After the vote: what next for evangelicals in the US?

(As en went to press, various lawsuits disputing the result were ongoing.)

Gerald Bray reports from Alabama

The coronavirus pandemic has unexpectedly found me in Alabama, where I have enjoyed a front-row seat in the 2020 elections circus.

Foreigners concentrate on the presidential race, but there is a lot more to it than that. Americans vote for the two houses of congress (but only one-third of the Senate) and on many other things too. All politics is local, and my particular Alabama favourites this year were the decision to allow the sale of alcohol on Sundays combined with permission granted to take loaded firearms to church – for self-defence purposes, of course. Alabama is the heart of the Bible belt, where extreme libertarianism, combined with a flexible approach to social responsibility, creates a heady mix. The prospect of a drunken massacre in the choir seems remote, but we know that if one occurs everyone’s thoughts and prayers will be with the victims – and nothing will change.