(I posted this after the January 6th terrorist attack at the US Capitol. It is as relevant today.)
Dear Trump-Supporting Christians,
Are you happy now? Is this what you wanted, to watch fellow Trump supporters storm the Capitol building? Did you think all of Trump’s rhetoric and subtle—sometimes not so subtle—calls for violence would go unnoticed by members of your camp?
Honestly, I’m at a loss right now. My thoughts are jumbled. I’m at a loss because I know some of you. Personally. I grew up in the church with some of you. Hell, I even shared a home with some of you. I know that you know better. You know that I know that you know better. And yet you persist in your support of a man who stands for nothing you claim to stand for on Sunday mornings.
How is this?
How is it that you open your Bibles to Matthew 5, read about the beatitudes, and then double and triple down with a man who obviously knows and cares nothing for the Jesus you read about in the Gospels? How is it that you can claim to follow the Jesus who tells us to bless those who curse us while also supporting a man who stokes the flames of violence on Twitter nearly every day?
How is this?
I don’t ask these questions for shits and giggles. I’m truly perplexed. What is it about Trump that leads you to believe he’s God’s chosen one? You do realize he’s just pandering to you, right? You do realize he doesn’t give a damn about the Bible, Jesus, or the same supposed values you care about, right? That photo op in front of St. John’s? That was pandering 101. How do you not see this?
How?
To be honest, it’s hard not to think it’s all because you don’t actually care about the things you claim to care about on Sundays. And look, I get it. Following Jesus is tough. Loving people is tough. Caring for others is tough. Forgiveness is tough. Empathy, compassion, patience, self-control, kindness … all tough. But at some point, you have to make a choice. You have to cut ties with either your Jesus or your Orange Koresh. And yeah, I said it. And I meant it. You treat Trump like a cult leader because, well, that’s kinda what he is. He’s pulling the strings and you, as marionettes, have been dangling for years now.
This is one reason why your brand of Christianity is dying. It’s been dying for years, decades even, but this nonsense we’ve seen in the past eight-plus years has been the nail in the coffin. You’ve lost all credibility. You have no leg to stand on. You’ve hitched your wagon to a horse headed straight over the cliff and all you can do is clang your gong from the back as you head to your doom.
So now what are you to do? Continue to support your Janus-faced god-man? Or actually do what needs to be done and disavow the bullshit you’ve aligned yourself to for far too long? I guess that’s up to you. But unless you take a hard one-eighty, don’t expect anyone with half a brain or quarter of a heart to take you seriously any longer. Don’t expect to see new members in your pews on Sunday. And don’t you dare think that Jesus approves of any of this. Because he doesn’t. I just spoke with him. He thinks you’re full of shit.
I’m done,
Matthew J. Distefano
Also, if you’ve been digging my work on here, and want to see me be able to continue writing as close to full-time as humanly possible, please take a look at my Patreon page at www.patreon.com/mjdistefano. Even $1 a month helps bigly!
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