I'm hardly Christian these days, but I consider myself "Culturally Southern Black Baptist" through and through. Gotta love the churches that organized people to fight for their civil rights.
And so maybe that's why when these evangelicals compare Trump to Christ (or really any mortal man, but him more-so) it makes my gut turn.
It's not just silly, it's ... sacrilegious. I'm not the first to point this out, but somehow... it doesn't register.
@futurebird
"–it was the result of having multiple pastors tell me essentially the same story about quoting the Sermon on the Mount[...]to have someone come up after and to say, where did you get those liberal talking points? And what was alarming to me is that in most of these scenarios, when the pastor would say, I'm literally quoting Jesus Christ, the response would not be, I apologize. The response would be, yes, but that doesn't work anymore. That's weak." https://www.npr.org/2023/08/05/1192374014/russell-moore-on-altar-call-for-evangelical-america #Religion
I've been calling myself culturally-Catholic atheist for years.
Secular humanist is great, but leaves out so much of what is me, along with all the contradictions, guilt and an obsession with candles.
Irish Catholic, for the fuller picture. Incense and genuflecting and nuns rapping my knuckles.
@futurebird
I've never been Christian, but I come from NewYork City, & my dad knew TFG. I can say with great confidence that he has never been a person of faith or spirituality. Money/wealth is his alter, greed is his belief system. Jesus was Jewish, & one of the fundamentals of Judaism is tzedaka (sedaka), or charity. I think if tRump tried to act like Jesus was said to have, he'd either have a stroke, or wind up calling Jesus a fool and a patsy!
@futurebird
”On the surface it appears to be incongruous that the Christian right would rally behind a slick New York real estate developer who is a very public serial philanderer and adulterer, has no regard for the truth, is consumed by greed, does not appear to read or know the Bible, routinely defrauds and cheats his investors and contractors, expresses a crude ... In fact, these are the very characteristics that define most of the leaders of the Christian right." https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/07/24/trump-and-christian-fascists
@futurebird I had heard that they accept him as the anti-Christ, acceptable in that role because “God’s will”. Also, the signs they see in him of end times bring them closer to being raptured. Very disturbed people.
As a non-believer, "sacrilege" is a null concept to me, but what I do feel about that comparison is a cold, sick dread. Not only about how Trump may use this while he's still around, but what views may be imputed to him and what might be done in his name after he's dead. Especially if his death can be cast as martyrdom.
I fear that a... "Trumpianity" may come from Christianity, as Christianity came from Judaism.
@futurebird It feels like more of that neocon 1984 stuff. We're not being convinced that Trump is Christian, let alone Christlike; we're being instructed to believe he is.
Remember the upside-down bible? He has no respect for Christianity except as a means to more power, and he appeals to people who do the same despite ostensibly being Christian themselves.
On the issue of Christianity,
if that belief system makes people kinder, more generous, compassionate, forgiving, and solidary towards every human being, the plants and animals, then by all means keep on practicing it.
You might be doing all that without religion, too. Btw.
If you are using (pseudo)Christian beliefs to generate racism, nationalism, classism, xenophobia, misogyny, transphobia, chauvinism, self-righteousness, and economic oppression, you are a Christo-fascist.
@futurebird It's sophistry. Trump is the means to getting a Christian nation, or rather an Evangelical nation. They already lie about what the Bible means, so lying about Trump is just another Sunday for them.
Yes... anybody with any sense of morality and ethical civility appreciates the immense contribution of the churches in the civil rights movement. That being said, people need to take a good, long, critical look at their pet mythologies and understand that they do not help anyone when they are so obviously misunderstood.
@futurebird
(... just walking by ... hears conversation from crowd ... pulls up collars of trench coat, pulls down fedora ... sashays past in high-heels ...) 🕵️
@thepoliticalcat@futurebird no belief system can insulate humans from a tendency to go off the rails. Atheists, too, have done terrible things which they used their beliefs to justify
@futurebird Trump would compare more to the biblical concept of an anti-christ if anything. Convincing people he is good, while meanwhile openly committing almost every single one of the deadly sins. They see him do it, then sing his praises and follow him anyway.
@futurebird my sense is that either these folks are so fully invested in their worldview that they reject the existence of any character flaws in Trump, or alternatively they insist that a messiah (literally "anointed one") can be a sinful nonbeliever (e.g., Cyrus the Great) as long as it advances their goals. It's pretty vile stuff, though.
@futurebird I've always wondered what people who talk like this make of all the warnings in Christian scripture about greedy, power-hungry false prophets.
@futurebird those churches and Christians supporting Trump have entirely lost sight of who Jesus was and what he stands for. Interestingly, the same sort of process has happened in the Russian Orthodox Church. It’s utterly sickening to watch
@futurebird And the Bible even warns multiple times against exactly this scenario! But of course anyone can say that no, I believe the real deal and the warnings are against something else. That's the problem with these texts, you can always interpret them to fit your own wants and views.
Add comment