The greatest and most heart-breaking lesson I have learned is based in the amazing corruption I have seen Trump’s influence have on normally decent, kind, and loving Christians.
I have seen those who covenant to love their neighbors, and care for all mankind, spewing hatred for those of different nations, different races, different faiths, and even different political ideologies, and with his urging chanting their hate with glee. What made these transgressions more painful, is that these same supporters would then post memes suggesting that Trump was Christ’s gift to America.
Or they would twist sacred concepts of the atonement to justify supporting a man whose fruits were clearly unchristian. “Oh he is a flawed human like all of us who just needs the atonement” they would say, blind to the fact that all dictators were also flawed humans, needing Christ’s atonement, but not worthy of support! They were willfully oblivious to the truth that (unlike many flawed but decent human beings) Trump’s flaws rendered him unfit, by God’s standards, to be supported as a political candidate.
He was never repentant, never humble, never sorrowful, never contrite. There was no confessing and forsaking for him. While his words would appeal to his Christian base, nothing in his actions indicated a faith in Christ, and when some who knew him well tried to warn others of his duplicity, they would simply refuse to see it, because they liked, preferred, even deified his politics.
These experiences taught me the great corrupting power of letting politics become a guiding light. Scriptures about men like King Noah and Amalekiah took on a deeper reality. I saw this corrupting power manifested among some Latter-day Saints who in spite of the fact that their prophetic leaders had validated the existence of COVID 19, and urged members to take precautions, still chose to believe the propaganda that COVID was simply an Anti-Trump fraud. People I would have bet would die for their testimonies, were choosing to believe their political god, over the servants of the true and living God.
That was both scary and tragic. What made it worse was their dogmatic insistence in believing conspiracy theories over God’s leaders, was so strong that they would outright refuse to listen to or accept any input that challenged their political religion. Some in turn even began to believe in patently false prophecies and claims like QAnon and Ezra’s Eagle Prophesy.
I thank God for His true prophet who has unceasingly taught us of the about the necessity of personal revelation to guide us through our day. When I see the love of saints waxing so cold, and many being led by every wind of doctrine, even to prefer their politically inspired personal god, over the real God’s word...my witness is renewed in the need for the Holy Spirit if we are to survive Satan’s deadly, persuasive, blinding, deceits.
Going forward my prayers will be that Christ’s followers will also choose Jesus over politics, will strive to live all His Gospel, not just the parts they find politically appealing, and that they will demand the same from their political leaders.
Thanks to Trump, I am now aware of a danger that I had never before seen, or even thought possible, and it happened in time to help me to better prepare for the winding up scenes in our world’s history. I see that as a positive.