What do you know? Albert Mohler’s startling announcement that he is now a Trump supporter is no surprise to those who know him best: it seems he’s always been an opportunist.
The leader’s about-face has mystified many, given that none of his current justifications for endorsing the president address his previous criticisms. But others, including some of Mohler’s friends and colleagues (full disclosure: I have known Mohler since childhood), have pointed out that his decision is consistent with a career marked as much by ambition as conviction.
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But Leonard, founding dean and professor of divinity emeritus of Wake Forest University School of Divinity, says that Mohler’s theology quickly evolved in the ’80s when theological conservatives moved to take over the Southern Baptist Convention. Mohler pivoted to the right just as it became clear that conservative factions were going to win.
“I think you can make the case that there was an expediency to Al’s hard-right turn in those days,” says Leonard, author of “Baptist Ways: A History.” “He saw where things were headed in the denomination and turned toward it.”
It’s hardly a secret that I’ve never thought much of Mohler, but my dislike has always been grounded on the ridiculous and degrading theology he peddles; I’ve wondered often, and publicly, if he actually believes that stuff. Apparently, it’s enough for Albert the Pious that Ma and Pa Kettle believe that stuff.