PRÉCIS ON THE DEATH OF THE AMERICAN GOD: NIETZSCHE, TRUMP, AND WHITE EVANGELICAL CRIMINALLY NEGLIGENT DEICIDE

SCRIPTURE. “For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder [unrest, rebellion] and every evil thing and morally degrading practice.” – JAMES 3:16, AMPC

KEY TERM: “JEALOUSY.” ‘Zelos’ [ζῆλος]: “From a primary word meaning, ‘To be hot, boil, fervid;’ to seethe or bubble (from the sound of boiling water); can also refer to zeal or zealousness in a favorable sense as with ardor; fervency of emulation; but in this context, it refers to the negative, ‘Angry Envy.’” WEBSTER (1828): “ENVY.” To feel uneasiness, mortification or discontent, at the sight of superior excellence, reputation or happiness enjoyed by another; to repine at another’s prosperity; to fret or grieve one’s self at the real or supposed superiority of another, and to hate him on that account.”  

QUOTATION. “Envy is the religion of the mediocre. It comforts them, it soothes their worries, and finally it rots their souls, allowing them to justify their meanness and their greed until they believe these to be Virtues. Such people are convinced that the Doors of Heaven will be opened only to poor wretches like themselves who go through life without leaving any trace but their threadbare attempts to belittle others and to exclude – and destroy if possible – those who, by the simple fact of their existence, show up their own poorness of spirit, mind, and guts. Blessed be the one at whom the Fools bark, because his soul will never belong to them.” ― CARLOS RUIZ ZAFÓN, The Angel’s Game, 2010; edited 

COMMENTARY. “‘For where envying and strife is, there is confusion’ – Margin, tumult or unquietness. Everything is unsettled and agitated. There is no mutual confidence; there is no union of plan and effort; there is no co-operation in promoting a common object; there is no stability in any plan; for a purpose, though for good, formed by one portion, is defeated by another.

‘And every evil work’ – Of the Truth of this no one can have any doubt who has observed the effects in a family or neighborhood where a Spirit of Strife prevails. All love and harmony of course are banished; all happiness disappears; all prosperity is at an end. In place of the peaceful virtues which ought to prevail, there springs up every evil passion that tends to mar the peace of a community. Where this Spirit prevails in a church, it is of course impossible to expect any progress in Divine Things; and in such a church any effort to do good is vain.

‘The [True] Spirit, like a peaceful dove, Flies from the realms of noise and strife.’” – ALBERT BARNES, Notes on the Old and New Testaments, 1834; edited

DK’S TAKE. I can summarize the catastrophic impact of the Rise of Donald Trump as President as the unimaginable De Facto Hero of the Christian Faith in America.

Writing for Christianity Today in a telling piece titled, “Trump Era Controversies Had a Measurable Effect on Church Attendance” (November 2023), DANIEL SILLIMAN drives straight to the painful point.

Donald Trump’s Presidency accelerated the Decline of Church attendance in America. While the number of people going to Church was already going down steadily, data from Harvard University’s Cooperative Election Study shows an ‘Exogeneous Shock’ in 2016, according to political scientist RYAN BURGE, who specializes in the study of religious data. ‘For every action there is a reaction,’ Burge told CT. ‘Donald Trump is the Action. His Election caused all these ripple effects in American society, and you can see it in the Pews.’”

“Exogenous Shock.” External Events that affect a System, but they are not generated by the System itself. They are considered as Random and Unpredictable such as: Technology Outbreaks, Hurricanes, Sudden Changes in Governments, or Geopolitical Events” – IGI Global, 2024; edited

IMPACT. Not unlike a giant Meteor smashing into the Earth with devastating power and destruction, or a Tsunami raking havoc on the coastlands, Donald Trump has landed in the very middle of American Church Orthodoxy and effectively brought it to catastrophic Doctrinal Ruin in just a few short years.

And we invited him to do so!’ On June 21, 2016, in New York City’s Trump Tower leading White Christian Evangelicals struck a Faustian Bargain with this Beast to overlook his wickedness if he would, “Protect American Christians.”

In one Fell Swoop, the Church abrogated the Christian Gospel and Biblical Canon by allowing Trump to exchange a Love for Jesus for a Love for Power and Money. Thus did the Beginning of ‘The Great Collapse’ ignite inside the hallowed walls of our most influential sanctuaries.

We are thereby pitched on the Edge of Reelecting Antichrist to the most powerful office on the Planet on November 5, 2024. And if that happens – All is about to change, beloved, across the entire face of the whole Earth. Most especially in The Church.

Or as in the Dark Predictions of Friedrich Nietzsche:

“‘GOD IS DEAD!’ But given the Way of Men, there may still be caves for thousands of years in which His Shadow will be shown. And We – We still have to vanquish His Shadow, too.”  ―  FRIEDRICH WILHELM NIETZSCHE, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, 1883; edited

Thus the Tragedy of all possible tragedies is codified by the German philosopher’s Malicious Prophecy elsewhere: “And We [The Church] have killed Him!”

Or at least the Integrity of His Witness, beloved. Save for that Tiny Remnant, God has been effectively disgraced and erased from the American Story. And no one is more responsible for this Spiritual Murder, but the ones who still dare to carry His Name alongside Donald John Trump’s.

Selah.