WHEN I WAS YOUNG, PEOPLE SPOKE OF IMMORALITY
Republicans have a weird view of God. Republican Tim Walberg, who represents Michigan’s 7th Congressional district, told a town hall meeting recently that he wasn’t worried about climate change, because God could take care of it – if he wanted to. He added that, “As a Christian, I believe that there is a creator in God who is much bigger than us. And I'm confident that, if there's a real problem, he can take care of it."
If Walberg really believes that, why does he bother with politics? God knows what the issues are, and he’ll either choose to address them or not. If God wants rich people to get richer, he can just add a few more zeros to their bank account, or cause hundred dollar bills to drop from the sky into their backyards. If he doesn’t choose do that, is it not sacrilegious for Republicans in Congress to defy God’s will by pushing for tax cuts?
It’s the same with every other piece of the Republican agenda. If God thought ISIS was a problem, he’d destroy them himself, like he did with Sodom and Gomorrah, right? If God wanted Obamacare repealed, he could do it instantly. Since he hasn’t done it, maybe God likes Obamacare. If Trump is having trouble getting that wall built along our southern border, could it be that God likes immigrants?
One contemporary issue on which God made his position clear in the Bible is environmentalism. In The Book of the Revelation (11:18), John of Patmos speaks of the judgment day as a time for “destroying the destroyers of the earth.” So you’d think that good Christians would support efforts to slow or reverse man-made climate change – like for instance the Paris Climate Agreement. But not Trump supporters who claim to be Christian. They cherry pick Bible verses to suit their political beliefs. In every civilized country in the world, whatever its political system or religion, climate change is understood to be real. Except in America, where Republicans have made it part of their culture war. They’re willing to sacrifice their children’s and grandchildren’s future to keep their base riled up.
Consider the case of Paul Ryan, who is a nominal Catholic despite the fact that he doesn’t agree with the Pope about much of anything. Ryan’s twin passions are cutting taxes for rich people and cutting health care for poor people. On the issue of helping the rich get richer, Jesus said (Matthew 19:24), “And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” On the issue of health care, Jesus spent most of his ministry healing the sick; nowhere does the Bible say that he charged for his services.
In 2016, 81% of white Evangelicals voted for Donald Trump. Trump has claimed to be a Presbyterian, but apparently he has no idea what a Presbyterian is. CNN reports that in a post-election conversation between Trump and two Presbyterian ministers, Trump boasted about his support among Evangelicals. When the two ministers told him that Presbyterians weren’t Evangelicals, and Trump asked them to confirm that they were, in fact, Christians.
Some of that confusion was certainly due to Trump’s invincible ignorance, but it’s also true that, in America, at least, the term “Christian” seems to have increasingly little to do with the actual teachings of Jesus. In 2012, a Christian polling firm surveyed Evangelical Christians about their personal attitudes and actions. Ironically, they found that the views of those Evangelicals tended to align less with the teachings of Jesus than with the attitudes of his enemies, the Pharisees. (See the link below for the findings.)
Last year, someone asked Trump about his favorite Bible verse. His answer was “an eye for an eye.” Jesus, of course, disagreed. He said (Matthew 5:38-39): “Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.”
What do Evangelicals admire about Donald Trump? In terms of his personal conduct, Trump is pretty much the opposite of Jesus. His whole life has been dedicated to breaking as many commandments as possible. He’s a chronic liar and adulterer who has stiffed virtually every business partner who’s had the misfortune of working with him. As far as I know, he hasn’t personally killed anyone yet, but his policies will soon move that commandment into the “Broken” column.
Of course as St. Paul noted (Romans 3:23), “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,” and fortunately Christians have a path to forgiveness. John the Evangelist wrote (1 John 1:9), “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
But confessing his sins isn’t Donald Trump’s thing. Trump proudly says he’s never asked God for forgiveness. He doesn’t make that many mistakes, and he’ll correct those few on his own. “I don't bring God into that picture. I don't."
Three thousand years ago, King Solomon (Proverbs 16:18), described Donald Trump perfectly: “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”
https://www.barna.com/research/christians-more-like-jesus-or-pharisees/