreal level. And while few talk about it, it's very true. And it's horrible and unacceptable and cloaked under bullshit making it hard to see.