"Donald Trump is Satan. The Satan in question is perhaps the greatest literary character in the finest epic poem in the English language, John Milton’s Paradise Lost. .. Trump as Satan: you might think it’s absurdly over-the-top, or want to celebrate it as a (literally) epic takedown, but this is not a political statement hurling invective. It’s an analytical statement describing what is happening – what will happen – and why, aided by the Miltonic intervention. Great literature helps us understand the world. Both politicians and literary critics do their jobs best when they’re willing to use literature to think about life."- Jeffrey R. Wilson, Spectator USA
Jeff Sharlet on 'All In' last night painted an even more horrific picture of Trump and his worshipping zombie hordes than most of us believed possible. This as we face the spectacle of his first rally of the summer tonight in Tulsa, which is sure to be a "super spreader" event in the new pandemic surge. What insights Sharlet shared with Chris Hayes were mostly in his Vanity Fair article: 'He's The Chosen One To Run America: Inside The Cult of Trump, His Rallies Are Church And He Is The Gospel', e.g.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/06/inside-the-cult-of-trump-his-rallies-are-church-and-he-is-the-gospel
Sharlet began by comparing the "new dark era of Trumpism" to the esoteric Gnostic gospels, averring that like the Gnostics, the Trumpers " believe all knowledge is hidden and the elites are in this vast conspiracy against us. " I.e. to prevent them from gaining this precious, hidden knowledge.
But to even roughly liken the idiotic QAnon conspiracy claptrap to the Gnostic Gospels is to commit a grievous false analogy. (QAnon believes "deep state" elites are hiding knowledge regarding reality and the political universe from them and other dregs. In fact they simply aren't intelligent or industrious enough to access any genuine knowledge on their own.)
This essential point needs to be clarified before we go on to the main core of Sharlet's thesis which actually holds some weight. First , based on the research of religious scholar Elaine Pagels e.g.
We learn that the essence of these gospels was based on esoteric, early Christian traditions, i.e. teachings proclaiming that one needn't depend on an orthodox dogma or an external Christ for salvation, rather one could become a Christ in his own right. In this way, the Gnostics exhibited a remarkable resonance of beliefs with Buddhism. Little known at the time is that they were massively persecuted and oppressed by the likes of Paul and some of his fellow orthodox cohort. Some scholars believe many of the Gnostics were put to death by these bigots, so their own little fairy stories could prevail. And in fact that’s pretty well what happened. ("History is written by the victors" as one saying goes.)
The Gnostics themselves, as Marvin Meyer points out ('The Secret Teachings of Jesus: Four Gnostic Gospels', p. xvii- Intro.) emphasized a quest for understanding, and because they placed more import on fostering spiritual lifestyles - as opposed to paying homage to the received wisdom of the authorities of the day- they were regarded as dissidents and outcasts. All this is totally different from Trumpism which is much more like the crap cult teaching of the Rev. Jim Jones with his "People's Temple" in Guyana.
Jones convinced his captive cultists that the "outside world" was against them and he held secrets to their identity and existence that only he could really share - but which could liberate them from the pressures, designs and "wickedness" of those "enemies" arrayed against them. He also imbued in them the belief that the U.S. government was out to get them (hence the move to Guyana), just as Trump has convinced his own deplorables that a deep state "conspiracy" is out to get them and HIM. Oh, a theme of paranoia also ran through Jones' teachings, and that there was "an enemy within" that had to be destroyed, echoing what Trump tells his minions now.
Chris Hayes then compared the mush of the QAnon -Trumpie beliefs to a kind of false consciousness. But what really shows these freaks are in need of serious psychotherapeutic intervention is when Sharlet noted their conviction that every Trump tweet contained gist for interpretation: every typo, misspelling, every capitalized word- contained a hidden message from Trump- pregnant with meaning. That is, if the Trumper was just clever enough it would be revealed- else s/he would be in a similar position to the John Nash character in "A Beautiful Mind" - trying to make sense of dozens of random news clippings pinned to a wall.
In his Vanity Fair article Sharlet writes:
"Many followers deploy a familiar Christian-right formula for justifying abuses of power, declaring Trump a modern King David, a sinner nonetheless anointed, while others compare him to Queen Esther, destined to save Israel—or at least the evangelical imagination of it—from Iran. Still others draw parallels to Cyrus, the Old Testament Persian king who became a tool for God’s will. ...Lance Wallnau, a founding member of Trump’s evangelical coalition, dubs him “God’s chaos candidate”: “the self-made man who can ‘get it done,’ enters the arena, and through the pressure of circumstance becomes the God-shaped man God enables to do what he could never do in his own strength.”
And even more nutso:
"In Trump’s case, divine backing is more about smiting than healing. When Rep. Elijah Cummings died last October shortly after sparring with Trump about Baltimore, Peterson declared on his radio show, “He dead”—like Trump enemies John McCain and Charles Krauthammer, Peterson noted. “That’s what happens when you mess with the Great White Hope. Don’t mess with God’s children.”
Carrying the post hoc, ergo propter hoc fallacy to a preposterous excess. I.e. whatever follows x, y or z event was caused by x, y or z event. But this is all of a piece with the con Jim Jones also pulled on his followers in Guyana making them believe he could smite any foe who dared try to bring his kingdom down. (Including killing CA Rep. Leo Ryan in an ambush when he tried to help several followers escape.) According to one member (Walt Jones) quoted in the book, 'The Suicide Cult' (p. 69), what most held members in line was that:
"Jones was a master manipulator"
Much like Trump, he promised his followers the Earth, Moon and sky if they'd just believe and follow him, into hell as it turned out, e.g. this photo of some of the 900 -odd bodies recovered at Jonestown, from the book:
In the same way, or perhaps now by way of a huge Covid spike, Trump will bring his banshees to their knees literally - but even then they may not be able to see beyond his machinations and manipulations. Another huge difference with Gnostic Christians, since as Elaine Pagels points out (op. cit. p. 106): "Those who were enlightened were able to discriminate for themselves what was true, and what was false."
But as with the case of Jim Jones, the Trumpie followers and cultists opt not to think for themselves but only accept what Trump tells them - which is why they're flocking to the Tulsa rally tonight. And oh yeah. like Jim Jones' followers they believe the virus won't touch them- after all they are under the protection of the Donald, errr...the Dotard. The "Chosen One" (sic) from whatever Hell Jones (and Hitler) also came from.
In another paragraph Sharlet writes with some prescience:
"For the past four years, Trump has systematically done what Barack Obama refused to do: played directly to his base, whipping his followers into fury. His rallies transcend live events. .. And the fury will be there as we approach the pivotal moment in November, when our future may well hinge on these passion plays."
For sure there will be "passion plays" galore - especially as Trump sees the hangman's noose approaching. We just need to ensure this charlatan criminal and con man grifter swine doesn't get too many of the rest of us to swallow his kool aid.
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