Christianity and Trumpism
By Lavonn Brown
What is the Christian to think or do about the personal life and policies of President Donald Trump? Pray for him? Yes. Wish him well? Within limits. Be aware of his dishonesty, narcissism, hedonism, misogyny, racism, and lack of compassion? With frustration, to be sure.
While working on this article I was reading (again) Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment and came across this description of one of his countrymen from the mid-1800s:
“(He) had made his way up from insignificance, was morbidly given to self-admiration, had the highest opinion of his intelligence and capacities, and sometimes even gloated in solitude over his image in the glass. But what he loved and valued above all was the money he had amassed by his labour, and all sorts of devices: that money made him equal of all who had been his superiors.”
So we are not dealing with a new problem.
Perhaps an illustration will help. Recently Trump, in speaking to a Minnesota rally (June 2018) said,
“Other people are called the Elite . . . the Elite.
When I have a much better apartment.
I’m richer than they are.
I’m smarter than they are.
I became president and they didn’t.”
Further examples were gleaned from the book The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, edited by
Brandy Lee (pp. 25-47). This book is based on the observations of 27 psychiatrists and mental health experts. The general conclusion is that Trump is “an unbridled, or extreme present hedonist” (p. 27).
Consider the following direct quotes of Trump’s estimation of himself.
“I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally” (Twitter Nov 27, 2016).
“When you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything” (Washington Post, Oct 2016).
“My motto is hire the best people, and don’t trust them” (Think Big, 2007).
“I’m like a really smart person” (Interview July 11, 2015).
“It’s very hard for them to attack me on my looks, because I’m so good looking” (Meet the Press Aug 7, 2015).
“I’m speaking with myself, number one, because I have a very great brain . . . my primary Consultant is myself”. (Interview, Mar 16, 2016).
“I alone can fix it” (Republican Convention, (July, 2016).
“I’m going to bomb the s…. out of them” (Fort Dodge Rally, Nov 13, 2011)
Finally, while discussing tyrants Elizabeth Mika says, “Tyrants identify with other tyrants and find Inspiration in their successes . . . they recognize and respect power . . . “ (p. 304).
The Christian is left with the responsibility of weighing all these observations in the light of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Thus, our frustration!
Although its authorship is uncertain, the following truth has been widely quoted, “America is great because she is good, and if she ceases to be good, she will cease to be great” (quoted by Eisenhower, Buchanan, Reagan, Clinton, etc.).
This sounds like the America I grew up in. It could have been written by a farmer, rancher, butcher, baker, candlestick maker. Wisdom literature put it this way, “Righteousness (being and doing right) exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Prov. 14:34).
Lavonn D. Brown is Minister Emeritus of First Baptist Church in Norman, Oklahoma
