Posted on 02/24/2016 7:17:27 AM PST by TurkeyLurkey
Like the Blind Leading the Blind: Donald Trump and Evangelicals
This morning, like most mornings now, I found myself reading an article on Donald Trump’s candidacy. Everyday I ask myself the question, “How can so many American Evangelicals support such an openly narcissistic, power driven man?†Sarah Palin endorsed him, Jerry Falwell Jr., the president of Liberty University, endorsed him,[1] and not too long ago, a poll was released that showed that Evangelical Christians as a whole are gravitating to Trump.[2]
But, this article I read today gave me a much needed answer as to why Americans and specifically republican “anti-establishment†Evangelicals are gravitating toward Donald Trump. The author, Gina Dalfonzo, asserted, and rightfully so, that when fear is driving a certain people group, they will seek safety and power in the wrong places. The author then went on to make the connection that the American people, specifically “anti-establishment†republicans, are putting their faith in Donald Trump, because he projects an unwavering, albeit narcissistic, strength. She even takes a particular jab at American Evangelicals it seems, when she states, “Some who have professed faith in Jesus Christ are lured by a man who openly puts all his faith in power and money, the very things Christ warned us against prizing too highly.â€[3]
Americans are scared. And, when humans fear they look for security. And, what appeals to humans seeking security? Strength. This is why Trump is so appealing; he exudes a certain unwavering cockiness that somehow appeals to people as “strength.†But, Evangelical Christians must remember that to exchange morality and virtue for strength and power is to reject an important Christian principle.
American Evangelicals, by voting for Trump, are rejecting a key principle from the message of Christ and his incarnation: personal power is not to be prized.
I could to try and sway Evangelical voters by pointing to Trump’s not so morally consistent business and personal history. I could easily point to Trump’s multiple divorces,[4] his business endeavors, the fact he owned the nation’s first-ever casino strip club,[5] the fact that he preys on the weak by using his power to take their land through eminent domain,[6] his previous support of abortion, his sexist[7] and racist remarks,[8] and much more.[9] But, more than all of these actions, the reason why Trump should cause Christians to cringe is what seems to be his deep, personal, one could say philosophical, love of power and not virtue.
Trump fails to realize that power is neither good nor evil in and of itself. Power can be a good, or it can be an evil. Power can be likened to a hammer. In the right hands it is a tool that builds up and strengthens a structure. In the wrong hands it can be a tool used for destruction or tearing apart a structure. It is the character of the man wielding the hammer that matters not the hammer itself. Power needs virtue in order to be good. But, Trump insists that because he is successful, because he is rich, because he is powerful, he deserves your vote. Remembering our illustration, it is as if Trump is saying, I’ll be a good builder cause I have a hammer. This, I believe, contradicts the virtue ethic of the Bible. And, the question every voter, not only Evangelical Christians, must ask is “How has he used his power? How has he used his tools?â€
The Prophet Jeremiah writes, “Do not let the wise boast in their wisdom, do not let the mighty boast in their might, do not let the wealthy boast in their wealth; but let those who boast boast in this, that they understand and know me, that I am the Lord; I act with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the Lord.â€[10] This is a summary of the Christian message. The Christian message and ethic is that man’s boasting whether it be in money, power, or wisdom, gains him nothing. It’s worthless. But, God delights in men of virtue, of love, justice, and righteousness. Trump does not live a life of virtue, rather he boasts of all his money, power, and accomplishments to gain your trust and vote. Trump is successful; Trump is rich; Trump is powerful. I am not denying this, but American Evangelicals must question how he uses his money, success, and power. And, I believe if one questions this, he will realize that Trump’s actions show that he consistently uses his money and power unethically.
The Apostle Paul states in his first epistle to the Corinthians (not One Corinthians), “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast.â€[11] Jesus as our Leader, our Savior and King, did not rule this world with king-like power or with earthly riches. Jesus Christ lived a lowly life, a life of healing the sick, a life of serving the poor and the outcast. Christ lived a servant’s life, and he died a humiliating death to save mankind, even those who crucified him. Christ does not claim followers because of His mere power. Jesus Christ claims followers because of how he uses His infinite power. Christ’s life, death, burial, and resurrection show that true power comes from understanding virtue and enacting love, justice, and righteousness in our broken world. Virtue and morality is what builds and structures our communities, our cities, our states, and our union. This is what is called a Virtue-ethic. Man living for virtue’s sake not for personal gain.
That being said, there was a time when American Evangelicals voted from this Christian virtue ethic. Russell Moore says it well,
“One may say that Trump’s personal life and business dealings are irrelevant to his candidacy, but conservatives have argued for generations that virtue matters, in the citizenry and in the nation’s leaders. Can conservatives really believe that, if elected, Trump would care about protecting the family’s place in society when his own life is — unapologetically — what conservatives used to recognize as decadent?â€
Some American Evangelicals want to elect a man who stands for the exact opposite of Christ’s message of virtue as true power. They want a leader who mocks, scoffs, and ridicules his competitors and dissenters. Some Evangelicals want to elect Trump as their political “savior,†but sadly they cannot see his blatant rejection of their very Savior’s virtue ethic. Like the blind leading the blind, so Trump leads scared and impressionable Evangelicals.
I am not saying that Christians can only vote for verified Christians, there is no religious test for office; I am not saying that Christians cannot vote for rich men; I am not saying that Christians cannot vote for powerful men. The point I am wishing to make is that Christians cannot vote for rich, powerful men who reject virtue and have both a flawed character and ethic. As previously stated, I do not care if Trump is rich; I do not care if Trump is successful; I do not care if Trump is powerful. But, I do care how Trump uses his money, success, and power. Therefore, I care that Trump is immoral; I care that Trump is arrogant; I care that Trump is narcissistic. And, all of these characteristics paired with his personal and business actions show his blatant opposition to Christ’s message of true power as virtue. Thus, to vote for Trump is to accept the message of this world: that the powerful, the rich, the successful deserve power and leadership. And, if that is true, then Jesus Christ would not have been a good leader according to modern standards.
Evangelical Christians must understand that to seriously support Trump is to politically forget that morality is to be prized over earthly power; that divine virtue is greater than human strength.
The nation that has killed 55 million babies is under judgement from YHWH. He is done with the United States of America.
We have been under judgement ever since the 1962 School Prayer ruling. The first official Muslim Brotherhood front organization founded in the U.S. was the Muslim Students Association (MSA), established on the Urbana-Champaign campus of the University of Illinois in 1964. The Muslim Brotherhood is a type of the Assyrian that YHWH used to bring judgement on the 10 tribes that made up Israel. Al Qaeda is an off-shoot of the Muslim Brotherhood. Their 9/11 attack was a perfect fulfillment of Isaiah 9:8-13.
Since the 1973 Roe v. Wade things have really gotten worse. Since then we have never won a war, before then we never lost one. With Obama we finally got Isaiah 3:4-5 “I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them. The people will be oppressed, everyone by another and every one by his neighbor; The child will be insolent toward the elder and the base to the honorable.”
All this moral decay was initiated by Judges, just as the moral decay in Sodom and Gomorrah was, according to the Jewish sages, initiated by Judges. That puts us as “in the days of Lot” (Luke 17:28-37). The “great sign in the heavens” from Revelation 12:1-2 actually occurs on September 23-24, 2017. See the image at: http://i.ytimg.com/vi/_1y_hLqVXf4/maxresdefault.jpg
So Ted Cruz is “in this race to show this country the face of the God that we serve”, as his wife has stated, which is part of the Dominion Heresy (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominion_Theology), that believes that Conservative Christians need to take control of the secular government and rule over the non-Christians, for the good of all, of course.
Now if you believe that anything that we, as humans, can do will change the judgement to come, then you are not paying attention. But you are paying attention, so now you know why it is not a good idea to support Ted Cruz.
As for Donald Trump, I view him as a type of Samson, whom YHWH raised up to bring down the Temple of Dagon on the Philistines. Read Judges 13-16 and then look at the characteristics Donald Trump shares with Samson: Doesn’t drink, ever; has really wild hair; is really harsh if you treat him badly or unfairly; ran around with a lot of foreign women.
Now look at Donald Trump’s slogan: “Make America Great Again”. Alexis de Tocqueville said: “America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.” Donald Trump knows that in a country overrun with Philistines one can not campaign on “Make America Good Again”. However, if you look at what he says he will do, how offended he is by people lying about him, how offended he is with dirty tricks, how he hates the corruption in American government, etc. you know that he is trying to do is make America good again. So Donald Trump is bringing people out of the shadows, so to speak, and giving them hope that things can be better. This puts them out in the world where the Holy Spirit can bring believers into contact with those who are to be saved. So that is the spiritual aspect of the Trump campaign.
On the Bible Prophecy side, how is YHWH going to convince the Iranians that 2017 would be about the last time they, with their allies, can wipe out the United States and attack Israel to wipe it off the map?
How about we elect Donald Trump and he starts to make the American Military so strong that no one will want to mess with us? How about if he starts to root out the Muslim Brotherhood infiltration of the Government? In fact, the threat of having Donald Trump in the Whitehouse may well trigger the attack that is described in Ezekiel 38:10-13, which YHWH does not stop, so that the attack in Ezekiel 38:14-23, which YHWH will stop can take place. Then the End will come.
When the world gets to these critical points, there isn’t anything one can do to change the course set by YHWH for the world. It is much easier if you focus on that narrow way YHWH has for you to do as your part in His magnificent Word.
You really don’t know what you’re taking about.
Since you’ve cherry picked Scripture to do your own judging, maybe you should also consider Matthew 7: —1 Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
Have a nice day. We will pray for you.
I actually question the faith of “evangelicals” that support Trump; he is the total antithesis of whom they should support according to God’s Word. He is in the mold of an anti-christ...the reaction of many of his supporters should actually be shocking to true Christians (you would think that the Beatles had walked into the room). Very disturbing.
... because we’re tired of the ‘blind ideology’ litmus to correct the most serious problems that we have in this sinking ship of a country! The people are FED UP with the utter trashing of this country by the radical leftists, that we can’t sit here and wait for some ideal “Pastor in Chief” in-waiting to rescue us.
Good article. A lot of people seem hellbent on electing a narcissist like Trump. Understandable. He’s just the “Republican” version of the very narcissistic Obama, and the American people elected him. Twice.
A lot of people on this board blindly support him no matter what he says or does. Sadly, that’s the same Kool-Aid that the dimmos drink for their leaders. It’s a form of idolatry. They worship him, and anytime anything is said against their idol, they react as if a blasphemy has been committed. That’s why they get so upset.
There would be a lot more civility if people removed the worship from the equation. Don’t be afraid to admit the shortcomings of your candidate. Recognize that Trump is a narcissist and not a conservative at all. Recognize that Cruz apparently surrounded himself with bad help (assuming he wasn’t the author of the dirty tricks). Recognize that Rubio is now the establishment candidate and therefore clearly part of the problem. Etc.
Worship Someone worthy of worship. None of the presidential candidates are worthy of worship.
I certainly agree with you that we, and all the other nations, are under judgment from YHWH; I especially like Psalm 2 which clearly states the reason for that judgment, in the LORD’s response.
We are coming full circle. The end is like unto the beginning. Trump is an alpha, and alphas build walls and towers and all kinds of stuff. Don’t you know that? Never mind that inside he is a child. Nimrod(Hebrew root: rebel) the mighty one built a tower; no not Trump Towers, the Tower at Babel. He was made king based on his greatness and he promised security(Josephus’s account). People looked upon him with awe. But the kingdom he built turned into tyranny. This same scenario repeats over and again throughout history and ends with the eventual breakup of the kingdom. Trump is “Nimrod”? Time will tell.
meh
Overly simplistic
Nicely played
It was a disingenuous argument - I’m not saying there is a religious test, but there is a religious test.
Peddle the theocracy next election cycle. No one is buying the BS this time round.
Deal with it.
Psalm 2
1 Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us.”
4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The LORD shall hold them in derision.
5 Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, And distress them in His deep displeasure:
6 “Yet I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion.”
7 “I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.
8 Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ “
10 Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
11 Serve the LORD with fear, And rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, And you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.
Nelson, Thomas (2009-02-18). Holy Bible, New King James Version (NKJV) (p. 527). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.
In book 1, chapter 4 of, Antiquities of the Jews, the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, also wrote an account of this collectivist kingdom which provides us with more insight:
Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such an affront and contempt of God. He was the grandson of Ham, the son of Noah, a bold man, and of great strength of hand. He persuaded them not to ascribe it to God, as if it was through his means they were happy, but to believe that it was their own courage which procured that happiness. He also gradually changed the government into tyranny, seeing no other way of turning men from the fear of God, but to bring them into a constant dependence on his [government] power. Now the multitude were very ready to follow the determination of Nimrod, and to esteem it a piece of cowardice to submit to God.
I have one: Fear God. Any leader who does not fear God is putting his people at incredible peril.
God help us repent.
Indeed. God allowed a good conservative justice to die. Why is it liberals get to live?
Good post. A point out as well that Trump supported bail outs.
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