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The Effects of Race and the Prosperity Gospel on Politics in the Trump Era

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 April 2022

Ben Gaskins Open the ORCID record for Ben Gaskins [Opens in a new window]  and
JahAsia Jacobs
Ben Gaskins*
Affiliation:
Lewis & Clark College, Portland, OR, USA
JahAsia Jacobs
Affiliation:
Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
*
Corresponding author: Ben Gaskins, E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

The Prosperity Gospel (PG) has gotten an increasing amount of attention recently as a major theological force driving Americans' political attitudes and identity. A number of studies have also examined how the PG affects racial minorities, especially Black Protestants, for whom it works counter to Social Gospel theology that is commonly associated with Black religious leaders and believers. This paper employs a unique data set that shows the prevalence of PG identity and beliefs across racial and religious categories, comparing the political outputs of the confluence of race, theology, and religious identity.

Type
Article
Information
Politics and Religion , Volume 15 , Issue 3 , September 2022 , pp. 579 - 616
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association

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