午夜剧场

Why do evangelical Christians support Trump? I wanted to write a book that answers this question. My previous book dealt with evangelicals who take pride in America as "God's country," but it was published a few months before the birth of the Trump presidency.

In this book, I specifically examined the four years of the Trump administration, which featured a parade of policies that pleased the evangelicals who support him. These include extreme restrictions on abortion in Southern states known as the Bible Belt, the appointment of three conservative Supreme Court justices, and the introduction of the "International Religious Freedom" bill. The suppression of the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong is seen as oppression against Christians, and the Uyghur issue as oppression against Muslims by the Chinese Communist Party regime; America's hardline diplomacy toward China actually stems from this ideal of "International Religious Freedom." This is the American religious nationalism I wanted to express in this book.

In July 2019, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to participate in the "International Religious Freedom" ministerial held at the U.S. Department of State, where I met people from all over the world who are suffering from religious persecution. Among them were representatives of Uyghur human rights organizations living in the U.S., a Protestant pastor from Hong Kong, and a representative of followers of the Falun Gong group in China. I wanted Japanese readers to know that these strong feelings toward religion in America are what drive its politics and diplomacy.

Additionally, in the suburbs of major cities, there are nearly 5,000 massive churches called megachurches across the United States that can accommodate more than 2,000 people. These are not just churches; they provide social welfare and have entertainment functions. A list of these megachurches is also included in this book.

This book is also a record of interviews conducted in Washington and elsewhere with many organizations (including universities) and lobby groups. It includes many interviews conducted by frequently visiting Christian conservative and right-wing lobby groups that Japanese people do not usually visit. I didn't have many acquaintances in Washington, but with the help of the Japanese embassy, researchers, and businesspeople, I followed a chain of personal networks, which became so interesting that I became addicted to it.

One of the true pleasures of my research is to clarify, even in part, how these people are connected to organizations close to the heart of the American administration through the Christian lobby.

Saho Matsumoto

Chikuma Shinsho

240 pages, 902 yen (tax included)

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time this magazine was published.