Historically, American evangelicals were poor and on the margins of society. Evangelicalism in the 19th Century stood for public education, prison reform and the abolition of slavery. They advocated equal rights, including voting rights, for women, and the right of workers to join a union. They also fiercely defended the separation of church and state.

Now, the descendants of those 19th Century evangelicals are, some of them, very rich, and this has led to a change in the the meaning of American evangelism. They are passionately against abortion, ignoring the tragedy of the unwanted and unloved child that so often is the result of forcing women to give birth, regardless of circumstances. They believe other religions and sects to be illegitimate. Their leaders are now esconced in the White House, advising a godless President. Many voted, if for nothing else, to get a majority on the Supreme Court. Tax, and reducing it is a principal pre-occupation. The apparent fact that there is a famous evangelical standing for the US Senate, accused of being a sexual predator is apparently of no importance; power is. There are still some true christians among them who are uncomfortable with the direction of the movement, but the separation of religion from politics is not a subject that concerns these people, as far as I can establish. At the moment they are in the driving seat and are gettin what they want. It could come back to haunt them.

Epicurus was very sceptical about politics in any case, but particularly hostile to politicians using religion to further their aims. In fairness, there are plenty of religious people who find the antics of the political evangelicals tacky and dangerous, to say the least. But we are in an era where studied, informed commonsense has been overtaken by hypocrisy and tribalism.