A Mere $100,000 and Your Mortal Soul is the Price of Admission to ‘Pray’ with Trump*
“Going once. . . . Going twice. . . . And, SOLD to the wolf in sheep’s clothes holding up card number six hundred threescore and six.”
After seeing him hock “God Bless the USA Bibles” among the many other trashy “Trump” items to the gullible or those motivated to purchase influence — which everyone knows is for sale at the right price — I was not surprised to learn that for the low low price of $100,000, you, too, can pray with Trump in a January 19 pre-inauguration prayer session, titled “One America, One Light Sunday Service.” If you do not have the money, you still can attend by simply raising $200,000 for the Trump inauguration committee from other donors. Time is running out to start your GoFundHim account if you are a little short on cash.
Certain right-wing lawmakers, some of whom worship at Trump’s feet with the hope of higher callings, claim religious freedom in the United States is under attack. True that. But they have all wrong the methods and means and would never self-identify as among the perpetrator class of which they are clearly prominent and vocal members. Utah’s Senator Mike Lee (R) falls squarely in the middle by, among others, opposing laws designed to eliminate discrimination and the violation of civil and human rights under the ruse of sincerely held religious beliefs.
Christian nationalism is the single biggest threat to religious freedom in the United States. Christian nationalism’s most notorious proponents in the U.S. are not the first people who come to mind when I consider the teachings of Christ as they were taught to me. With Trump, Christian nationalists pay for and applaud attacks on religious freedom and pluralism in the United States and debase Christianity by mocking its core principles.
“Christian nationalism is a political ideology and cultural framework that seeks to merge American and Christian identities, distorting both the Christian faith and America’s constitutional democracy. Christian nationalism relies on the mythological founding of the United States as a ‘Christian nation,’ singled out for God’s providence in order to fulfill God’s purposes on earth. Christian nationalism demands a privileged place for Christianity in public life, buttressed by the active support of government at all levels.
“Christian nationalism is not Christianity, though it is not accurate to say that Christian nationalism has nothing to do with Christianity. Christian nationalism relies on Christian imagery and language . . . . Christian nationalism has been rebuked by a wide variety of individuals and organizations, including Christian groups and individuals, both clergy and laity. In other words, to oppose and work against Christian nationalism is not to oppose Christianity; in fact, many Christians see opposing Christian nationalism as key to preserving the faith.”
Christian Nationalism and the Jan. 6 Insurrection
Advocates and their adherents are helped along by conspiracy theories such as Q-anon, mythology about the country’s founding, racism, intolerance of pluralism — nonreligion and non-Christian religions — and rejection of the First Amendment’s religion clauses. The Far-Right Christian Quest for Power: ‘We Are Seeing Them Emboldened’. Predictably, the supermajority on the Supreme Court is exhibiting certain Christian nationalist tendencies.
“Today, conflicts most often arise from Christian nationalism, the anti-democratic notion that America is a nation by and for Christians alone. At its core, this idea threatens the principle of the separation of church and state and undermines the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. It also leads to discrimination, and at times violence, against religious minorities and the non-religious. Christian nationalism is also a contributing ideology in the religious right’s misuse of religious liberty as a rationale for circumventing laws and regulations aimed at protecting a pluralistic democracy, such as nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQI+ people, women, and religious minorities. These issues will only draw more attention in the years ahead since the 6–3 conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court appears eager to hear more religious liberty cases advancing Christian nationalist arguments than in previous years.” Amanda Tyler: Christian Nationalism Is ‘Single Biggest Threat’ to America’s Religious Freedom
The right of individuals to practice religion of their choosing, or no religion at all, is among the most sacrosanct guarantees under the Constitution. To be clear, I choose for myself the part of that fundamental freedom which allows me not to practice a religion or maintain any sincerely held religious beliefs. The religion clauses of the First Amendment are designed to allow individuals the (mostly) unfettered right to religious belief and practice. This guarantee is accomplished by mandating that the government stay out of the business of religion by favoring neither religion over non-religion nor a particular religion over other religions. The religion clauses work in tandem by “allowing religious liberty to thrive and safeguarding both religion and government from the influences of the other.” Any government intervention or influence in religion impacts and threatens individuals’ fundamental right to believe and practice, or not to believe and not to practice, as they freely choose.
I do not begrudge people their sincerely held religious beliefs or practices so long as they remain within the boundaries of the First Amendment religion clauses and uniform application of the laws interpreted by a neutral, non-partisan Supreme Court. That is their fundamental, constitutional right. Growing up, I often questioned sincerity, including motivations, my own and those of others — to the extent I could discern (or project) them. I would assess their “purity” based on my definitions under a developing moral code, my evolving understanding of right and wrong. Purely motivated conduct for good was good. Impurely motivated acts, even for good, were bad. Doing the right thing for the wrong reason achieved no advancement in god’s grand scheme and did nothing to improve one’s stead with the almighty. That world was black and white.
I recognize the world in many if not most respects is gray. Motivations can be complex and are seldom binary. With Trump, however, we know and have seen enough to understand that his religion, if one can call it that, is money, power, adulation, and self-aggrandizement at anyone and everyone else’s expense. And yes, it is black and white for him. His motives are pure — some might suggest pure evil — but his ends have zero to do with Christianity or any religious teaching. This must be why the Christian nationalist movement has conscripted Trump to lead their charge in exchange for their support. It has virtually nothing to do with core Christian principles and nothing to do with religious freedom — except its demise.
So, who among his base will be praying side-by-side with Trump on January 19? Certainly, the billionaire class who have ever more of the world to gain by influencing Trump. Also in attendance will be the Christian nationalist money ministers who lead congregations of like-minded worshipers, those easily tricked into parting with with their money — for the glory of god, of course, and just one more private plane — and others who plan to “use the financial exclusivity of the event to influence Trump, urging him to embrace a more Christian nationalist agenda, particularly for those who donate even higher sums to the committee’s coffers.”
The Christians who will not be praying on January 19 side-by-side with Trump and his billionaires, the money ministers, and the well-financed Christian nationalists, viz., the moneychangers, include:
· those who pray in private rather than doing so to be seen: “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” Matthew 6:5–13,
· those who took vows of poverty thereby renouncing material goods in order to follow Christ. Luke 6:20–26, and
· those who follow Christ’s admonition: “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come and follow me. . . . Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” Matthew 19:21–24.
R.VanWagoner https://medium.com/@richardvanwagoner publishes. https://richardvanwagoner.medium.com/subscribe
**My brother the very talented fiction writer and novelist, Robert Hodgson Van Wagoner, deserves considerable credit for offering both substantive and technical suggestions to https://medium.com/@richardvanwagoner. Rob’s second novel is a beautifully written suspense drama that takes place in Utah, Wyoming, and Norway. This novel, The Contortionists, which Rob himself narrates for the audio version, is a psychological page-turner about a missing child in a predominantly Mormon community. I have read the novel and listened to the audio version twice. It is a literary masterpiece. The Contortionists is not, however, for the faint of heart.
***Richard J Van Wagoner is my father. His list of honors, awards, and professional associations is extensive. He was Professor Emeritus (Painting and Drawing), Weber State University, having served three Appointments as Chair of the Department of Visual Arts there. He guest-lectured and instructed at many universities and juried numerous shows and exhibitions. He was invited to submit his work as part of many shows and exhibitions, and his work was exhibited in many traveling shows domestically and internationally. My daughter Angela Van Wagoner, a professional photographer, photographed more than 500 pieces of my father’s work. The photographs of my father’s art reproduced in https://medium.com/@richardvanwagoner are hers.