Donald Trump, Ecumenism, the Missing Link and the New World Order

By all accounts, the 2016 presidential campaign has been a very tumultuous one, certainly the most contentious in recent memory. Donald Trump, the one that had been decried by the pundits, written off by the media and eliminated by the polls, defied them all and emerged as the winner. He has now been sworn in as the 45th president of the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. He begins his presidency in his customary self-exalted, defiant and controversial manner.

Many have claimed that his victory was made possible by their support. But none so passionately as the Religious Right /Evangelical Movement, comprising of primarily of white, male, middle class Americans. By most estimates the new president gained upwards of 80% of their votes. Richard Land, president of the Baptist Theological Seminary, a powerful leader and influential voice in the Evangelical Movement, declared that evangelicals are getting unprecedented input into the Trump White House. He stated, “This administration is going to have more conservative Christians — Catholic and Evangelical — in it than any administration that I have been associated with or had contact with, and I’ve been doing this since Reagan.” “The go-along, get-along strategy is dead,” Land famously said in a 1998 New York Times story about frustration in the Religious Right with GOP candidates who failed to deliver on promises to act on issues like abortion, pornography and homosexuality. “No more engagement,” Land said. “We want a wedding ring. We want a ceremony. We want a consummation of the marriage.” (Baptist News Journal, January 17, 2017).

Like all things political, the Evangelicals are demanding payback for their support. And, of course, President Donald Trump has promised to reward them. His commitment to the Evangelicals is poignantly summed up in an article that appeared in Time Magazine under the headline: Donald Trump Vowed to Close the Gap Between Church and State. The article, written by veteran journalist and author, Jeff Nesbitt, stated, “Trump promised that one of his first efforts as president would be to dismantle laws that keep Christian churches from spending tax-exempt money on political advocacy. He promised to vigorously attack a law established in the 1950s—from legislation sponsored by then-Senator Lyndon Johnson amending the U.S. tax code rules—that prevents tax-exempt organizations such as churches or educational institutions from endorsing political candidates. The ban on 501 C-3 charitable organizations from engaging in political advocacy has come to be known as the “Johnson Amendment.”

The article went on to quote the president-elect (at the time of its publication): “If I get elected President, one of the early things, one of the absolute first things I’m going to do is work on totally knocking out the Johnson Amendment,” he said. “The power you have is so enormous. It’s not like you represent two percent of the country and it’s going to be difficult. You’re probably 75, 80 percent. If you want to put your full weight … I mean, can you imagine if all of your people start calling up the local congressman and the local senator?” Trump promised the evangelical pastors that, by abolishing the prohibition on churches spending tax-exempt money on political advocacy, it would reverse the slow, steady decline in church attendance and public attitudes toward Christian beliefs in the United States” (Time Magazine Online, August 16, 2016). Ralph Reed, chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, who helped mobilize Christian voters for Mr. Trump, declared, “I am confident he will do as president what he said he would do as a candidate.”

Donald Trump’s campaign slogan, Let’s Make America Great Again, had energized his base supporters, particularly the Evangelicals. It was a mantra that they seized upon as they interpreted it to mean that he would give more power to the churches, thus enabling them to have their ideas of morality enforced upon the populace through government legislation.

The great, sad and dangerous irony is that contrary to the evangelicals’ fervent belief, America’s greatness lies not in government support of the church; but rather in the separation of church and state as embodied in the First Amendment and Article V1 of the Constitution of the United States. Famous Founding Father, Benjamin Franklin, aptly describes the position of the Religious Right. He wrote at the birth of the nation more than two hundred years ago, “When religion is good, it will take care of itself. When it is not able to take care of itself, and God does not see fit to take care of it, so that it has to appeal to the civil power for support, it is evidence to my mind that its cause is a bad one." Letter to Dr. Richard Price, October 19th, 1790).

Benjamin Franklin, like all the members of that auspicious body, recognized the inherent danger of the church aligning itself with the state. It was because of their knowledge of the dire ramifications of church/state union that they purposely set about to establish a nation, a great nation, that unlike their European experience, would be one without a king who would persecute his subjects on behalf of the church which kept him in power. James Madison, credited with penning the Bill of Rights, most eloquently expressed the intended nature of church/state relations in the new, great nation. Says he, “The experience of the United States is a happy disproof of the error so long rooted in the unenlightened minds of well-meaning Christians, as well as in the corrupt hearts of persecuting usurpers, that without legal incorporation of religious and civil polity, neither could be supported. A mutual independence is found most friendly to practical Religion, to social harmony, and to political prosperity" (James Madison, Letter to F.L. Schaeffer, Dec. 3, 1821).

Besides the Evangelicals, another religious group, which also claims that their support helped put Donald Trump over the finish line, is the Roman Catholics. Again, the president-elect had promised them more power. On September 22nd, a group of prominent Roman Catholics announced the formation of an Advisory Group to counsel then president-elect Donald Trump. The leading Jesuit publication, America, announced on Sept. 22 that the 33 Catholic individuals would advise the candidate on “issues of importance to Catholics”. The group included a smattering of Catholic politicians, pro-life activists, one Catholic priest and two former U.S. Ambassadors to the Vatican. It also included Senator Rick Santorum, who said that the speech of John F. Kennedy, the first Roman Catholic president of the United States, to Protestant ministers in Houston Texas in 1960 uplifting the separation of church and state, makes him want to throw up. It is not difficult to understand the Roman Catholics demands on the president for church/state union for is the very foundation of their institution which constitute the longest continuous monarchy in the history of the nations. Its history is written in the blood of those who protested against her tyrannical rule of church/state unity over the nations.

Ellen G. White, whom the prestigious Smithsonian Magazine recently named one of the ten most influential religious figures in American history, declared in her classic, The Great Controversy, more than one hundred years ago, “When the leading churches of the United States, uniting upon such points of doctrine as are held by them in common, shall influence the state to enforce their decrees and to sustain their institutions, then Protestant America will have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy, and the infliction of civil penalties upon dissenters will inevitably result” (Great Controversy, C 445).

Not unlike Benjamin Franklin, she believed, and rightly so, that the church gets its power from God and not the state. One of the areas in which the Evangelicals and Catholics are seeking the strong arm of the government to support them is that of their fierce opposition to abortion. Ever since Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that declared a pregnant woman is entitled to have an abortion until the end of the first trimester of pregnancy without any interference by the state, they have spent tens of millions of dollars in trying to get that decision overturned. Additionally, they are passionately petitioning the state to have it defund Planned Parenthood, an organization that has gained a reputation for taking millions of innocent lives with their tax dollars. And then came same sex marriage and Obamacare at which they are vehemently irate and consider immoral and un-Biblical.

But there is a link, perhaps the most important link that is missing from their agenda. It was Jesus Christ Himself, the One whom the Evangelicals and Catholics claim to serve, who declared to His apostles on the night before He was crucified, by the church/state union of His day, on the cruel cross of Calvary: “Howbeit when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall he speak: and He will shew you things to come” (John 16:13). In Jesus' parting words at His ascension, He gave the assurance, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). No mention of state power even remotely indicated. Nevertheless, Jesus’ words seemed to have been lost on the Religious Right as they are exerting their time, resources and energy seeking the power of the state rather that of the Holy Spirit. Hence their failure to achieve their objectives. They are convinced that Donald Trump is the one that will help them; but he will not.

Rather than inciting protest marches and seeking the power of the state, the religious zealots perhaps should consider spending their assets in carrying out the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) by establishing centers of mercy where those seeking abortions and otherwise living ungodly lives can freely visit, obtain family and parental counselling, and experience the matchless love Jesus Christ through the caring hands of those who claim to serve Him. That is what Jesus Christ, full of the Holy Spirit would have done. Just imagine how many lives would be saved, physically and spiritually, by following His example.

It is the Holy Spirit and not political activism that changes the human heart. He alone has the power that can transform the life from sinfulness to righteousness. Defunding Planned Parenthood or overturning Roe v. Wade will not change the hearts of those who are considering abortion. Renewing hearts through the power of the Holy Spirit, the missing link in the Religious Right's agenda, will not only save lives; but will effectively defund those who profit from it.

Whatever Donald Trump does will not save lives. Quite the contrary, when he grants the demands of the Religious Right, it will lead to an infinitely more menacing state of affairs than we now experience. Judging from Trump's early actions since becoming president, it forces any thinking American to pause for deep reflection. His dictatorial, undiplomatic, and impatient manner has alarmed observers across the political spectrum and beyond the oceans. His virulent attacks on the media, including orders to some government departments to cease contacts with them, is unprecedented. Declaring our military and political partnership with our European allies obsolete is at a minimum, mind boggling. Coupling that with his clear intentions to engage Vladimir Putin in his foreign policy objectives, despite professional and experienced counsel to the contrary, invites the inquiring mind to question his sanity and true objectives. Bullying your next door neighbor and banning innocent refugees seeking a safe haven is not the way to achieve peace, security and prosperity. To attack the institutions that constitute the foundation of the strength of America and discredit those that have provided relative economic and military security for decades, certainly speaks of a New World Order; but not the one many anticipate or are prepared for.

The ancient Jewish seer, Daniel, foretold of a time that will be ushered in that will change the course of human history. Donald Trump’s behavior, if not changed or curtailed, will accelerate the prophet’s words: “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time…” (Daniel 12:1). Yet, things are not hopeless for those who possess the missing link, God’s Holy Spirit. So, Daniel concludes, “…and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book” (Daniel 12:1).

The seemingly erratic and impulsive presidential actions and intents constitute a prescription for unmitigated chaos, confusion, and conflict beyond human imagination. They foretell of tyranny and destruction of apocalyptic proportions. Rather than depending upon the Donald’s illusive promise of ‘making America great again’, we should consider ‘making America think again’.