I wonder … Is there truly concern that people in America are not going to know God?

That is again the reasoning many Christians give for backing Donald Trump. With the election just fifteen days away, Trump’s supporters from religion endorse him as the candidate who not only represents the ideals of Christ, but who was chosen by God to lead America.

It is claimed that without him and the GOP, we will eventually become a godless nation. With him and the GOP, we will “return” to God.

There are innumerable examples of Trump’s behaviors and words to refute that God would choose a human like him to lead our nation, but let’s keep it simple: let’s look only at the alleged need for our nation to be “saved” for God by Trump and his supporters.

Does the amalgam of conservative, Bible-based churches and conservative, Republican-party activism truly care that people today and in the future are not going to know God?

Or, if people are honest, is the real concern that the world has changed, and the social order of the mid-20th-century is lost? Was the white-male-dominant past better, when punitive measures and theologies could achieve subjugation of less powerful people to their wills?

Could that be why a branch of Christianity is doubling down on legalism, proselytizing, and a theology of a punitive God? – to get their power back? And for those who acquired power during his term, could it be that they got a taste of it, loved it, and don’t want to relinquish it?

I suppose power is an attractive thing in the eyes of those people, but is it a good thing in the eyes of God? They know their Bibles when they pull scriptures to justify themselves and condemn others; they know what God says about that kind of power. Do they care about that? Do they care about Him?

Religious affiliation does not equate to pleasing God. From the same Bible that people select scriptures to justify self-righteous theologies, is this, from Jesus:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”

Speaking of the Bible, when did the scripture, “God so love the world …” get changed to “God so loved the USA … “? When did we elevate patriotism to equal stature as God? Isn’t that the definition of idolatry?

Could it be that “outsiders” look at religious Christians who claim to represent God, and their condemning, rejecting, hypocritical, and oppressive attitudes are what caused their flight from the Church?

For those who might have shown interest, did they arrive to open doors, or did they arrive to literal and metaphorical bouncers, judging them as unfit to enter?

If they were allowed to enter, were they immediately taken on as a project by those inside, to transform them to the culture of that church? Did people take over God’s role to do the transforming; to “cleanse and make each person whole”? Is God allowed to free them from captivity, or do religious zealots actually compete with God, and push him aside in order to keep people ensnared?

Are the people who flee those kinds of churches able to separate God from the people who claim to represent him?

If not, who is to blame for their resultant aversion to anything of God? – Let’s be honest. It’s far too often the people inside.

Song credit and purchase information: “I Won’t Sing Here Anymore” from the release by Koonce-Ross-Fraser entitled “New American Blues”. Nine tracks available on Bandcamp.com for individual tracks or the entire CD: https://marvrindyrossquarterflash.bandcamp.com/album/new-american-blues.

‘I Won’t Sing Here Anymore’ © 2019 Marvin Webster Ross (ASCAP) Narrow Dude Music