opinion

Opinion: Evangelicals replace reverence for God with reverence for Trump

In the Theater of the Absurd that is the Trump presidency, one of its most striking components is the enthusiastic response from his so-called "evangelical base." While Congressional leaders routinely place party over country, evangelicals are worse: They have replaced their reverence for God with reverence for Donald Trump.

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For more than 40 years, evangelicals have sown literal interpretations of the Bible upon the political landscape with the intent of harvesting uneqivocal truths about issues such as abortion, sexual promiscuity and homosexuality. However, in a reprehensible display of hypocrisy, they languish in unrighteous silence and ambivalence about Trump’s notoriously iniquitous lifestyle.

For starters, the President is at war with truth; it is perilous to believe almost anything he says. Furthermore, "[w]hen he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44). In his routine utterances, the President goes far beyond violations of the Ninth Commandment. He does not "hold to the truth, for there is no truth in him" (John 8:44). Indeed, he seems fanatically determined to avoid "building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen" (Ephesians 4:29).

Lying has become inextricably intertwined within Trump’s personality. The business success that ensued from his disregard for reality has fueled his prevarication and rendered him oblivious to its consequences. However, because of investigations in the Justice Department, Congress, the press and the federal courts, his habitual "false witness will not go unpunished" (Proverbs 19:9), and because he routinely "speaks falsehood", he "shall not maintain his position" (Psalms 101:7).

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Even before Trump became President, evangelicals, who insist that life begins at conception, expended far more energy and resources on embryonic protection than on postnatal survival. However, their unqualified deference to the President seriously compromises, if not invalidates their profession of faith. As the leader of the United States — and arguably the "Free World" — the President is expected to "let no corrupt communication proceed out of [his] mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers" (Ephesians 4:29). But not Donald Trump.

Instead of "getting rid of all the moral filth that is so prevalent" in his life (James 1:21), Trump is "hasty in his words [and] there is more hope for a fool than for him" (Proverbs 29:20). Apparently, he doesn’t know how to give "a gentle answer" to "turn away rage"; instead he hurls "harsh words [to] stir up anger," (Proverbs 15:1) especially and obsessively at his predecessor.

But "everyone" who "insults his brother will be liable to the council" (Matthew 5:22), whether the "council" takes the form of a special prosecutor, a Congress or the electorate. It is shameful that evangelicals, presumably the most voracious readers of the Word, tiptoe through its pages, excepting Trump’s transgressions from its commands as though he, not Jesus, arose on the Third Day.

Lying and downright meanness are not Trump’s only misdeeds. He, his family and the cabinet members he chose are also infected with greed. In an unabashed self-exhaltation seven years ago, Trump advised us that "part of the beauty of me is that I’m very rich." When he announced his candidacy for president in June 2015, he reminded us that he was "really rich." But "those who trust in their riches will fall" (Proverbs 11:28).

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Most people agree that "a good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold" (Proverbs 22:1). To the extent that evangelicals were influenced by his wealth to vote for Trump, they are reminded that, "You cannot serve both God and money" (Matthew 6:24).

In summary, evangelicals, many of whom have adopted Trump's code of conduct at his rallies, at Charlottesville and in Congress, should remember that "what comes out of a person is what defiled them," including "sexual immorality ... adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly" (Mark 7:20). The Holy Bible that evangelicals profess to cherish is a worksheet for Trump’s attitudes and behavior. His score is very low ...

... as are the scores of those who justify or excuse his transgressions.

Vanzetta Penn McPherson is a retired U.S. magistrate judge for the Middle District of Alabama. Send email to mcphersonscribe@knology.net.