“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”
Even though this is the first of the Ten Commandments, it seems that it is frequently ignored. Ignored by many right-wing Christians, ironically enough. In the recent years, there seems to be a sort of “Christification” of Donald Trump. He has been made out to be a messiah figure by and for many right-wingers.
Take a look at Georgia’s Republican representative Marjorie Taylor Greene’s account on “X” (formerly known as Twitter). Her entire page revolves around Trump. Everything she posts is about Trump, non-stop.
She still refers to him as though he is the current president, she constantly posts about MAGA, and she relentlessly promotes his campaign. This is no surprise, as Marjorie Taylor-Greene has made it clear that she seems Trump as a savior figure.
Greene protested Trump’s arraignment and compared Trump to Jesus.
“Jesus was arrested and murdered by the Roman government. There have been many people throughout history that have been arrested and persecuted by radical corrupt governments, and it’s beginning today in New York City,” she commented.
Greene is not the only right-winger to compare the supposed persecution of Trump to the actual persecution of Jesus.
Right-wing X is completely littered by tweets claiming out-right that Trump is being crucified.
“While America hopelessly watches, President Donald J. Trump is being crucified. Joe Biden lied then as he’s lying now. He didn’t win the 2020 election, and Democrats don’t care about the US,” X-user @RubinCYoung posted.
He shared this post along with a cartoon drawing of Trump nailed to the cross.
So what is the deal with so many right-wingers, specifically Christians, who compare Trump to Jesus and see him as a messiah figure? Why is this such a common theme?
Some have argued that Trump is the second coming of Christ. Others say it’s delusional response to the fact that Trump lost the election, some can’t or won’t admit it, and want to make him out to be a persecuted figure.
Either way, it seems dangerous to compare Trump to Christ. It’s feeding into a delusion that this human is or can be the solver of all problems and a savior to us all.
When it comes to the practice of living like Christ, it doesn’t particularly seem as though Trump and many evangelicals are participating in that anyway.
He and many of them tend worship what Christ truly hated. Jesus hated wealth and warned many times that the rich cannot see the Kingdom of Heaven. Some evangelical preachers live in mansions, collect Ferraris, and fly around in fleets of private jets.
Evangelical preacher Benny Hinn built a special garage for his Ferrari collection. Evangelical preacher Joel Osteen gives himself a salary of $54,000,000 a year from his megachurch’s collection.
Jesus commands followers to help the poor and needy. Osteen refused to give shelter to people fleeing Hurricane Harvey until he faced a social media backlash over it.
Not only are many evangelicals believing Trump to be a Christ-like figure, but they are also not following what Jesus taught.
Jesus taught peace. When a disciple drew a sword to defend him, Jesus said, “Put your sword back in its place, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.”
Many evangelicals worship at the altar of guns. John Correia, evangelical former pastor of West Greenway Bible Church and professor at Arizona Christian University, hosts a conference called Bullets & Bibles in which he preaches that Jesus would want the faithful to arm themselves to protect the flock of God’s sheep.
So where is the advocacy for the poor? Where is the disdain for the rich?
Trump is a person who has based his entire personality on being a rich man. Why is he seen as so Christ-like? Maybe part of it has to do with the fact that some evangelicals don’t outwardly practice the ideas behind Christianity anymore.
Jesus tells us to help the poor. Trump and evangelicals as a group oppose social safety nets. Jesus tells us to love everyone. Trump and evangelicals as a group propose laws that actively harm the disenfranchised. Maybe the teachings of Jesus have just become so convoluted and twisted that some are unable to truly see the point anymore.
