Earlier this month Katherine Stewart published an essay
in The New York Times explaining the nearly inexplicable: how
can the religious wrong—the fundamentalists—worship a man like
Donald tRUMP? What on earth can these people see in a man who flouts
and mocks with his every breath and action everything they hold dear?
“The
month before the 2018 midterms”, Stewart
explains, “a thousand theaters screened 'The Trump
Prophecy,” a film that tells the story of Mark Taylor, a former
firefighter who claims that God had told him in 2011 that Donald
Trump would be elected president.
“At
a critical moment in the film, just after the actor representing Mr.
Taylor collapses in the flashing light of an epiphany, he picks up a
Bible and turns to the 45th chapter of the Book of Isaiah,
which describes the anointment of King Cyrus by God. In the next
scene, we hear Mr. Trump being interviewed on 'The 700 Club,' a
popular Christian television show.
“As
Lance Wallnau, an evangelical author and speaker who appears in the
film once said, 'I believe the 45th president is meant to
be an Isaiah 45 Cyrus,' who will 'restore the crumbling walls that
separate us from cultural collapse.'
“Cyrus,
in case you've forgotten, was born in the sixth century B.C.E. And
became the first emperor of Persia. Isaiah 45 celebrates Cyrus for
freeing a population of Jews who were held captive in Babylon. Cyrus
is the model for a nonbeliever appointed by God as a vessel for the
purposes of the faithful.
“The
identification of the 45th president with an ancient
Middle Eastern potentate isn't a fringe thing. 'The Trump Prophecy'
was produced with the help of professors and students at Liberty
University, whose president, Jerry Falwell Jr., has been instrumental
in rallying evangelical support for Mr. Trump. Jeanine Pirro of Fox
News has picked up on the meme, as has Ron Dermer, the Israeli
ambassador to the United States, among many others.
“As
the Trump presidency falls under siege on multiple fronts, it has
become increasingly clear that the so-called values voters will be
among the last to leave the citadel. A lot of attention has been
paid to the supposed paradox of evangelicals backing
such an imperfect man, but the real problem is tha”t
our idea of Christian nationalism hasn't caught up with the reality.
We still buy the line that the hard core of the Christian right is
just and interest group working to protect its values. But what we
don't get is that Mr. Trump's supposedly anti-Christian and
anti-democratic attributes are a vital part of his attraction.
“Today's
Christian nationalists talk a good game about respecting the
Constitution and America's founders, but at bottom they sound as if
they prefer autocrats to democrats. In fact, what they really want
is a King. 'It is God that raises up a King,' according to Paula
White who has advised Mr. Trump.
...”I
have attended dozens of Christian nationalist conferences and events
over the past two years” concludes
Steward. “And while I have heard plenty of comments
casting doubt on the more questionable aspects of Mr. Trump's
character, the gist of the proceedings almost always comes down to
the belief that he is a miracle sent straight from heaven to bring
the nation back to the Lord. I have also learned that resistance to
Mr. Trump is tantamount to resistance to God.
“This
isn't the religious right that we thought we knew. The Christian
nationalist movement today is authoritarian, paranoid and patriarchal
to its core. They aren't fighting a cultural war. They're making a
direct attack on democracy itself.” (1)
Note the reversion back to ancient numerology, that is attributing significance--indeed magic--to numbers. In this case the unhappy coincidence of the 45th chapter of Isaiah with the 45th presidency of the United States. Never mind that man has long discovered that there are no magical properties to prime numbers or that Disgustus is actually the 44th man to occupy the office--Grover Cleveland who served two non-consecutive terms counted twice. Never mind that this too is a bastard presidency, held by a man who achieved his goal by the most treacherous of means. .All that means nothing when you need to believe; and you believe what you are told.
My late wife was an adherent of the Evangelical Southern
Baptist tradition and was deeply puzzled by her relation's sudden
conversion to all things Disgustus. Why tRUMP?, she would ask.
Don't they see him for what he is? The answers to these questions
are frightening.
When one hears reports of the decades-long effort by the
Russians to infiltrate the evangelical movement, right up to and
including the White House prayer breakfasts, one begins to discern
the outlines of the king-hell rat.
One also begins to see why Disgustus wears that hat with
the number '45' emblazoned upon it. A modern crown for a would-be
Sun King.
“An
Br'er Putin, he jus' laugh and laugh
Impeach and Imprison.
______________________
- Stewart, Katherine. “Why Trump Reigns as King Cyrus,” The New York Times. Tuesday, January 1, 2019. Page A19
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