This week we have been considering the problem of how to regard ex-MAGA who are, typically, only set on the path of rejecting the MAGA Cult after some experience of great suffering at the hands of that cult.
It is, as we noted, extremely easy and natural to sing this song, laugh at their sufferings and say, “Screw ’em.”
The problem is, of course, that Jesus guy and his complicating words, particularly these complicating words:
“Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against any one; so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” (Mk 11:25)
“If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Mt 6:14–15)
“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. (Mt 10:16)
On the one hand, Jesus’ command to forgive is absolute and all-encompassing: forgive anything you have against anyone. Period. No exceptions and no excuses. It does not matter whether they are truly penitent or not. It does not matter if the sin was not against you personally. If you have anything against anyone, you must forgive them.
If that angers you (and it angers us all at some point or another) that’s because you still have not really internalized just how radical Jesus’ understanding of grace is because you have not really internalized how shocking it is to say “God is love”. (1 John 4:7-8). The point of the gospel, as we noted yesterday, is that the love of God no more depends on our ability to earn it than sunlight depends on our ability to make the sun shine. God is the gigantic dynamo of all being, holding all things in existence and pouring out love on us regardless of our ability to see or appreciate it or respond to it. He does this because it is his nature to do it, not because we impress him so much that we oblige him to love us. That is why Paul tells us:
While we were yet helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Why, one will hardly die for a righteous man—though perhaps for a good man one will dare even to die. But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. (Ro 5:6–8)
God permitted our species to do the dead opposite of earning our salvation: he let us murder him in the cruelest way we could think of–and turned that act of wanton viciousness into the means of our salvation–because it is his nature to love and to do so no matter what.
But, of course, the very relentlessness of that love means that he will let nothing stop him from working to make us into divinized creatures who love as he does. And that means we have to learn to will the good of even our enemies as he does. So the command to forgive everyone everything is simply the corollary of the command to love our enemies. It doesn’t mean pretending they have not sinned. Nor does it mean idiotically pretending they will not sin when it is perfectly obvious they have not really repented or their penitence is only very imperfect, like the Prodigal’s.
Rather, it means willing their good and desiring to help them achieve it in whatever way we can. And part of that involves not binding them to their sins, even when they continue to bind themselves to their sins.
Consequently, when it comes to ex-MAGA, we are called to forgive them, not merely when they are sincerely repentant, but even when they are transparently impenitent and just as selfish as ever.
But we are not called to be idiots who trust them. That is where being wise as a serpent and innocent has a dove comes in. We are commanded–by Jesus himself:
“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.
“Not every one who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.’” (Mt 7:15–23)
So to my readers’ point:
I think that there is a great deal of valid skepticism toward those who only wake up when it impacts them… and whose morals seem endlessly fungible up until the very moment the obvious lies and cruelty impact them.
The fundamental ethical construct underlying any support for Trump and friends is utterly rotten, selfish, tribalistic, so is awakening really about universal love for mankind or is it about feeling personally aggrieved?
I reply:
The Prodigal Son only woke up when it impacted him. What matters is what happens after the sinner wakes up. Does he take responsibility for what he did and try to make reparation for the damage he did or does he just start blaming everybody else and continue on in selfishness? Whichever choice they make, we are to forgive them their sins. But as a matter of practicality in working with them for the common good, we are to look to their fruits. Those who produce good fruits we should grow with in trust and cooperation. Those who say they are repentant, but who blame everybody but themselves and teach their prey to continue scapegoating while building a new grift to exploit their prey (I think of people like Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson) should be given a wide berth as the wolves they continue to be.
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One Response
I cannot understand why so many people fell for his schtick. He is an obvious liar and con artist, but so many people believed him. I guess he told them what they want to hear. They are the “real Americans.” Their problems are the fault of immigrants, transgenders, etc. certainly not their own fault. So they climbed on board the MAGA train and bought into the horse manure being shoveled.
They are Republicans became a cult, much like North Korea, with their own Dear Leader who knows all. It’s really quite amazing how otherwise intelligent people went along with the obvious horse manure. God help us.