How Fear And Paranoia Is Contributing To The Decline of the Church Part 2
When Fear And Paranoia Reign Supreme
Part two of this blog piece has actually been sitting un-published for about two months now (It was started on September 6). I haven't published it, not out of hesitation, but more like waiting for the appropriate time. Recently, there was a bomb scare where pipe-bombs were mailed to prominent Democrats and Trump critics. And only a few days earlier, there was a very unfortunate shooting at a Jewish Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania left 11 dead. This is when people embrace rhetoric as the gospel and let fear and paranoia take over.
The recent events reinforces the idea that fear and paranoia not based on reality and driving hate is causing people to carry out acts horrific acts of violence. One day, innocent people died because they became victims to someone who believed that they shouldn't exist based on ethic prejudiced, and was probably driven by conspiracy theories.
This is why I hate conspiracy theories. There is nothing to validated them, and those that embrace them will carry it out to try to prevent the imaginary disaster from taking place. People die in the process. This is what happens when fear and paranoia reign supreme.
For many, they justify there hate as if there doing a service for Christianity and Jesus. Many believe that Jesus wants revenge on the Jews for nailing him to the cross. They embrace the idea that Jesus wants there blood. This is one of the most absurd statements I've ever heard. Within the Christian Faith, it's taught that Jesus had to die for our sins, regardless of the party who nailed him to the cross. The act had to be carried out for salvation. He died for our sins. As a result, one could say that we nailed him there and we were responsible for his pain on the cross. It wasn't the Jews that killed him. We did with our sins.
Others will justify there crimes against them because they just don't like them. Religious views are irrelevant. Many of these are White-Supremacist who see those of Jewish Ethnicity as racially inferior to them. One of the reasons why the term Nationalism is a hostile term is because it's generally combined with racial tendencies to promote hate against those that don't "conform" to the "culture" of the group.A nation's culture that's defined by a persons race or skin color. Many will see there crimes as a crusade to defend the "white race" (whatever that means). Many will see justification for there violent actions.
For White-Supremacist, "protecting culture" is a dog-whistle term for preserving "white" culture. A dog-whistle phrase is a term that carries hidden connotations in certain ears. A term that when confronted, the person will deny (hence, a dog-whistle, as it can only be heard at certain frequencies).
White-Supremacist, along with Anti-Semantics, will embrace the conspiracy theories surrounding George Soros, who is Jewish, is secretly running the world. Many believed the theories that Obama wanted to open the borders of the country to flood out the "white race" (despite the fact that Obama had the strictest border enforcement of any President to that point, including Bush 2nd, and deported more undocumented immigrants than any other President to date.). They will see any violent action that they carry out as justified.
In my opinion, many American Christians view Trump as a divine character that has Messianic attributes. They believe that he can't do no wrong, and everything is does is perfect. Those who are against Trump are against Jesus, as Trump is the modern incarnation of him. For this reason, many feel that he is beyond criticism and he's perfect. If there's problems, it's everybody else's fault. There is no objective thoughts here. One side is right, the other is wrong. Even though there is a lot more than what meets the eye, things are black-and-white because Trump isn't wrong. Because many view Trump in a divine light, they feel they can take anything he says as the gospel truth, because he won't lie or manipulate them. They can take his claims at face value and not question him.
This opens a Pandora's Box as Trump now has the liberty to say anything to his hearts content, and his followers will eat it up without question. He can tell them that the Democrats wants to take away your guns, send you, repeal the Second Amendment, and send you to concentration camps, (Democrats believe in stricter gun regulation, but they still believe in private gun ownership and the Second Amendment) and can get away with it without impunity. He can declare that Democrats are out to destroy Christianity (There isn't anything stopping anyone from going out and practicing there faith, and the Democrats are strong believers of religious freedom, despite what Conservative Christians say. This is pure rhetoric).People will buy into the rhetoric that the Democrats want to open up the borders and flood the country (They're no fans of ICE and want to see it abolished, but the responsibilities of ICE would be absorbed into another agency, which debunks the myth that they support open borders, not to mention that there is no support to disband the other border agencies as well).
As a result, the vast majority of claims are either false and based on stereotypes and perceived biases. Can anyone point me to the parts of the Democratic Party Doctrine where they embrace genocide. For the record, I'm not a fan of the Democrat Party by any means, but even I feel compelled to defend them when people make serious claims and present empty blanket statements without providing evidence or support to back up there claims.
Even though I've debunked these false claims, many will embrace them as fact without research. Not only that, many will become so vigilante about these claims that they think that they have to carry out acts of violence to prevent the perceived boogieman from getting them. Spreading fake news, claims, and empty rhetoric, while promoting conspiracy theories, have very real consequences.
The bomber felt that he had to carry out the bombing because "they" were after him. "They" is a another dog-whistle term. For many Conservative Christians, "they" is a euphemism for Democrat. He brought into the fears that Trump promoted. Trump's fear-mongering and carving out boogie-men was a driving force for these attempted bombings.
There is something deeper though at issue. Many Conservative Christians brought into the fear that he promoted. They embraced the us-vs.-them mentality. They won't researcher the claims made by Trump and will take them at face value. In fact, they might even promote some of these ideas. A environment that is suppose to be politically agnostic will unnecessarily turn into a heated battleground because will embrace embrace there stereotypes and preconceived biases as the truth, and promote it as such. Preachers nationwide will use vague blanket statements, making one side look righteous while the other as disgusting as possible. Despite the fact of corruption in both parties, one party will be painted in the divine light. Many spiritual leaders will paint the whole Democrat Party as anti-corporate, Marxist lovers based on near-nonexistent, fringe groupies that don't have a actual voice on the political side in questions.
Many will listen to what they say, and take at it face-value without question, because many have been taught to take the words of a spiritual leader without question, because they won't lie or manipulate them. As such, those will see the fears promoted a real, and will run with it. Fear-mongering will be promoted.
Spreading fears that have no basis in reality have very real consequences. What is the biggest danger facing this country? This is a very simple question actually. If you want to find this danger, then go into a room with a mirror in and one will find that person in the reflection. Anyone who lives by paranoia and fear are there own worst enemy, and those that suffer are the ones nearby.
Nothing good comes when religion and politics are mixed together. When Trump is elevated on a high moral platform, it condones and ignores all of his moral shortcomings. Also, it paints the picture that a political party that is full of corruption and moral/ethical shortcomings as this righteous party of God. When one mixes religion and politics together it it gives Trump Messianic attributes, as Trump becomes the object of worship, and not Jesus. Jesus becomes a footnote in the shadow of Trump.
As a Christian, we should stand up for our faith. However, can anyone find that Bible Verse that declared how Trump and the Republican Party died on the cross for my sins. Trump, and political parties in general, aren't a part of that Christian worship as they are non-religious entities, even though one party is wrongly perceived as such. Jesus died for my sins, Trump didn't. Religious post should be glorifying Jesus, not Trump.
We shouldn't treat the worship of Christianity and Trump as one and the same, as Trump shouldn't even be a object of religious worship in the first place. When he's elevated on a high moral platform, it gives the perceived appearance that he is a divine entity that can do no wrong, even though he's a human full of faults. Images of Trump that show him as a divine entity elevate him to God-like status of worship.
In the 1990's, Conservative Christians were ready to crucify Bill Clinton for his acts of sexual misconduct. This painted the picture of the Republican Party as the upholder of righteousness and morals. A issue came up though. Some who also had a long history of sexual misconduct is now within the ranks. How do the supporters deal with this perceived contradiction. It's quite simple actually. Many will declare that the acts of sexual misconduct are lies spread by the "liberal media". He is elevated on a high moral platform, despite his long history of moral shortcomings and sexual misconduct (I guess he's a Greek god), which in most cases, have been confirmed. They believe that they never occurred, which makes it easier to condemn Bill Clinton while ignoring Trump. This is Whataboutism taken to a whole new level.
Others acknowledge his acts of sexual misconduct, declaring that he's not perfect. He need to hate the sin and not the sinner. Fair enough. As a Christian believer myself, I feel that the sin needs to be recognized without condemning the sinner. They state that Trump is a good person at heart. One thing bothers me though. They didn't do this for Clinton, and they made his life a living hell for his actions. Many of the prominent preachers of today were around in the 1990's. It's very hypocritical to condemn one person's vices, while ignoring another person's altogether because "he's on the team". Franklin Graham stated that Trump's affairs were private. However, he didn't say the same for Clinton, who felt that he needed to be exposed at all times for all to see.
What's troubling is that it's a job of a spiritual leader to
be politically agnostic, but yet, Franklin Graham has become a
mouthpiece for the Trump Administration. Counting on sound, spiritual
advice would be non-existent as those views will be very biased and
potentially be tainted by the pursuit of political control, while
forgetting spiritual outreach in the process, which is the reason why
the Christian Ministry exist.
This reinforces the idea that politics and religion need to be separate from one another and shouldn't. Within the church setting, the worship of God and Jesus is replaced with the worship of political parties. This is the equivalent of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego worshiping the Golden Statue of Nebuchadnezzar in the book of Daniel. We are not called to worship golden statures, but God. So why is this ignored?
As Christians, we need to stand up for our beliefs. However, the Christian Right painted the picture that there "interpretation" of Christianity (which is worship of the Republican Party and Trump as religious deities) as the only interpretation of Christianity, and if you don't suffer for them, then your not with Christ.
One thing that has be be noted is that people are very devout. However, multiple god's have taken the place of many: Google and Apple, Facebook, the Democrat and Republican Parties, Trump, etc. Religion and Politics needs to be kept separate.
For centuries, the ideas of Revelation were there just. It was acknowledge, and people accepted it, but they weren't consumed by it. There have been occasional peaks of interest over the centuries. The modern obsessions with Revelation though is a very recent occurrence. The typical mainstream interpretations that Christians went by for centuries were thrown out the window to make new interpretations that were much more sensationalist in nature. People became much more obsessed with the "End Times".
I think the us-vs.-them mentality of modern American Christianity is driving this obsession. In my personal opinion, I feel that Conservative Christians are obsessed with Revelation now because they feel that it validates there beliefs and perceived grievances. The perceived loss of political privileged. They're being placed on a equal civic footing with other religions. The Christian Right feel that they're being persecuted because they don't have perceived political control. They place there grievances on equal footing to those who actually suffered and died recently at the hands of ISIS for there beliefs in the Middle East.
For whatever reason, they clamor to Revelation now. These ideas though have always been persistent. Every generation thinks that there's is the worse. For some reason, the song "We Didn't Start The Fire", by Billy Joel is playing in my head right now.
Blind evangelical support for Trump is theological malpractice
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