{"id":5466,"date":"2024-06-10T10:00:10","date_gmt":"2024-06-10T16:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/allsetfree\/?p=5466"},"modified":"2024-06-10T15:09:46","modified_gmt":"2024-06-10T21:09:46","slug":"trump-and-maga-a-story-of-unrepentance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/allsetfree\/2024\/06\/trump-and-maga-a-story-of-unrepentance\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump and MAGA: A Story of Unrepentance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
<\/p>\n
The other day, the Heretic Happy Hour podcast<\/a> received a voicemail on our hotline<\/a>, and the caller made a brilliant point about how Donald Trump is, among other things, unrepentant<\/em>. And while it is true that he is also a convicted felon\u2013something that should disqualify him from holding public office\u2013we shouldn\u2019t demonize other felons in our critique of Trump.<\/p>\n
A great rebuke\u2026 one that did not go unnoticed by Team HHH.<\/p>\n
The wild thing about this realization is that Christians who support Trump don\u2019t seem to care. They\u2019ll strawman and yell at us progressives for how we diminish the need for repentance in our theologies, and then turn around and support a man who can\u2019t even understand the concept itself. As Trump once admitted<\/a> (when asked if he seeks forgiveness from God):<\/p>\n
I am not sure I have. I just go on and try to do a better job from there. I don\u2019t think so [\u2026] I think if I do something wrong, I think, I just try and make it right. I don\u2019t bring God into that picture. I don\u2019t.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t bring God into that picture.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n
Shouldn\u2019t that be the first thin<\/em>g you do when you claim the label \u201cChristian?\u201d Because that\u2019s what Evangelicals say Trump is. A Christian. Trump himself has acknowledged to taking the Eucharist, albeit in a very unserious way: \u201cWhen I drink my little wine\u2013which is about the only wine I drink\u2013and have my little cracker, I guess that is a form of asking for forgiveness.\u201d So, doesn\u2019t that make him a Christian, at least in word (not in deed)?<\/p>\n
But that still doesn\u2019t mean he is repentant, and while I couldn\u2019t give less of a shit about one man\u2019s refusal to grow and change their thinking, Christians who support him say they<\/em> do. Only for everyone else. Just not their political leader, because that would mean they themselves would have to repent of their support of him<\/strong>!<\/p>\n
\u201cRepentance for you, just not for me,\u201d should be their slogan.<\/p>\n
The obvious problem is that this posture is literally antithetical to the message of Jesus. We should always be repenting, looking inward, being self-reflective, and growing more and more like Christ (theosis). Not only because that is good for us as the individual, but because when others see us, they\u2019ll see someone who is at minimum taking seriously what they say they believe. And that gives the faith quite the testimony!<\/p>\n
On the other hand, the entire MAGA-Christian movement does the opposite. It destroys the testimony of Christianity to the point that the American version of the faith has very little left to stand on. Because they are void of love, they sound like nothing more than a \u201cclanging gong,\u201d as Paul would put it. Yelling about illegal immigration this, and woke ideology that, they bounce from issue to issue, never once realizing that what they should really be focusing on is their own walk with God and the very real need to live a life oriented toward repentance.<\/p>\n
Even repentance for supporting a man who champions unrepentance!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
But again, it\u2019s as if repentance is only there for others\u2013typically the LGBTQ+ community, liberals and progressives, folks who support BLM, drag queens, and everyone else who challenges the tiny box of MAGA Christianity. God forbid they realize most of us in these categories had to repent of our own tiny boxes to get to where we are at today.<\/p>\n
Oh, the irony!<\/p>\n
So, as I close, if you are one of these Christians (y\u2019all love hate-following me!), and you feel your blood boiling at how idiotic I sound, try to take a breath and at least take one thing to heart: repentance is a crucial tenet of the Christian faith, and anyone who claims the label should take it seriously. That much we should agree on.<\/p>\n
Personally, I try to live out of a posture of perpetual repentance, always attempting to orient myself to the way of God\/Love. When I\u2019ve done wrong, I seek forgiveness. When I\u2019ve harmed others, I acknowledge the need for reparations. When I notice my own hypocrisy, I try to own up to it and be more consistent with my words and deed. And because I fail at all these things, I repeat the cycle, which is why I live from a place of perpetual repentance.<\/p>\n
All I ask of Christians is for something similar. Quit pretending this is something it\u2019s not. Quit pretending Trump takes seriously the tenets of Christianity. And quit making excuses for him and yourselves, because you look absolutely ridiculous as you flail an attempt at your defense of the indefensible.<\/p>\n
\n
Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n
Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n
YouTube<\/a><\/p>\n
Also, if you\u2019ve been digging my work on here, and want to see me be able to continue writing as close to full-time as humanly possible, please take a look at my Patreon page at\u00a0www.patreon.com\/mjdistefano<\/a>. Even $1 a month helps bigly!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The other day, the Heretic Happy Hour podcast received a voicemail on our hotline, and the caller made a brilliant point about how Donald Trump is, among other things, unrepentant. And while it is true that he is also a convicted felon\u2013something that should disqualify him from holding public office\u2013we shouldn\u2019t demonize other felons in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2874,"featured_media":5472,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,12,6],"tags":[2068,1165,138,559,1955],"class_list":["post-5466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-politics","category-theology","tag-maga","tag-repent","tag-repentance","tag-trump","tag-trumpism"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump and MAGA: A Story of Unrepentance<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The other day, the Heretic Happy Hour podcast received a voicemail on our hotline, and the caller made a brilliant point about how Donald Trump is, among\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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