Donald Trump is the Antichrist

Fear was a consistent companion. Sleep was elusive. Terror regularly stopped by. The Tribulation Trail was a haunted walk through an interpretation of the Book of Revelation hosted by a church across town. Our annual visit always ushered in months of study and speculation about the end times. During the Trail, there was always a movie projected on a huge sheet that illustrated how close we actually were to the end of the world. Though I tried to convince myself that I didn’t believe any of it, I was always shaken to my core. Every year, I regretted that my parents forced me to go. Though I couldn’t shake the fear, I committed to erasing all of it from my mind and not believing any of it. In the last few months, I have changed my mind.

From his attacks on Mexicans to his support for roughing up a Black protestor to his calls for a national database for Muslims to his passion for bullying, Donald Trump has provided us no shortage of evidence that he is both a bigot and a racist. Just today, Trump declared his support for barring Muslims from entering the United States. If he weren’t so consistently evil, I would think this was some kind of sick joke. Unfortunately, the joke is up. Millions of other racists and bigots have flocked to join forces with him. These are scary days. Back when I was growing up, we were told that the Antichrist would be the opposite of Jesus and gain millions of followers quickly. While I think there are many antichrists who raise their ugly heads throughout history, I have no doubt in this contextual moment that Donald Trump is the chief opposite of Jesus…Donald Trump is the Antichrist.

The great deceiver has convinced millions of people that the best way to love your neighbor is to wall them out, shake them down and put them in their place. This is the opposite of the love of Jesus. The great deceiver has convinced millions that the best way to love your enemies is to bomb them into submission over and over again. This is the opposite of the love of Jesus. The great deceiver has convinced millions that the down and out deserve our contempt rather than our help. This is the opposite of the love Jesus. The great deceiver has convinced millions that bullying is the way to get ahead. This is the opposite of the love of Jesus. The great deceiver has convinced millions that those who are hungry deserve to be hungry. This is the opposite of the love of Jesus. The great deceiver has convinced millions that those who thirst should’ve thought ahead and prepared better. This is the opposite of the love of Jesus. The great deceiver has convinced millions that the stranger is our enemy. This is the opposite of the love of Jesus. The great deceiver has convinced millions to laugh at those who are without clothes. This is the opposite of the love of Jesus. The great deceiver has convinced millions to work to deny the sickest and poorest amongst us healthcare. This is the opposite of the love of Jesus. The great deceiver has promised to lock up more people. This is the opposite of the love of Jesus. The great deceiver has ridiculed the disabled. This is the opposite of the love of Jesus. The great deceiver is named Donald Trump and is working for the exact opposite of what followers of Jesus should be working for. What has and will be done to those standing in the line of fire of Trump has and will be done to Jesus. Those who stand against Trump at this perilous hour stand against the Antichrist.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve watched pastors and preachers run to meet and get their picture taken with Trump. These pastors and preachers love their ministries far more than they love the God they claim to serve. In much of the literature about the end of days, preachers cozy up to evil and forget about Jesus. Looking around at churches, I am seeing this phenomenon happen to more than just leaders. Many years ago, I promised to never look at any of the rapture, tribulation or end of days bullshit I grew up with ever again. I thought it was all so silly and irrelevant to modernity. Now, I look at the evil that is Donald Trump and think twice.

Amen.