The Immorality of Trump’s Followers
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I am a Democrat. Most of my family and friends are Republicans. Go figure. But no one I know personally calls themselves a Trump supporter — they make sure I understand they are supporters of the Republican Party. Why is this? Because a Trump supporter is not a Republican, not really. The Trump camp is its own strange fish, something born out of the underbelly of our culture, something I call anti-Christian, or maybe a better way to state it — something that defies the words and teachings of Jesus Christ.
Now, those not born into the Christian faith, and all who are, have heard the frequent “righteous” claim by Trump supporters that they adhere to Christian tenets. Nah-uh. Let’s take a look at why Trump supporters are not only neither Left nor Right politically, but exist in an alternate reality that is immoral and goes against the grain of what is life-giving in Christian scripture, and indeed life-giving in all faiths.
Trump’s own behavior is absorbed and welcomed by Trump supporters to such an extent that they follow him at rallies chanting wildly as if they are at a rock concert. Trump loves this. If you watch the rallies at all, notice what he does if the crowd seems to be quieting down. He throws out some nasty statement about another human being. His words are not just the rhetoric of political opponents — he uses dangerous words, words that incite people to violence. The crowd repeats his words, their voices merging like some negative force hitherto buried in a dark and hidden cave.
When a protest gathering occurs, an action sanctioned by our Constitution, it is intended to redress an inequity. The Founding Fathers were thinking of a protection for the people — all the people — when they added that into that extraordinary and historic document. They had experienced the tyranny of despotism in Europe and knew its dangers. Civil protest is their gift to us across the centuries.
Mob violence is not civil protest. Mob violence is a Trump rally.
Now, some of the people in the Republican Party, and for all I know, in the Democratic Party, do see any resistance to their political position as a threat and declare the people carrying out a protest to be a “mob.” Mitch McConnell loves doing this, but he is not really able to carry off the claim. He is using it as…
