White evangelicals have a dilemma. The rise and fall of Donald Trump has left them between a rock and a hard place in a bitter battle of choice between Trumpism and their Christian faith.
Christianity
Among the crowd of riotous terrorists storming the US Capitol on January 6th were MAGA sycophants, white supremacists, and yes, White evangelicals of the Christian faith. Blended among the chants of “Hang Mike Pence” and “Kill Pelosi” were speakers blaring Christian pop music as well as some “Christian” participants invoking God while smashing windows and advancing the insurrection.
How have so-called Christians been able to listen to and spread hoards of known Trump lies over the years while still maintaining a connection to their spiritual faith? Better yet, how does someone call themselves Christian in one breath but shout “Hang Mike Pence” or “Kill Pelosi” in another?
The answer is… complicated. Although, Trumpism rarely comes with a helping of logic or common sense.
However, the dangers are far more severe than most realize. For just like Trump’s Republican Party, Christians are finding themselves splintered over the events of January 6th and infighting over a battle of Trumpism vs. Christianity.
On the day after the Capitol insurrection, conservative preacher Jeremiah Johnson issued a public apology to America and suggested that he thought God removed Donald Trump from office because of his pride and arrogance, as well as to humble those who had fervently supported him.
Needless to say, the ‘Christian’ response against him was swift and vicious.
“Over the last 72 hours, I have received multiple death threats and thousands upon thousands of emails from Christians saying the nastiest and most vulgar things I have ever heard toward my family and ministry,” Johnson wrote on Facebook. “I have been labeled a coward, sellout, a traitor to the Holy Spirit, and cussed out at least 500 times.
“I have been flabbergasted at the barrage of continued conspiracy theories being sent every minute our way and the pure hatred being unleashed,” he continued. “To my great heartache, I’m convinced parts of the prophetic/charismatic movement are far SICKER than I could have ever dreamed of.”
He was not alone.
In a modern-day battle of good vs. evil, other prominent Christians have come forward in the hopes of reminding mostly white evangelicals of the commandments “Thou Shalt Not Lie,” “Thou Shalt Not Kill,” and that “Thou Shalt Have No Other God Before Me” — even if his name is Donald Trump!
“We must all repent. Even the church needs to repent,” the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez (who once delivered a prayer at the Trump inaugural) told his congregation on Sunday.
“This was an assault on law. Attacking the Capitol was not patriotism. It was anarchy,” declared Trump-supporting Pastor John Hagee of Texas.
Even conservative talk show host Erick Erickson spoke truth to power for his fellow Christian conservatives, writing: “Everything — from the storming of the Capitol to people getting killed to social networks banning you to corporations not giving you money — everything is a logical consequence of you people lying relentlessly for two months and taking advantage of American patriots.”
Noted conservative David Brooks told The New York Times how he saw the brewing battle between Trumpism and Christianity.
“One core feature of Trumpism is that it forces you to betray every other commitment you might have: to the truth, moral character, the Sermon on the Mount, conservative principles, the Constitution. In defeat, some people are finally not willing to sacrifice all else on Trump’s altar,” he said. “The split we are seeing is not theological or philosophical. It’s a division between those who have become detached from reality and those who, however right-wing, are still in the real world.”
Conservative Christian writer and Iraqi war veteran David French said he is convinced the Republican Party is dead unless it borrows a page from the counterinsurgency handbook and separates the insurgents from the rest of the population. Or, in other words, in order for the GOP to save itself from the destruction of Trumpism and salvage its relationship with Christian doctrine, it must prosecute the rioters, impeach and convict Donald Trump, and not tolerate cyberterrorism within any American community or congregation.
Regrettably, white evangelicals, ultra-conservatives, and others have all merged under the radical MAGA flag of Trumpism and Donald Trump — even at the risk of ditching the morals of Christianity embedded in them since childhood.
So, it’s not at all hyperbole to believe that saving them all from themselves will indeed be a tall order.
Umm…DJ my friend, you may have just Opened up a real nasty can of worms here and I for one couldn’t be more pleased. Thank you so much for posting about this!!! I may slightly disagree with you on one or two points but you’ve certainly identified an insidious and NOW very obvious problem with “White Evangelicals and Trumpism” versus “The Christian Faith.” As it is with most everything in Life “Actions speak louder than words.” However, thanks to their ignorance, arrogance and just pure hatred of Non-white “Others” White evangelicals who support Trump have REVEALED themselves -through words AND deeds – to be Who and What they truly are. And frankly, based on ALL they’ve said and done I say there’s pretty much NOTHING “Christian” about that Evil-azz group. In fact, they ARE exactly who I thought they were. A bunch of White supremacist Liars, Bigots, Fake alphas and… Read more »