Henry Kissinger is reputed to have said that “power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.” Which perfectly explains why most white evangelical Christians, having thoroughly trashed their morals, are so turned on by the overlord of immorality.

Christianity Today, a religious magazine founded by the late Billy Graham, triggered a brief ruckus the other day when it posted a wise editorial calling for Donald Trump’s ouster. Hewing to the principles of the Christian faith, it stated the obvious:

“The impeachment hearings have illuminated the president’s moral deficiencies for all to see. This damages the institution of the presidency, damages the reputation of our country, and damages both the spirit and the future of our people. None of the president’s positives can balance the moral and political danger we face under a leader of such grossly immoral character.”

Trump naturally went ballistic, falsely assailing CT as a “far left” outlet, and vowing to never read “ET” ever again! (He probably never heard of CT prior to the editorial, which explains why he used the acronym for Entertainment Tonight, which he most assuredly has watched.) He also ranted that no other president has done more for “religion itself,” which is odd coming from a thrice-married serial liar and philanderer who signed a hush money check to a porn star with whom he canoodled while wife three was home nursing his baby.

But he need not have combusted, because most members of the God squad – leaders and minions alike – have quickly closed ranks behind Dear Impeached Leader and banished the CT editorial to the evangelical fringe. Franklin Graham (son of Billy) said Friday that CT is “the leftist elite,” and that Trump should be excused for sinning because everyone sins. (This is the same Franklin Graham who in 1998 demanded Bill Clinton’s removal because – get this – if a president “will lie or mislead his wife, what will prevent him from doing the same to the American public?”)

Most white evangelical Christians signed their Faustian pact with Trump three years ago, and they won’t breach it now; according to a new national poll, 80 percent think Trump is doing a great job. They’ve long scrapped their morals to serve a grifter in exchange for ideological favors – most notably, judicial curbs on the rights of people who aren’t white, male, or straight – and the delusional belief that he’ll turn back the clock.

The CT editorial is not the first attempt to talk sense to the evangelicals. Back in the spring of 2016, Russell Moore, a spokesman for the powerful Southern Baptist Convention, publicly denounced candidate Trump’s “moral sewage,” and voiced the same warning that CT is sending now. Moore said, “When we see the race-baiting and the kind of misogyny that we’ve seen all through this year – if evangelical Christians are not willing to stand up (for) decency and morality, we don’t have any credibility left for the future.”

Naturally, Trump attacked him in a tweet: “Russell Moore is truly a terrible representative of Evangelicals and all the good they stand for. A nasty guy with no heart!” And Moore’s warning proved futile – as did this ’16 editorial from another online outlet, The Christian Post: “Trump, an admirer of Vladimir Putin and other dictatorial leaders, may claim to be your friend and protector now, but as his history indicates, without your full support he will turn on you, and use whatever power is within his means to punish you.”

Actually, he’s had no reason to punish them. Their pact with Trump has held firm; in exchange for their continued blind loyalty, he has given them “virtual carte blanche to run his administration” (in the words of journalist Sarah Posner, who specializes in tracking the religious right). And their fealty is tighter than ever, now that he has been impeached by the godless libs. All told, Trump is the five-star general in their reactionary culture war – which is why the CT editorial’s eloquent (and likely prescient) warning to the flock will have all the impact of a twig falling in a forest:

“To the many evangelicals who continue to support Mr. Trump in spite of his blackened moral record, we might say this: Remember who you are and whom you serve. Consider how your justification of Mr. Trump influences your witness to your Lord and Savior. Consider what an unbelieving world will say if you continue to brush off Mr. Trump’s immoral words and behavior in the cause of political expediency. If we don’t reverse course now, will anyone take anything we say about justice and righteousness with any seriousness for decades to come? Can we say with a straight face that abortion is a great evil that cannot be tolerated and, with the same straight face, say that the bent and broken character of our nation’s leader doesn’t really matter in the end?”

Of course they can! Surely there is room in the gospel for a dose of Machiavelli, who well understood what the power aphrodisiac did to men’s souls. “Politics,” he once said, “have no relation to morals.”