Trump’s Evangelical Fans
July 25, 2019
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
PROTESTANT columnist Chuck Baldwin writes:
[J]erry Falwell Jr., Pat Robertson, Franklin Graham, Robert Jeffress, et al. have been gushing over Trump like he’s another John the Baptist who’s paving the way for the Messiah. These “Christian leaders” have the ear of millions of evangelicals. If these “great men of God” say it, it must be true.
But, again, that’s the superficial reason why evangelicals love Donald Trump. The real reason lies much deeper. Are you ready for this? The real reason evangelicals love Donald Trump is because they are just like him.
Thankfully, there are wonderful exceptions to what I am saying. Over my 44 years of Gospel ministry, I have come to know some of the sweetest, kindest, most loving, humble, godly, giving, honest and honorable Christian evangelists, pastors and people in the world: wonderful, precious souls. But without reservation or hesitation I can say that these terrific people are a small percentage of the whole. In word and deed, most evangelicals have a track record of being little more than miniature reflections of Donald Trump. Evangelicals love Donald Trump because in character and conduct he is truly one of them.
Liberal blogger Kevin Drum nailed it:
If you want to think of evangelicals as hypocrites, that’s fine. But don’t think of them that way because of Donald Trump. He is practically the apotheosis of conservative Christianity in America, not some weird, blustering outlier. No one should be either surprised or shocked that they love him.
However, there are four specific things about Donald Trump that make him achieve this almost god-like status with evangelicals.
No, it’s not his pro-life verbiage. Like Trump, most evangelicals only provide lip service to the pro-life cause. Evangelicals will look you in the eye and tell you that the GOP is a pro-life party. What a joke! Roe v Wade was passed by a GOP-dominated Supreme Court. The GOP has controlled the Supreme Court ever since 1973. The GOP controlled the entire federal government for 4.6 of G.W. Bush’s eight years in office. And they controlled the entire federal government for the first two years of Donald Trump’s presidency. Nothing was done to overturn Roe. Plus, know this: Nearly 50% of the women and girls seeking abortions are regular attenders of evangelical churches.
No, it’s not Trump’s anti-LGBT agenda verbiage. Most evangelicals are fine with the fact that homosexuality permeates their churches. Homosexuality is rampant in many Christian colleges and universities. It’s mostly hushed up; but almost everyone knows it’s there.
No, it’s not Trump’s pro-Second Amendment verbiage. First, Trump has already handed America more gun control than Barack Obama, and second, most evangelicals are as mushy on the Second Amendment as a bowl of hot grits. Tell me, when is the last time you heard the likes of Robert Jeffress and Franklin Graham say one word about the God-ordained right and duty to keep and bear arms?
No, it’s not Trump’s pro-limited government verbiage. Donald Trump has exploded the spending, size and scope of the federal government equal to or surpassing any of his predecessors.
No, it’s none of those things that make evangelicals love Donald Trump. Here are the four things that evangelicals absolutely love about Donald Trump.
1. Donald Trump loves money and so do evangelicals.
From their idolatrous love affair with the 501c3 tax-exempt, non-profit organization status of their “churches” to their opulent buildings to their success-driven “ministries” to their prosperity “gospel” to their golf club memberships to their all-expense paid luxury vacations, evangelical pastors and congregations love money. Even though he made his fortune via corrupt business practices, immoral bankruptcies, theft, Jewish mafia-backed criminal activity, tax evasion, etc., billionaire Trump is what many evangelicals wish they were.
2. Donald Trump hates Muslims and so do evangelicals.
One thing I have found to be consistent with evangelicals is their intense hatred toward the Muslim people—and the Palestinians as well. The evangelical sermons, seminars, rallies, community meetings, books, DVDs, periodicals, radio broadcasts, television broadcasts, etc., all spewing vitriol against the Muslim people are ubiquitous. Donald Trump gives these Muslim-haters justification for their hatred.
3. Donald Trump is a rabid Zionist and so are evangelicals.
The vast, vast majority of evangelicals are Christian Zionists. They worship all things Israel. Their misinterpretation of Genesis 12:3 (and the rest of Scripture relating to Israel) has turned our evangelical churches into little more than one big Zionist cult. Donald Trump could disappoint them on almost every other issue, but as long as he remains the rabid Zionist he is, evangelicals will continue to love him.
4. Donald Trump is a warmonger and so are evangelicals.
Support for Zionist Israel and support for foreign wars go hand in hand. In fact, take away the former, and it would automatically remove the latter. Evangelicals love war. They love the military. [cont.]
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