Disclosure: I’d never heard of Johnny Enlow before this morning—much to my good fortune. I’m not sorry that regarding the wacky topic of Pastor Johnny Enlow, I’m a Johnny Come Lately. The man merges two of the zaniest tributaries of evangelical Christianity—Pentecostalism and Dominionism—into a turbulent torrent of insanity.
For those not familiar with the terms listed above, Pentecostalism is a branch of evangelical Christianity that believes in modern miracles such as divine healings as being commonplace, and in the daffy practice of “speaking in tongues,” a weird babbling that makes no sense. Dominionists, meanwhile, believe it’s their duty to Christianize their community and their country to the point that the entire nation is ruled by Christians and is made to follow Bible-based laws.
Oh, and one more thing Pentecostals believe: God speaks to them directly through dreams and visions. And that brings us back to Johnny Enlow and “a vision” God gave him in 2019. Enlow says that in that vision God showed him Donald Trump atop a mountain, sitting triumphant astride a Triumph motorcycle, and wearing a red-white-and-blue headband.
Now please wipe those tears of hysterical laughter from your eyes and read on. Yes, I know Donald Trump would soil himself if he were even to try to straddle a bulky motorcycle. Enlow’s vision is as preposterous as the notion of seeing a First Lady of the United States posing nude for a photo shoot. Uh, perhaps that wasn’t the best analogy.
“He [Trump] is going to save you from things you don’t know you need to be saved from yet."
Anyway, what do you imagine was the message God gave Enlow as he watched the vision unfold before him? Here it is in Enlow’s own words: “He [Trump] is going to save you from things you don’t know you need to be saved from yet. … His time in the presidency will be a hinge for the ages. History will be known as Before Trump and After Trump, because of the way I [God] am going to use him.” Enlow goes on to explain that God said the vote doesn’t matter; He will directly intervene to ensure that Trump wins. Then, no more B.C. and A.D. Instead, from then forward, human history would be divided by the Trump era, B.T. and A.T.
If that thought didn’t turn your tears of laughter into shivers of fear, you missed the implication of Enlow’s “vision.” Despite Trump’s loss at the election polls, to Enlow and millions of other duped white evangelicals, Donald Trump is God’s Chosen One, their new messiah. They cannot give up on him. That’s why thousands of true believers broke into the Capitol building, many of them intent on murdering lawmakers who failed to toe the Trump line.
This is cultism at its worst. Yes, it’s crazy. However crazy and dangerous are not mutually exclusive traits, as Donald Trump proved over the last four years to the 60 percent of the nation who passed on the Kool Aid. But, as I wrote before, the lunatic element within that remaining 40 percent—likely a few million deluded souls—tend to be well-armed and itching for conflict. Add that fact to their fanaticism and the sane people of the world have a real reason for alarm.