How Donald Trump has evolved into a Messianic figure among the white religious right
Donald Trump is now publicly proclaiming that he is some type of messiah, a man chosen by God and Jesus Christ to do their bidding on Earth. For Trump, this means becoming America’s first dictator.
If Trump were a private citizen and not a former president and leader of a right-wing fascist movement, his claims to divine power would be viewed as the ramblings of an unwell person and de facto cult leader. Unfortunately, public opinion and other research shows that many millions of Americans actually believe that Trump is some type of divine figure, a man with a mandate from God. This is more evidence that Trumpism, like other forms of fascism and fake populism, is a form of collective pathology and emotional and mental unwellness on a societal scale.
Trump’s claims that he has a mandate from God should not be a surprise or in any way shocking: it is the predictable next step in a years-long pattern of megalomania, fabulism, malignant narcissism and other such negative behavior where he has claimed to have secret knowledge and insights that no one else possesses, and that his followers should just believe what he says and reject the facts and empirical reality itself.
Last week, Donald Trump took an even bigger step forward in his claims to being God’s leader on Earth, when he shared a campaign ad declaring that “God gave us Trump.”
“The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.”
1 Timothy 4:1-2
Okay, but this could describe any number of presidents, kings, and high priests.
Yeah, that’s the point. Don’t worship politicians, kings, and priests. Or anyone for that matter, except God… I’m atheist though, so not even “God” in my opinion.
Sure. But I see this stuff lobbed at damned near every high profile figure, from Hollywood celebrities to Presidents to Popes.
Some base of mega-fans get attention for going off the edge, and suddenly any vote for Obama or tickets to the next Beyonce concert means you’ve been corrupted by evil brain demons. This quote gets abused to imply everything popular is an abandonment of faith or a form of idolatry.
It leads you to the “I only need to read one book” style of evangelicalism. I’m not a fan, even if it gets espoused by an atheist who pivots to “And even God doesn’t count”.