On Friday, I was feeling a bit whimsical and so chose to make light of Trump’s attempt to read Biden out of the Christian fold by turning it to a discussion of Patripassianism. Of course, I no more think Trump guilty of a conscious heresy there than I think my granddaughter guilty of vandalism when she fingerpaints on the wall. Trump is too stupid and ignorant to be held accountable for what he says on such matters to be seriously charged with heresy. I just thought it would be fun to talk about this obscure quarrel from the early Church because I am a theonerd and this is my blog.
Trump is not, however, too stupid and ignorant to be held responsible for deliberately whipping up conservative Christian Pharisaism. This demagogue knows that his conservative Christian base hungers for Democrats it can charge with being enemies of God because it is filled with diabolical pride. His predatory instincts tell him that. Nor are the whipped-up Christians who eat up his demagoguery with a spoon above accountability for the evil they do. On the contrary, “Those to whom much is given, much will be required” and the Christians who choose to cast Biden out of the Church on the basis of this man’s words will be held responsible by God for their actions.
So let’s talk for a moment about what was done last week, for it bears directly on matters the Catholic faith is all about.
Here’s the relevant stuff:
Forget the obvious disinterest Trump actually has in anything remotely having to do with God. His weird conflation of guns and God makes that clear. This is nothing but political red meat for the sort of American theopolitical piety that thinks this is religious art:
What interests me is not the memes circulated by your pious aunt from Cleveland, but rather the poisonous lie pointed out here and the zeal with with Qhristians and especially Qatholics believe and spread it in direct contradiction of their Faith:
Jesus commands me to judge the fruits Trump and his cult of true believers bear
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? So, every sound tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears evil fruit. A sound tree cannot bear evil fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits. (Mt 7:15–20).
The fruits of Trump and his cult are bad. And one of the worst is the ease with which this cult kicks people out of the Christian fold and exiles them from God.
Look. You can disagree all you like with Biden on his typical support for the typical pelvic issues that lots of average Catholics fight with the Church about. I do. But calling the man “against God” and claiming that he seeks “no religion” is just a stupid stupid lie. His piety is perfectly obvious and genuine as far as it goes. He himself says that God got him through the deaths of those he loves and it takes a special kind of arrogance and heartlessness to declare that a lie. In contrast to the millions of combox bishops in their paper mitres who are always so eager to drive the sinner away from God, here is an actual shepherd–Pope Benedict XVI:
In 2016, Donald Trump called Pope Francis “disgraceful” for saying that “a person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian.” The Pope, who really does have the authority to make such judgment calls, did not specifically name Trump, but the shot across the bow was noticed by Trumplethinskin, who declared:
“No leader, has the right to question another man’s religion or faith.”
Naturally, this liar for whom accusation is always a form of confession now does what he declared no one can do. And instead of listening to the perfectly reasonable warning of the Pope, the MAGA cult, as ever, makes war on him to defend a cynical demagogue as he kicks his enemies out of a Church to which he does not belong.
The Qhristians and, above all, Qatholics who are playing the dangerous game of sitting in judgment of Biden’s soul and reading him out of the Church from their perch of spiritual superiority should really be thinking hard about Uncle Screwtape’s comments about them, because they are placing their own souls in grave danger.
All you then have to do is to keep out of his mind the question “If I, being what I am, can consider that I am in some sense a Christian, why should the different vices of those people in the next pew prove that their religion is mere hypocrisy and convention?” You may ask whether it is possible to keep such an obvious thought from occurring even to a human mind. It is, Wormwood, it is! Handle him properly and it simply won’t come into his head. He has not been anything like long enough with the Enemy to have any real humility yet. What he says, even on his knees, about his own sinfulness is all parrot talk. At bottom, he still believes he has run up a very favourable credit-balance in the Enemy’s ledger by allowing himself to be converted, and thinks that he is showing great humility and condescension in going to church with these “smug”, commonplace neighbours at all. Keep him in that state of mind as long as you can.
And for what? A sex predator who raises the funding for Planned Parenthood every year of his Administration while you lie that he the Most Prolife President in the History of Ever, shags porn stars while his third wife gives birth, kidnaps and disappears children out of racist spite, betrays our troops to Russia-paid bounty hunters, criminally neglects his duty to the common good in a Pandemic, mocks POWs and Gold Star families, mocks the disabled, and declares that he needs ask no forgiveness from God?
That’s the guy you make your mouthpiece for declaring Joe Biden excommunicate from the Christian fold? What the hell is wrong with you?
Trump is Trump and will tell these transparent lies because it’s what he does. The real stain is on the Greatest Christians of All Time who know better but choose to believe and spread these transparent lies. They prove definitively that a con man does not succeed by lying, but by getting his marks to lie to themselves and all those around them. Instead of peering into Biden’s soul and kicking him out of the Church proud Pharisees while he is on his knees mourning his beloved dead before God, why not ponder these two words from Our Lord as you believe and spread lies about a fellow sinner?
You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (Jn 8:44).
“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Lk 18:10–14).
Remember the words of the Good Thief, because they are true of all of us: “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?” (Lk 23:40).
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26 Responses
Trump knows Christ the way Legion driven out into a herd of swine knew Christ.
And could be that AB Vigano knows Trump as a ‘light bearer’ the way St John saw a certain star come down from the heavens.
Rev 9 1 “And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit”
jj
“The fruits of Trump and his cult are bad. And one of the worst is the ease with which this cult kicks people out of the Christians fold and exiles them from God.”
The “No True Christian” fanatasy— misspelling intended— has been a feature of american conservative christianity for as long as I can remember. It has certainly been a feature in the 14 years since i started writing on the internet.
I didn’t know you had a granddaughter! Lucky dog!
Trump’s Bible-thumping is such a scam it’s mind-boggling Christians fall for it. On the other hand, white identity politics will devour anything it needs to sate its only true God: Power.
I have four granddaughters and two grandsons, all of them beautiful! 🙂
@ mark
As I say to all of my friends who have grandchildren, “I bet you don’t have any pictures on your phone.”
I have no cell phone. I live in the Pleistocene.
WHOA. That is great. 🙂
For some it’s not a scam. It’s their ”faith”. A bible, a gun on top of it and a flag underneath it. That’s it. That’s their ”faith”, and Trump gives them that.
Trump’s “Christianity” is a scam, a con, and a lie. And if if “some” (millions) can’t see the obvious, their faith, as St. Paul would say, is “nothing.”
The roots of Trumpist “Christianity,” from deep in American history, are hideous and barbaric. Zero sympathy for these ideological descendants of the Confederacy. To Hell with them.
@Neko
I find it rather endearing that a lapsed catholic like you has the better Pauline understanding, when compared to the Guns ‘n God people 🙂
Once upon a time I aspired to be one of you. 🙂
Just to clarify that I think it’s great Mark has SIX grandkids, not that he doesn’t have a cell phone–which I find appalling. How are you going to pass the time waiting in line for hours to vote?! How’re you gonna call 911 when the Sons of Light come for you?! How’re you gonna show off pix of your SIX grandkids?! You’re so countercultural!
No need to make it more complicated than it is. Trump thinks he can gain or keep the ”Guns and God” crowd, Biden, wjatever his personal beliefs, is not going to bring up Abortion and Euthanasia. Inasafar as some position of the Dem’s align well with those of the Catholic Church, they won’t bring up faith in thse matters, because that too would scare away some people.
Politicians will do what politicians do, and Catholic voters have a duty to vote after having examined the teachings of the Church and their own conscience.
@Artevelde:
But isn’t that part of the problem? Hasn’t the Church and its institutions, by the way they’ve carried out the culture wars, actively conditioned people to suppress and ignore their conscience?
I mean, I think its fair game to say that you think that those who dissent from some specific Church teachings are flawed in their reasoning and priorities, or just plain wrong, but you can’t deny that they are in fact, following their conscience, often at a great personal cost.
And the Catholic Church punishes them for it at every turn. And Catholics everywhere have internalized those lessons. Lets be honest, which type of Catholic is more likely to be publicly condemned, denied communion or ex-communicated, someone like Biden or someone like Trump? I think we both know the answer.
So I think that the Church has in many ways laid out the groundwork for the current state of affairs, and I don’t think things are going to get better until they come to terms with role they’ve played in enabling and pushing people towards what Mark refers to as Qatholicism.
Abortion, euthanasia and the rest of the life issues aren’t going away for people of faith. You can argue all day about how bad Trump is, how the Republicans only pay lib service to to Pro-Life Issues. You can claim there not as important as other issues, or at least not more important than others. You can do all that and at times you may even be right.
Nothing you can say though will make someone like me love the Democratic Party. Not until you can stand up in that big tent and openly proclaim your faith with all it entails. As things stand today, you can’t, not unless you’re in Louisiana.
Try it. Have someone run for the Dem ticket on an anti-abortion platform and see how it goes.
@ Atevelde, you don’t have to love the D Party to vote for Biden this year. You only have to love America.
@ Joel
I think that’s a good message, campaign-wise.
As for me, I definitely have some affection for the USA and its people. I think a can of beans would make a better president than Trump, but it’s not up to me.
Can’t wait until November 3rd. Hopefully my daily nausea will end on that day.
I bet that picture of Wayne, Jesus and Trump is a parody. Too many little ”wrong” elements in there to make it a true MAGA Christian piece.
Joe Biden married a same sex couple. This was a very beautiful act as Vice President. He is a devout catholic and a politically progressive person. We need more Joe Bidens!
Do you understand that Joe Biden didn’t marry anyone other than his wife, if he indeed authentically married her? Priests don’t marry couples, judges don’t marry couples. Politicians don’t. marry. couples.
–Best Jesuit lecture I ever received was on the eve of my wedding in which Fr. Morris very sternly told me he was only there to confer a blessing.
Couples marry *each other*. It can be a Cardinal, the Pope, or the guy in the Liberace suit, but the only diff. is that a couple of those dudes can bless the union in the name of Jesus Christ.
That may be true under Church doctrine, but it is not true under the laws of most states. Legally, a marriage requires an officiant and at least one witness. (Here in CA, the officiant is called the “Person Solemnizing Marriage”, and cannot be one of the principals.)
Biden performed the officiant role for a gay marriage, Don’t minimize it.
tRump knows, or at least someone he listens to knows, that tRumplethinskin (love that, so I’m stealing it) Evangelical Protestants belong to a political group masquerading as a religion and that they are profoundly anti-Catholic. Despite the fact that this group finds political value in joining with Catholics in the service of various Rightwing agenda items, they do not even consider Catholics “Christians” by their standards.
@Joel, when Pope Francis came out with his famously-squabbled- over “Amoris Leticia”, even the right wing of Qatholics missed the boat. (They call themselves theologians!) They think that the priest has some kind of hidden wand-power, –and even if the bride is secretly a Cruella DeVille, or the groom is secretly a Voldemort, there is some kind of instant ball ‘n chain spell which binds them irrevocably.
–Not so.
If the state is in the business of selling certificates of civil union, and erroneously calls the legal status of the couple involved “marriage”, it just makes me roll my eyes, because anybody and their cousin in a tube top can purchase that piece of paper, stand there in front of a witness and declare themselves “married”.
Marriage is a state of the soul.
Don’t get me wrong, I am happy for anybody who in a spirit of nobility takes care of someone else, and (now) has the legal protections to legally, and financially do so, but whether it’s Melania Trump or Zsa Zsa Gabor, on her 10th “marriage” to the prince, my eye-roll muscles become weary in explaining the difference to my kids.
The Qatholics and Qristians really dropped the ball by not educating their own adherents to the meaning of the word “marriage”. How do they expect to protect their cherished sacrament if they don’t even know what the word *means*? They were stingy about looking for goodness in legally protected civil unions because they are paranoid bean-counters with overly active imaginations.
(Btw, have you ever met a couple that thinks they are “married”, but one or both is a big cheater, or maybe just an all-round parasitic dud whose spouse *hates* him/her?–It makes the children of such a so-called “marriage” never want to get married for very good but misguided reason!)