No, they are not really very helpful beyond having a sneery and faintly self-congratulatory tone, particularly if an 'escape' has been effected. I am fairly sure I could come up with a similar pile of twaddle myself, detailing my impoverished northern childhood. Why is evangelical christianity on the rise? What place does religion occupy in regional economies. What is the role of education. Religion as alternative safety net? Why this particular form of religion - who is selling it and why. What is in it for the population...and come to that, just how are we to discern how prevalent are these views. Whole entire communities?
Sneery shit about god-fearing hillbillies is just depthless drivel. Religion, and all its discontents does not arrive in a vacuum...and people are not just lazy brainwashed fools.
Sorry, I don't think you are quite grasping this one. Fundamentalist Christianity (not necessarily the same as Evangelical - that's more a way of practicing, not the beliefs per se,) isn't something that's just become popular. It's shaped the core attitudes and values of rural communities in the Midwest from the time they were founded. I think it was sometime in maybe the late 1970's that the "Moral Majority" started trying to get in with right wing politicians on a state and national level. Reagan certainly recognised the benefits of linking with them. It's a symbiotic relationship really - fundamentalist christian churches (the folks who do believe the white Jesus stuff) have used politicians to get laws pass that reflect and promote their beliefs. Politicians have courted the fundamentalist Christian leadership because getting preachers to tell large congregations to vote for them gets them elected.
Yes, there's money involved, but not in the way you're thinking - not some outside influence buying souls and influence. Congregations donate to and fundraise for candidates that will promote their version of religious values in law and policy. Once elected, politicians set about doing just that. Also, don't forget - the two aren't mutually exclusive. Trump may not seem the epitomy of morality, but plenty of politicians are as fervently religious as the churchgoers who back them.
I really don't think you get both how prevalent and genuinely held these religious beliefs are. To people in the UK, it looks corny, hokey and fake, but believe me, they mean it. I think they are deeply misguided and dangerous beliefs, but I don't doubt for an minute they aren't genuine and deeply held. And THAT is the essence of the first article - because their beliefs are so deeply held and prescriptive, it's almost impossible for them to absorb information that doesn't reflect their belief system. Facts genuinely don't matter if you are driven by faith. We've seen shit like that throughout history, so I don't get why people are so surprised that it could still happen now.
I remember people here being puzzled that America elected George Bush Junior as president - someone who genuinely came across as quite dim and who claimed God talked directly to him. Although that sounds like a load of woo woo hookey to most people here, and to Liberal folk in America, I knew exactly why people in the rural Midwest ate it up.
The Democrats didn't cotton on, still largely in denial about the entrenched racism in places like this. Bernie and his supporters were just pissing in the wind, thinking this lot would ever vote for a socialist Jew or that reaching out to the white working class will bring them round. Uh no. Trump and the Tea Partiers before him did "get it," and exploited their fervent beliefs, misguided fears and sheer gullibility to win their support.
It's depressing, doesn't offer much hope, but is bang on from my experience. 
