Religious Beliefs and the New World Under Trump

In a recent Facebook posting of a meme (shown below) the question was asked about Evangelical support for Donald Trump.

My reply was, "Well, after you get by a man living inside a whale and all the animals in the world sharing a single boat, having a

leading the country isn't much of a stretch."

Shortly after this exchange, I was made aware of another in the twisted thought processes of the religious right.  This one quoted Scripture in what I assumed was the support of Donald Trump.  I present this post below.

The writer of this believes that Trump's support of their anti-abortion campaign outweighs his "shedding of innocent blood" in the other areas of his administration.  The destruction of families of innocent immigrants is OK.  His putting "kids in cages" is fine.  Don't terminate the unwanted pregnancies, but after they are born they need to survive without a safety net of healthcare, without access to a quality education, without having nutritional security and don't count on a system to support you when you are old and infirm. The thousands who have needlessly died from the current pandemic in our nation due to the political needs of a fanatic is "God's will."  Trump's enabling of the torture killing of Jamal Khashoggi in a Saudi embassy and his exoneration of the Saudi prince responsible for the killing is necessary for the support of their anti-abortion message.  I say hypocrisy.

The writer further believes Trump to be pro-Israel.  Granted, Trump will express his support for Isreal as it is politically expedient to gain support for his other aspirations.  But where are his true feelings?  Does his support of the American Nazi contingent of his followers bode well for the Jewish people?  Trump's statements like,  "Black guys counting my money!  I hate it.  The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys that wear yarmulkes every day."  Perhaps more telling of his Jewish sentiment was his attack on Hillary Clinton that used a graphic of a Star of David over a pile of cash.  Donald Trump's regular support of the White Nationalist agenda is in direct conflict with any support for a Jewish state in Israel.

In the third quote from the Scriptures above, the writer falsely claims that Donald Trump is pro-debt reduction.  Under Trump, the national debt has grown by roughly 15% in three years so far, and the Congressional Budget Office projects that it could swell by 43% in the next four years at current spending levels.

The "pro-work" quotation opens up a real can of worms.  It is purported to be from 2 Thessalonians.  The more expanded view has ties at the root of many Evangelicals and their support for Trump.  The author, presumed to be Paul, of 2 Thessalonians, argues that the end is not, in fact, coming right away. Certain things have to happen first. There will be some kind of political or religious uprising and rebellion, and an Antichrist-like figure (Trump?) will appear who will take his seat in the Temple of Jerusalem (White House?) and declare himself to be God (that really sounds like our boy Donald).  Only then will the "Lord Jesus" come to "destroy him with the breath of his mouth."  As a further warning to Trump fans, the author goes on to say, "keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us... do not associate with him, so that he will be put to shame. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother"  Getting away from the biblical specifics but to the suggestion that Trump is pro-work my reply would be to question the writer of the list to reveal the names of the coal miners and steelworkers who have found new riches in the Trump promised revitalization of those industries.  Secondly, stating that anyone who does not work deserves to starve, doesn't sound to be in keeping with the true meaning of Christianity.  The quote cited actually reads,  "For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat."  It is of note that this passage was adopted by Vladamir Lenin as an adage in support of communism and the Soviet Union.

Here is where the real yucks begin.  Donald Trump being pro-marriage.  I have to give you that one as Donald Trump has been married three times and has cheated on each of them numerous times.  He loves being married.  As a world-class philanderer, Donald Trump holds his own.  My challenge here would be to find the specific reference in Genesis that mentions its support for marriage, cheating, divorce, marriage again, cheating again, divorce again, marriage again, and even more cheating.  For someone who brags about his attractiveness to women, I find it interesting that he has to pay for sex with Playboy bunnies and porn stars.  Donald Trump, pro-marriage, give me a break.

Women who accuse Trump of sexual assault

Women who don't accuse Trump of assault because they got paid.

The next reason given for not voting Democratic alludes to the government's role in rewarding good and punishing evil.  If by that you mean rewarding the wealthy with tax cuts and granting pardons to your cronies who run afoul of the law, I'm not sure you get the true meaning of good and evil.  Romans 13 is much broader and covers admonishments for not committing adultery and not stealing.  Well, we all know Trump's record of committing adultery.  He has also been found guilty of stealing from poor students of his failed Trump University and he can no longer be associated with running a charitable foundation because he stole from his own charity.

The last in the list of statements for not voting Democratic states that the writer wants to follow God's Word.  I will take that to mean that this person will not vote for Donald Trump but plans to write in a more suitable candidate.  I wholly support this philosophy for all on the religious right who want to follow their faith.  If they are true believers in the ideals of the Christian faith, they cannot by any stretch of their faith support this earthly embodiment of the Anti-Christ.

I do not purport to be a religious scholar by any means but I did suffer five years of strict Catholic school training and believe I have at least a cursory understanding of what Christians say they are about.  I find that many quote scriptures as some sort of a priori knowledge to be used in the interpretation of current events.  Such knowledge is not to be questioned because to do so would be a challenge to their faith and core beliefs.  I generally find that these "biblical scholars" are taking difficult to understand topics that have been translated from ancient texts and languages and the meaning of which is regularly debated by scholars, and they use their own interpretation to support whatever claim suits their purpose.  I know many people of strong faith, some of whom are declared Evangelicals, who do not support Donald Trump and they see the hypocrisy in his actions versus what he claims to be fact.

I say it is fine to have faith and follow the religion of your choice but don't come to me with statements that have no foundation beyond some guidance from above.  You can't point to Trump, quote some cryptic Scriptual message, and tell me not to believe my lying eyes.