I think the idea was 'in the air' before Taylor's book.

Evangelicals were searching for a way to justify their support of a man whose life contradicts everything they claim to believe.

Also if T is a 'Cyrus' figure anointed by god, divinely chosen to lead the US 'back to godly ways', then any objector or resister to what he does or says reveals that person to be Satanic.

Cyrus wasn't about to rebuild anything. Not what he wanted. He wanted peace and to gain the support of his new subjects. He didn't lead Israel back to righteousness. Not his thing.

The Jews were sent home, so that they could rebuild their walls and temple, return to their land that they were said they'd been evicted from for disobedience. The rebuilder would be Zerubbabel. And not necessarily a real go-getter, at that.

There's also little to suggest that anybody thought Cyrus especially righteous in any important way. He was considered sent by God, as was Nebuchadnezzar, for a purpose. Nebuchadnezzar, to punish. Cyrus, to grant space for a restoration and for obedience--but not independence, because the punishment was merely alleviated, not ended.

I think that saying they all support Trump therefore try to find justification is a bit off. A lot looked around, and had trouble supporting any of the candidates. But the Cyrus analogy gave them space for supporting Trump. Now, some liked Trump because he signaled that he was like them in some sense, so finding justification is what they did; but others were repelled by HRC, and didn't much like Trump. And as I've said before, if you don't like Cyrus you can get the same attitudes towards rulers on the part of Paul.

to protect its values."

The Christian Coalition is a conservative political movement, the basis of today's GOP. Its goal is to instill a tyrannical Christian government.

[link:http://www.encyclopedia.com/sports-and-everyday-life/social-organizations/private-organizations/christian-coalition]

"The coalition's central goals have been to gain working control of the Republican Party through grassroots organizing and to elect Christian candidates to office."

It is the driving force behind placing anti-science members of school boards into office, and in electing other Creationist and Fundamentalist politicians at the state and city level.

[link:http://www.qrd.org/qrd/www/FTR/christco.html]

"According to Ralph Reed, the Christian Coalition's executive director, 'The Christian community got it backwards in the nineteen-eighties. We tried to charge Washington when we should have been focusing on the states. The real battles of concern to Christians are in neighborhoods, school boards, city councils, and state legislatures.'"

It is an anti-democracy organization.

I wouldn't call it Christian since it has nothing to do with the teachings of Christ.

In college I wrote a 30-page paper about the rising Christian Right. My research made my blood boil.

“Do good things and be virtuous. Or not.”

There’s always some verse that can be used to justify goodness or as cover for inflicting unspeakable suffering.