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| Not a Trump rally |
I will assert that the ELCA strives to be apolitical, but then the detractors would say we're lefty-sympathizing.
Think of community leaders you knew 20 or 30 years ago: what would they say if transported by time machine to today? What would these temperate people think of our discourse in America? I remember Bob Stevenson.
Think of the days when Tip O'Neill and Ronald Reagan could show a certain affection for each other, separate from their obvious partisan differences. Newt Gingrich came along. And then a whole raft of take-no-prisoner righties, people who can seem so hypocritical.
Those on the right used to think public morality was so important. Our leaders should at least strive to set an example. We acknowledge our sinful nature but we strive to behave in a classy, civilized way.
Donald Trump comes along. His absurd weaknesses get revealed one after another. And a huge portion of the citizenry who call themselves Christian seem to almost celebrate the shortcomings! So eager they are to say Trump has failings "but he supports us."
Think of our community leaders from 20 or 30 years ago: did they ever think their freedom to worship was being abridged? Did it cross their minds, even? So what's the problem? There definitely is a problem.
Trump's whole world view makes a mockery of Christian values. He carefully manicured this image of himself as masterful businessman. He realized the power of TV and mined it. The image and reality of Trump as a businessman are almost certainly two different things. Many evangelicals might actually be concluding that now, but they won't back off, they cannot back off. They don't dare appear to be compromising. Their normal faculties have slammed shut because they have turned into a cult.
The real example set by Christ
The ELCA is an outlier, perhaps a besieged one now. Those in its fold equate so many of Christ's values with the kind of outlook a progressive-thinking person would have. If climate change science appears sound, we respect it and suggest ways of preventing harm to us all. It would seem to be a Christ-like stance.
The rock-ribbed evangelicals look up to Trump who says climate change is a hoax. The Trump supporters don't even look for documentation for their assertions anymore. They buy seat-of-the-pants pronouncements and seem not to even feel defensive about it. Trump is their leader, period. So they might not even care if they're called racists.
White evangelicals voted 80 percent for Trump in 2016. They backed a man who is so clearly irreligious, whose whole world view hardly mirrors Christian values.
We talk about white evangelicals and maybe it's the first word that is essential: white. They don't recognize, or refuse to recognize, that the "prosperity gospel" preachers are charlatans. Trump pledged to give secular power to the evangelical class in America. And we all know, power is intoxicating. Evangelicals have put their moral compass aside. They support Trump even though he talks about U.S. military service personnel as "losers and suckers."
So, Russia and Putin paid the Taliban to kill U.S. troops? Trump was unresponsive. His defenders like on Fox News (K.T. McFarland) went into contortions. How do we interpret that kind of deference? When we cannot even employ generally understood logic or morality as a reliable compass? What kind of discourse can we have? We learn that atheists, of all people, are more guided by morality than Trump-supporting evangelicals.
Go ahead and say it
Is this an invitation to become an atheist? Quite possibly yes. But we abandon Christianity at great risk. Historically the faith has so much to offer for the advancement of civilization. If no Christianity, what will fill the void? Is secular power so important to the movers and shakers of evangelical Christianity? What a crazy world.
My church is in the ELCA where the first letter stands for "evangelical." Yet we seem to be increasingly derided. I observe some very brilliant pastors of the ELCA speaking from their local online platforms across the U.S. Talk about making the world smaller! And for the first time I am starting to wonder: would these pastors serve the interest of their flocks better if they just abandoned God and Jesus, seriously? Abandon these names and symbols that have been co-opted by such a huge portion of Christians who are in the Trump-supporting "evangelical" fold.
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| Jim Carrey's artwork |
"Evangelical" is growing into a toxic word. Talk about God and Jesus and many people will think you are oriented to that element. Can people like me still hold our heads high?
The pandemic keeps us from our church buildings now. Trump was a phenomenon in the recent election even though it appears he lost. Don't bet against him, by the way. But this charlatan, grifter, pretender, demagogue could have won. Perhaps one little misstep prevented him from clearly winning: the "losers/suckers" quote? Melanie using the "F" word in connection to Christmas?
And to think many in the Trump crowd had issues when Obama simply wore a tan suit coat! Yes, it's totally "Alice Through the Looking Glass" or "Bizarro world." And it's America in 2020, to the consternation of those community leaders of a bygone time, whose jaws would drop if they could appear before us today. Again, Bob Stevenson.
There was a time when I think public morality was more important to the broad swath of America, precluding the partisan issues. But then Newt Gingrich came along. The tea party came along. Ted Cruz came along. Mitt Romney got dismissed. John McCain lost his standing.
And now it's Trump at the forefront. He rains his "tweets" on us.
Getting to the essence?
Our Morris area has many devotees to what Trump represents. And how to describe it? That would be difficult and unpleasant. Racists?
I personally don't think much about race at all. I just judge people on how they behave.
About 40 percent of Trump voters come from a group that is only 15 percent of America. I remember an old Mad Magazine spoof that showed an old grumpy white man talking about all the people in America he detested. And at the bottom: the conclusion that this guy "loves America while hating 90 percent (or some such number) of the people living in it." I believe Jewish intellectual minds powered the Mad Magazine humor, often cynical of course, and I say that with great respect. Jews are always vigilant about the dangers of prejudice and discrimination.
Let's acknowledge the unvarnished truth: white evangelicals got so motivated at polling places because of Trump's encouragement of white supremacy. Forget about economics and morality - the benchmark for those people was the standing of historical white Christian dominance. So given the powerful influence, so strong that Trump may yet wrest back the White House, can ELCA pastors rationalize the continued promotion of the gospel, or should they abandon the Bible in favor of just emphasizing a proper moral/ethical framework in life?
Christ was defined by this kind of framework, caring about the poor and downtrodden of course, unconditional love of humanity, not an embrace of "prosperity" i.e. having a new Bentley.
Evangelicals follow Trump's lead in saying that Confederate monuments are a reflection of Southern pride and U.S. history, not symbols of racism. Why are they going out of their way on this issue?
Republicans once developed a "southern strategy" but at least they tried cloaking it. Trump is oblivious to the cloak. And his crowd continues eating right from his hand like with the scary Trump "rallies," the superspreader events that have cost lives. The Trump people are the "mask deniers" in the current pandemic. They scream about "voter fraud" to caricature.
Yes, imagine the reaction of our community leaders of the bygone time, for whom being restrained and reasonable was a virtue. Oh, how quaint to imagine now.
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| Pastor Danielle Casey, Austin TX |
Yes, there are brilliant ELCA pastors all over the U.S. trying to "keep the faith," and isn't that admirable? I have been calling up the services of Pastor Danielle Casey of Triumphant Love Lutheran Church in Austin TX. Oh, but this is a "college town" full of "lefties," right? How can these arguments even continue?
And if Trump goes down as a martyr, isn't that the most dangerous thing? Martyrs can take their followers down with them.
My November 19 podcast
We're on the threshold of another shutdown in Minnesota. I'm told it starts late Friday. I share thoughts about this and about the abrupt end of high school sports, on "Morris Mojo." Please click to listen:
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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