A Hymn for Evangelicals

Maybe the evangelical tide is starting to turn?

We can only hope.

From the Mouths of (Cartoon) Babes

Pretty straightforward, I'd say.

Maybe White Evangelicals Should Start Taking Their Cues from Their Black Brothers & Sisters

Recently, a large group of black pastors collectively wrote and signed a letter in support of the recent editorials by Christianity Today criticizing the unbridled immorality of President Trump.  In the process, they, rightly so, publicly admonished their white pastor counterparts who condemned the original CT editorials, a condemnation that Franklin Graham blasphemously echoed.  That letter from the black pastors, in its entirety, can be found here, and it is certainly worth the read. Here's a snippet:

"It has been said that 'the local church is the hope of the world, and it rests in the hands of its leaders.' If we truly believe that, then the local church can never be in a position to sacrifice its integrity and abandon all truth for the sake of political expediency. That is exactly what these 170 pastors have done by consistently justifying and excusing the behavior of the now-impeached president."

This black-white division over what seems to be (at least to an objective viewer with a modicum of criticial-thinking ability) a clear distinction between morality and immorality in the White House right now got me thinking about history.  And I specifically thought about the white evangelical response to the Civil Rights movement in our nation.  So, after doing some research on The Gospel Coalition website, I was reminded that during this last major racial-identity political divide, the white evangelicals were most certainly wrong then, too.

Here are a few tidbits from that lengthy article that, sadly, seem to be History trying to remind us all of the putrid stain of the white-evangelical support of blatant injustice:

• One researcher said, "I find that my fellow churchmen who supported the cause of justice were more often the exception, not the rule."
• "White southern evangelicals were blinded by their majority status to the injustice around them."
• "White southern evangelicals imbibed and perpetuated the Lost Cause mythology.  Developing at the end of Reconstruction and the closing of the nineteenth century, white southerners constructed memories of the Old South that perpetuated assumptions about ... the seemingly victimized status of the region.  It found expression ... at the more popular level--one deeply infused with religious meaning-- ... as a form of civil religion."
• "Southern evangelicals fought ferociously against any and all efforts to dismantle the system of white supremacy."
• "Most [white] preachers took a more oblique approach, remaining silent about black equality while condemning faith-based civil-rights activism as a 'prostitution of the church for political purposes.'"

Wow.  Every single one of those historical facts sound eerily, sadly, pathetically familiar to what the white evangelical community is doing right now.

So, here are my points: (1) No, white evangelicals, you weren't victims then, and you aren't victims now.  Stop playing that tired, false card to the rest of us.  You still have a solid "majority" status in our country, and you probably will for a while. However, that doesn't give you the right to steamroll blindly over others who are real victims.  And, (2) the black community's entire history in this country has been one of oppression and injustice at the hands of the white majority; thus, they can certainly recognize and label true, institutionalized injustice when they see it.

Right now, they see it.  And its name is "Trump."

It is now time that the white evangelical community learn from its sordid mistakes in the past, listen to those fellow Christians who know a thing or two about injustice, and humbly unite with those black brothers and sisters against a political climate that is promoting immorality at every turn.  

The Church of MAGA

Can I get an "Amen"?

The Christian Right Is Finally Starting to Get It!

And by "it," I mean that Trump is nothing more than a snake-oil salesman, a two-bit huckster, a New-York-streets con man.

This article in the USA Today, by an evangelical Christian himself, is just the most recent example of someone in the Christian community having both the courage and the critical thinking skills to speak out against this most unholy of marriages between Trump and the evangelical community.

To whet your appetite so that you'll go and read the entirety of the brief piece, here is the thesis:

"Donald Trump tries to brand himself as the savior of American Christians who will give them everything they want if they give him their votes. But as with the prosperity gospel, Christians must be wary of worldly promises from false political saviors. Christians will only ever have one savior, and he’s not in the Oval Office — he’s at the right hand of God the Father."

Just so we all take note, these types of pieces are FINALLY starting to pop up in the media; in fact, recently, they seem to have started becoming quite common.  I can only hope that this new thoughtful insight by the Christian community (although coming much later than I would've thought) continues to build up some steam as we all move towards November. 

Which Way To Spend Money Feels "More Christian"?

War 

OR

Green New Deal for the Environment AND Medicare for All AND Debt-Free College?

Or, put another way ...

I know this isn't specifically a spiritual argument, but it sure feels like one.

Loving Trump = Salvation

Jim Bakker, that infamous televangelist from the 80s, has resurfaced, it seems.  And this time, showing how much he learned from his public humiliation back then, he has thrown a whopper out there.  In all seriousness, he recently said the following:

"Trump is a test whether you're even saved.  Only saved people can love Trump."

(It's not fake news, I assure you.  You can watch the clip for yourself here.)

He, too, seems to be living by and preaching the Gospel of Republicanity.  To him, in no uncertain terms, supporting Trump (i.e., believing his lies, justifying his narcissism, ignoring his anti-Christian behavior) is the same thing as being a soul-saved Christian.  And, of course, the opposite is undoubtedly true as well: not supporting Trump (i.e., questioning him, noting his moral degeneracy, holding him accountable) is the same thing as being a pagan with the one-way ticket to Hell.  So incredibly perverse.

His reasoning lies in the concept of forgiveness.  He states the following to "prove" his initial point:

"You gotta forgive.  You gotta be able to forgive.  You forgive when you're saved."

So here are the obvious fallacies with that line of reasoning: (1) Trump himself has stated that he doesn't ask for forgiveness because he doesn't make mistakes (which, btw, is possibly the most anti-Christian statement that has ever left his filthy mouth), and (2) forgiving and ignoring are two totally different concepts, something that many evangelicals have forgotten when it comes to Trump.

In fact, according to the "Focus on the Family" website (a decidedly conservative Christian forum), forgiveness is not about "letting the offender off the hook," since Christians should "still hold others accountable for their actions or lack of actions"; and forgiveness does not include "letting the offense recur again and again," since no one should "have to tolerate .. a lack of respect or any form of abuse."  Herein lies the problem with Bakker's premise, for these are exactly what "forgiveness" has become to evangelicals when Trump is involved.  He continues to lie; he continues to bully and humiliate; he continues to love himself above all others; he continues to denigrate people of color and women; he continues to be the epitome of hypocrisy.  And all the while, Christians IGNORE his blatantly anti-Christian words and actions.

So, moral of the story: Jim Bakker was a bullshit scam artist in the 80s, and Jim Bakker is a bullshit scam artist now.  The problem is that his audience never learned that fact.  

"Trump's a Man Who Keeps His Promises."

At least that's what I continue to hear from friends and acquaintances who voted for this man and who plan to vote for him again this year.  Many will begrudgingly acknowledge that he is not a man of the highest moral fiber (an understatement to be sure, but at least there is an acknowledgement), but these Trumpists are able to thoroughly ignore such a flaw because during the campaign, "he made promises, and he's keeping them, by God!"

So, willfully ignorant evangelical Trumpists, because keeping campaign promises is your guiding light in the midst of the dark chaos of this presidency (and it should be), allow me to ask a few questions of you:

• First and foremost, have you forgotten about this little tidbit? According to Fact Checker, this man has vomited out approximately 15,500 lies since taking office, which is an average of approximately 15 per day for every … single … day he has been this country's president.  If keeping a promise is so important (and, again, it should be), then we shouldn't ignore the FACT that this man is a habitual liar.
• Second, how about that campaign promise that he was going to be so busy working for the American people that he was "not going to have time to play golf"?  Update: this man has averaged a visit to one of his golf courses 1 out of every 5 days he's been in office.  Maybe he hasn't been so very busy working for us after all.
• And how about that campaign promise (repeated ad nauseum) that he was going to "build the wall" and that he was going to make Mexico pay for it?  Update: it's not being built (thankfully), and Mexico (of course) is refusing to pay for it.
• And how about that campaign promise that he would cut the national debt "very quickly"?  Update: that national debt has ballooned by 68% in only his three years of office.
• And how about that campaign promise that Obamacare would be repealed and replaced with something "much, much better" so that there would be insurance for everybody and it would be "a lot less expensive"?  Update: since Trump took office, more than 3 million Americans now do not have healthcare, and costs have skyrocketed (See insulin prices.).  
• And how about the campaign promise that he would get us out of the "endless wars in the Middle East"  Update: Trump has sent 14,000 more American troops to the Middle East just since May, ANNNNNNND he just assassinated the main general in Iran with no explicit provocation, thereby assuring more American military involvement in the area for years to come.

This is a man with absolutely no personal concerns about lying, about saying one thing and doing the complete opposite, about filling his gullible followers' minds with soundbites that have no substance.  Certainly, we can all agree that such a trait is FAR, FAR removed from the teachings of the Christ.  So, let's just all stop pretending that he is a moral man of integrity who "keeps his promises."  He hasn't; he doesn't; and he won't.

Period.