Evangelists, that Christian group particularly influential in the United States, believes that US President Donald Trump is the one whom God has chosen to rule, and given this, its members spare no effort in implementing a strategy that enables them to enhance their influence in society to achieve their goal.

But what is bringing this religious group, whose followers are growing in the world, in an amazing way, to Trump?

What is its electoral weight in the United States?

What is its truth from the religious point of view?

And why does Israel occupy a central position?

What is its strategy for re-election of Trump?

To answer these questions, Luc Chatel met a writer for Le Monde newspaper in France, Andre Ghani, author of the book "Evangelists Behind Trump ... Hegemony, Satanism and the Apocalypse", professor of theology at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada.

Regarding the electoral weight of this group, Ghani says that it is estimated that there are approximately 95 million evangelicals in the United States of all spectrums, among whom supporters of Donald Trump constitute between 12% and 15%, and among them are those who support Democrats, especially those of African descent. But evangelicals generally voted for Trump by more than 80%, according to the writer.

Evangelicals are increasing - according to Ghana - at a very rapid rate, as their number today in the world is about 660 million, and it is expected that their number will exceed a billion by 2050.

Crowds of Evangelists during religious rites near Lake Tiberias (French)

Belief

Evangelists from a religious point of view are a group that is difficult to define precisely, but they claim that they make the Holy Book (the Bible) their main source of authority in matters of faith and practice, and then place their belief in the crucifixion of Christ as the center of their faith, and they see that he sacrificed himself in order to save humanity.

They believe that Christ had "charisma" in the theological sense of the word, and that among their members now there is someone who has this charisma through which the Lord bestows supernatural qualities that make those who acquire it more successful in his Christian life.

According to a 2017 poll, 80% of American evangelicals believe in the imminent return of Christ, and they are convinced that the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 is one of the promises to do so.

To ensure that the divine blessing comes to the United States - according to their claim - it must maintain good relations with Israel, and this is one of the motives that made Trump move his country's embassy to Jerusalem and recognize it as the capital of Israel.

There is another biblical reference that appears often to legitimize Trump in their eyes, as they see in it the character of the Persian king Cyrus, who narratives say saved the Jews and brought them back to the land from which the King of Babylon Nebuchadnezzar II expelled them in 587 BC.

Evangelicals decided to support Trump in the previous elections after they were urged to do so by the Christian businessman Lance Walnut, whom they consider a prophet, because - according to him - shortly before the 2016 presidential elections, it was "suggested to him" that Trump is the one who will win, and he linked that to the fact that he is dismissed. 45 of the Book of Isaiah talks about the mission of King Cyrus that Trump must accomplish as the 45th president of the United States, Walnau says.

The Seven Mountains

Evangelists focus in their electoral work and others on penetrating the social, cultural and political institutions of society, and to do so, they apply a strategy they call "occupying the Seven Mountains." These seven mountains represent areas of influence: religion, education, economy, politics, arts, media and family.

To penetrate and control these seven cultural domains, they reproduce patterns of influence that exist in society, and then inculcate Christian values ​​in them.

The goal is to climb the ranks to find yourself at the top of the "mountain" and thus become the strongest and most influential in your field, and they have made significant gains, and what is certain is that those who supported Trump in 2016 will support him today, according to the writer.