The Church of Trump

They see themselves as besieged.

 

Without removing the paywall, your article is nothing more than one hand clapping.
I do not believe there is a Church of Trump, and as an atheist you may not be up to speed on the variety of causes that function within churches.
The title "church" is pretty loose. A gathering of people praying for a candidate creates convenient target for haters and lazy journalists looking for an easy story. Nothing mixes with Trump hate better than a sprinkling of religion for an extra dash of hate.
At the end of the day, nothing has changed.

 

Oh problem is not the praying to God at all.

Problem is the “so-called Christian” start Trump rally with prayer and then Trump the Pu** grabber come and speak his hateful speech.

The heathen stand and wonder “These so-called Christan follow Jesus or Trump? Because the life Jesus tells Christian to live, and the life Trump lives are completely opposite.”

And if Christian can’t see the different lifestyle Jesus wants Christians to live vs Trump, they are anything but Christian.

 

IMO, there's a difference between a devout christian calling for people to treat each other in a caring way, and Trump's hypocritical, cynical use of religion to draw in support from evangelicals.

 

Funny how you try four different rebuttals and fail in all of them.

Your post could be rephrased like this...

1- The article is behind a paywall, but even if it weren't behind a paywall 2-you're an atheist, but even if you weren't an atheist, 3- the definition of "church" used in the article is loose, but even if it weren't loose, 4- you hate Trump

Of the four I'll stay with number 3. The term "church" IS used loosely. Unfortunately a more adequate word is not allowed in this forum in a title. Because the word "cult" can only be used after clarifying that we are not referring to anybody in this forum. This is about people who attend his rallies.

Trump is clearly an atheist. I'm an atheist, but became one after having gone through all the Catholic sacraments (except the last one, of course). I have an "adequate" knowledge of the Bible, and it's obvious Trump has NONE. That HAS to be obvious to anybody with a basic understanding of Christianity.

This proves that they are more devout to Trump than they are to their Christian values. Self-proclaimed Christians follow him in prayer at his rallies. With great devotion. But more devotion to Trump than to Christianity. That is a Church of Trump!

Just a few years ago, one would believe that true devout Christians would NEVER follow an indicted felon who is out on bail, has been proven (adjudicated) to be a sexual abuser, with three wives and who paid porn actresses to keep them quiet about having sex with them.

Don't bother with "it hasn't been proven". Devout Christians would NOT wait for it to be proven. Why would they? There are OTHERS who aspire to the presidency in the Republican Party who seem more akin to their beliefs. They would simply look for somebody else "just in case". So, again, this can ONLY be explained by a new cult being formed among the Christian right.

 

Absolutely a wife would describe her husband (and a husband his wife) as being akin to Jesus Christ. But NOT a room full of voters.

Look... Obama IS a devout Christian. Trump is not. Assistants to his rallies, if they know anything about Christianity, know he's not. So they are not praying to the Christian God. They are praying to Trump. A three-times married proven sexual abuser (court adjudicated, and all), indicted felon who is out on bail, and has paid porn actresses to keep them quiet about having had sex with him while he was married.

When a Christian prays led by somebody like that, they cannot possibly be praying WITH somebody like that. They are praying TO them.

This is pretty obvious to anybody who is not part of this "cult". And it's not easy to withdraw from a cult. Just SAYING that you did, does not necessarily make it so. Desperately looking for excuses for this type of behavior is clear indication of somebody who hasn't.

 

Actually, they are praying for him in the sense that they hope his actions will protect them. Evangelicals are under no illusions about Trump's character, but they see him as an instrument for their protection against a society in which they see themselves as besieged. Their votes are calculated and tactical.

 

#1 is accurate.
"Atheist" Can you prove Trump is clearly an atheist?
"Indicted felon" it is a reaction of the people to the persecution of Trump through lawfare and corrupting due process. People are not buying what the Dual Justice Department is selling.
Can "Only be explained". I guess an "atheist's view of Trump" is the only explanation allowed because of you singular world view?

 

Evangelicals promoting tactical political calculations over their own core beliefs and convictions is a huge paradigm shift. In doing so, they have even allowed people to transition to a new deity. I can't see any way out of this that will not backfire.

 

Their votes are about abortion.

 

Those on the left who point to trump as a sexual abuser, a fraud, etc. etc. etc. fail to recognize the danger they put themselves in when they climb up on that high moral ground and start preaching.

They forget that no matter the political party, so many others have gone before Trump.
We had Clinton in the Whitehouse getting "Adored". And Clinton settled his sexual harassment cases with cash as well.
And brandon isn't quite so squeaky clean either, what with his showers with his 11 year old daughter, and the convincing evidence that he is the "big guy" who gets his 10%.

So how does the American voter tolerate this kind of skullduggery?
We get the government we deserve.
And just now the choices available are pretty much pot, kettle.

We have no one to blame but ourselves.

 

Nothing you haven't done ad infinitum.

 

Nope. The Bible is replete with stories of God using unworthy vessels to accomplish His purposes. The tactical voting is sanctified by its furtherance of a higher purpose. You should not assume that only votes pleasing to you are cast for higher purposes.

 

Abortion is certainly part of their motivation, but not the whole.

 

Surely you aren't suggesting god's chosen vehicle in stopping abortion is the supremely unworthy, serial adulterer, champion of the MAGA cult.

 

I don't believe in God, but the scenario is fully compatible with the lessons of Scripture.

 

It is amusing to me when people are so arrogant that they think they can tell the rest of us what God thinks or does.

 

Yes. And Trump cult members at his rallies believe he's the new Messiah. So they built "The Church of Trump".

 

Sorry, but that's a figment of the imaginations of those who despise evangelicals anyway.

 

YOU were the one who said all that crap about Trump being an example "...of God using unworthy vessels to accomplish His purposes". Now you accuse ME?

 

I never criticized the evangelicals or claimed anything like a "Church of Trump." Your post is a non sequitur.

 

So you can say that Trump is an example "...of God using unworthy vessels to accomplish His purposes" but I can't say that MAGAs at his rallies have created something akin to a "Church of Trump" around God's "vessel" (like you call him)

I don't criticize evangelicals. I am pointing out that, if what you say is true, they're experiencing an enormous paradigm shift. One that includes a new deity. We haven't seen that in... what... five hundred, a thousand, two thousand... years? I don't know the history of the Evangelical church, or when they see themselves as "starting" or when they adopted their previous deity (before Trump)....

 

You are showcasing your misunderstanding. There is no new deity. Evangelicals' disciplined use of the unworthy Trump to accomplish God's purpose is their expression of their faith in God, not Trump.

 

This is another example of why Christianity will continue to decline in US. As long as they hitch their wagons to Republicans, who represent the exact opposite of Christ's teachings such as helping poor, immigrants, and sick, people will see the hypocrisy and reject.

 

Which still doesn't negate trump as a sexual abuser, a fraud, etc no matter how much you want it to.