The Real Double Haters?

give us Barabbas!!!

Call me obsessed if you wish. I prefer gobsmacked, dumbfounded, stupefied, stunned or, maybe, flummoxed. But in fairness, after eight years observing white American Christians’ embracing, even deifying, Donald Trump the sense of shock and surprise those words convey should have passed an expiration date. Or maybe not. Afterall, since white Christians last voted overwhelmingly for Trump in 2020 he has been exposed by others and has freely and enthusiastically exposed himself as even more irresponsible, criminal, racist, misogynistic, spiteful, dishonest, divisive, violent and hateful than we knew. This “revelation” only served to increase his support among the followers of Jesus, however. Gobsmacked does fit. And yet meaningful discourse about the role of this demographic and the obvious subject it should raise seems to be, for the most part, forbidden (or should I say verboten).

So, what exactly is the subject? That this, the lifting-up of Donald Trump as a pseudo-messiah, is the most egregious display of in-full-view hypocrisy imaginable from THE group claiming responsibility and authority for setting THE standard for morality on earth. Why the relative silence? How can this story remain so unexamined? How have white Christians gone hook, line and sinker for the lies, criminality and hate? It’s true that “abandoning” one’s long-running political tribe is difficult, but these are the people who supposedly turned their very lives over to Jesus Christ — invited him into their hearts. Most Christians, in fact, would declare that “being a Christian” is an essential component of their identity, maybe the most essential component, and striving to follow Jesus’ example is the freely chosen path even when the path is difficult. Is there some disclaimer in the scriptures that provides an exemption to stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong when political power is the reward for lies, criminality and hate? I can’t find one. I wrote a few days ago, before the election, about how early Christians were cautioned to protect the reputation of Jesus’ teachings and his followers through their public behaviors and oratory. But the obvious fact that Jesus was very much unlike Donald Trump in his thoughts and actions has seemingly gone completely unnoticed by a huge majority of Christians, white Christians to be specific, in America.

Jesus preached outlandish concepts, such as love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Jesus embraced society’s outcasts — lepers, tax collectors, Samaritans, the poor, the meek, the mentally ill (possessed by demons), an adulterous woman condemned to be stoned to death. He has been described by “the faithful” as a model of compassion. He cautioned against anger and about judging others — for with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. He modeled the “leader as a servant” role by washing his followers’ feet. And he warned against a thirst for power and fame and wealth — for what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Does that sound like anything in the same universe as Donald Trump?

The Trump campaign poured considerably more than $100 million dollars into anti-transgender ads — “Kamala is for they/them, president Trump is for you.” Why? Because these “followers of Jesus” in the United States of America apparently hate the very existence of transgender people with a burning passion. I cannot come up with another suitable answer. Neither can I imagine a more unfairly targeted group of vulnerable outcasts to whom Jesus would have rushed to defend than children searching for their most basic and essential sense of self. How have Christians who embrace Donald Trump as their leader managed to justify this discordance between the teachings and expectations of Jesus? I have written about the science of gender, but it appears good Christians of today’s America can’t let biological facts interfere with their burning desire to hate “others.”

And this is the real story of Donald Trump and white Christians in America — their never-ending search to find justification for worshipping their new idol and to bathe in the hatred of “the other.” Facts of any sort are very inconvenient because the extent to which “the faithful” are willing to completely ignore them to embrace Donald Trump’s criminality, divisiveness, cruelty and hatefulness suggests strongly that there is no genuine commitment to the ideas Jesus espoused. Living a life Jesus modeled, like facts, can be quite inconvenient too. I won’t even bother listing Trump’s adventurous undertakings and beliefs — there is literally no mystery. But in their silly search for justification, Trump becomes King Cyrus of Persia, a “flawed” leader who, long before Jesus, liberated the Jewish people. More directly, you and I become “evil,” “radical lunatics,” “demonic,” “polluting the blood,” out to destroy the country,” “conducting mid-afternoon sex change surgery on grade school kids” — any ridiculous made-up thing they can pretend would persuade Jesus to join them in their red-hot hating. But there is no Jesus in those hearts.

A Severe Mercy author Sheldon Vanauken from his letter to C.S. Lewis

One general tag from pollsters describing “undecided” voters in the 2024 election was “double haters” — that is voters who hated both candidates. I can’t help but wonder if the real “double haters” are those many Christians who might subconsciously hate themselves for allowing this perverted version of Jesus, who authorizes so much hate against others, to seize control of their spiritual lives. Deep down somewhere their utter absence of the courage to stand against this assault on fellow Americans and on the “church” itself must roil the soul. One more question for forensic psychologists studying the aftermath I suppose. But even as Christianity in America steadily loses followers, I see only a few voices calling the question out loud, “what have we become?” My shattered faith in humanity still demands that I believe more than a handful of them see the ugly picture clearly, but there is scant evidence.

With this version of white Christianity and Donald Trump running our government, however, the possibilities are frightening. Some would argue this is hyperbole — “we can’t really believe everything he says” — but I believe history will show that the overwhelming white Christian vote for Donald Trump initiated a threat to our system of government equivalent to the Civil War. The “rule of law, not men” is already a dead duck. And while there’s no way to know what lies ahead, it shouldn’t be forgotten that the human capacity for violence when good people refuse to take a stand is limitless. Good Christians might remind their brethren about false prophets, By their fruit you will recognize them……. a good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. At this point I find no evidence they will care. The thirst for power makes all else irrelevant, and in their fertile imaginations they see Jesus trampling the weak and woke right along with them. But whatever damage Donald Trump and the lunatics he will empower inflict upon this country, the consequences will without a doubt eventually further tarnish the reputation of Jesus. Some words of wisdom apply here —Wrong does not cease to be wrong because the majority share in it (Leo Tolstoy).

Since this is not my first or last criticism of white Christianity’s bending over for Donald Trump, it’s only fair that I share some background. For 2/3 of my life I “belonged” to a couple of denominations (Methodist and Baptist) as a child and when my own children were young. And while I can’t claim to have ever been a serious “believer,” I never would have dreamed so many who were serious would go along with, or be silently complicit with, someone as despicable as Donald Trump. I’m guessing they would say “Kamala Harris is worse” which is both patently absurd and a perfect demonstration of the extent to which “group think” can co-opt, has co-opted, human brains. I can’t help but wonder how many of those wonderful people I knew many years ago have given into living in a carefully constructed Republican fiction now. And I’m curious to see how this chapter of a 40- year expedition of Christianity into partisan politics accelerates the already precipitous decline in Americans who identify as “Christian.”