Among Christians, “following Jesus” is supposed to be a good thing, the loving way to live. But is following Trump compatible with actually following Jesus? A few non-religious, common-sense observations point to a resounding “No!”
Exit Polling Reveals an Awful Truth
First, we need to consider how people self-identify. Exit polling from the 2024 election reveals that 82% of white evangelicals, 61% of white Catholics and 58% of white non-evangelical Protestants voted for Trump.
These are huge margins, especially for white evangelicals. These margins are telling us that loyalty to Trump, Trumpism and MAGA among most white Christians is not a fluke, but a feature of their belief systems. Apparently, the majority of white Christians have no essential conflict with Trump.
Mutually Exclusive Paths
Second, whatever ”following Jesus” might mean, there are some things it can’t mean.
“Following Jesus” can’t mean acting with deliberate cruelty—like Trump’s southern border policy of ripping families apart, denying it and then purposefully “losing” the documentation that would have allowed thousands of families to be reunited quickly, or ever.
“Following Jesus” can’t mean giving silent approval to racist dog-whistles—like when Trump stokes ugly white nativist fears of immigrants by promoting vicious and hateful lies such as Haitian immigrants “eating the dogs and cats,” Mexico “is sending us rapists and murderers” and his obviously racist accusation that darker-skinned immigrants “are poisoning the blood of this beautiful [white] country.”
“Following Jesus” can’t mean giving praise and encouragement to violent white supremacists—like Trump did by calling neo-Nazis and neo-Confederates “fine people,” by giving comfort to enemies of democracy when he egged on the Jan. 6 rioters to attack the Capitol, then giving them aid by indiscriminately pardoning 1,500 of them.
Trump cannot bring himself to condemn the extremist, violent right because they are an essential component of his political base.
“Following Jesus” can’t mean a life of fraud—like Trump’s phony “university,” his refusal to pay contractors and his cooking the books of his businesses to enrich himself and to cheat the community and the taxpayers of New York.
“Following Jesus” can’t mean criminalizing diversity, equity and inclusion training—by insisting on conformity to MAGA lies, ignoring systemic injustices and casting out those who don’t show fealty to “Dear Leader Trump.”
“Following Jesus” can’t mean callous disregard for suffering that the Dear Leader himself is causing—like massive indiscriminate deportations, massive indiscriminate firings of federal workers protecting our health and our environment, massive loss of health insurance for low-income Americans and massive unnecessary pandemic deaths due to Trump’s rejection of science-based public health measures.
“Following Jesus” can’t mean placidly allowing Trump to turn the wealth of this country over to the unbridled greed of unelected and morbidly rich multi-billionaires whose only goal is to make themselves even more unimaginably wealthy, no matter how much pain and suffering they cause.
The point here is that to the degree that white Christians have jumped on the Trump train, to that same degree they have ceased to follow Jesus. Whatever their motivations are, they have become morally blinded and have abandoned the way of love.
The Character of White Evangelicalism
As a voting bloc, the white evangelical movement has been thoroughly captured by right-wing extremism. This is sick.
White evangelical churches prioritize private conversion (“accepting Jesus”). They elevate “correct” beliefs over love of neighbor. Among them, assumptions abound regarding narrowly defined gender roles, the superiority of Western European (white Christian) culture and the “exceptionalism” of (white Christian) America.
Little is ever said critiquing toxic masculinity, the oppressive nature of Western (European/white Christian) colonialism, the 500-year sordid history of (white Christian) genocide against the Native Americans, the legal basis of 400 years of Black African slavery as practiced in (white Christian) America and the ongoing legacy of white supremacy—right to this very day, right here in (white Christian) America.
The imperatives of white Christianity overshadow compassion. They bypass justice for the poor and oppressed. Fully 80% of white evangelicals promote a “gospel” that gravitates to the hereafter, instead of to the here and now.
A Message to White Christians
To my fellow white Christians, and white evangelicals in particular—Are you still happy with Trump? If not, don’t act innocent and surprised now. You adored Trump. Maybe you still do. You said “the finger of God” was on him; that he moved with “the favor of the Lord.” You likened him to the biblical figures of King David and Cyrus the Great. You talked about Trump being the “Miracle” and “the Chosen One” sent by God. You rejoiced that God had raised Trump up “like a trumpet” announcing God’s purposes and plans.
Some of you even believed the fantasy that Trump has “the tender heart of a father that wants to lend a helping hand to the poor and the needy, to the foreigner and the stranger.”
As a key part of his political base, you have “gifted” us with the grifter-in-chief and felon-president. You have “gifted” us with the AI-generated video of Elon Musk’s macabre dance of death over Gaza. You have even precipitated the possible end of U.S. democracy itself.
It might not taste so good, but what you need to do now is eat some crow. Admit what you and your community have done. Admit that you were conned. Apply to yourselves the advice you’re always giving to others about “taking personal responsibility” for your actions. It’s time to lament the colossal failure of the white American Church and to set a new, more just course. Your support of Trump is going to ruin millions of us, all except the well-off and the super-rich.
Theirs aren’t the only lives that matter.
If you consider yourself a MAGA Christian, what happened to your humanity? What happened to your ability to be self-critical?
A Message to Non-Christian Readers
Some of you will try to start conversations with your MAGA-leaning Christian friends or family members about the themes of this article. Maybe you could ask a question, something like: Do you think following Jesus and acting with deliberate cruelty toward vulnerable people (who are just trying to provide for their families or who are fleeing narco violence) are compatible courses of action?
It would be interesting to know if actual give-and-take, reasonable conversations with MAGA-leaning white Christians are even possible. If so, how did you achieve that breakthrough? Let us know (contact bayardtaylor1@aol.com).
