As November 5th gets closer, I tend to be thinking, more and more, about the upcoming election, and I have been remembering an article about the Trump campaign that appeared in the September 2024 edition of The Atlantic. The article I am thinking of, by staff writer McKay Coppins, was titled: "The Most Revealing Moment Of A Trump Rally." The most revealing moment, Coppins says, may well be the prayer that comes at the start.
Coppins suggests that it's pretty normal for prayers to play a role in political campaign events, and outlines some common themes. For instance, it is typical that prayers offered at political events ask God to guide the candidate, and to help the candidate follow God's word as the candidate takes office. As Coppins reports:
Bradley Onishi, a scholar and former evangelical minister who studies the intersection of politics and Christianity in America, told me that prayers at political events have traditionally fit a certain mold. God is asked to grant the political leader inspiration and wisdom, to help him resist temptation and lead the country in a righteous direction. “It was always ‘We pray for him to have the strength to do God’s will, to have character, to be the man we need,’ ” Onishi said.
Coppins, though, who has obtained a copy of and has read every prayer ever offered at one of Trump's campaign rallies, says that things have significantly changed as the current campaign has progressed:
Onishi, like several of the other experts I asked to read the prayers, was struck by how many of them take Trump’s righteousness for granted. “No one prays for Trump to do right; they pray that God will do right by Trump” ...
Indeed, rather than asking God to make Trump an instrument of his will, most of the prayers start from the assumption that he already is. Accordingly, many of them drop any pretense of thy-will-be-done nonpartisanship, and ask explicitly for Trump’s reelection. “Lord, you have a servant in Donald J. Trump, who can lead our nation,” a woman offering a prayer in Laconia, New Hampshire, told God at a rally on the eve of the state’s Republican primary. “Help us to overcome any obstacles tomorrow so that we may deliver victory to your warrior” (emphasis added).
Most disturbing, Coppins says, is that once it is accepted that Trump is "God's warrior," those who are supporting Trump's election believe that when Trump is elected, it will be Trump's place to bring down God's retribution on all those who have failed to support him:
Joel Tenney, a 27-year-old evangelist with a shiny coif of blond hair and a quavering preacher’s cadence, who offered a prayer at a rally held in Coralivlle, Iowa, preceded his prayer with a short sermon for the gathered crowd of Trump supporters. “We have witnessed a sitting president weaponize the entire legal system to try and steal an election and imprison his leading opponent, Donald Trump, despite committing no crime,” Tenney began. “The corruption in Washington is a natural reflection of the spiritual state of our nation.”For the next several minutes, Tenney hit all the familiar notes: He quoted from 2 Chronicles and Ephesians, and reminded the audience of the eternal consequences of 2024. Then he issued a warning to those who would stand in the way of God’s will being done on Election Day.“Be afraid,” Tenney said. “For rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. And when Donald Trump becomes the 47th president of the United States, there will be retribution against all those who have promoted evil in this country (emphasis added).”
"I Say A Little Prayer" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for Dionne Warwick. According to Wikipedia, the song originally peaked at number four on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart in December 1967. You can click right here to hear Dionne Warwick sing the song, live, on the Ed Sullivan show. According to Wikipedia, the song was originally intended to convey a woman's concern about her man, who is serving in the Vietnam War.
In 1967, I was an active and outspoken opponent of the Vietnam War, and I refused induction into the armed forces in 1968. Maybe that is why I have retained a memory of the song in my mind, after all these years. To be honest, though, as I sat down to write this blog posting, the song popped into my mind, unbidden. I had forgotten (if I ever knew) the connection between "I Say A Little Prayer" and the Vietnam War.
But.... having read about the kind of retribution that Trump supporters are praying for, I think that Joel Tenny's recommendation has a lot of merit: "Be Afraid."
Be Really Afraid.
Be afraid, and "Say A Little Prayer."
And... maybe even better than saying that little prayer...
VOTE!
I enjoy reading your blogs. They are so uplifting informative makes my day thank you.
ReplyDelete