But before I get into the “why,” I want to specify that–in all honestly–I don’t consider these people to be Christians. So if you’re reading this and that’s you, I don’t know what to tell you. I’m not trying to hurt your feelings or be needlessly offensive. I’m being honest. For me, the definition of that word–Christian–means to follow Jesus… And there are exactly zero things about supporting Donald Trump that are anything close to following Jesus. I could list off the tens of thousands of things that Donald Trump has said and done that are completely ANTI-Jesus, ANTI-Christ… but if you don’t already see it, the chances are slim that anything I write is going to change that. So for the purposes of this blog post, if I’m referring to people who follow an enemy-loving rabbi who angered the people in power by revealing a God who is on the side of the poor, the vulnerable, and the oppressed… If I’m referring to people who follow a man who seemed most angered by the hypocrisy of the “religious” elites, who preached about the end of tribalism and an end to the idea of a god who is for “us” and against “them,” and who proclaimed the coming of a different sort of kingdom where the power structure was flipped, I’ll use the term Christian.
It looks like they are laying hands on him, but they are actually attempting to keep him from grabbing the ladies with those tiny hands…
But if I’m referring to people who follow a virgin-concieved God-man who came to the planet to start the one true religion, be worshiped forever, and send his followers out into the world to let everyone else on the planet know that they are going to burn in hell for all eternity unless they believe the exact right things… If I’m referring to people who worship the one-and-only son of God who was sent by the father to fulfill a divine desire for unblemished blood as a self-imposed son-sacrifice so that God could allow a few of us to get close to his goodness… If I’m referring to people who believe in the the Jesus who flies an American flag, carries a star-spangled gun, is for firm borders (both theological and national), and is on “our side” against the ones on the other side of the border, I’ll use the term “christian.” I’ll leave it lower case. And I’ll put it in quotes…. Because I don’t think it’s real… Because I consider it fake.
Yes… Fake. As fake as the hair, the spray tan, and the smile. Fake fake fake.
So now that we’ve got that settled, here is why “christians” support Donald Trump: It’s because they don’t know what “Good” is anymore. Culturally there are two things that have happened to bring us to the place we are now. One is the “post truth” age we are living in, where every person’s opinion is just as valid as another person’s opinion… despite the presence of things like “evidence” or “facts” or “proof.” This is partially made possible by a willingness to believe that everything is a conspiracy, and that everyone is in on it. The other thing that makes this possible is that “christians” believe in an amoral God… A God who thinks and acts just like the amoral man this country has elected as its leader.
On a scale from 1 to Nope, this picture created a small neutron star of NOPES.
Think about it for a moment… Jesus describes God as being “Good.” He uses the example of a good father. He says, “What kind of father gives a kid a stone when that kid asks for some bread? And what kind of father would give a snake to a kid who asks for a fish?” Those actions are clearly not “good.” We–in our brokenness–even understand this simple fact, right? And if God is “Good,” what kind of God would do something like this? I’m a mediocre parent, and I would NEVER send any of my kids to get tortured–with no hope of redemption–because he or she got something wrong. What kind of God would give a kid cancer? What kind of God would put a family through torture to “teach them a lesson” of some sort? What kind of God would send the vast majority of the humans who have ever lived on this planet to burn in a conscious, hellish torment for millions and billions and trillions of years… All because they believed the wrong theological things about a person named Jesus?
If there is a hell, I imagine it feeling something like this.
If we can know anything of “goodness,” then this is clearly not a “Good” God. Not if that word has any meaning. But that is where “christians” have come… To a place where the concept of “goodness” has no meaning. They will try to justify it with Bible verses. They’ll quote Isaiah and say, “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” They’ll quote Job and say, “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?” But the story of Job is the story of a God who says, “I’m big and strong! How dare you question my morality?” This is how people USED to think about God, but Jesus was about changing that old way of thinking. And somehow–despite Jesus’ description of God to the contrary–this is where many of the people who identify as “christians” have landed: Equating and conflating Bigness & Strength with Goodness & Morality.
And this is how you end up with people who call themselves “christians” walking around wearing douchey red hats and supporting an unstable, narcissistic megalomaniac–He acts exactly like the unstable, narcissistic megalomaniac god they believe in. They are people who have surrendered their natural understanding of Goodness in order to avoid an eternal hell which doesn’t exist. They worship a god who says, “You don’t know what ‘good’ is. I’ll tell you.” People who walk around thinking, “It’s not for me to decide what is good and what isn’t.” But people who have stopped listening to the thing in them which says, “This is not good” are as dangerous as things get.
Good luck getting through customs, Jesus.
Oh, how I hate that god… The one who is in control of every little thing, and gives kids Leukemia for reasons only he knows. The one who kills kids because “he needed another angel.” I absolutely reject that god. That god is a logical impossibility, and keeping that idea of God as a prerequisite in Churches insures that the pews stay filled with people who are either willing to turn off their sense of morality, or people who are too dumb to realize the god they are being presented is a horrible monster. And then, when they figure it out, everything comes crashing down, and many of them abandon God altogether. And I don’t blame them one bit. That BS picture of god is worth abandoning. It is pagan. It is Zeus throwing lightning bolts. It is the volcano god who demands a young virgin. It is the god which allows people to think that our current president is anything other than completely morally reprehensible. And that god may be strong and terrifying… But we could never call that god “Good.”
So if you are grossed out by “christians,” I am too. But that doesn’t mean there are no Christians out there… And if you reject the monstrous god they worship, I reject it too. But that doesn’t mean there is no God out there… And if you reject people misusing and misreading the Bible as a justification for their hatred and bigotry, I reject that too. But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t another way to read it which expands the light and life and love in us.
This picture looks like he is praying, but it was actually taken before finding out that Jim Comey was going to testify, just before he dropped the loudest M-F anyone has heard in the White House since Rutherford B. Hayes got his beard caught in an electric fan.
Anyway, don’t lose hope. I know it’s hard not to. I swear there is hope! Look for places where people get it. Human consciousness is expanding, and with it our capacity for empathy and love is expanding. Stay strong, and keep up the Good work. And if you want to become a person who gives a couple bucks a month to help support this blog, you totally can RIGHT HERE. It’s easy, and it really helps. Or you can Leave A Tip/Boost A Post RIGHT HERE. Otherwise, you can follow me on Facebook or Twitter. Either way, thank you so much for reading… It means a lot to me.
