Religion and Trump

 

      The Constitution’s First Amendment states:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

      The first two clauses (Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses) guarantee to all Americans the right to practice their chosen faith in a society free of pressure to practice a government-approved faith.  This was the vision of the Founders, most of whom were Deists or Unitarians rather than Christians.  They believed in God but embraced a secular political philosophy that taught that God had little impact on human affairs.  This secular philosophy had a long-standing influence on American life at the time the Constitution was written.

      Donald Trump and his MAGA followers (many of whom are evangelical Christians) represent another tradition, commonly called White Christian Nationalism.  According to Father Thomas P. Rausch, S.J., writing in the Jesuit magazine, America, “Evangelicals broadly confuse the Kingdom of God with a Christian America, preserved by thuggish politicians who promise to prefer their version of Christian rights and enforce Christian values.”  This is the Trump / MAGA vision for America, one in which the First Amendment’s religious guarantees are meaningless under a sign that reads, “White Christians welcome.  All others shut-up or clear out.”

      While it is doubtful that Trump cares anything about religion, he signaled his support for the MAGA-evangelical movement in his photo-op in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church, taken just after he had forcibly ejected peaceful protestors from Lafyette Square.  Trump adopted a tough pose and held up a Bible, hastily provided by his daughter Ivanka, as if it was a shield against the evil of non-white, non-Christian America.  He looked every bit the masculine Christian warrior that Dylon Jones, writing in Politico, contends makes Trump the darling of evangelicals.

            No one can truly look into another’s heart to find the depth of their religious faith.  We cannot know it about Trump.  What we do know is that he has never exhibited the selfless charity that was personified by Jesus.  We know that Donald “Bonespurs” used his wealth and influence to avoid the calling of the warrior to serve and protect his country.  Finally, we know that he has nothing but contempt for the real warriors who protect his wealth, property, and family by calling them “losers” and “suckers.”  He is not a Christian and he is not a warrior hero.  He is a charlatan who belongs in jail, not the White House.

     

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