To engage in a bit of navel gazing, this rings true.

There is an element of cruelty or meanness that undergirds much of Christianity in these United States. I see it in family members, friends, caretakers, acquaintances. I was raised in it. It's judgmental and mean-spirited. It is sometimes disguised at the Protestant Work Ethic: It only values people by how hard they work. If someone is viewed as a hard worker, they are entitled to the country's great riches. If not, they can go die in a ditch.

This translates to overvaluation of the wealthy, because they earned it -- they must work hard. Conversely, the poor get nothing which is what they deserve, because they are lazy.

Of course, none of this is true. In this society, few work as hard for as little as immigrants. Yet, they are scorned and put down because in our cruel nature we have convinced ourselves that they are lazy and are only here to soak up government benefits (when not stealing our jobs).

Conversely, few work as little as the wealthy. As studies have shown the most likely indicator that you will be a billionaire is having a father who is a billionaire (sorry Tiffany, it's not a 1:1). Yet, we convince ourselves that they worked hard and earned and are worthy.

Now, Trump certainly epitomizes cruelty and is not overtly Christian. He was raised in the church of Norman Vincent Peale. The gospel according to Peale descended from this strain of Christianity as did Richard Nixon -- it became the underpinning of modern conservative thought.

So, yes, Trump espouses the politics of cruelty and many American lap it up because it's the theology they were raised on. It's a lot more complicated than that, but it's the beginning of a theory.