Omnipotentblog just finished reading “The Immoral Majority” by Ben Howe. Evangelical Christians, he proclaims, have sold their soul to the devil who has taken the form of Donald Trump. Howe, himself an evangelical conservative, claims that political power has become an idol. As a child, he asked his father why so many people weren’t Christian. His father replied, “because so many Christians are jerks.” And there is the central theme: Christians are jerks. If they like Trump.
The book was painful to read, mainly because of the constant eye-rolling. Yet, Howe was infuriating not only because of his frequent non sequiturs, shabby logic, and clear-as-mud writing, but because some of what he wrote was true. It is hard to hear painful truths about one’s own tribe. The author, seemingly sincere in his lamentations, had plenty of low-hanging fruit to pick, much of it supplied by the likes of Jerry Fallwell Jr. and the phalanx of high-profile pastors surrounding Trump.
Howe skewers those who put Trump on a messiah pedestal, evoking the “anointed” Persian King Darius as another ungodly man who did the bidding of a sovereign God. Howe rightly points out that God could advance His cause through Hillary Clinton just as easily. Howe also calls attention to the rank hypocrisy of those like James Dobson who savaged Bill Clinton for sexual promiscuity but respond to Trump’s base appetites with a resounding “meh.” He also lashes out at those who claim Trump is a genuinely God-fearing man, with his favorite verses in “Two Corinthians”, his talk of “the little wine and the little crackers”, and his astonishing claim he never felt the need to repent.
HEADLINE:
“Trump Requests Pastor Change Bread and Wine to Champagne and Crab Cakes, Says It Will Class Up the Joint.”
Howe is somewhat reminiscent of Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard. Kierkegaard looked at society and recoiled at the hypocrisy and corruption. He viewed Christendom itself as the mortal enemy of authentic Christ-centered living. In Kierkegaard’s developmental theory, the pleasure-seeking “aesthetic life” seeks to use human wiles to transform the boring into the interesting. It is carnal, a stage of immaturity to be passed on the way to an “ethical” and “religious” life. There is much to love about Kierkegaard but this bears resemblance to the old gnostic heresy that the material is evil and the spiritual is good. 20th Century theologians Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer rejected this. Bonhoeffer asked who can cultivate music, friendship, games and enjoyment of life? “Certainly not the ‘ethical’ man, but only the Christian,” whose cost of discipleship is attended by Christian liberty.
You might say, “Omnipotentblog, why you always bringin’ up boring philosophers and people nobody knows?” To which I reply, “It’s my blog and I’ll bore if I want to, bore if I want to, bore if I want to.” The point is to make a…point…about Christian engagement with the culture. Like Kierkegaard’s Denmark, America was once largely Christian. Surprisingly, the overall decline in religiosity and identification has come wholly amongst non-churchgoers. Church attendance has actually remained steady. The secular left, crowing from its cultural heights, has gone on the attack, shutting down bakeries and screaming at teenaged drive through employees for daring to believe, nay, associate with people who believe the Bible. The loss of the culture and its protections is frightening. One response is to close the shutters, lock the doors and sing “Onward Christian Soldiers” in our living rooms but in a very quiet voice. The “Benedict Option” makes this argument, saying it’s time to become entrenched and disengage. Bollocks.
In “Dynamic Christianity vs. the Benedict Option,” an excellent piece, Rachel Lu writes that the world desperately needs the influence of Christianity and she implores Christians to be the salt and light of the world. She writes, “Jesus was not a politician but his political savvy was on full display on the final day of his mortal life.” Interrogated by the Sanhedrin, he toyed with the Pharisees. They knew he had previously called them snakes and vipers, telling his followers to obey them but not to emulate their example. Interrogated by the Roman governor Pilate, he was coy, at times reasoning with him and at others remaining silent.
Interpreting Jesus’ engagement with the Jewish government is tricky. His attacks on the authorities had primarily religious motivations but in a theocracy, this cannot be extricated from the general welfare. His famous dictate to “render unto Ceasar” was a command to submit to earthly authorities and also a reminder that His kingdom (and ours) is not of this world, a disappointment to the many Jews who desperately hoped the messiah was a temporal one who would overthrow Rome. Jesus’ episodes of political engagement are, like much in the Bible, somewhat up to interpretation. What He certainly did not do, was shy away from calling out sin. He turned over the tables of the money changers in the temple, grabbed a whip and went Indiana Jones on them.
What does this mean for Christians responding to Trump? We should be reminded to not be “unequally yoked” with unbelievers. And concerning protecting ourselves from destruction, Howe rejects grasping at short term political victories at the cost of long-term losses. He is also correct in pointing out the lesson of the cross, that losing in the political realm is not the same as losing in the spiritual.
Would Jesus be a Republican? The Bible is frustratingly silent on governing: no advice on tax policy, social welfare, or democracy. Yet, Christians should care about policy, about the moral elements of poverty, justice and the rule of law, the sanctity and health of the family, unborn human life and other issues upon which conservative Christians feel the survival of the nation depends. How should we feel about Trump? Well, if one’s conscience agrees with what Trump is doing, one is morally bound to support him. The rub is that the man’s temperament and character seem so vile it should at least prick the conscience. It is tempting, seemingly almost imperative, to cheerlead this troubled protector of Christendom to victory. But here’s a simple truth: In doing so, Christians must remain….Christian. So if one simply adds up the math of Trump’s policies and persuasions through a Christian lens, I assert without waver that Trump is the lesser of two evils. To be a mega MAGA fan, however, a doughy-eyed rabid supporter, is to hurt the true cause, the only one that really matters. To be hated for upholding the truth of the gospel, sexual purity, the distinction of the sexes, and other controversial notions, is to obey Christ. To be hated for attaching yourself to a cretinous wanker is not.
BONUS MATERIAL: I wrote an 8 page piece some time ago arguing that the Bible contradicts modern progressivism and supports conservatism. If you want to read it, I will send it. Or, if my millions of readers clamor for it, I’ll post it.
