Last week Donald Trump shared a message on Twitter from a racist
conspiracy theorist proclaiming that he, the president, was viewed by
Jewish people as the “Second Coming of God” and the “King of Israel.”
The mytho-religious aspects of this “endorsement” likely have no meaning for Donald Trump. Such claims matter to Trump primarily because they stroke his megalomania. Trump the malignant narcissist authoritarian and fascist seeks out praise from wherever it may come. As such, Donald Trump frequently praises himself in the grandest and most absurd terms possible: for example, Trump’s looking to the sky last week as if looking for a sign from God and then telling journalists and the world that he is in fact the "chosen one."
Beyond personal grandiosity, Trump’s endorsement of his status as the “Second Coming” and the “King of Israel” were important signals to his two most loyal groups of supporters.
Christian nationalists, evangelicals, "reconstructionists" and "dominionists" support Donald Trump because they see him as a means of overturning the U.S. Constitution and its rules separating church and state, with the ultimate goal of creating a Christian theocracy. Trump’s racist supporters are buoyed and encouraged by his sharing (another) message from a member of their movement. Collectively, these Trump supporters are eager to put an end to America’s multiracial democracy.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and length. You can also listen to my full conversation with Terry Heaton through the player embedded below.
How do you make sense of Donald Trump’s rise to power and why so many Christians support him, given his evident values and behavior?
One of the things that has always puzzled me about the Trump phenomenon is that he would never have been elected had he not been able to recruit people for whom his policies would be harmful. But many of these voters consider their faith first.
As I wrote in my book "The Gospel of Self," they see affluence around them and in their minds there is no reason they too can't be rich one day.
Read more at: How Pat Robertson's Christian TV empire created a "shadow government" — and led to Donald Trump | Salon.com
Support EU-Digest which reports the news as it is and buy an advertisement or give a donation to keep us going : click on https://www.paypal.com/webapps/hermes?token=8BP18304C1657151J&useraction=commit&mfid=1567106786154_8591ae1288ebf
The mytho-religious aspects of this “endorsement” likely have no meaning for Donald Trump. Such claims matter to Trump primarily because they stroke his megalomania. Trump the malignant narcissist authoritarian and fascist seeks out praise from wherever it may come. As such, Donald Trump frequently praises himself in the grandest and most absurd terms possible: for example, Trump’s looking to the sky last week as if looking for a sign from God and then telling journalists and the world that he is in fact the "chosen one."
Beyond personal grandiosity, Trump’s endorsement of his status as the “Second Coming” and the “King of Israel” were important signals to his two most loyal groups of supporters.
Christian nationalists, evangelicals, "reconstructionists" and "dominionists" support Donald Trump because they see him as a means of overturning the U.S. Constitution and its rules separating church and state, with the ultimate goal of creating a Christian theocracy. Trump’s racist supporters are buoyed and encouraged by his sharing (another) message from a member of their movement. Collectively, these Trump supporters are eager to put an end to America’s multiracial democracy.
Terry
Heaton was a television news executive for the Christian Broadcasting
Network during the 1980s, where he worked primarily on "The 700 Club,"
its signature news and talk show. Heaton also served as one of Pat
Robertson's advisers during his 1988 presidential campaign.
Terry Heaton is also the author of several books including his most recent, "The Gospel of Self: How Pat Robertson Stole the Soul of the GOP."
I spoke to Heaton recently about how and why right-wing evangelical
Christians have come to worship and love Donald Trump, a man who is an
unapologetic sinner. Heaton also offers insights on the direct
connection between evangelical-oriented media such as his former
employer at CBN, Christian nationalism, Fox News and Donald Trump’s
conquest of the Republican Party and its voters. Heaton also warns about
the power and influence of Robertson and his “shadow government” of
right-wing evangelicals, who have waged a decades-long campaign to
overthrow secular democracy in America.Terry Heaton is also the author of several books including his most recent, "The Gospel of Self: How Pat Robertson Stole the Soul of the GOP."
This conversation has been edited for clarity and length. You can also listen to my full conversation with Terry Heaton through the player embedded below.
How do you make sense of Donald Trump’s rise to power and why so many Christians support him, given his evident values and behavior?
One of the things that has always puzzled me about the Trump phenomenon is that he would never have been elected had he not been able to recruit people for whom his policies would be harmful. But many of these voters consider their faith first.
As I wrote in my book "The Gospel of Self," they see affluence around them and in their minds there is no reason they too can't be rich one day.
Read more at: How Pat Robertson's Christian TV empire created a "shadow government" — and led to Donald Trump | Salon.com
Support EU-Digest which reports the news as it is and buy an advertisement or give a donation to keep us going : click on https://www.paypal.com/webapps/hermes?token=8BP18304C1657151J&useraction=commit&mfid=1567106786154_8591ae1288ebf
