I am a scientist. Normally, I would turn to evidence to debunk a claim. But sometime the lie is so big… so deep… so fundamentally wrong… that only a story of faith can counter its power. Presumptive Republican U.S. Presidential Candidate Donald Trump comes to the U.S. Evangelical Christian as temptation in the desert, and tells a lie so big that only a story of faith seems appropriate to counter its terrible core.
Donald has tried to sweet-talk evangelical Christians by telling them that he’ll work on behalf of “religious freedom” [1] while having repeatedly and vociferously advocated for preventing an entire group of people from immigrating to the U.S. based on their religion [2]. Normally, I find this kind of dichotomy just a circus-style freak sideshow… but from a presumptive Presidential candidate, this level of mischief and deception is just… just… sick.
Evangelical Christians have perceived themselves for many years as wandering in a political desert in the U.S. Whether I agree with that or not is irrelevant; what matters is that the voice of this community expresses this feeling. A community that believes itself politically starved for too long is in a dangerous place. At this point, it would do well to remind ourselves of a key scene in the life of Jesus as told in the Book of Matthew, Chapter 4 [3]. The U.S. Evangelical Christian community views itself in a metaphorical political desert, starved of attention to its needs (Matthew 4:2). How does one resist the temptation, then, of a wicked one bearing promises of relief in that kind of metaphorical desert? Here, especially Matthew 4:9-10 gives the answer; such a community of faith would do well to remember what was offered to Jesus at the last, and how he used his own faith to resist such temptation.
I’m a scientist, but I certainly appreciate this story. Never more than now has this story been so true to U.S. Evangelical Christian voters. If Donald can casually take away the rights of a people to immigrate based on their religion, he can do it to any such group. There are no protected classes in the eyes of a man who singles out one class for different treatment.
Donald now offers Evangelical Christians a Presidency that he claims will “restore religious freedom.” He is a liar in the desert. Keep walking.
[2] http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/06/20/trump-us-should-consider-profiling-muslims.html
[3] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew 4&version=NIV
Photo by Ishai Parasol: https://flic.kr/p/99XsXN
