"God must have quite a sense of humor to have brought evangelicals and Donald Trump together. Sometimes the most unlikely people become our staunchest defenders and he certainly has!" - Ralph Reed, quoted in a June, 2018 article in the NY Times.
"The American Evangelical Church isn't so weak that it needs Trump's version of secular salvation...Yet the church is acting as if it needs Trump to protect it. That's not courageous. It's repulsive. And so long as this fear continues, expect the church's witness to degrade further. In seeking protection from its perceived enemies the church has lost its way" - David French, 'The Evangelical Republic Of Fear', TIME, July 8, p. 16)
I'd always believed white evangelicals (especially), were pathetic in their adoration of Trump. But that perception amped up exponentially after their turning a blind eye both to his pussy -grabbing and assaults on nearly 23 women (documented to date) , as well as sleeping with Stormy Daniels even while wife Melania was having a kid. E.g.
Why Do White Christian Evangelicals Worship A Pervert ... - Brane Space
brane-space.blogspot.com/2018/01/why-do-white-evangelicals-worship.html
So in that sense the Evangelical clown Ralph Reed is correct in claiming it was ironic that Trump and his bible puncher brigade found each other. (Though I seriously doubt any deity had a thing to do with it, for the sake of humor or otherwise.) I didn't think it could get much worse than that until learning that at Trump's Orlando send off he actually had a white woman preacher calling down perdition on anyone opposing her master.
In one of the less noted batshit crazy outbursts out of Trumpdom, we learned last Tuesday (WSJ, p. A15, Crispin Sartwell) that one TV preacher named Paula White fairly went ape shit. The televangelist wench led the crowd of yahoos at Trump's Orlando campaign launch by bellowing (ibid..):
"Right now, let every demonic network who has aligned itself against the purpose, against the calling of Mr. Trump, let it be broken. Let it be torn down in the name of Jesus! And I now declare that President Trump will overcome every strategy from Hell and every strategy from the enemy!"
"Every demonic network"? Uh, lady, ever heard of the 'enemy within'? (Ever heard of meds for psychosis?) That is your great leader who is himself the Devil in sheep's clothing, you numb nut! Plus, how much evidence do you need given we have photos of him palling around with child sex pervert and predator Jeffrey Epstein?. See e.g.
Let's concede there's a point at which style overwhelms substance and madness trumps (no pun intended) even residual embers of sanity. That has clearly transpired with the white Evangelicals now drooling over Trump as their new "Savior".
Trump’s staunchest defenders are uniquely brazen to the extent to which they justify any means to favored ends. His evangelical Christian supporters, for example, are willing not merely to excuse Trump’s adultery and deceit but also to embrace them: The more vulgar he is, the more he fulfills his supposedly divine mission. I mean you have lots of weaklings giving him "mulligans" in golf, but this boggles the mind - to be awarded them in spades for serial morality transgressions- and by a bunch who profess to be holier than any other sect in the US of A. They "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ", but don't you dare say a word against the pussy- grabbin' Dotard!
And yet as David French writes in his TIME essay, these forlorn and misbegotten fools actually believed Hillary was the greater demonic threat, writing:
"They responded with raw fear at the very idea of a Hillary presidency. They believed she was going to place the church in mortal danger."
Little realizing the person that would really place their church - as well as their entire moral credibility in mortal danger would be the No.1 Pussy grabber Trump. And as French put it (ibid.):
"That wasn't faith speaking. They were the words of fearful men grasping at failing influence by clinging to a man whose daily life mocks the very values that Christians look to advance."
And what about the firebrand TV preacher Paula White? Well an objective observer would wryly note that while she was railing against "strategies and enemies from Hell" - an actual imp had taken over her brain as well as the brains of all those eating her drivel up in Orlando. My sister-in -law Krimhilde:
Before she fell victim to Alzheimer's, actually had the evangelicals and their Trump connection pegged perfectly - relating to us at a family gathering in Barbados, in April of 2016:
"They preach love and God's mercy to sinners, but their souls have been degraded by hate. This hate is against all others unlike them, whether immigrants, poor black people or gays, or atheists. So they seek to remake their god hateful in their image. They also knew they needed a strong darkness to cover and protect their own hateful darkness so they used Trump to that end. They really have sold their souls to purchase what they believe is spiritual security but is really selling their souls and faith to a human devil."
Hmmmm....echoes there of Faust and Faustian bargains. How else explain a sanctimonious putz like Tony Perkins (Family Research Council president) giving Trump such blind allegiance that he dismisses all sexual allegations against Trump as "sour grapes"? Oh, and dismisses the Mueller Report in the same fashion.
Despite all this, many of these same Xtian supporters claim to seek a "constitutional revival" with slimy Dotard.. In particular, they believe that the judges he has named atone for every other presidential sin. (Presumably including the ones in New Orleans now set to scotch Obamacare and toss 20 million off their health care.) I hate to break it to these lunatics with refried brains but there aren't enough judge candidates in the entire U.S. to achieve that 'atonement'. You can't confect an atonement for a piece of human garbage who won't atone.
But there is a point at which style and posturing overwhelms substance. Trump’s staunchest defenders are uniquely bold in the extent to which they justify any means to favored ends. His evangelical Christian supporters, for example, are willing not merely to excuse Donnie Dotard's adultery and deceit but also to embrace them: The more vulgar he is, the more he fulfills his supposedly divine mission.
Of course, it never occurs to these sorry troglodytes that by doing so they have effectively destroyed their own moral credibility and with it any divine mission. And as David French puts it, this is motivated by fear which in the end totally destroys any claim to religious witness. Or good faith. This is given one cannot aspire to good faith or good deeds, by embracing a person of bad faith, namely one who lies with every breath. Oddly, it is the Christian version of Shaitan ("Satan") who is referenced as the ultimate Liar. So what does it say about evangelical Christians if they so shamelessly embrace perhaps the consummate Liar in U.S. history? Shaitan worshippers?
Maybe it tells us what Mr, French attempts at the end of his essay:
"It is time for evangelicals to exercise their political veto power. America's conservative people of faith should seek a primary challenger to Trump and send a message to the GOP that it will not compromise any longer."
But is that even feasible given how much of their moral authority the evangelicals have already compromised ? If one really believes that, then I have an acre of ocean side land in Barbados to sell you for one Bajan buck.
See also:
No comments:
Post a Comment