- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

Devil’s Bargain: Trump’s Hypocritical Reliance on US Evangelical Christians

© AP Photo / Noah BergerFlames from a wildfire advance down a hillside near the Springs of Life Church in Casitas Springs, Calif., on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017.
Flames from a wildfire advance down a hillside near the Springs of Life Church in Casitas Springs, Calif., on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017. - Sputnik International
Subscribe
The administration of US President Donald Trump relies heavily on the support of followers of evangelical Christianity as a “motivating force” behind their policies, and that could prove dangerous to global stability, according to a recent report by The Guardian.

During a Thursday speech in Cairo, Egypt, at the American University in Cairo, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, himself an avowed evangelical Christian, referenced text from the Christian Bible and noted that a copy of one is kept on the seventh floor of the US State Department, in his office. 

President Trump speaks to reporters after meeting with members of Congress at the White House in Washington - Sputnik International
Trump Furious Over Dems 'Having Fun' Amid Government Shutdown

"This trip is especially meaningful to me as an evangelical Christian," Pompeo — a former American businessman with deep ties to the US religious right wing — said.

"I keep a Bible open on my desk to remind me of God and His Word, and The Truth," Pompeo declared, noting that the US "will not retreat [from the Middle East] until the terror fight is over," also stating that the Trump administration has "learned that when America retreats, chaos often follows."

Pompeo's belief in the Christian evangelical version of ‘truth' is noted by many to be at the heart of what makes the Trump administration a danger to global stability.

According to a recent report by the Guardian, the "apocalyptical Christian vision of the future" held by many US evangelical Christians is deeply linked with Israel and the world's Jewish population. This belief, known as "premillennial dispensationalism," or "Christian Zionism," directly impacts US foreign policy in Palestine and Iran, according to the current political evangelism personified in the policies of the Trump administration.

"He [Pompeo] knows best how his faith interacts with his political beliefs and the duties he undertakes as Secretary of State," commented Stan van den Berg, the senior pastor of Pompeo's personal church in Wichita, Kansas. "Suffice to say, he is a faithful man," the priest added, cited by The Guardian.

Many see this reliance for Trump's political survival on the approval of US evangelical Christians as an achilles' heel, threatening any intelligent Washington DC conversation about foreign policy through a dependence on a 2000-year-old system of beliefs.

"Many [evangelical Christians] relish the second coming, because for them it means eternal life in heaven," noted Andrew Chesnut, a professor of religious studies at Virginia Commonwealth University.

A ‘second coming,' as described in the Christian Bible, refers to a belief that the Christian messiah, Jesus Christ, will return from heaven to judge humanity.

"There is a palpable danger that people in high position who subscribe to these beliefs will be readier to take us into a conflict that brings on Armageddon [the Christian description of the end of the world]," Chestnut observed, cited by The Guardian.

Many white US evangelicals, Chestnut observes, believe in a form of Christian Zionism, pointing to a return to the so-called Holy Land by those who believe in the Jewish faith.

An estimated 80 percent of white US evangelicals voted for Trump in 2016 and his popularity among this particular demographic has remained constant at around 70 percent, the Guardian reported.

An estimated quarter of the population of the US is thought to profess to some form of Christian evangelism, while some half a billion devotees of sect exist worldwide, according to Pew Research. 

Vice President Joe Biden speaks as he campaigns for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at Bucks County Community College in Bristol, Pa., Friday, Oct. 7, 2016 - Sputnik International
Joe Biden’s Brother Says His Family Voted for Trump in 2016 – Reports

Some evangelicals view Trump as a latter-day King Cyrus, the founder of the first Persian empire, under whom a Babylonian captivity was ended.

This comparison was made in The Trump Prophecy, a pseudo-religious film posted online in October 2018 concerning the character of a retired firefighter who claims to have heard God telling him, "I've chosen this man, Donald Trump, for such a time."

Lance Wallnau, featured in the film, describes Trump as "God's Chaos Candidate" and a "modern Cyrus," the Guardian observed.

Trump's choice of prominent Christian evangelical hardliner Mike Pence as his Vice President is indicative of the latter's loyalty to evangelical preachers, alongside of Trump's recent order to move the US embassy in Israel from the city of Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, revealing the heavy evangelical influence on foreign policy in his administration.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала