The stunning wholesale sell-out of Christian morality to the Trump Administration marks the end of an era. Not the Christian Era, by any means, because we have long known that evangelicals often fall short in living up to the moral and spiritual values they proclaim– all the time, in your face, every chance they get–and seem hypocritical on some points, like the sanctity of non-white lives outside the womb. But I mean the end of the era in which Christian Evangelicals could even pretend that they believed the things they claim they believe. I wonder if they haven’t done this in the full knowledge of how this debases the entire currency of their worldview. Is it possible they don’t even really care? Could they possibly still think they can sell Christianity to the rest of us? Can they still convince us to be virgins on our wedding days? And continue to frown with convincing distaste if we use the word “damn” or “shit”? Can they continue to whine and blather about how they are so oppressed– the only religious minority in America to face discrimination, because they can’t stick the 10 Commandments in your face every time you use a public service or go to court!
The Christian stands for sexual virtue; for modesty and humility, for compassion for the less fortunate, for integrity and personal honor and self-sacrifice. Name any one of these values that any reasonable person would say are displayed by Donald Trump.
Long after Trump is gone, will they even attempt to support a candidate like George W. Bush ever again? Well, okay– like Ronald Reagan? I never thought Reagan had any particularly Christian qualities, but I suppose you could at least pretend he did.
How could they bear it? How would they ever be able to respond to critics on the left who say, “you hypocrites: you have already proven that you don’t really believe any of it.”
Of course, as I said, this was never really a secret to the smart observer: Jimmy Carter was quite probably the only president in recent memory who actually lived according to his Christian convictions. He actually urged Americans, during the oil “crisis”, to consume less. Imagine that. Imagine a Christian who, like Jesus, believed in leading a simple, modest, un-extravagant life! Outrageous! And we know how the evangelicals treated him: like a pariah. They couldn’t wait to vote for Mr. Divorcee Ronald Reagan, whose first official act was to restore the practice of having a brass band greet him with “Hail to the Chief” every time he entered a room. How godly! (Obama, to my disgust, did it too.)
[whohit]God is Really Dead Now[/whohit]