Hey Conservative Christians: Still Think God Works in Mysterious Ways?
Trump and His Christofascist Followers Are Singlehandedly Stopped by a Porn Star. How Divine.
I grew up a die-hard evangelical Christian. I went to church camps every summer. I attended See You at the Pole. I chose a conservative Christian college where I had a curfew and gender-segregated dorms. Sexual purity was pushed hard in the mid-90s to early 2000s, which meant that girls as young as 10 or 11 years old had our clothing policed by male elders of our Christian communities. If our shoulders showed or our shorts were too short, it might inspire lust.
No one thought to question whether or not the men who lusted after our prepubescent knobby knees or shoulders were the problem. Our job was to keep our brethren from “stumbling.”
This was an enormous responsibility for preteen Tiffany, but I took my job seriously.
So imagine my shock and appall decades later when those same spiritual leaders who outlawed spaghetti straps decided to throw their political support behind a man with a long lascivious sexual history, including well documented rapes, sexual assaults, and affairs. All of a sudden the same pastors who had SO much to say about sexual purity began writing stuff like this:
“Trump could prove the Lord works in mysterious ways”
Then it hit me — the revelation. What if Trump is part of God’s plan?
The Bible itself says the Lord works in mysterious ways.
There are numerous examples of God choosing people who, shall we say, do not fit the mold of people we might select to do His work here on Earth. David, a man after God’s own heart, was not exactly free of sin.
That was articulated by David Henry of the Amarillo Global News, but believe me when I say this sentiment became rife throughout evangelical culture. King David was their favorite comparison. They argue that like David, Trump is simply an imperfect servant of God whose foibles did not disqualify his leadership. To them Trump is a useful tool to expand Christian influence throughout the world.
That’s right. I’m telling you that with a straight face, evangelical Christians repeated over and over and over again that Trump was the man God chose to advance his dominion. It hasn’t exactly worked out that way. A recent Pew study notes that evangelicals in the United States are viewed more negatively than other comparable faith groups. Since Trump’s 2016 election, American evangelical churches have hemorrhaged members, which has ballooned the number of religious “nones,” or people who check the word none when asked about their religious affiliation. These are atheists, agnostics, or the unaffiliated. At 28 percent, this is now the largest faith cohort.
Nevertheless, Trump supporters have double down this election season, continuing to claim that God “anointed” Trump specifically to save America.
“God uses imperfect people for his perfect work,” one MAGA follower told the Los Angeles Times.
In that spirit, God is truly a mastermind to send a porn star to tempt Trump to cheat on his pregnant wife. And then God must have forced Trump to violate campaign finance restrictions to pay off the porn star to keep quiet so he could fool all of you and win an election, despite the fact that doing so broke 34 laws.
We mere humans could never have scripted this.
I can see their point. God truly works in mysterious ways.
Onward Democracy Defenders!