What to do with the worshipers of the false idol of Donald J. Trump.
davidgmarkham.substack.com
Thomas Geoghegan was written an article entitled “Leviathan” which is published in the April, 2024 issue of Commonweal magazine. The subtitle of the article is “How Trump liberated the religious Right from religion.” Geoghegan writes: Erik Erikson’s classic religious study, Young Man Luther, argues that a new religious leader can arise by working out an identity crisis in the culture. Of course, Trump is no Luther, and he is certainly not working through any religious crisis of his own. But his cult ends the embarrassment of following Jesus, of taking as a model someone whose mission ended in failure, and whom Trump would call a loser. Instead of following Jesus the loser, Trump’s followers seek someone who can win “bigly,” and claim to have won even when he’s lost. It’s in Trump’s interest that his supporters leave the churches. Doing so strips them of even the small social capital that comes from attending church. He wants them isolated, with no connection to each other, and with no trust in anyone but him.
What to do with the worshipers of the false idol of Donald J. Trump.
What to do with the worshipers of the false…
What to do with the worshipers of the false idol of Donald J. Trump.
Thomas Geoghegan was written an article entitled “Leviathan” which is published in the April, 2024 issue of Commonweal magazine. The subtitle of the article is “How Trump liberated the religious Right from religion.” Geoghegan writes: Erik Erikson’s classic religious study, Young Man Luther, argues that a new religious leader can arise by working out an identity crisis in the culture. Of course, Trump is no Luther, and he is certainly not working through any religious crisis of his own. But his cult ends the embarrassment of following Jesus, of taking as a model someone whose mission ended in failure, and whom Trump would call a loser. Instead of following Jesus the loser, Trump’s followers seek someone who can win “bigly,” and claim to have won even when he’s lost. It’s in Trump’s interest that his supporters leave the churches. Doing so strips them of even the small social capital that comes from attending church. He wants them isolated, with no connection to each other, and with no trust in anyone but him.