To look at a lot of memes and rhetoric on social media you would think that Republicans are unequivocally evil and Trump is the Antichrist. He is a narcissist, a liar and greedy phony but he is not the Antichrist. Labels such as these are hyperbolic and usually counterproductive. It’s like calling someone Hitler. You lose what could be a strong argument right from the outset.
Trump is not the Antichrist. But he is anti-Christian. In fact, his words and actions diverge dramatically from pretty much all religious, spiritual, or secular-humanist ethical values, as do those of many members of the Grand Old Party. But let’s focus on their current leader and mascot and whether they like it or not, their chief spokesperson.
Trump’s most compelling argument for being a good Christian (or a decent human being for that matter) is that he calls himself one. And some people actually believe him. The great majority of those people call themselves followers of Jesus Christ. This troubling.
Do not get me wrong, whether or not someone is Christian or Buddhist or takes part in Ayahuasca ceremonies or worships the cold hard facts of science means little to me. But be authentic for Christ’s sake.
According to Kierkegaard, Christianity’s most dangerous enemy is Christendom, the spiritually underdeveloped churchgoer who wears the label of Christian like a trendy coat and revels in the psychologically irresistible sense of moral righteousness that comes from being among the “saved,’ even or especially in the face of contradiction.
In high school we called these people posers. The kind of kid who would proudly wear the band tee-shirt but could only name their radio hits. Donald Trump is a poser. And he is embraced by posers, “good Christians” who would rather take Trump as a mascot for “good Christian values,” than live outside of the idolatrous brand names that are so necessary to those incapable of spiritual maturity.
While he does represent some of the values of American Christendom (disdain for other systems of belief, a mandatory commitment to political outcomes, a comical insistence that their myths are the only non-myths, disbelief in science even as they use its wonders to post ignorant statements everywhere you look) he does not represent the teachings and wisdom of Christ or any of the Judeo-Christian prophets. Or Siddhartha, or Krishna, Lao Tzu or okay, you get the idea.
To anyone who actually heeds Jesus’s words, it would seem that it would be easier for a camel to do a Triple Lutz on a frozen Dead Sea through the flaming head of a needle than for a predatory capitalist like Trump to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. But not only does this seem to be ignored by some, his “business acumen,” and the values of free enterprise and the stock market ethos have somehow found their way into the cultural values of supposed followers of Christ.
He is also an adulterer; a coveter of his neighbor’s and everyone else’s neighbor’s pussy (as long as it is “top shelf”).
Humility is not exactly his strong suit either. He may be the least humble person ever to step foot in the White House. And that says quite a bit.
What I think I might find most alarming were I a Christian, is not only does he worship numerous false idols (the American flag, white supremacy, money, and most notably his own perceived greatness), but millions of believers line up behind him.
Look, I am not a Christian, at least not in the traditional sense, but I know and care about many people who are. And it saddens me that all the beautiful redemptive aspects of religious practice are being obfuscated by Trump and other posers. It has been going on for years, centuries really. But this a glaringly obvious example that could perhaps be parlayed into a change in attitude that would be helpful to believers and non-believers alike.
God is not dead, he is being manipulated. And I fear no good will come of this.
It pains and amuses me in equal amounts that some would blindly contaminate the sacred with the political. To ignore the healing power of the solstice, the renewed hope of the true new year, to bury the earnest struggle of the penitent, the mystics and martyrs, all the believing mothers calling out to guardian angels in the middle of the night beneath the grotesqueness of political trivialities seems like some kind of sin.
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