“WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law, which will include long term prison sentences so that this Depravity of Justice does not happen again.”
Donald Trump, posted September 7th on Truth Social, threatening his opponents.
For civil servants, believing Trump’s threats to reclassify them out of the Civil Service and into the ranks of “at will” employees to be terminated, including those in administrative agencies (like the Department of Education) that will be eliminated, to federal law enforcement officials (like the FBI) whose agencies Trump promises to defund, to minorities who look like people who should be rounded up, detained and quickly deported by the millions, to women crossing state lines who need access to reproductive medical care not available in their home state, to dedicated educators often with decades of experience who teach subjects unpopular with one rightwing group or another, to journalists facing arrest by Trump operatives because they do not tow the “right thinking” line required by Trump’s MAGA forces, to consumers who know that it is they (not foreign nations) who will bear the price rises that always follow US tariffs on foreign goods, to seniors on Social Security and Medicare who are sacrificial lambs needed to support further tax cuts for the rich… and the list flows like a great river, picking up more water from the litany of contributing tributaries… their future if Trump gets elected is indeed terrifying.
So, take a look at the Ten Commandments above, which in one form (Old Testament for Christians) or another (Torah for Jews) are the ethical and moral building blocks of those faiths. Yet I see four commandments on each panel that Donald Trump and his followers have violated, often flagrantly. A very large segment of those followers calls themselves “evangelical Christians,” but their words and behavior – supported by mandates from their fiery ministers – are not even faint reflections of those most basic and sacred requirements. But as I blogged back on August 25th, (see that post: Not All Evangelicals are Trumpers), there are a rising number of rabbis, pastors and priests, deeply educated in biblical studies, who are raising their voices to stop this serious distortion, literally a rejection, of the most basic premises of their faith.
Most recently, a gathering of 300 evangelical ministers solidified their objection to this biblical mistreatment by those purported MAGA “Christians” who have distorted the Bible to suit their commitment to their neo-god, Donald Trump. Their written response, “Our Confession of Evangelical Conviction,” includes various statements by exceptionally well-regarded prelates, as summarized by Josh Shepherd in the September 9th The Roys Report, dedicated to “Reporting the Truth, Restoring the Church”: “The statement titled, ‘Our Confession of Evangelical Conviction,’ affirms seven core beliefs framed to reject ‘evangelical’ as a political, rather than theological, label. According to a press release, the statement ‘marks the largest and most unified evangelical effort in decades, bridging denominational and theological differences.’
“Skye Jethani, co-host of the popular Holy Post Podcast and lead author of the statement, said in a press call on Monday that the statement’s purpose is ‘to remind everybody of what our primary allegiance is. It’s to Christ and His gospel, to the values of His Kingdom.’… Jethani spoke alongside evangelical leaders from diverse ethnic and theological traditions. Organizers stated that members of thousands of evangelical churches, totaling over four million congregants nationwide, have been presented the statement and many have affirmed it.
“Gabriel Salguero, president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition (NALEC) and a pastor in Orlando, Florida, commented on how current politics has affected the pulpit. ‘We’ve seen church splits,’ he said. ‘We’ve seen pastors afraid to declare the truths of the Sermon on the Mount because it may be seen as too polarizing or political.’… Several speakers on the press conference emphasized how polarized political media has fostered fear among evangelicals.
“Dan Boone, president of Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, Tennessee, talked about how media coverage has impacted his 100-year-old father, a World War II veteran who was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart… ‘I have watched his consumption of media across these last years literally steal the joy of a man who was a gentle Christian in every way,’ said Boone. ‘Now when I talk, nothing but fear pours forth from him.’… Similarly, best-selling evangelical author Karen Swallow Prior said, ‘There is so much fear in the political realm right now. As evangelicals, we have an opportunity to show what it is like to lead through love rather than fear.’”
Writing for the September 9th The Guardian (UK), Lucy Mangan, adds: [So many of Trump’s] “fans include rightwing Christians prepared to overlook the multiple marriages, being found liable for sexual abuse and assorted other events not in keeping with biblical recommendations because, as Frank López, a pastor, businessman and founder of the evangelical Iglesia Doral Jesus Worship Center in the Sunshine State, says: ‘He has a vision of America I like.’ ‘I feel God is with him,’ says another fervent Christian. ‘He fears the Lord.’ A video made by some of the 45th president’s supporters assures viewers: ‘God made Trump.’..
“The Latin American community he speaks to, which includes 36 million voters across the US, approve of Trump’s hardline approach to immigration. The host of a popular Hispanic radio show in Miami explains to [Trump documentarian Matt] Frei that many members come from countries ruined by dictators and they don’t want to see the same thing happen in the US and – although it’s not quite made clear how – they evidently consider that a Democrat win would increase the chances. Callers to the show cite their own contributions to society after coming here legally and are not welcoming to people who arrive illegally and whom they think will deplete the resources of their new home.
“Yareliz Méndez-Zamora, who works for the Florida Immigrant Coalition supporting recent arrivals to the US, says this is the result of Trump’s highly effective fear-based narratives (‘ ‘Sending their worst …’, ‘Poisoning the blood of this country’,’ she quotes. ‘There’s a lot of white nationalism’). Méndez-Zamora fears that a second term would see the beginnings of mass deportation, raids and further, deeper division between races and communities being sown by the president and his government.
“Over in Washington, Fiona Hill, an adviser on Russia to George W Bush, Barack Obama and Trump, calls Trump a canny politician who knows how to tap into people’s grievances and appeal to their worst instincts ‘instead of their better angels’, who ‘presided over an insurrection’, polarised the political system and is ‘an incredibly flawed candidate’. She believes a second pro-Putin term would be a disaster for Ukraine in particular and western security generally, in terms of an increased nuclear threat and the encouragement of Putin’s disregard for European borders.” The resulting headline: we needn’t just fear Trump in a second term… we need to be terrified.
I’m Peter Dekom, and as much as Trump rails against “cheating” at the ballot box, no group in the United States is doing more to eliminate voters who oppose Trump, before and after the election, in order to cement a Trump “cannot lose” result, than Trump’s MAGA faithful.
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