Everyone exploits church and religion.
Performative religion isn’t unique to strongmen. It shows up anywhere power and legitimacy intersect. Popes, archbishops, presidents, revolutionaries, party machines, campaign operatives, all of them are tempted to wrap themselves in moral language to stabilize power. American politicians do it constantly with churches, clergy, prayer breakfasts, gospel cadences, and selective scripture. The issue isn’t who does it. The issue is whether people can still tell the difference between faith and theater.
