Evangelical Christians are Trump's most reliable supporters.
Trump's character is no secret. His sincerity as a fellow person-of-faith is doubtful. Yet they support him.
Trump isn't one of them, but he came through for them. He delivered on abortion this week.
Today's Guest Post is from a Christian who does missionary work worldwide and hands-on charitable work with the homeless in the Seattle area. He no longer calls himself an "Evangelical." The word now describes a political orientation, not a religious one, he told me. John Coster writes that Evangelicals understand it to be God's will that abortion be ended. Trump's assault on democracy was not the important thing for them. Ending abortion is. And God is getting it done--with Trump's help.
John Coster studied Theology and Society at Regent College while continuing his career managing multimillion dollar real estate development and construction projects in the tech sector.
Like many people of my Boomer Generation I was raised in the American conservative Evangelical tradition. I was taught that the two spiritual crises of the day were reflected in: (1) banning school prayer (with Madalyn Murray O'Hair, justified or not as the villain) and; (2) Roe V. Wade. The big sin was “moral relativity” and we were taught that there are certain absolutes that cannot be compromised. There are many more social issues of course, but apart from belief in the divinity of Jesus Christ, abortion and school prayer were the central threats. Dobson’s Focus On the Family and other groups made these their main source of concern and it had a powerful galvanizing effect across church denominations.
John Coster In an Evangelical Sunday School or Christian School we are taught about God’s eternal Kingdom, and how throughout history God blessed or judged nations because of the people’s level of faithfulness to God. To understand how seemingly-pious people could be bedfellows with someone as immoral as Trump, you need to appreciate the biblical view that throughout history, God has used flawed people to achieve his purposes. God is not a respecter of any leader or governmental system. In this worldview, national (biblical) holiness takes precedence over other any other “rights” or form of government. The nation’s very existence depends on it. Otherwise, we - the people of God's Kingdom - will be punished. Indeed, we are being judged already.
What struck me as I watched and read the public response to the Supreme Court decision is the deep sense of moral outrage on both sides, which seemed to be focused on whose "rights" are being protected. The "pre-born" or the mother? The Second Amendment gun-buyer or the innocent gunshot victims? The right to express/promote religion in publicly-funded schools or not? (Wait until the "wrong" religions want public funding.)
The inconsistencies of both ends seem lost in the fog of emotion and tribalism. The Right wants a hands-off government with minimal regulation - except in certain issues like abortion. The Left wants more hands-on government - unless it steps on personal freedom (like "choice.")
I haven't asked any of my family or friends who were one-issue-pro-life Trump supporters if they think the risk of losing democracy as a form of government is worth the Roe reversal trade-off, but consistent with the Evangelical view of God's judgement, I suspect they would choose losing democracy. Their moral imperative of life trumps even the best governance model the world has seen.Of course, I would ask them if they thought moving to autocratic leadership (name your past or present autocrat) produces the most morally virtuous society. They are making a choice in risking democracy this way, and choices have consequences.
It seems like evangelical’s don’t care about feeding and helping the poor, being loving toward other races,being respectful of women. It has always struck me that they were being unchristian and just cherry picking what best suited them rather than truly seeking God’s guidance. This perception has done a disservice to growing Christianity and as a result many of the younger generation are agnostic. For them to choose Christianity was to choose values they thought and think are wrong. This disappoints and angers me as someone who views himself as a Christian. Evangelicals don’t strike me as being loving or what I want to say, as being a true Christian. They would disagree.
ReplyDeleteJust remember, all religion is man-made. So, you can say whatever you want and can't be proven wrong.
ReplyDeleteEvangelical Christians don’t just support Trump. As we saw with his golden idol at the 2021 CPAC, they worship him. He's the undisputed cult leader of the far white.
ReplyDeleteAt a Trump rally in Illinois yesterday, a Republican representative thanked Trump “for the historic victory for white life in the Supreme Court yesterday.” Her spinmeister said she “misspoke,” but it’s more commonly known as a Freudian slip.
God is not a Democrat nor a Republican, no matter what my evangelical brethren say, and His laws demonstrate this. For instance, the 2nd commandment. Long story short, it says,"thou shall not kill. Period". This means "no" to abortion, war, the death penalty, euthanasia, suicide, etc.
ReplyDeleteHe is king, no matter who is President.
Per today's Oregonian:
ReplyDeleteDozens of black-clad marchers roamed through the streets of Northeast Portland late Saturday, heading from Grant Park to the Hollywood district and damaging businesses along the way. The “direct action” event was advertised as a response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade on Friday.
“If abortions aren’t safe then you aren’t either,” read one flier announcing the march. The Portland Police Bureau said the group damaged numerous businesses but it was not able to intervene.
So, when Democrats don't get their way, then they riot and burn and kill. This crap happens in Portland because Ted Wheeler is a weak weenie. Ironically, Democrats are currently prosecuting Republicans for a rag-tag protest of misfits at the DC Capitol on January 6th. Sounds about right to me coming from a band of hypocrites on steroids.
As far as I'm concerned, Democratic leadership starting with Biden, Harris, Schumer, and Pelosi is all corrupt and inept, and their only goal is to destroy America, and install socialism. They should all be in prison.
Let me tell you what. It ain't gonna happen here. That's why the Constitution gave us guns. So that we could fight back against tyrants who want to enslave us. Commies have already done it to China, Russia, Cuba, and Venezuela. It ain't gonna happen in America.
There are lots of patriotic gun owners in the Rogue Valley. Any time that Antifa wants to bring their criminal dog and pony show here, then I'm sure they'll be welcomed with sounds of gunfire. You can push conservatives only so far, but at a certain point, then you do it at your own peril.
Curt Ankerberg
Medford, OR
NOTE TO COMMENT READERS, REGARDING CURT ANKERBERG'S COMMENT:
ReplyDeleteI publish Curt Ankerberg's comment with reservations. I consider it an insight into Trump-supporting Republican attitudes expressed here in Southern Oregon and around the country. He is
He writes minimizations and justifications that I have heard elsewhere among Trump supporters. They allow people who consider themselves patriotic to overlook or even support overt effort to overthrow the government. They give Trump a pass. After all, look at Portland. The comment calls the January 6 insurrectionists a "rag-tag protest" when there is overwhelming evidence they were was part of a Trump-led strategy involving fake electors, pressure on election officials to "find" votes, and a legal strategy to disallow electoral votes from multiple states. Trump proudly told them to go to the Capital and to be strong, in an effort to intimidate his Vice President into doing something unconstitutional to stay in power. He--like many other Republicans--don't appear to consider that disqualifying.
Then, and this is a heads up to local, state, and federal officials. His comment justifies use of weapons against "communists" and others he considers tyrants. That could be considered an abstract warning/threat, involving only some imagined future tyrant. The heads up is that he has referred to me, to the sitting county commissioners, to city government officials both elected and appointed, to the county clerk, to local business people as corrupt socialist tyrants. His comment does not meet the criteria of an illegal threat. But note that he considers use of weapons to be justified against socialist tyrants, and that group included dozens of people he has identified by name and by office.
The Jackson County sheriff informs me that he, too, has been named, but I have not witnessed that personally. Both the sheriff and the Medford police department tell me that they do not consider Ankerberg to be a danger to me or others at this time.
Ankerberg is not "typical" of Southern Oregon Republicans. He expresses his views more bluntly. However, he is not unpopular among them nor wildly out of the mainstream among Republican voters. He nearly won a Republican primary election. He runs in local elections and consistently loses, but he gets votes. I publish Ankerberg not because I agree with him, but because I want readers to understand the thinking of many Republicans and Trump-supporting voters who continue to justify Trump's near-successful effort to overthrow an election.
Hereafter, I will take a harder look at letters that express plans or intentions regarding violent acts. I am disinclined to continue publishing them.
Peter Sage
The fact is, we already have enough people. We are unable to house, properly feed and educate, and provide quality medical and dental services to the people we already have.
ReplyDeleteThis is America. Stop imposing your mythological beliefs on others.
From today’s Oregonian:
ReplyDeleteDozens of black-clad marchers roamed through the streets of Northeast Portland late Saturday, heading from Grant Park to the Hollywood district and damaging businesses along the way. The “direct action” event was advertised as a response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade on Friday.
“If abortions aren’t safe then you aren’t either,” read one flier announcing the march. The Portland Police Bureau said the group damaged numerous businesses but it was not able to intervene.
“Officers were monitoring the crowd, but did not have resources to intervene in the moment,” the bureau said early Sunday in a news release.
When the police can’t or choose not to protect you from criminal violence, you can either be a victim or defend yourself and your property.
As a once-avowed evangelical Christian, Mr. Coster well knows and with respect probably should clarify here that the crucial component of evangelism is--though they are often conflated--not saving lives so much as souls. For better or worse, that includes, for observant Catholics and fundamentalist Christians, the supposed individuated souls of fetuses, for many fundies with eternal torment on the line. Again for better or worse, those are high stakes indeed, especially for Christians taught for centuries, often if not usually for good reason, that life is a vale of tears and but the obligatory preamble to one's perpetual reward, thumbs up or thumbs down.
ReplyDeleteI believe that that perspective must at least be noted in otherwise perfectly sound and important debates over politicized morals and ethics to include religion. An observant Christian is to render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, whether that's Nero or Marcus Aurelius. Likewise coming sideways from the traditional Christian perspective, as opposed to the social workers and humanists leading many modern Christian denominations, when we turn to justice and autocracy, arguably the most just and free society ever known was John Calvin's Geneva. YHWH and Jesus don't beat around the bush much themselves.
Regarding the riot in Eugene, the age of those arrested was 19,20,21. I don't believe the anger was about Roe. I think more like the future. And showing off. And kid verses parent. This is the same stereotypical crap that defined the Vietnam movement, kids acting out. I think this anger is deeper than a can of beer , one for the boys. corporations have become the purveyors of bait and switch.
ReplyDeleteYour job and you can be erased at any moment. Your future is no future but a tenuous hold. Rents are up, food is up , stay with Mommy and Daddy. So let’s throw shit at the cops. The Uber generation. The $15 per hour rises to $20. Live on that and shut the fuck up, stay in mommies basement forever and write code for a video game that will never be published.
Could we please have a no obscenities policy, unless it is a quote? Is that too much to ask?? Thank you
ReplyDelete