Last week my mind was on the Super Bowl, when out of the blue a friend asked me: Is Trump the Antichrist?
Seriously?!
Yes.
Look, I know he’s unfit for office. I know a team of psychologists determined he’s a paranoid narcissist and an antisocial sadist. I watched Unfit: The Psychology of Donald Trump. But I’m wondering whether there might be more to his personality—something deeper, darker, more mythical, more biblical.
So, is Trump the Antichrist?
I don’t think so. But evangelicals do.
Really?
Yes, indeed.
Most people don’t know about that abominable figure, but evangelicals do. They know Trump matches the profile, and apparently they’re keeping it to themselves.
According to Biblical prophecy, the Antichrist (whose number is 666) will appear before the end of time and wreak havoc. Over the past 2000 years numerous candidates have been identified, including Nero (the letters in his Latin name convert to 666), Pope Leo X (the arch foe of Protestant reformer Martin Luther), Hitler (another name-to-number 666 thing), JFK (received 666 votes at the Democratic convention in 1960), and Ronald Wilson Reagan (each of his three names is six letters, hence 666.)
By the way, Trump’s Jewish son-in-law, Jared Kushner, was probably considered a candidate for Antichrist after he purchased 666 Fifth Avenue.
Interesting. But is TRUMP the Antichrist?
Actually, I don’t believe “Antichrist” is a person per se. I believe as Carl Jung did that “Antichrist” is a universal archetype within our personal and national unconscious, a shadow self.
Evangelicals don’t.
Evangelicals believe Antichrist is a person, a mashup of several biblical figures—“the evil one” (Daniel 8), the “man of lawlessness” (I Thessalonians 2), and “the Beast from the abyss” (Revelation 11). I was raised evangelical so I know the profile.
The Antichrist
• arises from obscurity to great popularity and fame.
• is the polar opposite (hence, anti) of what society considers good as symbolized by the archetypical Christ virtues such as compassion, hospitality, forgiveness, and humility.
• deceives the world with lies, “even the elect.”
• claims he alone, “the chosen one,” can bring peace and prosperity to the world.
• flouts morality and the law.
• persecutes and eliminates opponents.
• suffers a mortal wound but recovers and returns to power, amazing the whole world.
Alas, my friend, evangelicals happen to know that Trump is the Antichrist.
Will they still vote for him?
Is Fifth Avenue still in New York City?
_______________________
See Paula’s “Love Sweeps In” on the home page.
Too many voters, evangelical or not, are blindly following the whims and ravings of their “Orange Savior”, a pathological narcissist, and a compulsive, serial prevaricator. Why? Because it all is about entertainment. The “Orange Savior” is, at his core, an entertainer, who wants to return his brand to the center stage of a “White House: Reality Redux”. His repertoire is limited, consisting of a repeated narrative of “I alone can fix it”, the mantra of any authoritarian. American democracy has reached another fork in the road, a place where we’ve found ourselves before. The decision is ours. The choices are clear. One path leads to continuing our great experiment in democracy based on the ballot box will of “We the People”. The other is the path to autocracy. In other words, government for the few, by the few, for the enrichment of even fewer. At best, only 50 percent of the eligible voting public casts a ballot during a presidential election that does garner more attention than any state or local contests. The choice is ours. Which way will we have it? It’s all is finally up to us. Forget all of the Anti-Christ ravings. That’s simply one more red herring, a distraction that only adds to confusion.
What is most troubling is that for many on the right the definition of the Christ and of Christianity itself has changed so dramatically.
Also, I have read (source not at my finger tips nor in my mental file) that a growing number of folk who identify as evangelical are not churched. The image of the occupants of the House Chamber on January 6 stopping to “pray” is still vivid in my mind.
“Anti” Christ is defined in part by who we call the Christ.
BTW – A Super Bowl in our household begins with rice followed by vegetables and a protein.
Perhaps “evangelicalism” is the anti-Christ. Perhaps the end of days is the end of Christianity as we know it. Perhaps the voice of Christianity most hear is the destruction of the gospel. Perhaps it is only the end of American empire. So many horrible acts of hate are committed in the name of the Lamb of Peace. The Christian religion is being destroyed by its loudest adherents. I aspire to follow Jesus, but I have no connection to the Christianity seen by most Americans.
“Remember that all through history, there have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they seem invincible. But in the end, they always fall. Always.”― Mahatma Gandhi, Gandhi: An Autobiography
“In the end they Always Fall”… so many times in history, things were dark / seemed hopeless…& then somehow, some way, brave, wise, courageous souls stepped up… Indigenous people have their stories; the Jews have their stories; as do Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, Baha’is and lay people around the globe…
And so, we will find the way…”the way knows the way”…
Darkness gives way to Lite… each & every morning…
I inhale, I exhale… and the circle of life continues…
Christ – AntiChrist… the choice…
Thank you, and you all, for another thot provoking & enlightening Sunday morning… hope still lives🙏🏼💓
Too stupid to be the anti-christ, and what of the mortal wound? If that’s to be taken literally, perhaps the ‘bone spurs’ have healed.
I wish it were “bone spurs.” I’m afraid it’s the “wound” to his ego from the 2020 election loss. But then he didn’t lose. So, no wound and therefore no return to power. Or something like that. Be glad you’re not an evangelical. Only they lose sleep and hair over such biblical shenanigans.
Omigod! Yes! Trump will be pleased to know that, I should think. As long as he’s Number One, it really doesn’t matter what of, provided it isn’t failure. Tell me again how/why the number of the Antichrist is 666…Thank you for another enlightening and amusing blog.
The concept of an Antichrist is a created placeholder for those explaining to their neighbors why Jesus hasn’t come again. It dates to the early formation of Christianity, circa 300 CE, with the grift of joining now because it could be any day now and Jesus will find you coming up short.
My sister is a faithful member of the Shady Spring First Baptist Church in Southern West Virginia. She has had two bouts with breast cancer and is in a good place for now. She posts information about lost dogs, church events, free food outlets, and inspirational messages from “Motorcycle Ministry with Pit Boss” and others.
Today she posted, “Let me work toward having the Spirit which provides gratitude, the joy, the positivity, the kindness, the gentleness, the ability to love, and the list goes on. John 14:26”
I think my sister is more Christian in an evangelical setting than MAGA in a fascist leaning America amid an ongoing grift.
I am left with the words from Allen Ginsberg:
“America when will you be angelic? When will you take off your clothes? When will you look at yourself through the grave?”
From the poem Howl written in the times that “under God” was added to the Pledge of Allegiance.