I don’t belong to any organized religion. While I have pursued a life-long curiosity regarding things spiritual, I admit to knowing very little detail about the ins and outs of most organized religions and their teachings, beginning with fundamentalist Christianity. So with that caveat, let me say that I’ve heard a lot in recent years about the coming of the so-called “anti-Christ,” as part of the “end times” that many religious individuals seem to eagerly anticipate. Based on what I’ve heard and read, it seems to me that if there actually is such a thing as the anti-Christ, an embodiment of everything that is the opposite of what the word Christ stands for, surely Donald Trump must be the face of it.
The word “Christ” is a reference to “the anointed one.” But certainly there must be more to it than simply being anointed. Again, I’m not a bible scholar and have no interest in becoming one. But surely, the word “Christ” at very least implies qualities like goodness, Love, tolerance, truth, forgiveness, charity, acceptance, kindness, selflessness, does it not? Those are the kind of traits we associate with the teachings of Christ Jesus, right?
So, does it not follow that if Jesus (the man) represented the human embodiment of a collection of qualities that come with being a Christ, surely Donald Trump has demonstrated (and continues to prove) that he is the human embodiment of the exact opposite of those qualities. Is he not therefore the anti-Christ that the bible has supposedly predicted, in both word and deed?
I can’t think of a single character or personality trait possessed by Donald Trump that anyone I know would consider Christ-like. Can you? Both his Christian and secular followers seem to dismiss this glaring fact, allowing that in some twisted way, Trump’s vile words and deeds are simply evidence that God works in mysterious ways.
Somehow goodness, Love, peace, tolerance, truth, forgiveness, charity, acceptance, kindness, and selflessness are nowhere to be found in Trump, and that’s apparently just fine. The orange messiah’s contribution to our society is apparently meant to be the God-directed exaltation of hatefulness, fear, vengeance, greed, bigotry, malevolence, selfishness and worse. I’ll grant that whatever “God” is, it/he/she does work in strange ways. But ongoing creation and fomenting of negativity and violence in the world? That doesn’t really seem in keeping with the loving, Christ-like qualities that one would expect.
“You will know them by their fruits” - bible verse Matthew 7:16.
If the fruits you are looking for are calls to violence, promises of retribution, the in-plain-sight welcoming of authoritarian rule and the gutting of democracy, then this tree of treachery is for you. Part of a steady diet of deceit and chaos brought forth by Trump, which attracts many poor souls who cannot resist the visceral appeal of their dark Lord’s fear-drenched predictions, self-exaltations, unending lies and promises of sweet vengeance. These “fruits” are accepted as part of some grand final battle between good and evil, so we are told. It’s supposedly a battle of biblical proportion, where regardless who or what opposes the Don of Darkness, his victory is pre-ordained. He has come to do God’s work, so they say. They also say that we are supposedly a “Christian nation,” but what sort of nation would condone, let alone celebrate and reward, values that seem so clearly the opposite of what Christianity is supposed to stand for?
The cult-like mythology around the “Orange Jesus” clearly attracts many willing followers and accomplices, in both deed and spirit. So many politicians have already proven both willing and able to trade their integrity for the promise of unrestrained power and wealth, willing to bend the knee to Trump and all he stands for, many in self-humiliation. They cast their lots with him and to all he stands for. They have made their choice.
On a side note, what are we supposed to make of the fact that the address of the Trump Tower in Manhattan is 666 Fifth Avenue? Personally, I don’t believe in this stuff, but according to predictions in the same bible that brought us “…know them by their fruit,” The number “666” is supposed to be the sign of the beast (or maybe his street address?). After all, this anti-Christ’s arrival on the scene and his unexpected rise have been epic. Grabber of pussy, cheater on wives, grifter of grifters, manipulator of the gullible, he has attracted his devotees like fertile flies to feces. And he reinforces their blind devotion by declaring openly that his multiple indictments for various crimes are on par with the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Maybe there’s some truth in the mythology? Perhaps from a different perspective, Trump has shown up, at this time in history, to give voice to the dark underbelly of humanity, to the darkest shadow side of what our species is capable of. Perhaps he’s been sent by God to invite the dark side of humanity to come out of the closet and take a shot as becoming the new norm, despite the improbability of that outcome. Maybe it’s also real-time evidence of the predicted Apocalypse period in history, when “the curtain is lifted” on what had previously been hidden, in all aspects of life. Tyrants are exposed, justice prevails, and good finally triumphs over evil. Or does it?
Come November, Americans will be called upon to decide, individually and collectively, in the privacy of the vote, which path we are going to follow. Whose fruits we shall cultivate, and which ones will we discard as unhealthy. No longer a choice between conservative or progressive policies, or even be about Joe Biden and Donald Trump. It will be about the values by which we measure ourselves as Americans, and as human beings, both Christian and non-Christian. America will have no choice but to choose, between those values exemplified by the Christ Jesus and those embodied in the Orange Jesus. It shouldn’t be a difficult choice.