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The blog—informal opinions and chat about the parish

Friday, June 1, 2018

Michael Curry and the Protest

Someone posted a video of Donald Trump on the Episcopalians on Facebook page and asked the question why Bishop Curry would protest against a man of faith such as Trump. "No other president talked like this."

The response was instant and vehement. Some questioned whether the original person was being serious, but most focused on the disagreement between Trump's words and his actions. Here's my response:
If you read the "Reclaiming Jesus" statement, which is central to this discussion, you will see that it does not name Donald Trump. It makes six definite policy statements: It rejects white nationalism, mistreatment of women, attacks on immigrants and refugees, a public pattern of lying, autocratic authoritarianism, and xenophobic nationalism. The old saying is "if the shoe fits, wear it." So if Trump is indeed a white nationalist who advocates mistreating women, advocates mistreating immigrants and refugees, has a habit of public lying, and is moving toward being the autocratic leader of a xenophobic nationalist nation, then it's an anti-Trump statement.

If "Christian" now means now means lying, mistreating women, and hating everyone who isn't my color and ethnicity, I want a new label for myself because that's not what Christ taught me. 
I suspect something deeper is going on here. Christian Dominionism has become a powerful movement within the Evangelical world, and I suspect that Trump seeks to speak their language to use their political power as an instrument to further his own dreams of dominion. It won't work. They will see through him and, when they are powerful enough, they will get rid of him. He's like a little boy who has taken a lion by the tail.

The rest of us should be more afraid of the lion.

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