The unexpected relationship between U.S. evangelicals and Russian Orthodox

Well before special counsel Robert Mueller started investigating possible illegal collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, American evangelicals had formed an odd alliance of their own with leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church. American evangelicals are led to make common cause with Russian Orthodoxy—and with Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin—because of a deep and shared suspicion of Western liberal elites.

Evangelical leaders in the United States and Orthodox hierarchs in Russia have accused the Western liberal establishment of being secular, antireligious, and committed to undermining traditional religious and moral values. In recent years, Barack Obama’s comments about “bitter” people “who cling to guns or religion” and Hillary Clinton’s dismissal of the “deplorables” backing Trump have added fuel to the flames. Sexual and gender politics have generated the most heat, but “traditional values” have also included patriotism, respect for the military, and the celebration of historic religious national identities, as in “Christian America” or “Holy Russia.”

In both countries, evangelicals and Orthodox have actively opposed legalized abortion and have called for protection of the “traditional” family. They have turned to leaders who support their causes—American evangelicals to the Republican Party and now Trump; Russian Orthodox hierarchs to Putin.