I mean, it seems obvious that Trump just isn’t a very good person. He lies. He cheats. He steals. He is a serial adulterer. He worships mammon. He doesn’t keep the sabbath, preferring to play golf instead. Not much Christian in all that, right? So how can someone who claims to be a Christian support that, rather than for a lifelong Catholic who goes to church every Sunday and prays every day?
Well, it’s simple. They say he’s “Born Again”.
At which point I’m like, say whuh?
First thing I do is check out whether Trump himself has ever claimed to be a Christian, born-again or not. So I go to Google and look at his official campaign site to see if I can find any statement by him or his campaign staff claiming that he is a Christian, born-again or not. Okay, so I see he’s got an Evangelicals For Trump sub-site, and a Catholics For Trump sub-site, and he has a lot of stuff calling Joe Biden (a church-going Catholic) un-Christian, but nowhere on any link in this page does he or his campaign staff state that he’s Christian, born-again or no.
Okay, so next thing I look at is his campaign speech transcripts. Has he ever stated he’s a Christian there? So I found a site that appears to have transcripts for all of his campaign speeches at all of his rallies, and searched it for the word “Christian” and got this result:
Your search – christian site:https://www.rev.com/…/donald-trump-rally-transcripts – did not match any documents.
So he’s never said he’s a Christian in any of his campaign speeches either. Huh.
So who *has* said that Donald Trump is Christian? Not Donald Trump. He has never claimed that he is Christian at all, nevermind born-again. There are various TV pastors who have said Trump is Christian, but Trump himself has never made that claim about himself.
It is well known by this time that Trump rarely attends church services, instead choosing to golf on Sundays (as can be seen by looking at his calendar of golf outings, most of which are on Sundays: https://trumpgolfcount.com/displayoutings ). He has hosted events for evangelical pastors at the White House and apparently has joined them in prayer from time to time. But Trump himself has never claimed publically to be Christian, born-again or not.
Not that it matters. Because, see, here’s the thing: Born-again isn’t something you say. It’s something you do
So, let’s say that Donald Trump actually *did* claim to be a Born Again Christian: What does that mean, actually?
Basically, what this means, in evangelical Christian faiths, is that you’ve accepted Jesus Christ into your heart as your personal Lord and Savior. From this moment on, you will try to let the Lord guide your life.
According to evangelicals, what this means is that your prior slate of sins is wiped off the slate. You can be a murderer and go to Heaven, according to evangelicals, if you but bend the knee and accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. Your sins are then washed away in the Blood of the Lamb. So according to evangelicals, if Donald Trump did this, all of his prior sins — like serial adultery, bearing false witness against others, etc. — are gone.
But here’s the thing: Merely *saying* you are Saved doesn’t make you Saved. You have to actually accept Jesus in your heart and let Him guide you. You may still sin. Most probably you will. But you will try your best not to sin, and try your best to live a better life, a more generous life.
I remember reading about a murderer who was Saved in prison. He went from being an angry vengeful man to being a model prisoner, a gentle mentor for younger prisoners, a calming influence to others. He spent hours each day reading his Bible to become a better Christian. He expressed sorrow regularly for the evils he had committed as a young man and said he belongs in prison for what he did. He clearly had accepted Jesus into his heart as his guide. Is there any evidence — *ANY* evidence — that Donald Trump has done so? Has Donald Trump’s behavior changed in any way since he paid off multiple mistresses in 2016 to keep quiet about his affairs?
Has Donald Trump released the caged kids? Has Donald Trump quit violating the Ten Commandments by telling lies about his political opponents? Has Donald Trump embraced the Christian humility of turning the other cheek and saying only good things about people, not bad things? Has Donald Trump engaged in acts of Christian charity helping the least amongst us? Has Donald Trump quit mocking the disabled? Has Donald Trump quit embracing greed and venality? Has Donald Trump started respecting the Sabbath rather than playing golf most Sundays?
And the answer is: No. Since he was inaugurated, the president has borne false witness or made misleading statements at least 19,127 times, continuing to violate the 10 Commandments. And he continues to do so, the most recent one being his assertion that Joe Biden was not a Christian. (Joe Biden is an observant Catholic who attends church every Sunday and has never been accused of adultery). This is not a man who has changed his behavior to a more Christ-like behavior. This is not a man who is letting Jesus into his heart to guide his life.
The murderer who became a gentle mentor and guide for younger prisoners clearly accepted Jesus into his heart. There is no — ZERO — evidence that Donald J. Trump has done so. He continues to violate the 10 Commandments on a near-daily basis, and has never repented of his prior sins. That murderer in prison for life is literally a better Christian than Donald J. Trump. At least he has repented of his sins. Trump never has, and never will.
– Badtux the Religion Whisperer Penguin
The answer is simple: the evangelicals believe (after many, many years of telling themselves this) that their form of Christianity, sometimes extended to all Christianity is under direct attack and direly threatened by… well, something that isn’t evangelical Christianity: junk food, divorce, Dungeons and Dragons, militant Islam, science etc..
And Donald Trump is the only one who will protect them from this imminent threat of extinction.
“the enemy of my enemy” and all that.
They don’t need or want him to be born-again, or even act like one… probably even better if he isn’t.
They just need him to be useful.
Earlier this year I read “Fantasyland” by Kurt Andersen. I recommend it, if you haven’t read it already.
Though it may not tell you much that is new.
LikeLike
Two Corinthians walk into a bar, and the bartender says “Yo! Semites! Let’s all go to thigh land!”
LikeLike
I have been saying much of the same to my sister-in-law who blindly believes Trump to be sent by God. She stopped talking to me when i said she was raciest, only praising him because she hated Obama for being elected president. She didn’t deny it, just stopped talking to me. The quiet and peacefulness is wonderful
Dale
LikeLike
A part of his appeal to the Chrisianistas is that he supports their so called pro-life beliefs. In real life, I imagine he has paid for many an abortion, there is even a rumor of a recent one with a Playboy Bunny he had an affair with. How they can not be offended by everything he does and says is amazing to me, but when it comes to forcing birth, they are a one-issue voting group. Donny is a con man and the Christianistas are as weak-minded a group as he could ever find to con. They are a small bloc but they, in turn, are as shouty or more than, any other schizoid group for him.
Funny how my Ex, the Born again Christian, has had 3 or 4 abortions in her life and supports Donny. And she was born to an active Catholic family, then Born again Christian. It’s all what you say with them, not what you do.
w3ski
LikeLike
Your description of “born again” is a good summary, but it also illustrates remarkably well how vague, how confused, how contradictory, and most importantly how un-falsifiable this religion is. Wars has been fought and hundreds of thousands slaughtered over the means and mechanism of “salvation”. So, of course they can twist and turn and interpret Donald Trump to be a Man of Gawd very easily because the definitons of Man of God are so vague and meaningless. (Not denying that there are good people…or transformed people…who use religion to guide and justify their actions.
LikeLike
The most Godly preacher that I ever met was run out of multiple churches because he preached that salvation came from the heart, not from the mouth, and required more than lip service but required actually trying to live the kind of life Jesus would live.His congregations didn’t appreciate that.
LikeLike
If I knew any Merkin Xtians who I could still communicate with (I’m in the same position as Dale above — the fundies in my family are afraid to talk to me) I’d plant this thought-virus in their heads: “Trump is actually a demon, sent by Satan, to test the faith of Christians. If they follow someone who is so obviously a sinner, it means they have chosen to turn their back on the message of Christ, and they will be damned. If you believe in Trump, you’re going to Hell.”
Not that I believe in any religion bullshit, Jeebus, Allah, Hanuman the Monkey God, what-have-you. Religion is delusion. It’s the original paranoid conspiracy theory. Science rules. Reality! But if any of you Tuxreaders speak to any religionuts, feel free to insert this subversive “Trump is a test from Satan” idea in their heads.
LikeLike
One friend I’ve known for over forty years was born again a while ago. One day, out of the blue, he says “You know, Catholics aren’t Christian.” Now, another friend present and I were raised Catholic. I don’t think our born again friend knew that. We both left that behind long ago. We didn’t contradict him, the moment passed, but it haunts me. This otherwise very smart person could believe something so obviously false, and believe it strongly enough to declare it in public. I did some research, and quite a few Protestant groups teach that Catholics aren’t Christian. The more subtle will say something like, “Well, technically they are, but not *really*.” It seems they will grudgingly accept conservative Catholics, since they hate the same people.
LikeLike
Happily, the Catholic Church no longer has the secular power to burn your friend at the stake. He should count himself lucky.
LikeLike