Blowing Jesus’ Mind
This month, I found myself in the company of a large group of Americans (but apparently, not a majority) whose minds were blown when Donald Trump was re-elected President. And as I crawl around trying to collect those pieces of my mind (for a reassembly I’m not sure is in my best interest, because do I really want to be conscious for the next four years?), I am asking myself, “Who are all the people who voted for this man?”
The Trump supporters that I find most confusing are those who think of themselves as – and who identify as – Christian. So much of what Trump is, says, and does directly contradicts what I thought Christians believe. Maybe I don’t know what a Christian believes. Maybe I don’t know what a Christian is.
So I pull out my dictionary, my starting place for issues involving the meaning of words. (I usually turn to the Oxford English Dictionary, but I don’t want to appear snooty or elitist about this, so I’ll go the Merriam-Webster dictionary, which 1) is undeniably American, and 2) touts itself as “America’s Most Trusted Dictionary.”) Merriam-Webster defines a “Christian” as “one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ.”
Straightforward, right?
By this definition, every Christian believes in the teachings of Jesus Christ; that’s what makes someone Christian, that belief. If you don’t believe in the teachings of Jesus Christ, you can’t call yourself a Christian.
So: What exactly are the “teachings of Jesus Christ”?
Full disclosure – I am not an expert on Jesus Christ. But I just wrote a novel about him and in doing so, I spent years reading books about who he was and what he said. There are volumes and volumes of books on this question – I don’t pretend to have read them all. And it doesn’t really matter what any of them say, because I have, right in front of me, what Christian people proclaim to be the authority on Jesus Christ and his teachings: the New Testament of the Bible.
Here are just a smattering of well-known statements made by Jesus, according to the New Testament:
“Love thy neighbor as thyself” (Matthew 19:19, 22:39);
“Keep the commandments” (Matthew 19:17);
“Judge not that ye be not judged” (Matthew 7:1).
And for those who’ve forgotten, I’ll quickly review some of the feelings and actions discouraged by “the commandments” Jesus refers to above – sexual immorality, theft, adultery, greed, deceit, slander, and pride. Jesus calls all of these “evils [that] come from within and defile a person.” (Mark 7:21-23).
No one is perfect, so I don’t expect Donald Trump to live all of the above teachings (which are just the tip of the iceberg of Jesus’ ministry). But I challenge anyone to make a convincing case that Trump tries to live or embrace any of the above teachings. It is, I believe, an impossible case to make. And I base my belief entirely on 1) words that came out of Donald Trump’s own mouth that have been caught on videotape or television, and 2) criminal and civil lawsuits that have been brought against him, in which he has been found guilty, after due process and competent legal representation, by a jury of his peers.
In short, through his own recorded words and by judicial process, Donald Trump has demonstrated that he is: a racist, a liar, a swindler, a sexual offender, an adulterer, and a narcissist. It is hard to imagine anyone whose life and values are more diametrically opposed to the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.
Inevitably, I must conclude that people who identify as Christian and who voted for Donald Trump are hypocrites.
That’s a harsh label, I know. But there’s no escaping its truth. A hypocrite is “a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings” (Merriam-Webster, again). If you say you’re a Christian, and you vote for Trump, someone whose life and actions are contrary to everything Jesus believed in and taught, you are by definition a hypocrite.
Trump-Christians will object. But consider these examples:
If Jesus were a candidate for President, would he vow to get revenge on his political enemies, by appointing special prosecutors to investigate them, seeking the impeachment of his opponent in the election, or promising to send the National Guard or military to quell “radical left lunatics”?
If Jesus were President, would he build a wall to keep people from other countries from entering this land, and would he call such people “garbage,” “animals,” “murderers,” “terrorists,” and cannibals (likening them to Hannibal Lecter from Silence of the Lambs)?
If Jesus were President, would he seek the enactment of tax reform that will make corporations and millionaires even richer than they were before?
If you know anything at all about Jesus, the answers to these questions are self-evident.
Look, people can vote for whomever they want. They can choose to put their own personal needs and goals ahead of the values that Jesus espoused, when they vote for President. I just wish they would be honest with themselves about that reality, and that they not pretend that their vote is connected to their faith. Because anyone who uses Jesus’ name in support of Donald Trump betrays everything Jesus believed in. Because the election result of 2024 has blown Jesus Christ’s mind too. And not in a good way.
Postscript:
In my almost perpetual state of self-analysis, I am recognizing that, in writing this essay, I am being judgmental, exactly what Jesus cautions against in the third bullet point I cited (Matthew 7:1). But Jesus himself called out hypocrites when he saw them. The Pharisees were a favorite target (Matthew 15:7, 22:18, 23:13, 23:25, 23:27). I should probably leave the judgments to Jesus, in part because he was better able to manage his anger when blatant hypocrisy marched before him. I, on the other hand, find myself seething whenever I read or hear news about Christians who proclaim the worthiness of Trump’s agenda. Other than putting my anger in writing, as I did above, I have one more tried-and-true tool to quiet myself, one that Christian people would understand – prayer.
So, to all you hypocritical Christian Trump-Thumpers: I’ll pray for you.