—
There are some within the Christian right who believe our current president was chosen by God to usher in a new, Christian American theocracy and to ring in the Apocalypse and Second Coming. This is actually true.
It apparently doesn’t matter that our president spends an inordinate number of Sundays on the links at his golf club in Florida rather than in a church pew, or that he has an alleged penchant for adultery with adult entertainers. He has received the Christian political right’s blessing in the form of a sanctified mulligan, a holy do-over in the name of their Almighty. Amen. (There are, of course, many Christians who do not carry these views. I’m referring to those who conform to a more black and white, simplistic Apocalyptic theology, as held by many in power today).
These fundamentalists have faith that God is actively working through our president, despite his moral malleability. This was recently evidenced by the great reviews he received from many Christian patriarchs. It was said by one patriarch that he earned “political immortality” the day he ordered the move of the United States embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. This move is seen by some of the Christian political right as a sign we’re getting closer to the main event…the Biblical climax of Armageddon and the end times.
Besides setting the stage for the Apocalypse, the broader agenda of the Christian political right seems to circle around saving our country from greasy-haired, freedom-loving poets and artists, socialist democrats, immigrants, empowered, witchy women, women who want to control over their own bodies, and the sexually liberated. They are relying on this current president to create a Christian society regulated by a two-dimensional morality and a worldview that empowers the patriarchy and male dominion, Earth exploitation, third world exploitation. The morbidly wealthy and the unfolding of Biblical prophecy. It sounds silly, but these folks have a lot of influence to redefine our nation in their Biblical fundamentalist image. And they are doing so and will continue if we don’t pay attention and act.
As one firmly on the path of spiritual ambiguity, I have some issues around those old (white) men trying to douse the creative, passionate, erotic, and psychedelic flames of our wondrous, multi-faceted country in a blanket of their contrived, beige, and moldy righteousness, devoid of any light-heartedness or humor. I am not interested in their Christian version of Sharia Law.
But maybe those on the religious right are not too far off the mark with their assessment that our president has been chosen for something important. Though I don’t believe it’s about ushering in a thousand-year Christian cookie cutter Kingdom or legislating forced, oversimplified, Christian virtues.
Between the crazy acceleration of our technological advances, our imploding ecology, and the rising hatred, divisiveness, and bigotry in the world, it feels like we are careening off track into some unruly chaos. Imagine a little kid stealing his father’s truck for a joy ride and stepping on the gas while losing the grip of his tiny fingers on the wheel. Many of us are having a hard time just hanging on, and we’re seeking relief from life’s travails with medication and mindless distraction. (The average American television viewer has access to almost 200 channels.)
But some of us seem to be stirring. We are beginning to realize how dangerous it is to not pay attention to what our leaders are up to. And perhaps this is what the Trumpian chaos is all about. Perhaps our collective consciousness, or human spirit or God or whatever Great Mystery is responsible for Creation, is responding to our species’ need to urgently and consciously evolve ourselves.
We are so out of alignment with life on Earth that we are actually threatening our own existence. And what better way to force a mass evolution than to create the perfect mirror for all of us to see how far out of harmony with life we have strayed. Maybe the Trump presidency isn’t about the unfolding of a prophetic Christian dynasty, but rather the saving of humanity by showing us how insane and dangerous these current, dogmatic worldviews are. The Trump presidency is a perfect mirror, reflecting back the extent that we have normalized crazy and exalted ignorance.
When we allow others to dictate our worldviews, we become their willing victims, and we will suffer. This is a clear message of the current presidency. When we empower ourselves to create our own worldviews, ones balanced with the natural laws of Earth and life, then we will know peace, and life will be better for everybody.
Although I make no rigid claims about how life is and should be, one thing I have learned in over a half-century of living is that things work out better when I act from love. Love seems to be a natural law for us humans to thrive by. Love should be at the core of any worldview worthy of us. And a mindful opening up to love could very well be our next evolutionary phase if we want it to be. Maybe this is what that elaborately coiffed Trickster was sent here to do…remind us to love. How about that for an alternative fact?
Love is mentioned often in that Good Book referenced by the fans of Armageddon. Here is just one beautiful example from 1 John 4:16: And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
God is love. If we, as a people, just chose those three words for our soul’s navigation, and put the rest of the book on a high shelf for a while, far out of reach for a generation or two, how might the world be then?
Could this idea of love become a north star for an evolutionary uptick for us as a species? Can love be the next measurement for success, replacing the current model of success, measured by power and wealth? Wouldn’t it be grand if it were so?
I am grateful that we live in a democracy. The idea of a theocracy is scary stuff indeed. I don’t want some old, shallow-minded (white) man to be my moral compass, to take on the role of Big Christian Brother. And if you don’t want that either, then pay attention, become the evolution, be love…and vote.
Does love trump hate? You bet it does.
—
◊♦◊
What’s your take on what you just read? Comment below or write a response and submit to us your own point of view at the red box, below, which links to our submissions portal.
◊♦◊
Are you a first-time contributor to The Good Men Project? Submit here:
◊♦◊
Have you contributed before and have a Submittable account? Use our Quick Submit link here:
◊♦◊
Do you have previously published work that you would like to syndicate on The Good Men Project? Click here:
◊♦◊
Got Writer’s Block?
Sign up for our Writing Prompts email to receive writing inspiration in your inbox twice per week.
♦◊♦
We are a participatory media company. Join us.
Participate with the rest of the world, with the things your write and the things you say, and help co-create the world you want to live in.
If you believe in the work we are doing here at The Good Men Project, please join us as a Premium Member, today.
All Premium Members get to view The Good Men Project with NO ADS.
A $50 annual membership gives you an all-access pass. You can be a part of every call, group, class, and community.
A $25 annual membership gives you access to one class, one Social Interest group, and our online communities.
A $12 annual membership gives you access to our Friday calls with the publisher, our online community.