|
President Trump chimed
in with his two cents and called the magazine, a “far left”
publication, and he bellowed how much he has done for
evangelical Christianity (no details of course given to
support that baseless statement). He even had the temerity
to say how he alone made it safe again to utter, “Merry
Christmas!”
Christianity Today,
as an opinion maker and with a large readership, is seen as
the Mike Tyson of the Christian publication world and their
venture into the impeachment issues based on the standards
of a Christ-based morality, teaching and exemplary conduct,
is a stance that could resonate with their readers.
Remember, this is the
same magazine that excoriated former President Bill Clinton
over his extra-marital affair with Monica Lewinsky and the
editors indicated to their readers that the evidence brought
out in the current impeachment hearings is nigh impossible
to disregard as insignificant.
As you may know, over
80 percent of white evangelicals voted for Trump on the
theory that they were voting for a president and not a
priest.
In other words, those
white evangelicals were eager to go both blind and mad in
turn for access to power and to be wooed by the White
House for their 2020 votes.
In the days of Jesus
when he was dealing with Herod, Pilate, the powerful Roman
government and their enforcement arm, the Roman soldiers,
there were certain Jews who were trying to ingratiate
themselves with Rome.
They sought favor in
order to gain political goodies with Caesar and to allow
themselves some semblance of self-rule.
Even at that time,
there were certain men who were willing to sell their
scruples in order to snuggle up to a Caesar and to “Uncle
Tom” their way into positions of favor (remember the Jewish
tax collectors skimming off of the top of the monies
collected for the Roman government?).
Well, when you fast
forward to today, you have the same scenario in which too
many white evangelicals are willing to
dance to the tune of
today’s wannabee Caesar … Herr Trump … and to obtain tidbits
of bread and circuses that he tosses to them; and for which
they express unutterable joy and obedience.
The white evangelical
community have their members who gasp and grab for a moment,
just a mere moment to be so close to Herr Trump that they
can smell his aftershave.
And, if that means
that they are willing to sell out their bedrock Christian
principles in order to gain a dinner invite from Herr Trump;
and which translates into silencing themselves about his
open and notorious anti-Christ-like acts, they are down with
it.
For many white
evangelicals, having access to power, regardless if it is
wielded by a charlatan and a person whose words and conduct
totally shreds their belief system, that is
acceptable to them because
of their belief that, in doing so, they have access to power
with a wannabee autocrat.
Please note that these
same white evangelicals were intentionally out to lunch when
President Barack Obama was in the White House for eight
years; and in spite of Obama stating that he was a Christian
and acts in accordance with the scriptures, those white
evangelicals gave him nothing but shade and a cold shoulder
(Mitch McConnell openly pledging to make Obama a one-term
president!).
But with Trump, they
are all toothy grins and smiles and will stumble over
themselves in order to be seen in his shadow.
The moral of this
story? Most white evangelicals, like Esau, also sold their
birthright to a Jacob for a mere pittance of a bowl of
lentil soup.
Yes, to many white
evangelicals, race does indeed matter!
Evangelicalism in
America has taken a hit and rightfully so because this crass
political idolatry has revealed that their belief in the
tenets of their faith was shallow, negotiable and easily
discardable.
For them, power rules
and surely not they submitting to the humility or obedience
to the Christ that they once professed dying allegiance to.
Contact Lafe Tolliver at
tolliver@juno.com
|
