As cringe-worthy as it was to see Sarah Palin on stage last night endorsing Donald Trump for President, you have to admit it’s somewhat enjoyable to see the fringe elements of the Republican Party scrambling to figure out which horse to bet on.

Evangelicals have largely abandoned the politicians whose reputations are built around their faith — people like Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum — and they’re coalescing around Trump, who couldn’t name his favorite book in the Bible, can’t speak the language of the religious base, and incorrectly referenced a Bible verse at Liberty University.

It’s driving right-wing Christian blogger Matt Walsh crazy, since he thinks Trump has no business in the White House. But it’s not because Trump is an insincere Christian. Instead, Walsh jumps to the other end of the spectrum and says Trump is godless.

It’s very simple. If a man has no moral center, if he has ambition but no faith, if he does not demonstrate humility or integrity, I will never vote for him for president. I don’t care who he is, what he’s done, what he says, or what positions he holds. None of that will matter when we are living under his tyranny, and tyranny is sure to follow when you give unspeakable power to a man who believes he is God. … Next you must ask: Should we, as Christians, elect someone whose actions and beliefs run counter to our core values? Should we elect someone who is not only godless, but represents himself as God fearing for the sake of using and manipulating us? … Our country will not be helped by more godless, self-serving, petty, morally weak leadership. We’ve had quite enough of that, and I think it’s time to go a different route. A man of faith and integrity in the White House — now there’s a novel approach.

Trump isn’t Godless. I’d be ashamed if he were, but it’s just not the case. He repeatedly tells crowds he’s Presbyterian, repeatedly tells them the Bible is his favorite book, and repeatedly talks about how Christianity is “under siege.”

He’s a believer, but Walsh wants to categorize him as an atheist because he can’t handle a Christian whose political views don’t line up with his own.

Just look at that attack on Trump: Walsh accuses him of worshiping himself more than God.

If that sounds familiar, it’s because it’s the same damn thing he once said about President Obama, a man who quotes the Bible often and never shies away from mentioning God:

Barack Obama is not a Christian. I’m not saying that he’s a Muslim, I’m simply saying that he belongs to the same religion as Caligula and many other tyrants of history — the religion of self. He adores himself, he loves his own power, he worships his reflection and makes his blood sacrifices on the altar of self obsession. … Barack Obama is not a Christian, and it’s incumbent upon all who are to make this known.

It’s a pattern for Walsh. If there’s a politician he doesn’t like, he can’t limit himself to saying he disagrees with them. He has to mischaracterize what’s in their hearts and minds.

It’s almost like Walsh can’t be honest about Trump’s or Obama’s faith because calling them Christian would make his own Christianity less meaningful. He thinks so highly of himself that other believers who don’t meet his internal standards must not be True Christians.

And if you think that highly of yourself… well, shit. I think Matt Walsh just outed himself as godless.

Or maybe not. He doesn’t have the logical consistency to be an atheist.

(Image via a katz / Shutterstock.com. Thanks to Cameron for the link)



