Questionable Christians
By Rev. Dr. Tyree A. Anderson
Special to the Outlook
This morning people other than Conservative Christians, White Supremacy supporters, and mostly uneducated White America woke up to a reality that seems more like a living nightmare. The greatest fear a free-thinking and conscious reflecting person could ever imagine happened. Television reality star and Uber rich real estate mogul is now President-Elect of the United States of America. First, I want to congratulate Mr. Trump for his ground game, free wheeling approach to 270 and his approach to politics. He ran for office with the same single mindedness as he has did his real estate empire. He has proven that traditional poll-takers and the so-called “political experts” have no idea what they are talking about. This post is not about Mr. Trump, but about the Questionable Christians who lean more on the image of what the Bible says and not on what the Bible says.
On Wednesday morning on my Twitter TL the Wall Street Journal point out that , “Evangelicals Back Donald Trump in Record Numbers Despite Earlier Doubts. “This may not seem important to the casual reader, but to those of us who live, preach, and teach biblical principles and theology this is against the very teachings of Jesus himself. Dr. Boykin Saunders, Professor of New Testament at the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University told us in class that the god of Thomas Jefferson isn’t the God of Harriett Tubman. This election proved his words again to be spot-on. According to exiting polls over 80percent of evangelicals voted for Donald Trump. Look at it again, “over 80 percent” voted for him. It goes on to say that over “75 percent of White evangelical women” voted for him as well. There are other polls that suggest that this data is not skewed, but accurate. My position is not pro-Hillary (I’m not pro-Trump either). My concern is about Christians (those who profess to follow the teaching and life of Jesus) and yet continues to justify their political positions while hiding behind a facade of religious jargon. The article states these voters are “White and born again “The question I raise after this election is how to we properly identify those who truly follow the teachings of Jesus as noted in the gospels verses those who follow only selected passages in the Pauline epistles?
The purposeful ignoring of the teachings found in the Sermon on the Mount, the Parables, and my favorite, Matthew 25:31-46 is a reminder that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord might not be talking about Jesus. Jesus was like the immigrants that Mr. Trump wants to build a wall against and wants to kick out of the country. Jesus was a poor Jew living in a concentration camp like condition as found in the inner cities where stop and frisk will become the order of the day. Jesus, by all accounts was raised by a single mother who likely needed government assistance to help her make her rent payment. Jesus did not have blond hair and blue eyes so he would have been targeted by the Roman Immigration Agency or likely shot even with his hands in the air by the Roman PD. Jesus was not a Roman citizens, but like many of the Returning Citizens that residents of the Roman Prison Industrial Complex. Jesus would have been treated with disdain by not only the new administration, but by White born again evangelicals who literally ignored Jesus just as they ignore Black Lives Matters, Undocumented Workers, LGBT and others who simply want to be free. How can I say they ignored Jesus? Well, Jesus said it first. He said, “when you have done it to the least of these my brethren you have done unto me.” Over 80 percent said screw you Jesus, we want our country back from this Blackman who has ruined America.
This election was not about Hillary, but about President Obama and the Black voice. It is about Black Live Matters and MoveOn.org it is about teaching Black people to know their place in a White Man’s world. This was a referendum on Hispanics and the Latino community to keep silent when White power and white presence enters the sacred space of community. This is about healthcare for the poor who remain ignored by special interest and big business. This is about the rising birth rates for people of color and the inevitable minority status White people will have over the next forty years. This is about going backwards while ignoring progressive measures that will guide our future and help our children. This election had nothing to do with Hillary and her 30-year career. This is about a last attempt to grab power by the people who lost their identity in 2008. This election came down to those who used the ballot box to confirm their witness over their faith in God. These questionable Christians chose their country over their Christ. This is idolatry.
In Jeremiah 51:44-45 the prophet tells those who are living under fearful and oppressive conditions “I will punish Bel in Babylon, and make him disgorge what he has swallowed. The nations shall no longer stream to him; the wall of Babylon has fallen. Come out of her, my people! Save your lives, each of you, from the fierce anger of the Lord!” So I call into question those “Christians” who took pleasure in this election to resurrect White supremacy at the expense of their faith. The Religious Right, Tony Perkins, Paula White, Focus on the Family, Jerry Falwell, Jr. the Southern Baptist Convention, and any other person or organization that supported “locker room” talk while carrying their Bible quoting scriptures and appear pious should not say they are Christian. Save it. You are Questionable Christians and on the day of judgment you will be held accountable for what you did to the “least of these” just as your ancestors will be held accountable for what they did to the Native Americans, Africans, Women, and others you have treated with disdain for your own preservation. Enjoy what you just created!
