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Read what follows, and notice how much it tracks with the spirit of America’s evangelical pastors and churches today:
[A leader of this country] . . . claimed to have had a conversion experience to Christianity while visiting in the home of some pietistic friends. But he was faced with the realization that as a political statesman he had to violate the moral principles that governed his private behavior as a Christian. He reasoned that when acting as a servant of the state, a man was not bound by the same morality he should have as an individual. The state, it was argued, should not be judged according to conventional law because its responsibilities went beyond ordinary human values.
Paul’s teaching that we should be subject to political authorities was emphasized (Romans 13:1-2). The laws of the state were to be obeyed without asking for a moral rationale for what one was commanded to do. As [one leader] said, “I believe I am obeying God when I serve my king.”
Those who participated in the atrocities of the [state] frequently appealed to this distinction to defend their actions. When asked how they could reconcile their brutality with their humanistic values, they often replied, “Well, that was war, and obviously one has to do his duty no matter how hard.” In the words of [one murderer], “I had to obey the laws of my country and my flag.”
[Their leader] did become a god for millions.
[One military commander] stated . . . that he would have [killed] his own wife, children, and even himself if only the [leader] had commanded it.
[One spiritual advisor to his political leader] said, “[The leader] is an awakener of souls, the vehicle of Messianic powers.”
Through surveillance, wiretaps, spying, and rewarding those who betrayed their friends, [the leader] tried to control the citizens of [his country].
Adoration for [the leader] poured forth from pulpits of [the country]. One pastor proclaimed, “In the pitch-black night of church history, [our leader] became, as it were, the wonderful transparency for our time, the window of our age, through which light fell on the history of Christianity. Through him we were able to see the Savior in the history of [our people].”
Another pastor gushed, “Christ has come to us through [our leader]. Through his honesty, his faith and his idealism, the Redeemer found us. . . . We know today the Savior has come.”
The churches were so enamored with [their leader’s] successes that they did not pause to ask in whose name these benefits had come to them. They spoke of the political resurgence as a revival, a time of renewal and spiritual strength. The churches derived strength from the improved economy and giddy optimism about a new day for [their country.]
Dedication services for [the leader’s military police] were held in Protestant and Catholic churches.
One famous pastor from another country visited the nation with its new leader. Here is his report:
“What, you ask, is the real attitude of the [Christian] people toward [their leader]? There is but one answer. They love him. Yes, from the highest to the lowest, children and parents, old and young alike—they love their new leader. Their confidence in him cannot be shaken. They trust him to a man.”
“What about your elections?” I asked. “You have no choice. It is [the leader] or no one. There is no opponent.” “We don’t want another party,” they replied with indignation.
Clearly the majority of the clergy had adopted an attitude of safety first.
The above could easily be taken from a new best seller about President Donald Trump in any modern Christian bookstore. (If you doubt that, read this report). But it’s not. The book is entitled Hitler’s Cross and was authored by Erwin Lutzer almost 25 years ago. The focus of the book was the way Germany’s pastors and churches blindly adored and slavishly obeyed Adolf Hitler.
Mind you, I am NOT comparing Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler. I AM, however, comparing the blind adoration and slavish submission that today’s evangelical pastors and churches exhibit toward Donald Trump to the blind adoration and slavish submission that Germany’s pastors and churches exhibited toward the German leader.
The spirit being exhibited by a majority of evangelical pastors and Christians toward President Trump is more than respect and appreciation: It is unabashed idolatry. Trump is a god for millions.
Don’t tell me I am making things up or exaggerating. I am NOT! I receive thousands of pieces of communication each week from Trump loyalists. And from a Christian constitutionalist perspective, it is downright frightening what these people are saying.
One lady tweeted, “All you pieces of garbage who think you can bring down President Trump with asinine fits and lies will only destroy yourselves. I guarantee his supporters will follow him into any hell you create & will have his back all the way! We’ll never stop fighting for him.”
People such as this lady never talk about fighting for the Constitution; they never talk about fighting for the rule of law; they never talk about fighting for the Natural Laws of God. All they talk about is fighting for Donald Trump. I’m telling you, millions of Christians and conservatives wouldn’t blink an eye if Trump used a declaration of a state of emergency to suspend the Constitution and make himself emperor. In fact, they would unequivocally and enthusiastically support such a declaration. I am positive of that.
I have been pummeled by Trump loyalists over my opposition to the President’s declaration of a national emergency to circumvent the will of Congress and build a border wall with unappropriated monies. I am on record for a long time of not liking border walls. I see little that’s positive about them and a plethora of negatives. And I agree with Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) and many other conservatives who warn that if Trump’s declaration stands, the next Democrat President will use Trump’s precedent to declare gun violence or climate change as a “national emergency,” and then Katy bar the door. Conservative writer Matt Lewis agrees, “If a president can declare anything he wants to do an ‘emergency,’ then our republican system has been torn asunder.”
Had Congress appropriated monies to build the wall, I would have agreed that the President would be within his rights to build it. Congress didn’t, and, therefore, I believe Donald Trump is acting outside the law. But I can (and do) respect the position taken by principled, learned, proven conservatives who studiously disagree with me and believe Trump acted constitutionally.
But that is NOT what most of the arguments that I receive in favor of the wall are saying. The vast majority of people berating my “anti-Trump” position (it’s NOT anti-Trump; it’s PRO-Constitution) don’t care if the wall is constitutional or not. They truly do not care. If Trump does it, they are for it. It’s as simple as that.
Neither do they care about this:
President Trump lied to the nation today by falsely claiming his administration stopped multiple illegal alien caravans, when in truth, he let them into the USA. Speaking for 40 minutes, he never mention[ed] he just signed the dastardly and secretive budget bill which incentivizes illegal immigration and child trafficking.
Trump just signed into law a bill that 99% of Americans know nothing about which contains Amnesty for millions of illegals, incentives for child trafficking, an expansion of Trump's deadly catch and release policies, less detention space for illegals, reductions of interior immigration law enforcement, new buildings and buses to bring more illegals into the US [and] raising of legal immigration levels.
Trump lied without challenge from the media when he claimed they were stopping caravan illegals from entering America, when in truth Trump is letting the caravans in, which inspires more larger caravans to form.
Trump obfuscated and talked about trade agreements, law enforcement, the border, and his plan to declare a state of emergency for more than 40 minutes (View Video), but never admitted to the national audience that he signed the budget bill that a majority of his supporters despise.
"I know without a doubt that President Trump is a liar, he is deceptive, and intentionally manipulating his supporters to lead them to their own doom through Amnesty for millions of illegal aliens. Trump is a Judas Goat!" said William Gheen, President of ALIPAC. "It is clear to me that Trump is not the man he campaigns to be and he is complicit in passing a major policy bill in a disgusting way that prevented 99% of Americans from learning what is in the bill until after he made it a law, just like Obamacare. In truth, Trump shares Obama's tactics and immigration positions. The American patriots who see through Trump's lies and those who are upset by his signature on the Amnesty budget bill today are the Americans we want to represent and give voice to at ALIPAC."
Tell me, if the emergency is as real as Trump says it is (and I have advocated for stopping illegal immigration into our country for decades, so don’t try to label me as being “soft” on illegal immigration), was it not real in 2017 and 2018? So, why didn’t the GOP Congress fund the wall during those two years when they controlled both houses of Congress and the White House? And why didn’t Donald Trump issue his declaration of a national emergency in 2017 and 2018 when the Republican Congress failed to appropriate funds for a border wall? Why? Why wait until 2019 when a Democrat House of Representatives did the same thing a Republican House of Representatives did for two years: refuse to fund a border wall? Why? Was there not a “national emergency” in 2017 and 2018?
Come on, folks. You and I both know that Donald Trump waited until Democrats assumed control of the House of Representatives so he could use his state of emergency declaration as a partisan political issue for his re-election campaign in 2020. Trump even admitted this was the case. But, again, Trump loyalists don’t care.
By the same token, Trump loyalists keep saying Trump is “pro-life,” even though he has done nothing to save the lives of unborn children from legal abortion: Roe v Wade is still the law of the land. Even though Trump and his fellow Republicans controlled the entire political establishment for two full years, nothing was enacted under Article. III. Section. 2. of the Constitution to make moot the infamous and illegal Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion-on-demand. In fact, for two full years of GOP domination, Trump didn’t even keep his promise to defund Planned Parenthood. Since Donald Trump became President, over 2 million unborn children have been legally murdered in the wombs of their mothers. Tell those dead little babies how “pro-life” Trump is. Does this matter to Trump loyalists? Not a bit.
Does it matter that Donald Trump has exploded the national debt over $2 trillion—to over $22 trillion—since becoming President two years ago? No! Does it matter that Trump has expanded America’s neocon Warfare State and advanced the scope of America’s foreign entanglements (now including Venezuela and Nicaragua) beyond that of his predecessors, Republican or Democrat? No! Does it matter that Trump has appointed the nastiest and swampiest CFR globalists, neocons and Zionists to his administration to a level not even matched by Barack Obama? No! Does it matter that Donald Trump is attacking our Second Amendment liberties more intensely than Obama did? No!
Since Trump called for America to enact “red flag” gun confiscation laws, 13 states plus Washington, D.C., have passed such laws (including GOP-controlled Florida), and thousands of innocent Americans have had their guns seized by police agencies; and a few weeks ago, Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio introduced a national “red flag” gun confiscation law in the U.S. Senate. Does any of that matter to Trump loyalists? No!
Does it matter to them that Trump has issued a Presidential Directive to create a sixth branch of the U.S. military: the U.S. Space Force? This new branch of the U.S. military is being created to take America’s Warfare State into outer space. Does it matter to Trump loyalists? No! Does it matter that Trump is signing an Executive Order to promote artificial intelligence? (Now, what could possibly go wrong with that?) No!
I could go on forever.
The point is, it just doesn’t matter to Trump loyalists if what Trump does is constitutional—or just, moral and legal—or not. It truly does not matter. If Trump does it, they are for it. It’s as simple as that.
Perhaps this photo sums up the Trump adoration and idolatry better than anything I’ve seen.
The worst thing about America’s acceptance of a burgeoning imperial presidency (which is exactly what all of this is leading up to) is that it is being spearheaded by evangelical Christians and pastors—just like it was in Lutzer’s historical account of the Church in Germany.
P.S. You can order Erwin Lutzer’s book, Hitler’s Cross, here:
Hitler's Cross: How The Cross Was Used To Promote The Nazi Agenda
P.P.S. I also recommend that people read the book co-authored by my constitutional attorney son and me called Romans 13: The True Meaning Of Submission. Order it here:
Romans 13: The True Meaning Of Submission
© Chuck Baldwin
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