There has been much online mockery of Marjorie Taylor Greene for her suggestion that the recent eclipse and earthquake (centered near Trump’s Bedminster golf course) are meant as divine signs—directed particularly at Christians—to “repent”. And of course, mockery is one appropriate sort of response. But perhaps even more effective would be to just take her at her word that that is what she actually believes. If one does that, then some obvious questions ensue, which I do not think anyone has bothered to ask her.
Since she is a Christian, she must think that God is suddenly—and rather dramatically— telling her, personally, and specifically as a Christian, to repent. But repentance can’t just be general and unspecific: in order to repent, one must identify a particular act or acts one is repenting for. So what, one may rightly ask Greene, is God directing her personally to repent for, and has she actually repented for it?
Given the timing of the eclipse and the earthquake, and the location specifically of the earthquake, and the connection (in her mind) to Christianity, here’s an obvious possibility: she should repent for her public support for an immoral, irreligious, lying fraud and sexual assaulter who has recently even been trying to profit by selling a hoked-up version of the Bible at an extortionate price (unlike, say, the Gideons who want to make it widely available for free). That is completely unprecedented in this country for a leading political candidate. That would explain the timing of these portents, and their particular salience to Christians rather neatly. Why doesn’t someone try to pin Greene down on this precise question: what, exactly, is God trying to tell you personally to repent for?
Of course, her real thought (if there is any) is that the message is not to her but to anyone who disagrees with her. But maybe if forced to directly articulate that thought publicly, it would become obvious to everyone what a sham she is.