Now It’s Time to Pay Up
They’re finding the cats; they’re finding the family pets!
As it turns out, Miss Sassy, the cat at the center of the presidential debate controversy, has been found—alive and intact. Haitian immigrants did not eat the kitty. Nor, according to many Springfield, Ohio, officials, did Haitian immigrants eat any others of the city’s precious pets. But don’t let the truth stand in the way of a salacious accusation that whips up a contingent of xenophobic voters. After all, as GOP Vice Presidential candidate J.D. Vance openly admitted in a CNN interview, “If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do.”
Sadly, millions of voters and potential voters will cling to Vance’s created story—and Trump’s bellicose retelling of it to an audience of 69 million viewers—despite the contrary evidence. And their MAGA followers will use that blatantly false and racist narrative as one more—flawed—reason to cling to their MAGA messiah and his false prophet. And the assemblage that will cling to that messiah most tenaciously is white evangelicals.
Lies Evangelical Choose to Believe
The pet consumption conspiracy is just the latest in an almost endless barrage of often blatant but sometimes subtle un-retracted and un-repented tall tales swirling around the magaverse. Here are a few of them:
1. Regarding building a wall that would prevent illegal immigrants from entering the USA, Trump claimed, “I completed what I said I was going to do, much more than I said I was going to do.”
a. Not true. Of the 1,000-mile-long wall Trump promised, just 52 miles of new, primary walls were constructed. And despite his vow that Mexico would pay for the wall, not one peso was paid. Yet Trump’s faithful followers laud his effectiveness at keeping immigrants out of the country.
2. Regarding the many members of his administration who have warned against re-electing him, Trump claimed, “Some of those people I fired. Bill Barr, I fired Bill Barr. I didn’t want him.”
a. Not true. Bill Barr resigned; he was not fired. Furthermore, since resigning, Barr has criticized Trump: “You may want his policies, but Trump will not deliver Trump policies. He will deliver chaos."
b. Other former Trump administration officials who now criticize him and refuse to endorse his current candidacy include the following:
i. Former Defense Secretary James Mattis
ii. Former Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer
iii. Former White House national security adviser John Bolton
iv. Former White House chief of staff John Kelly
v. Former White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster
vi. Former Homeland Security adviser Tom Bossert
vii. Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson
And that’s just a small sampling of the dozens of people who worked closely with the former president in his administration who now oppose the man. But, according to his steadfast followers, especially white evangelicals, the critics are all wrong and Trump is right.
3. Regarding the U.S. economy during his administration: “We had the greatest economy in history. And Moody’s acknowledges that.”
a. Not true: Moody’s did not acknowledge that. As to the greatest economy in history? According to PolitiFact, “While unemployment was near historical lows under Trump, growth in gross domestic product was well below what previous presidents achieved, and other metrics such as wages and business investment ranged from decent to mediocre.”
The list of Trump lies and falsehoods could fill a library (remember, the Washington Post recorded more than 30,000 of them during his four years as president). Yet Trump’s faithful followers—especially the white evangelicals—refuse to believe anything that contradicts his assertions and declarations.
White Evangelicals are the Most “Stiff-Necked” People in the USA
According to the Hebrew prophet Jeremiah, the Israelites—God’s chosen people—were too stubborn to accept instruction: “Yet they did not listen or pay attention; they were stiff-necked and would not listen or respond to discipline” (Jeremiah 17:23). In the New Testament, a disciple named Stephen said of the Hebrew people who were about to kill him, “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors” (Acts 7:51).
Today’s white evangelical Americans—particularly those who see themselves as the “new Israel”—are now the most stiff-necked people in the country. They refuse to listen or respond to correction: Facts be damned; I will believe what I choose to believe.
True Christians should be the first to admit wrong, to repent and change direction when shown facts that contradict their dogmas. Admitting wrongdoing and changing direction is a key theme throughout the Bible (see 2 Chronicles 7:14; Proverbs 28:13; Ezekiel 18:21-23; Matthew 3:8; Acts 3:19; 2 Corinthians 7:10, and scores more). Yet Donald Trump asked, “Why do I have to repent or ask for forgiveness if I am not making mistakes?” And it seems that most of America’s white evangelicals have adopted that attitude while abandoning the biblical call to humbly admit sins and mistakes.
The Truth They’re Unwilling to Admit
I suspect many, if not most, MAGA-evangelicals deep down know Trump is a horrible person and an unrepentant conman. But after embracing Trump wholeheartedly and defending him repeatedly and essentially declaring him their pseudo messiah, admitting they were wrong would be like pulling the key load-bearing wall in their fragile house of “Christian” cards. If they were that wrong about something so important, then their “spiritual discernment” was a mere mirage. If they were duped by a self-centered, mean-spirited pretend-Christian conman, then they must admit that God does not speak to them or give them special insights. Too bad. They made their deal with the devil and now it’s time to pay up.
Unfortunately, it’s unlikely evangelicals will repent. At this point, the only hope for both American evangelical Christianity and the Republican Party is to die and be resurrected.
Meanwhile, please leave the family pets out of the political discussions.
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