This post now has grown sufficiently long that I've added a break. Updates and the original post are below the break.
Update Dec 15 8:23 am CST: Here is David French on Evangelical support for Trump. We've discussed French once or twice in the past: he is a conservative opinion writer and an accomplished advocacy attorney. Like many prominent opinion writers, he has an Ivy League education; but unlike most of them, he is a believing Evangelical Christian, his roots are in the Bible Belt and he continues to live there, so he can write about Evangelical matters with a familiarity and authority that distinguishes him from most of his opinion-writer peers. He never has supported Donald Trump as candidate or president - and has personally suffered for it. He wrote for a time for National Review; he, Jonah Goldberg and others formed a new outlet called The Dispatch. What follows is excerpted from an enewsletter I receive from him. He states at the end that this piece is public and may be distributed, so I am hoping that the entire piece is open on The Dispatch site to anyone who wishes to read it. The headline should give a flavor of his point of view: "The Dangerous Idolatry of Christian Trumpism". Here are a few key points from French:
This is a grievous and dangerous time for American Christianity. The frenzy and the fury of the post-election period has laid bare the sheer idolatry and fanaticism of Christian Trumpism.
A significant segment of the Christian public has fallen for conspiracy theories, has mixed nationalism with the Christian gospel, has substituted a bizarre mysticism for reason and evidence, and rages in fear and anger against their political opponents—all in the name of preserving Donald Trump’s power.
As I type this newsletter, I am following along with a D.C. event called the Jericho March. Eric Metaxas, a prominent Christian radio host, former featured speaker at the National Prayer Breakfast, and the best-selling author of Bonhoeffer is the master of ceremonies; former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn is a featured speaker. The event also includes a flyover from Marine One, the president’s helicopter.
Flynn, readers may remember, recently called for the president to implement “limited martial law” to hold a new election. Metaxas told the president himself in a radio interview: “I’d be happy to die in this fight.” He said, “This is a fight for everything.” ...
Christian leaders are joining and supporting frivolous litigation—like the Texas attorney general’s lawsuit the Supreme Court unanimously rejected on Friday evening—intended to disenfranchise tens of millions of Americans. In fact, every court that has heard challenges to the vote has rejected efforts to overturn its result. Yet important Evangelical leaders have still supported calls for state legislators to unilaterally defy their own voters to appoint pro-Trump electors.
And when the Supreme Court ruled Friday night, the head of the Texas GOP called for a separatist “union of states that will abide by the Constitution.”
French's entire piece is worth reading.
Update Dec 14 10:12 am CST: Meant to include this bullet in my post: any Republican official who signs on to this attempt to nullify the presidential election is dead to me. I guess the most prominent so far is the minority leader of the US House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy. If House Republicans manage to hold onto their gains in 2022 and flip just a handful of seats, they would assume the majority, and McCarthy would be in line to serve as Speaker. In my view, McCarthy's stance on the 2020 presidential election disqualifies him from serving as Speaker of the House. Should Republicans assume the majority, Republicans in Congress must not permit McCarthy to become Speaker.
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Between work, ministry and the general business of getting ready for the holidays, I don't have time to pull together a post that would try to do justice to the gyrations of the Trump campaign and its True Believer camp followers to try to overthrow our democratic system of choosing our leaders. I'll try to add to this post as time permits, or post new posts, with some commentary from others that strikes me as apposite. Until then, let me try to sketch my thoughts in a few quick bullets:
- Up until now, I have dismissed the possibility that Trump's attempts to steal the election would amount to anything. If by "would amount to anything" is meant, "would illegally seize the presidency and prevent the Biden administration from beginning to govern in January", I still believe we don't need to fear. But if "would amount to anything" is meant, "would cause significant damage to the body politic", then I fear the wound already is severe, and is destined to get worse before healing begins
- Having struck out in court and state legislatures, the Trump campaign is now proceeding to the taking-it-to-the-streets phase, with the Washington march this weekend being marred by violence. Various voices are publicly proclaiming their willingness to die in the cause of illegally extending Trump's presidency. Unbelievably, at least one state official (in Texas) already is kicking around the "s" (secession) word.
- The continuing (and perhaps even growing?) support for Trump hadn't made sense to me. I expected that, as the days and weeks went on, people would tire of the charade and would essentially boo him off the stage. What I had missed until recently is the religious angle. It seems some American Evangelicals have convinced themselves that Trump's presidency was divinely ordained, such that to try to bring about its natural ending is to oppose God's will. Various mouths with microphones and fingers with access to Twitter are claiming private revelation to this effect. And since Evangelicalism crosses into some sectors of Catholicism, expect to hear Catholics repeating this stuff. (I'm already hearing it from family members.) The Evangelical angle helps explain why those 100 GOP House members have signed on to the campaign's increasingly dangerous attempts to seize power.
- I don't know whether the president has broken any laws yet. But his attempt to invalidate a lawful election, if it is not yet treasonous, is on the road to treason.
On the brink of Christmas, I fear we are entering into a lengthy season of conflict on earth (at least in the US) and bad will toward one another. But we Catholics can be countercultural. Let the Eucharist be a potent sign that, beneath the political and social disagreement and dissolution lie ties that bind us to one another, which need to be tended and strengthened.
I am not surprised by any of what has happened. I have been worried about it for months, expressing these worries on this site. I hoped your optimism was warranted, but suspected strongly that you were not seeing the whole picture. At lleast you now understand that trump meant it when he said that if he lost the election it would be prima facie evidence of voter fraud by the Democrats and that he would fight it. He started signaling last spring that he would be prepared to reverse the election if he lost. In June he began pulling together a legal team to prepare for this., I several times used the word coup to describe what he was planning to do. I even suggested that he might encourage violence on the part of his True Believers. As I recall you discounted the possibility, suggesting that unless there were tanks in the street it wouldn’t be a coup. And I reminded you that bloodless coups without military involvement have occurred a number of times. You were right - I hope - that no matter what, Biden would be inaugurated on January 20th. But the coup was attempted, and it’s not over yet. And there could still be violence. This was never going to be a normal election - all the signs were there, but many ignored them. The danger to our country will continue past Jan 20. The evangelical Christians, more than half of white Catholics, and far too many Catholic bishops continue to support trump and the GOP.
ReplyDeleteDo you prefer emails at your yahoo or grmail address? If the latter, please email me and let me know that that is.
DeleteThanks,
Jim Mccrea
Jim, gmail.
DeleteI agree with you that all this is very bad for the country, and that we have a lot of work to do to repair society. I think what is driving it is...everything. We have a pandemic going, which is enough in and of itself. But then add in the rancorous election drama which has been going all year and longer, and then the normal crises that go on all the time in life, and didn't take a vacation just because all these other things were going on. And people are going a little bit nuts. Or a lot nuts.
ReplyDeleteAnd of course Trump is making it worse. I had thought, like you, that people would get tired of his drama and boo him off the stage once the election results were official. And to an extent that is happening even in his own party. But there is a reason why he's not it letting go away, and riding into the sunset into golfer paradise somewhere. He's afraid, very afraid. The shell game he's been playing with his much-vaunted fortune is going to come to an end, with massive debts coming due. And lawsuits and possibly criminal charges which were on hold due to presidential immunity are looming. In talking to one of my sons last night I predicted that Trump might do a fast fade before Jan 20 to some place like Montenegro that isn't too much of a hell hole and has no extradition treaty with the US. He said, "You're forgetting one thing. He has Secret Service protection for the rest of his life. It's going to be a straight jacket for him. There is no place he can go where they won't know where he is. And where they won't be with him." So his unhinged ravings all over Twitter, and his rallies and speeches and lawsuits, are the acts of a desperate man. And one who wants the money to keep rolling in from the gullible fools who contribute to his efforts.
I doubt that Montenegro would welcome trump. As you may recall, trump claimed that Montenegro posed a threat to Russia, indeed to the whole world because of its aggressiveness(recall that there was a plot to take over their government- a coup- instigated by Russia.)
Delete“Montenegro is a tiny country with very strong people ... They’re very aggressive people. They may get aggressive, and congratulations, you’re in world war three,” the US president added.
Montenegro, a former Yugoslav republic with a population of about 630,000, joined Nato last year, becoming is 29th member, a move that enraged Moscow. Its military numbers about 2,000 personnel.
Montenegro’s relations with Russia have deteriorated in recent years as the Balkan nation moved to join Nato. It also hopes to join the European Union, much to the anger of Putin, who sees the west perennially creeping towards Russia.
Moscow has been accused of meddling in Montenegro’s elections, and a failed 2016 coup was allegedly planned by pro-Russian militants.
So probably not Montenegro. However, I fully expected him to go walk-about *somewhere* and not stick around for all the chickens to come home to roost. But my son's point (and yours) speaks to the fact that it's not going to be easy to do that, because he isn't welcome a lot of places, and he has full time babysitters keeping track of him.
DeleteNo schadenfreude for me. A Republican Party full of dolts weakens the whole system. Trump is making messes that will distract Biden from larger issues that have to be dealt with--vaccine distribution, climate change disasters, failing public education, income disparity, foreign cyber terrorism, etc. And that's just today's problems.
ReplyDeleteI have been remonstrating with my elected representatives on these matter. It is utterly futile.
As I write this, the Michigan Capitol is on lockdown, and our electoral college voters and a heavily armed security force are the only ones in there. It looks like a police state.
Legislators and staff are under quarantine because Rudy Giuliani farted and spewed COVID all over them.
I think a lot of Catholics have been blinkered about the fundigelicals because they have been vociferously anti-abortion. Time to wake up and decide if pro-execution, anti-Muslim, pro-Zionist, pope-is-the-antichristers, abundant-lifers are whom you really want to snuggle up to. These are not Christians in any sense I understand them.
Also, I think I am going to take a break here until after New Year and spend some time with a few beloved saints. This is a very grim season. "What if this is my last Christmas" is a question I have to choke back several times a day. Meantime we keep turning over the same ain't-it-awful ground.I
DeleteSo I'll wish everyone as happy a Christmas as they can manage and ask you to pray for those who are lonely, sick, disheartened, hungry, evicted, or broke.
You got it, Jean. And have a peaceful, beautiful Christmas. Mine will be a blue Christmas this year, starting with my mother's death in January, then the COVID pandemic, and recently I lost my good friend and best dance partner Judy suddenly. So, yes, blue but beautiful and peaceful nonetheless.
DeleteJean, I understand. For my part, always glad to have you hear and contributing. Stanley, I am so, so sorry. You must feel like Job.
DeleteJean, as usual, you speak the truth. I want to thank you for the Ode to Joy flash mob link. I love those flash mobs, especially in Europe in some old town with a town square and beautiful buildings and lots of history. I find the history of St. Rock to be very interesting,and, as you know, I'm not big on saints. Have a peaceful Christmas and we all hope to see you here again soon.
DeleteI am very much looking forward to 2021 - the nightmare of this year will be in the rear view mirror by next summer I hope. Trump will be gone, still trying to do evil, but without the power of the presidency. And he will be tied up in litigation. He will stay active with his election fraud fund or a 2024 campaign fund or whatever because the $ will be used to help defray his legal expenses, so he will keep spreading lies and hate and mistrust and, sadly, millions will believe him.
Both you and Katherine note that there is a lot of work to be done to bring back some unity to this country. Neither of you say what should be done. What CAN be done in the face of a nation that does not even agree on what a fact requires to be called a fact. How do you bring sanity when so many have bought the insanity? Trump will continue to feed the insanity because he needs the $$$ that these fools sent to him. So while I think some things will get better, our country is still in danger from the right-wing forces he has unleashed.
Stanley, it is so sad to learn of your most recent loss of a dear friend. Prayers ascending that you will find peace in your soul in 2021, even though the sadness will never completely go away.
Praying also for your health, Jean. The lifting of some stress in 2021 will be good for you and your health.
Stanley, that first Christmas without a loved one is a bitch. I will be thinking of you.
DeleteI see King's College, Cambridge, will do its nine lessons and carols despite the pandemic. No public members this year, but something we've enjoyed for 36 years.
Thank your for prayers, Anne. The oncologist said in October that I am in a stable "holding pattern," and I have felt quite well. Hoping next year I can take advantage of having less fatigue!
I don't know what can be done other than to protect truthfulness and fairness by our own actions. Trump has affected a lot of Trump Haters who have picked up his tactics. Someone I correspond with said she had pardoned his children. When I pointed out he had not done that at this point and we need to check out facts, she went haywire.
*said HE (Trump) had pardoned ...
DeleteJean: I think there are many Catholics of the orthotoxic type who are absolutely in sync with fundigelicals because they pretty much believer the same. Many "leading light" converts to Catholicism came from fundigalical backgrounds (a la Scott Hahn) and may have poped but are still very evangelical at heart.
Delete"may have poped"
DeleteJim, is that a verb? :-)
Anne, you said, "Both you and Katherine note that there is a lot of work to be done to bring back some unity to this country. Neither of you say what should be done." I assume you're talking about Jim and me there. I don't really know what we should do as a nation to bring about unity. But I do have one or two ideas of things we can do as individuals. We can bear in mind that people are more than their politics. If we found admirable traits in the ones who were in our lives prior to this toxic political cycle, we can assume that those traits are still there. People whom we disagree with are not by definition awful people. Of course some of them are, but chances are they were that way before we became conscious of their political views. We can look around and see the good that is still in them, and the struggles that are going on in their lives. An example; one of my brothers has political views that I don't agree with. But he and his family are expending heroic efforts to try and keep Dad from needing to be in the nursing home. I can thank him and recognize what they are doing. Not much else I can do from 300 miles away. That's not the only difficult thing they are facing, his wife's father is terminally ill in another state. I think we just need to acknowledge that everyone is fighting a battle, whether we know it or not, and try to extend compassion instead of judgement.
ReplyDeleteWhat principles unite all Americans? It has to rest on something other than, "We have the strongest military on earth." What worries me is that the various sides can't agree on what is true and what isn't. And on the topic of election results, the truth isn't difficult to discern.
ReplyDelete"What worries me is that the various sides can't agree on what is true and what isn't." Jim, I agree about that. I think we have the social media to thank for that. Anybody can get on there and say anything. It's the wild west of communication. Not only that, but we also have the "dark web", which sounds like a rough neighborhood, or a DMZ. There are some efforts to rein things in, but it's an uphill battle. I think people have to get over a certain naivete, that these sources are reliable.
DeleteI think there are an awful lot of people whose critical thinking faculties are not adequately developed. That's kind of an educational failure. The human instinct is to be tribal. We believe people in our tribe, don't believe people from the other tribe. Critical thinking requires that we detach ourselves from that instinctive behavior and have a more objective basis for weighing truth from falsehood.
DeleteThe entire American experiment - democracy, really - relies on our being able to overcome our tribal instincts. Tribalism leads to strong-man forms of government.
Katherine, it is good that your brother is caring for your father. It is not good that he has so little concern for those outside of his own family (or tribe) to not oppose trump. It is a moral issue more than a political issue, but the moral issues have helped form political policy. I have no trouble being with people with whom I differ on tax policy, or trade policy, or minimum wage, etc. I do have a serious problem looking past the fact that they support a man who is amoral and devises policies that do so much harm to so many innocent people. That is the moral issue.I have family members and friends who would probably help a member of their own family, or a close friend, for a neighbor. But these same people support a man who spouts cruel rhetoric against those with brown skin - would-be immigrants fleeing violence of different kinds, from Latin America, and refugees from the middle east and Africa. Muslims. He incites fear and hatred of these people.Perhaps I should not judge, but I do have a hard time feeling compassion for people who support a man who has no compassion for "the least of these". Because it demonstrates that their own compassion is reserved for those like themselves. A letter to the editor of the Sun Sentinel in 2016 explained it as well as anyone -
DeleteThose of us who have voted in numerous presidential elections surely have had wins and losses. After each of those losses, I suspect that you, like I, were able to accept the results and move forward.But I am having serious problems "getting over" this one. Recently I came to the realization that the problem goes much deeper than just coming to grips with who won. Rather, I have finally discovered that my continuing malaise and distress are due to the reality that several long-time friendships have been changed, most likely forever.The other day I sent the following email to two friends who were particularly adamant and outspoken in their support of the now president-elect:"Please understand that I am not mad at you because Clinton lost. I am totally unconcerned that you and I have different 'politics.' And I don't think less of you because you voted one way and I another."No, I think less of you because you watched an adult mock a disabled person while addressing a crowd and still supported him. I think less of you because you saw a candidate spout clear racism day after day and still backed him. I think less of you because you heard him advocate for war crimes and still thought he should be given the reins of government. I think less of you because you watched him equate a woman's worth to where she landed on a scale of 1 to 10 and still got on board. I think less of you because you stood by silently while he labeled Mexicans as criminals and Muslims as terrorists."It wasn't your politics I found repulsive. No, it was your willingness to support someone who spouts racism, sexism, and cruelty almost every time he opens his mouth. You sided with a bully when it should have mattered most, and that is something I will never be able to forget."So in response to your post-election expression of hope, no, you and I won't be 'coming together to move forward.' Obviously, the president-elect disgusts me; but it is the fact that he doesn't disgust you that will stick with me long after the election."
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/opinion/letters/fl-letter-donald-trump-supporter-anger-20161130-story.htmlI
One might add that they are also now supporting a man who is literally trying to destroy our democracy. My trump supporting family and friends are not poorly educated, unemployed blue collar workers. or farmers who are going under. They are upper middle class, educated professionals with net worths exceeding $1 million - a couple of them are probably closer to $10 million in net worth. Several are "devout" christians - some are "devout" Catholics who NEVER miss mass and are always active in their parishes. Yet they seem to have missed entirely what Jesus teaches in the gospels. And to be honest, although they might help a family member or friend through a financial crisis by lending them $, they would never go so far as to help them live in one of their homes, or even go visit regularly with a home-cooked meal (they are all big, big restaurant fans and resent Dr. Fauci for his influence on closings of restaurants).
DeleteI'm willing to believe many of the people who supported Trump's election hijack attempts are sincere in the sense that they really believe the lies. It's in the same way that I believed that the Moonies and Hare Krishna members were sincere, and for the same reasons. Doesn't mean I think their mental processes are working 100%, going back to Jim's comments about people being able (or not) to discern objective truth.
DeleteI do think there is a problem with discerning truth. Living in bubbles which reinforce our pre-existing and/or preferred narratives makes it harder to think outside those boxes.
DeleteAnother variation on this is an unwillingness to accept what is true. Accepting an uncomfortable, inconvenient or catastrophic truth requires maturity, courage, resolve, good mental health, personal energy and probably a good support network. My view is that many of us have deficits in one or more of those areas. Sometimes, accepting what is true, and accepting the implications of that truth, require more energy than we can summon. Surely depression and anxiety play a role in that. I suspect a lot of Trump's supporters are elderly people who are dismayed and disoriented by the social change which is afoot, and no longer have the energy and the ability to digest the changes - and engage in the introspection and willingness to change themselves and their attitudes.
There is yet another segment that understands damn well what is going on - can see through Trump. But they see the alternatives as even worse. I'm certain that is why Hillary lost in 2016. It's why Trump did so much better than polls predicted in 2020, and why Republicans up and down the ticket held serve despite being led by such a bad president during such a catastrophic time. They hate Democrats, progressives and liberals even more than they fear Trump.
In some ways, that letter from the 2016 Sun Sentinel is a good deal more worrisome than whatever Trump is engaging in. We Americans have to find a way to accept one another's ideological differences and yet find other, deeper principles which we hold in common, and recognize that we're still brothers and sisters, with obligations to one another. The Gospel would tell us that we still need to love such people, and forgive them, even seventy times seven times.
DeleteJim, you're right that some people see the alternatives to Trump as worse, that the worst Republican is still better than the best Democrat as far as what is good for the country. Because socialism. Or something.
DeleteAnd you are of course right about the need to find deeper principles which we hold in common, and the Gospel mandate to love and forgive. Even though it's hard sometimes.
About the Sun Sentinel letter, I assume it's the one about Texas succeeding. They even spelled secession wrong. I could be wrong, but I think they are talking smack. Every so often some people in western Nebraska talk about seceding from Nebraska and joining Wyoming. It never goes anywhere because the parts of the state really need each other. For one thing every family in western Nebraska has kids who live in Omaha. Or Lincoln. It's the same all over. We can't live in our own little world even if we want to, we are too connected in too many ways.
Oops, my mistake, it wasn't the author of the letter in the Sun Sentinel who spoke of "succeeding" from the union. It was Price Wallace, a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives.
DeleteKatherine right - I saw your self-correction on the Sun Sentinel letter. That letter actually goes back to 2016 and was written by a Democrat struggling with the same crisis in personal relationships that all of us have experienced to one extent or another.
DeleteJim: We .. have to find a way to accept one another's ideological differences and yet find other, deeper principles which we hold in common,.
DeleteJim, the "ideological" differences are moral - differences in our most deeply held principles. Common ground may not exist. Some are fine with turning away desperate people from our country, with tearing children away from their parents and not even keeping track of the parents, so that hundreds of children will never return to their families; tearing away babies in arms from their mothers, and herding the children into oversize cages where they slept on cement floors with only space blankets to cover them. Those of us who find this - and other actions of this administration - to be horrific - can't ever find common ground with those who could overlook them for a tax cut.
The words on the Statue of Liberty hold no value for trump people. Those who do believe them can't give up those beliefs to appease trump supporters who hate immigrants - because they are poor people of color, or because they are Muslims - who also support politicians who give a pass to white supremacists. We might forgive a few due to ignorance - why are they so full of hate? - but it does not mean that we can forgive their support for a man who encourages hatred of others who don't look like them or worship like them. They support a man who has attempted to destroy our democracy. The recent election mess is simply the culmination of what he has done for four years, aided by the GOP in Congress, and is not a surprise at all except to those who have tried to normalize his actions and rhetoric.
I'm not sure that there are deep gospel values that ALL of us - NeverTrump, Democrats, and pro-trump can agree on. The evangelicals think he's Cyrus, ordained by God. How do you find common ground with that? They twist the "love your neighbor, welcome the stranger, care for the poor" messages of the Gospel into meaning something that non-trump christians actively reject as NOT-gospel values. I have read a lot about why evangelicals supported trump and common ground may not exist.
Katherine, the Sun Sentinel letter is the one I quoted above - written after the 2016 election by a man who is explaining why he can't renew his friendships with former friends who supported trump. Some of us have learned that people we have known all of our lives, family members, lifelong friends don’t share our values. The deep challenges to christian belief are not found in token gestures like buying a few cans for the food bank, but in "welcome the stranger", feed the poor, visit the prisoner, etc. The pro-trumpers DON'T have in common with us our most deeply held moral principles- they reject them, as we reject theirs. For me, trumpism stands for giving a pass - if not active support - to hate, fear, nationalism, white supremacy. I suppose as professional religionists (even if Katherine isn't officially a professional Catholic) you have to try to force those of us who do not forgive trump voters to do it anyway. I can forgive in the abstract - those who are so ignorant that they didn't even catch on to what trump is all about - but I have a hard time with my rich, educated relatives and friends who should have been totally repelled by trumpism but weren’t. They also spread his lies – and refused to even consider the fact checks I sent them, saying that factcheck.com, snopes, AP factcheck etc are all part of the conspiracy against trump.
They are not who I thought they were. No test like trump had ever come up in our family/friend white, educated class bubble world. The 2016 election revealed what they had kept hidden from view all of their lives. I will never feel the same affection for them that I once did. Email is close enough contact. I don't want to spend time with people that I would not spend time with who aren't related genetically - because of the chasm in our most deeply held principles.
On an encouraging note, the Electoral College has now officially confirmed Joe Biden's victory over Donald Trump. I am reading that Hillary Clinton was one of the electors for her state. I'm sure it was very satisfying to cast a vote defeating Trump.
ReplyDeleteThis song is going through my mind!