Apologia pro Trump, or, three blasts of the Donald contra mundo: The flesh, the world and the devil!

Contra Mundo!

“They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.” 1 John 4:5

“These that have turned the world upside down…”Acts, 17:6

It seems that all the world, from the Pope to the Pakistanis, from the DNC to the RNC, hates Donald Trump, indeed everyone (with the exception of those millions of Americans who have had the honor of voting for him) delights in reviling him.  I am not saying that the Donald might not be wrong, but can we be totally sure that the world is right?  By “the world” I don’t mean the universe or the planet Earth.  I have inquired of these what they thought of Donald Trump and their answer was a judicious silence.  Rather, let’s denominate as “the world” the same which the New Testament calls the kosmos, or Ibn Rushid termed the “world-soul”…that thinking, chattering, web of human minds which surrounds the biosphere like a luminous glove.  It is that world which is one third of the famous trio who’s other parts consist of the flesh and the devil.  Therefore we ought to take spiritual council, lest in being anti-Trump (or rather, pro-Mundo) we find ourselves in bad company.

Do I hear an “Amen”? Good!  Then let me  proceed with a brief three point lay sermon on why it behooves all Americans, and Christians in particular, to patiently consider the merits of Mr. Trump.

Point One: The Flesh, or “Behold the Man”

“…and I will give you an heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26

To the hardened Trump hater, the Donald might seem to be the epitome of the carnal-minded man, yet we are told to not to hasten to judgment, and moreover be as innocent as doves and as wise as serpents.   Therefore, let us pause for a moment of discernment.  Is Trump a man on a white horse?  Heaven forbid!  He is just his old self, in and out of season.  Not enough brains?  Well yes, he only has one, not two, or more as the case may be.  Doesn’t the apostle James inveigh against the “double minded man” in his epistle?  So, hail Donald the single-minded!  His may be a carnal mind, but at least it hasn’t multiplied at the rate of the “talking heads” in the media or the man-pleasing apparatus-operatives of the political class, who are unlikely to be exorcised until a few thousand pigs can be coaxed into jumping off a cliff as their mental proxies.

So let it be resolved that Donald Trump is a man.  Perhaps a sinful man, perhaps a carnal man, perhaps not the kind of person one would want to have as one’s best friend forever…but at least nothing worse than a man.  There is no stifling atmosphere surrounding the Donald, even in the dreams of his worst haters, which gives one a shudder of reptilian horror.  He is quite mammalian, perhaps too much so.   So, having established the presumption that Donald Trump is a human being, and leaving the question of his sainthood or otherwise out of the discussion, do not Christians owe him the same charitable consideration that is due to all sons of Adam?

Furthermore, even the scriptures are not unequivocal in their condemnation of “the flesh”…rather what they abominate is “strange flesh.”  What is singularly ominous about our epoch is that flesh has become metal, and we march to the beat of the machine.  Machine politics is no longer a metaphor, and the machine increasingly summons a straggling humanity to a perfection which ill suits our species.  When the very definition of politics is altered from “the art of compromise” to “correctness” tyranny is at the door, and the strange flesh of the machine has advanced to harden the human heart.  Yet we recall that God loves the worst human being more than the highest angel, and take delight in our flaws.

Yes, Trump is human, but is he “all too human”?  It depends on which side of the uncanny valley you view the matter.

Point Two: The World, or Globalism

“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” Exodus 20:26

Although war, peace, trade, the economy, and immigration are alternatively considered the top issues in this election, they might best be reduced to the following debating point “Should, or should not, the United States of America be abolished?”  I think that formula captures the spirit of our historical moment best.  Granted, it is a rather narrow point, since what confronts today’s world is more than just a transfer of sovereignty on the north American continent.  So let’s make two hundred iterations of the point, going down the list of erstwhile national “sovereign” states.  Hence, “Should, or should not Albania…ditto, ditto, ditto….to… Zambia be abolished.”  In other world, should the world of nation-states be abolished in favor of…well, whatever.

Baldly stated, its an exciting question and one which should be approached without prejudice.  Your anarchist, your Christian libertarian, and your Fifth Monarchy Man will no doubt think it is a jolly good idea.  However we aren’t quite there yet.  Getting back to Mr. Trump, or perhaps the movement which he spearheads, the question is more like, “Should, or should not, the United States of America be abolished without referendum?”  That final clause is the spoiler, and even the hardened anti-nationalist will feel  a twinge of remorse at the formula “Ay!  The United States of America should be abolished through stealth!”

Anarchism or none, stealth is a form of deceit, a violation of both the ninth Amendment and the ninth Commandment.

Trump is a surprising fellow, and he might even turn post-American on us some day.  However, one thing is certain, he will insist on a great deal of negotiation, above the table, before hauling down the old flag.  Bad as he may be, he is no double-dealer, contract-evader, covenant-denier, or oath-breaker.  He’s not what the Anglo-Saxons called a “warlock.”

 

Point Three: The Devil, or the Tyranny of Bad Intentions

“…that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which altereth  not.” Daniel 6:8

Which brings us to last things, or what theologians call eschatology.  In other words, 1)Who is in control here and 2)where are we headed?  Christians typically divide up on the latter point.  There are wide variety of eschatological schools, from future-oriented pre-tribulational rapture enthusiasts to staid and history-minded preterists.  However all Christians agree  on the answer to the first point, for it is God, in his sovereign will, who our faith tells us is ultimately in control.

What does all this have to do with Donald Trump, who has probably never had an eschatological thought in his whole life?  Seemingly nothing at all, at least directly, but for the “mundo” i.e., for that world which is a “world-against-Trump,” quite a bit.  What could possibly motivate the unprecedented and near unanimous hostility towards a public figure?  His hair?  His remarriage?  His wealth?  Surely everyone knows that bad hair, adultery, and riches have never been obstacles to popularity in the corridors of opinion, power, information, and entertainment?

The clue is that not everybody agrees on the first point mentioned above.  You and me and Donald Trump all see ourselves as being carried along on the river of time.  We are not completely at the mercy of the current, since we can move our raft back and forth with some degree of freedom, and with a little effort and help from God (or the horoscope, or lady Fortune, etc. in the case of non-theists) we can manage not to sink.  As the Donald might put it, we can “negotiate.”

Yet there are some on this planet who do not share this bucolic view of time.  They see themselves outside and above the current of history.  The future has already been devised according to their intentions and thus written on tablets of jade, such as the laws of the ancient Medes and Persians.  Whether these intentions be good or bad, and whether they be to everyone’s benefit or to the profit of the few is of no moment.  Transcendence is the thing!

The implacable hatred of Mr. Trump indicates that there is something about his movement which threatens to unbind the chains which have been so meticulously woven around the future.  Perhaps he is on the verge of cutting some Gordian knot, the releasing from which will deliver us, if not into a promised land, at least back to the land of freedom and individual responsibility which was once considered the birthright of all Americans.  Yet while this policy might be good for us ordinary mortals, what greater disaster could befall the gods, than to know that they are not gods?

Those of us who already knew that the gods were not gods, need not make a god of Mr. Trump either.  None the less, we ought to at least be grateful to him for clarifying the situation, and for giving America a splendid opportunity, an opportunity which, if not grasped, is not likely to be offered again.  Note that I have not praised Mr. Trump.  I have not claimed that he is saintly or that he is God’s anointed.  Some people, no doubt with greater spiritual discernment than myself, do make such claims.  Rather, elaborating on information which is already well known, I have just tried to show the situation as it stands.  To be sure, Christians need not  “stump for Trump” if that violates their conscience, but I think I’ve given some suggestions for rethinking any such conscientious objections.

As for the “never Trump” crowd, all I can offer is Gamaliel’s advice.  If this movement is outside of the divine will, then it shall come to nothing, and can be safely ignored, but if one opposes it, then make sure … lest one be found fighting against God.