Grenell Illustrates A House Divided 2020

Richard Grenell could be a poster person for A House Divided over two fault lines--Religion and Politics.

Grenell has been appointed by president Trump to Acting Director of National Intelligence. He was sworn in as Ambassador to Germany by Vice President, Pence. Pence has a history of resisting gay rights as in this CNN 2019 story.

So why does Grenell deserve the attention of A House Divided? The fact that he has been a loyal Republican is not the reason. Grenell makes news in 2020 America because of the combination of religion and gender identity.

According to VOX, Grenell was contentious in Berlin because of his support for right-wing leaders and policies.

According to NBC News, when Grenell was ambassador to Germany, he announced an administration-wide push to decriminalize homosexuality in those nations where it is illegal (reported as 68).

Politically, the Republican Party has not been known for overt support for the rights of sexual minorities, let alone the reported push to decriminalize homosexuality--however homosexuality is defined by the various governments. Grenell's statements place him far to the political right and like his boss, he is considerably distant from the moderate and progressive Democrats running for president.

Socially, Grenell makes news in some media for his sexuality. Take The Hill for example where the headline reads, "Trump names the first openly gay person to a cabinet-level position." Close to his alma mater, Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri, the local business journal (SBJ; see also Ozarks First and News-Leader) reports his connection to the conservative Christian school and notes in the second sentence, "Grenell is openly gay..." Obviously, his sexuality matters to some. You don't see words like "heterosexual president appoints homosexual man..." or "Straight president appoints gay man..." It's only the minority that is singled out--by the way, he's not single. Richard Grenell has a partner who was present when Vice President Pence officiated at the ambassador appointment.

His status as a gay man in a party where ultraconservative Christians oppose the rights of sexual minorities stands out as a dividing issue. Ironically, a little more than a week ago, a Texas church became LGBTQ inclusive and thus are no longer part of the same group of Christians (Walton, 2020).

Religiously, Grenell graduated from Evangel University, which is a conservative Christian University. Conservative American Christians have been thrilled with Trump's support for conservative judges, religious freedom, and abortion limits (Trump supported a failed legislation effort to ban legal abortions after 20 weeks; Politico Jan 19 2018).

     The divisive issue of course is that despite the strong showing of support from conservative religious leaders, Trump would offer such a high position to a gay man. It was only a few weeks ago that conservative clergyman Franklin Graham expressed concerns about the "ungodly sexual agenda of the LGBTQ lobby." It's hard to imagine Graham and others will be thrilled to learn that Grenell and his unofficial title, "gay man," will hold such an important government post. Graham's twin issues in January 2020 were abortion and the LGBTQ agenda.

    A quote in the Springfield News-Leader hints at Grenell's faith and what it means to be gay.

He wrote that when he was a student at Evangel, he was taught by biblical scholars that “all truth is God’s truth, no matter where it is found.”
“The truth for LGBT people is that we were born gay,” he wrote. “People can disagree philosophically about homosexuality, but no person should ever be subject to criminal penalties because they are gay.”

Politics and Pete Buttigieg cannot be ignored. Pete's not just openly gay but he's married, publicly identifies as Christian, and is running to be nominated as the Democratic candidate for President. Pete highlights the House Divided theme as well. Sojo notes Mayor Pete has captivated the support of the Christian left. I suppose Sojo assumed Pete has not captivated the Christian right. And no one talks about the Christian middle. Perhaps there is no middle ground anymore. When it comes to politics and gender, Christians are as divided as ever.

For many, the lines of uniquely defined moral character are not drawn as neatly as they would like them to be. The issues of abortion and sexual minority rights continue to divide voters along political and religious lines. Families remain divided and people change their minds.

Reviewers have noted the call to respect and finding common ground in A House Divided. 

Read more about sex and morality in A House Divided available from AMAZON, the publisher, and many other sources worldwide.

For now it seems political parties and religious groups can house a mix of people who support causes and express values considered abhorrent by others in the same party or religious group. The control of America's future usually rests with one of two parties. All other party candidates don't have much hope in the rigid two-party system. When it comes to religion, only Christians hold the majority of power positions in government. And it's the conservative Christians who currently hold sway with the president. But the president has not yet taken up the two-pronged agenda of Franklin Graham.

The politico-religious battle over sacred ground will continue. So far, it seems to be a war of attrition. The entrenched lines have not moved very far at the national level despite some conservative land grabs in specific states.


Read more about Politics and Christian Morality in a recent research study.

Sutton, G. W., Kelly, H. L., & Huver, M. (2019). Political identities, religious identity, and the pattern of moral foundations among conservative Christians. Journal of Psychology and Theology, xx, pp. xx-xx. Accepted 6 September 2019. ResearchGate Link     Academia Link

Related Posts

Bringing Christians Together across the Moral Divide

Gay and Christian but not at a Christian School

Decision Magazine and Divided Christians 2020

Methodist House Divides over Sexual Minority Beliefs