How Donald Trump has evolved into a Messianic figure among the white religious right

How Donald Trump has evolved into a Messianic figure among the white religious right

Donald Trump is now publicly proclaiming that he is some type of messiah, a man chosen by God and Jesus Christ to do their bidding on Earth. For Trump, this means becoming America’s first dictator.

If Trump were a private citizen and not a former president and leader of a right-wing fascist movement, his claims to divine power would be viewed as the ramblings of an unwell person and de facto cult leader. Unfortunately, public opinion and other research shows that many millions of Americans actually believe that Trump is some type of divine figure, a man with a mandate from God. This is more evidence that Trumpism, like other forms of fascism and fake populism, is a form of collective pathology and emotional and mental unwellness on a societal scale.

Trump’s claims that he has a mandate from God should not be a surprise or in any way shocking: it is the predictable next step in a years-long pattern of megalomania, fabulism, malignant narcissism and other such negative behavior where he has claimed to have secret knowledge and insights that no one else possesses, and that his followers should just believe what he says and reject the facts and empirical reality itself.

Last week, Donald Trump took an even bigger step forward in his claims to being God’s leader on Earth, when he shared a campaign ad declaring that “God gave us Trump.”

  • Makeitstop@lemmy.world
    24·
    1 year ago

    I think it’s very telling that major predictors for whether a Christian will be a Trump supporter include how often they go to church and how frequently they study the bible. Those who attend church regularly and study scripture regularly are significantly less likely to support Trump than those who rarely or never do either.

    One obvious explanation for this is that, well, Trump’s actions, statements and overall sleaze are not exactly compatible with the apparently “woke agenda” of things like the sermon on the mount. Loving your enemies, turning the other cheek, being humble and serving others without taking credit, that’s all just kind of the exact opposite of the self absorbed, petty, hateful, arrogant mindset that Trump and MAGA are all about. And that’s without bringing actual policies into this, which is never going to look good for Trump given what the bible has to say about the rich, the poor, and the way we should treat others, including immigrants and refugees.

    On the flipside, when you claim to be religious but don’t have a church or scripture providing any external guidance, you can easily define your religious beliefs as you see fit. It’s as simple as knowing that God wants you to stand for what’s right. And of course, you know what’s right, it’s all those things you believe in. Which means God wants what you want. So, because you know Trump is the greatest leader we’ve ever had, that vaccines are bad, that we need to kick all those damn [insert ethnic slur here]s out, and boot all those lazy freeloaders off of welfare, that God stands for those things too, and anyone who opposes is evil and a servant of the devil.