Donald Trump, America and State Religion

True Religion vs Tribal Religion

Last night on CBC news, a very impassioned journalist editorialized regarding Trump’s win and blamed the American bible belt. She said she was shocked that evangelical Christians obviously voted for Trump, a man who has proven to be racist, sexist, xenophobic, 3X divorced, allegedly abusive to women and the list goes on. She went on to say that America’s version of Christianity is a farce.

This morning someone I know posted on Facebook that a win for Donald Trump is a victory for Jesus.

I can’t totally agree with the first assessment above. Things are way more complex than that. And I certainly can’t agree with the second statement.

When I was a kid I always wondered what adults meant when they said stuff like “religion and politics don’t mix.” And “there should be no talk of religion or politics at the dinner table.” Now I get it. I can see how this could totally separate friends and families. I see evidence of this as I track with Facebook posts and comments this morning after yesterday’s US election day.

I also get it from the point of view that spirituality should inform our politics but our politics should not inform our spirituality.

Back to my original point, however. Donald Trump, America and State Religion.The US doesn’t have a state religion, but they might as well adopt one. I don’t know what you’d call it but it would be God, Republicans, guns and white -- grammatically, that’s messy, unparallel construction, but you get what I mean.

Richard Rohr, a Franciscan from New Mexico, says that culture trumps ideology every time. What he means is that the current mores of any country -- see above for the US, Socialism in the Icelandic countries, white, aryan supremacy in Nazi Germany and so on -- overpowers the purity and core simplicity of any religious ideology. Richard Rohr calls this tribal Christianity vs *universal, timeless Christianity.

Although I’m reacting to the right with regards to ideology, the same idea holds true for the left as well. More about that later...

Let me put it this way: as a Christian, literally a follower of Christ -- or one who desires to be a minI Jesus -- I don’t think that the Christ really cares one way or another that Trump won or that Clinton lost. In fact -- and I find this hugely ironic -- what’s hidden in plain view is the fact that Jesus refused to go there politically 2000 years ago when his followers, and the peripheral onlooking Jews, were hoping that the Messiah would overcome the existing Roman government and set up a new kingdom.

Jesus didn’t do that. He flipped the idea of power on its head. “[Jesus] being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” (Philippians 2:6-7)

Christianity has always been for the marginalized; Jesus’s parables about the kingdom have alway been about challenging the religious status quo. And just to be clear, the religious status quo was -- and still is -- all about protecting its own. Keeping those who are inside on the inside and those who are outside on the outside. Tribal religion is exclusive. True religion is inclusive.

Jesus was inclusive. He included those whom the religious establishment excluded. Which makes you wonder why “Christians’ would picket outside the funeral on someone gay with “God Hates Fags” placards. It makes you wonder why “Christians” would want to keep refugees who are dying and/or persecuted out of their country.

Again, I know I’ve been focusing on the right. So to be fair, I’m pretty sure that Jesus wouldn’t be too happy about the killing of unborn children. Which isn’t to say that he hates their mothers. He loves their mothers who were fearfully and wonderfully created in God’s own image. And I believe he has great empathy for their plight.

While I’m on this topic, I believe that God also loves both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

I’m also not saying that politics don’t matter.  As citizens of any given country -- especially if we are afforded the privilege of democracy -- we should do our due diligence of being informed. We should be civically responsible and involved.

At the end of the day -- literally the day after the election -- I find it ironic that so many religious people are espousing so much hate on social media on both sides of the issues. I get that there are very real concerns on both sides, but…

Yeah, well,  that’s all I got. Where’s the love? One of my favourite verses:

“Pure [true] and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.” (James 1:27)

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* not Richard Rohr's words, exactly. I thought this paraphrase would work for my purposes :)