"Does anyone really believe that these political figures think they will be judged by an almighty God?"
I can't speak to Green, but yes I genuinely believe that Donald Trump, in his own "I'll worry about the details later" way, DOES actually believe that God exists and will judge him in the end. The more pertinent question is perhaps what standard he believes God will judge him on. I'd argue that he believes he'll be judged primarily on his job performance as President.
In fact, he seems to believe since narrowly surviving the assassination attempt that he is in some way actively chosen by God to be our President and accomplish some great tasks. He's certainly no theologian, his knowledge of Christianity seems to be no more or less than what any American of his generation might be expected to have passively picked up from the culture, showing a shallow belief system that vaguely represents traditional Christianity, but with a lot of the Mandate of Heaven and Prosperity Gospel emphasized: essentially that God appoints rulers to bravely lead their people in conflict against their enemies, to wisely steward their resources, to fairly enforce justice, and that when rulers do these things to their best of their ability, God rewards them and their nations with wealth and safety.
Here's the thing though: that's a view that's actually quite supported within the Bible and Christian tradition. He's certainly missing a LOT of other elements regarding personal obedience and conduct, but that's not a clearly wrong interpretation of Christian doctrine on the responsibilities of rulers either. AFAICT, he IS deliberately obeying God's will to the extent of his rather limited understanding of it. That's not to say that his interpretations are necessarily correct or complete or that he is likely to ever be truly Christian, much less devout, but he's frankly shown more deference to Christian belief and greater consistency with it than many nominally Christian politicians before him, so it's more of a step in the right direction than a sign of religious decay.
So I don't agree with Zaid on a number of policy issues, but that's precisely *why* I read this.
The pious posturing I see kind of reminds me of the Christian conservatives of the Bush era. Many, not all, but many were quick to leverage their faith to belittle or judge others.
It was...exhausting.
Our faith, whatever it is, is not a cudgel for our political views. It needs to be a guide for how we treat one another.
(For the record the progressive left has their own religion which includes rituals (performative protests), excommunication (purity checks, usually on trans or Israel issues), ritual objects such as "in this house" posters, etc.)
Trump clearly doesn’t personally care about God nor does he surround himself with those who do.
But in a general sense if being Christian means abandoning justice and public safety to allow illegal immigration, or really most other ways to warm someone else by lighting yourself on fire, then most people just aren’t interested.
I don’t think anyone really believes that the Trump admin is weighing its foreign and domestic policies through a Christian lens. religion is always the handmaiden of power. it is valuable only so much as it is useful. once religious morality becomes inconvenient to power, it is easily ignored.
Trump might be one of the least religious presidents we have ever had. even Trump supporters are under no pretense about his beliefs. Christianity hasn’t been the dominant religion in America since the early nineties after it was replaced with mass consumerism and radical individuality. in that sense Trump is truly our first post-Christian president. the narcissistic, greedy reality tv star who seeks to brand the world and now the history books with his image.
in every sense, Trump is the president America deserves. the manifestation of our darkest, most shallow dreams.
Nice piece and good points. I criticize a lot, so I wanted to compliment for once for what it's worth. My only remark would be that religion has always sort of worked this way. God is always on our side. So to try to shame these people into "living their faith," good luck.
"Does anyone really believe that these political figures think they will be judged by an almighty God?"
I can't speak to Green, but yes I genuinely believe that Donald Trump, in his own "I'll worry about the details later" way, DOES actually believe that God exists and will judge him in the end. The more pertinent question is perhaps what standard he believes God will judge him on. I'd argue that he believes he'll be judged primarily on his job performance as President.
In fact, he seems to believe since narrowly surviving the assassination attempt that he is in some way actively chosen by God to be our President and accomplish some great tasks. He's certainly no theologian, his knowledge of Christianity seems to be no more or less than what any American of his generation might be expected to have passively picked up from the culture, showing a shallow belief system that vaguely represents traditional Christianity, but with a lot of the Mandate of Heaven and Prosperity Gospel emphasized: essentially that God appoints rulers to bravely lead their people in conflict against their enemies, to wisely steward their resources, to fairly enforce justice, and that when rulers do these things to their best of their ability, God rewards them and their nations with wealth and safety.
Here's the thing though: that's a view that's actually quite supported within the Bible and Christian tradition. He's certainly missing a LOT of other elements regarding personal obedience and conduct, but that's not a clearly wrong interpretation of Christian doctrine on the responsibilities of rulers either. AFAICT, he IS deliberately obeying God's will to the extent of his rather limited understanding of it. That's not to say that his interpretations are necessarily correct or complete or that he is likely to ever be truly Christian, much less devout, but he's frankly shown more deference to Christian belief and greater consistency with it than many nominally Christian politicians before him, so it's more of a step in the right direction than a sign of religious decay.
So I don't agree with Zaid on a number of policy issues, but that's precisely *why* I read this.
The pious posturing I see kind of reminds me of the Christian conservatives of the Bush era. Many, not all, but many were quick to leverage their faith to belittle or judge others.
It was...exhausting.
Our faith, whatever it is, is not a cudgel for our political views. It needs to be a guide for how we treat one another.
(For the record the progressive left has their own religion which includes rituals (performative protests), excommunication (purity checks, usually on trans or Israel issues), ritual objects such as "in this house" posters, etc.)
Trump clearly doesn’t personally care about God nor does he surround himself with those who do.
But in a general sense if being Christian means abandoning justice and public safety to allow illegal immigration, or really most other ways to warm someone else by lighting yourself on fire, then most people just aren’t interested.
I don’t think anyone really believes that the Trump admin is weighing its foreign and domestic policies through a Christian lens. religion is always the handmaiden of power. it is valuable only so much as it is useful. once religious morality becomes inconvenient to power, it is easily ignored.
Trump might be one of the least religious presidents we have ever had. even Trump supporters are under no pretense about his beliefs. Christianity hasn’t been the dominant religion in America since the early nineties after it was replaced with mass consumerism and radical individuality. in that sense Trump is truly our first post-Christian president. the narcissistic, greedy reality tv star who seeks to brand the world and now the history books with his image.
in every sense, Trump is the president America deserves. the manifestation of our darkest, most shallow dreams.
Prosperity Gospel for me, Biblical Gospel for thee.
Seems the author understands Trump better than Christianity.
Nice piece and good points. I criticize a lot, so I wanted to compliment for once for what it's worth. My only remark would be that religion has always sort of worked this way. God is always on our side. So to try to shame these people into "living their faith," good luck.
Well said zaid