Perplexing: Religious Right Support of Trump

  I was perplexed when I saw this picture posted on Facebook.  Since then, I have heard that some Christians believe that Trump was elected President through Divine intervention.  It is hard for me to believe that God would choose this man of sin to lead our democracy, a man who has no regard for the Constitution of the United States and the rule of law, a man who doesn’t know that its Second Corinthians and not two Corinthians, a man who even believes he is above the law. Trump is named in thousands of lawsuits for his questionable business practices including hundreds of unpaid bills from contractors, vendors and workers that he has stiffed.  Furthermore, why would God support a self-centered, engager of illicit affairs, alleged sexual assaulter and  incessant liar who has been documented lying over four thousand times since taking office?

Seemingly, the Bible warns us of such a person in the following verses.

“Let no one deceive you in any way for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the destined for destruction.  He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the Temple of God, declaring himself to be God” – 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 NRSV 1989

“The coming of the lawless one is apparent in the working of Satan, who uses all power, signs, lying wonders and every kind of wicked deceptions of those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and to be save.”  – 2 Thessalonians 2:10 NRSV 1989

The lawlessness, destruction and lies of President Trump is not good for our democracy.  The motivation behind these abhorrent behaviors is unfettered wealth and power so that he can try to enter the realm of world oligarchs who have stolen the riches of their fellow countrymen.

He garnered support from the religious right by subliminally calling for a straight, white, Christian nation and the promise of installing conservative judges and cracking down on illegal immigration.  And for this, Christians are willing to look the other way when confronted with Trump’s seemingly unrepentant Christian shortcomings.

As a Christian, I believe we are here to love and help others and to inspire others to love and help.  We are not here to judge, demean and to be greedy.  Fear and narrow interpretations of the scriptures can cause us to believe and act in unsavory ways.  There are no simple answers because the theology of Christianity is very complex.  Sometimes, I think we (Christians) should adopt the Hippocratic Oath to simply do no harm.  As a Methodist, I try to use the Wesleyan Quadrilateral which looks at Scripture, Tradition, Reason and Experience to hone my beliefs and actions.  With a foundation in Scripture and Tradition, using Reason and Experience of current knowledge helps me to make, what I hope are, good decisions.

I try to respect the beliefs of others.  In fact, the motivation for this blog was to try to understand why people I respect support Trump.  However, I am struggling with believing Trump became President through Devine intervention and not Russian meddling, Jim Comey’s untimely announcement and the shortcomings of the Clinton campaign.