Why Would Any Woman Ever Vote for Donald Trump?

The Donald says outwardly that he wants what the Christian Nationalists want, that they are “good people.” But what exactly do they want? They want this country to be declared a “Christian Country” (no such concept exists in the Bible, however) and to enforce a “Biblical lifestyle/Biblical worldview” upon all of us.

So, what does that mean?

House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, who evidently hid his christofascism from those of us not in his caucus, says the Bible defines his worldview, but he is antiabortion while the Bible isn’t, so how does he reconcile this conflict? He and the rest of his ilk do it in a Lewis Carrollian fashion: it means exactly what they say it means, nothing more, nothing less.

But, for women it is horrific. If I may quote “Biblical Nonsense: A Review of The Bible for Doubting Christians” by Jason Long:

“If a man rapes an engaged virgin who doesn’t cry loud enough to draw attention, the community should consider the attack consensual if it took place within the city. Thus, the whore must be stoned to death per God’s instructions. It obviously doesn’t matter if the woman is too scared to scream because the law makes no such exception. The man will be stoned to death as well, not because he committed a brutal atrocity against the woman, but only because he “violated another man’s wife” (Deuteronomy 22:24). Note the shamefully sharp contrast in disciplinary action between raping a woman with a husband and raping a woman without a husband: death versus a (fine of a) pound of silver. Since it’s all the same to the woman, it now becomes clear that God feels the husband is the one who is the victim of the attack.”

“Another unfortunate circumstance pushing half the population into considerable danger of becoming a slave is to have been born female. From the time a girl is born, she is the property of her father. The ownership is transferred once the father sells her to another man to become his wife or concubine. From the previous chapter, we know that the wife is to be totally subordinate and fully submissive to the husband in every way, regardless of extraneous circumstances.

“She is not to question her husband, and the New Testament authors disallow her to participate during worship. In essence, she has no real freedom. If you don’t feel this is an example of slavery, I’m afraid you’ve missed the point somewhere along the line.”

And, I assure you, there is worse.

Donald Trump wants Christian nationalist people to have more power. Me, I would like them to take their Biblical worldview (not the Bible’s worldview) and shove it up their asses.

If Your Grip is Slipping . . .

Christian nationalists are trying to drag ordinary Christians into their mire. When people like me attack Christian nationalists, those folk say that it is an attack upon Christianity and scream “Rally around the Cross, boys!” which it is not. They are attacks upon a movement to force people to adopt a religion not of their choosing, which separates them from Muslim extremists not at all.

Ex-President Trump spoke to the National Religious Broadcasters convention recently and promised the audience filled with Christian nationalists that if he returns to the White House, they’ll have political power “at a level that you’ve never used it before.”

So, the Christian nationalists want the power to make this a Christian nation, which would make all other religions unwelcome, and there are politicians who will suck up to them to acquire the voting power to get into a position to do such things. This is hardly surprising (see Jefferson on the topic below).

Clearly Christian power mongers are losing their grip. Church attendance is declining. Those saying they adhere to no particular religion are increasing, now to a level of almost 30% of people polled. Rather than roll up their sleeves and do the hard work of proselytizing, they would rather curry favor among the powerful elites and get them to do the hard work for them.

Can you spell corruption, boys and girls?

“. . . in every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the Despot abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own. It is easier to acquire wealth and power by this combination than by deserving them.”– Thomas Jefferson to Horatio G. Spafford, 17 March 1814

You Have to Respect My Religion!

In the current campaign of the Christian Nationalist crowd it is often claimed that “You have to respect my religion/beliefs.” My response has always been: respect is earned, not granted. I will accept your religion, but not respect it, until you’ve earned it (and I am still waiting on most).

There is more underlying this claim, I just learned today, and it is centered on tolerance. Tolerance, of other people’s views, practices, etc. is a liberal ideal. We liberals want to live in a society in which differences are tolerated if not celebrated. To that end we extend our tolerance sometimes too far.

Karl Popper, a 20^th century philosopher, said: I believe that tolerance leads to the eradication of the tolerant by the intolerant. Popper called this the “Paradox of Tolerance.”

We are expected to “respect” Christian behaviors, but a similar respect is not granted to us or to our secular government.

Absolute tolerance is not a formula for success. We need to mock these individuals and their claims (a time tested American approach to discourse) and withdraw any respect, tax deductions, etc. they think they are owed.

Claims of religious privilege need to be denied and mocked as much as is possible. We should all be subject to the secular laws of this country, whether we are part of some religion or not.

How to Defeat the Christian Nationalists

Actions have consequences, so all we need do is point out the consequences of the action of declaring this to be a Christian nation, no?

Consequence #1
You shall keep the sabbath holy means that there would be no NFL on Sundays. Yahweh had the Hebrews stone a man to death for gathering sticks (firewood) on the sabbath, so we couldn’t allow blitzes and out patterns then, either, certainly not Super Bowls. Those who argue that the sabbath back then was Saturday would have to give up College Football, then. Oh, and professional golf tournaments, etc.

Another consequence, I am sure, is that no alcohol could be served, or even sold, on Sundays (we have a long history including these provisions when we weren’t a Christian nation, so they seem likely to make a comeback).

Consequence #2
A great many Christian churches would need to be shut down for being sin centers. Research performed by the Center for the Study of Global Christianity showed nearly one-third of churches were the victims of embezzlement, with nearly 27% of crimes going unreported. Spots that attract and allow such violations of one of the ten commandments need to be shut down.

Consequence #3
Over a third of Christian divorces could be disallowed or only a third allowed. According to EEW Magazine (Barna), nearly 37% of all Christian divorces were the result of infidelity. Now Jesus said “I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery.” Jesus makes an exception to the teaching against divorce—if one’s spouse enters into sexual immorality, God allows for, but does not require, divorce.

There would be a lot more Christian counseling recommended and a lot more unhappy people stuck in nonviable marriages.

Consequence #4
Liars for Jesus would find themselves in hot water. Currently Wikipedia, citing a Pew Research Center survey, states that 67% of all Christians agreed that being honest at all times was essential to their Christian identity. So much for “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” A third of Christians are saying they’d have to draw a line there at telling the truth. Certainly the Sweetheart of the Evangelicals now, Donald Trump, has no compunction against lying as he does that twenty times before lunch every day.

Consequence #5
Christianity would have to clean house. For example, the Prosperity Gospel is nothing but institutional coveting, in violation of the Tenth Commandment, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.” This commandment would also require the shutting down of all of the speculative economic markets (the stock markets, the bond markets, the futures markets, aka casainos, etc.) as pits of sin.

Consequence #6
The legal system would have to be heavily modified, especially as it comes to punishments. We would have to institute matching punishments for crimes such as “a fracture for a fracture” or “an eye for an eye.” And I supposed the current focus on evidence would have to be changed to allow for the guidance of jurors by the Heavenly Spirit.

Consequence #7
The impact on our foreign policies would be huge as we implement new criteria, such as:
• Turn the other cheek.
• Love thy enemy and pray for those who persecute you.
• Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God
• Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
• Let he among you who is without sin, cast the first stone.
• Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

See what you can add to the list because some but not all will resonate with individual citizens, so we need as much ammunition as possible to win this fight. Please note I am leaving some of the low hanging fruit up for you, things like: forced church membership and attendance, forced tithing, blasphemy laws (the demise of free speech), etc. (All of these have shown up in our history in various places and times.)

Postscript
If Christians were Real Christians™ we would expect them to (as one blogger put it—Source: John Creed on Medium.com):
Stop lying and tell the truth.
Stop believing in a liar and fight for all truths.
Stop cheating on their partners and work on their relationships.
Stop being afraid of what they don’t understand.
Stop forcing people to bend to their will.
Stop killing each other.
Start helping one another
Start spreading peace and love.
Start including others, even if you don’t agree with what they do or who they are.
Start listening instead of talking.
Start acting and behaving as Jesus would.

So, since this doesn’t seem to be what Christians actually do, my approach is to discomfit them based upon what they actual do, not what their propaganda states they support.