On July 29, I caught a moment of news media coverage of Donald Trump, the presidential nominee of the so-called Republican Party, at a campaign rally. I cannot call it GOP because the GOP is now the Trump Party.
The Donald thanked Christians profusely for their support and proclaimed that he too is a Christian. His self-disclosure triggered my gag reflex. He elevated himself to be viewed by his audiences as one of the “Religious, Righteous Right,” not as the blatant racist and misogynist that he truly is.
A few moments later, the newscast moved on to other coverage, and I resumed my household chores. But the vision of Trump reappeared, again, later in the evening. In my solitude and in the dusk of a warm July evening, with my eyes closed, I saw him again. I heard him again, and disgust churned my stomach again.
As I struggle to contain my outrage, I felt obligated to voice a protest for all our meek, sincere, obedient-but-misinformed, and exploited fellow citizens. I wonder how much blind faith it takes to reach a point where the believer becomes a danger to himself and others.
At that rally, Trump asked Christians to turn out to vote for him. He said that if he’s re-elected, they would not have to vote again in the next presidential election, four years later. What was he telling his audience? Was he telling them that somehow, they will be relieved, or possibly deprived, of their civic obligation of electing their government? Was he revealing a plan to eliminate elections? After all, elections are not necessary to extend the term of a dictatorship.
If that is not a threat to our democracy, then only an insurrection would qualify. But we already had that on Jan. 6, 2021.
In the 2016 election, American Christians failed to heed the warning to “Beware of false prophets” (Mathew 22:15-20). The question is: Will they repeat their error? Or as the Kingston Trio once sang, when will they ever learn?
Fred Natkevi
Oak Park