First, a bit of sound from the President of the United States from the Charlie Kirk memorial on Sunday. He said, with gusto, I would note, “I hate my opponent, and don’t want the best for them…I can’t stand my opponent.”
By the way, I take this as a moment of profound honesty from Trump.
This all seems relevant from a human perspective as a general matter and a leadership perspective specifically, given that one of the things a President is supposed to do is lead the whole country once elected. It is especially relevant when we do need a leader to help tone things down (but, of course, this is the opposite of what Trump is doing).
On the one hand (and I am not even being snarky in saying this), she is doing her job. The job of the White House Press Secretary is to get the administration’s viewpoint out to the public. That often requires spin and diversion. So, on the one hand, she doesn’t actually answer the question asked, but diverts somewhat. Sometimes such diversions are wildly off topic. What is striking here is that she diverts into the core truth, which is that Trump is being “authentically himself” when he says, “I hate my opponent.”
For emphasis: the White House Press Secretary is confirming, from behind the podium that holds the presidential seal, that the President “hating” is a sign of his authenticity.
I mean, I guess at least she is being honest?
Let me note another symbol, which is the golden cross she wears around her neck at every press briefing. I do so less to pick on Leavitt than to critique the many evangelical Christians who seem to, again in Leavitt’s words, “love” the president and his authenticity. I will note that she did not name-check that group, but we do know that among the “millions of Americans” she cited, many of them are adherents to that faith.
As such, the following comes to mind.
Jesus, who the aforementioned golden necklace is supposed to evoke, rather famously said in Mark 12:31, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” and went on to give an incredibly expansive definition of who “your neighbor” is (expansive enough to include one’s political opponents, I assure the reader).
And, of course, there is that pesky Sermon on the Mount, when in Matthew 5:43-45: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘Hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.”
I point all of this out not to engage in some bloggy version of Sunday School. Nor do I expect Jesus-like perfection from political leaders. But here’s what I do expect (and, yet, am being failed): if a group of people claim to deeply believe in a set of tenets, then I expect them to care enough about those tenets to reject being led by someone who clearly does not respect their beliefs, especially when other options exist.
For Christ-followers to so deeply cleave to Trump, who brazenly proclaims his hatred of his enemies, is pretty hard to take. In some ways, it is harder to take the obviously opposite of Christ’s lifestyle that Trump has led (you know, the greed, adultery, and whatnot).
Christians have a way of being able to tell themselves that the past is the past if a profession of faith is made, and hence, we know that cover of this type was provided for Trump by people like Franklin Graham and James Dobson, who told the masses back in the first term that Trump had accepted Christ as his personal savior.
You know, the magic words.
But, again, taking Christian theology on its own terms, Saul, the persecutor of the Church and perpetrator of heinous sins, can be converted and become Paul, a major figure in Christianity.
Some may say that Trump, like all of us, is still but a sinner and so, as per Romans 3:2, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” As such, I can hear the rationalizations now that Trump just faltered in a time of emotion.
But I will counter with Matthew 7:16, “By their fruit you will recognize them.” In other words, the action that at produced. Let me add Luke 6:45, “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”
If you have stuck with me this far, you may ask why I am doing all of this. To be clear, I am not engaging in the common evangelical game of “proof text,” wherein verses are supposed to be a kind of nuclear bomb to win a dispute.
I suppose, as with all of these missives to the internet, I am thinking out loud about some of my profound frustrations with this administration and with the people who continue to support him. Part of me hopes that someone will read this and, to stick with the biblical theme, have the scales fall from their eyes and realize what a threat Trump is to the very fabric of their country, and to the souls of those who follow him. Short-term gains should not be worth following a person who brazenly preaches hatred. (I fear, however, that the response of such persons will be rationalization.)
To me, a Christian who supports Trump is like a committed Marxist supporting an unabashed capitalist. It does not make sense if a person is really committed to their belief system.
I will note that if the answer one tells oneself is that “the ends justify the means” (you know, like getting Roe overturned), you are quoting not Christian doctrine, but a bastardized version of Machiavelli’s The Prince.
I would hasten to add that if you are a Bible-believing Christian and you bristle at accusations of “Christian nationalism,” but you are cheering for Trump’s anti-Christ* behavior and attitudes because he is using state power to make America more Christian again (whether that is about abortion, trans-rights, or whatever), you might need to reevaluate whether that label, and all its connotations, might not in fact be correct.
It also may mean that one is more committed to political power than one is to the teachings of Christ.
That may sound harsh to some, and I understand how polarized we are and how much party loyalty is deeply ingrained in our identities. But I would ask anyone who adheres to the Christian faith and continues to support Trump to consider what you are seeing in front of your nose.
An Addition (Added about 20 minutes after I posted).
Let me note two things that I think are really important in contextualizing this post.
First, let’s never forget that plenty of people who adhere to the Christian faith voted for Democrats. Indeed, there are Christians in the US and around the world who are of the left. This vexes American evangelicals, or so I have noted from personal experience, but that vexation does not make it untrue.
Second, the point here is not to valorize Christianity or to proclaim it as anything other than a coherent set of beliefs and teachings. This post is about the self-proclaimed beliefs of a set of persons that are in direct contradiction to an individual they are supporting, of their own free will,** as a leader.
I am basically saying that if you claim a certain philosophical position, it is not unreasonable to assume that you should be faithful to that tradition. If you are Marxist, it is not unreasonable to assume that you will adhere to certain core tenets about capital. If you are a self-professed observant Muslim, Jew, or Buddhist, there are certain behaviors that we would all expect to see.
In that way, I am simply trying to take evangelicals seriously on their own terms.
And, this is the kicker, I suppose, if you violate basic tenets of your professed philosophy, it may suggest that some things are more important than said philosophy. This brings to mind yet another biblical passage, Matthew 6:21, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” If dominating national politics so as to impose your will on the population is more important than actually following the teachings of Christ, well, where is your heart? What do you treasure?
*It seems worth underscoring that while in popular culture the term “Anti-Christ” refers to some End Times business, the term is used in the text to simply mean one opposed to the teachings of Christ. If Christ says “love your enemies” and Trump says, “I hate my opponent,” then, clearly, Trump is taking the anti-Christ position.
**Or are they? Insert your Calvinism joke here–that’s a nod for a particular kind of reader, maybe, in fact one specific reader.
