doesn’t the Bible specifically warn about people like Trump?

For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

— 2 Timothy 3:2–5, English Standard Version

And now, an honest report on what god did. He looked down on his filthy sewage called “earth,” and saw the slimeball that was trump leading the small-minded, the bigoted, the earnestly ignorant like a pied piper down a drain of utter filth and total corruption. And for this reason, he gave humans the incentive to start using nuclear bombs to wipe our filth off the face of the planet completely for eternity.

These trump-arasites are not humans but sick small brained pathogens that deserve complete and total eradication from the earth.

“There’s a portion of the evangelical community that’s very attracted to the idea that God knows everything and God appoints leaders,” he said. “They believe that Donald Trump is the appointed leader at this moment in time.”

“‭‭Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.”

– Romans‬ ‭13:1‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Except, of course, if the current leader is a Democrat.

RIP independent thought.

A key line for me …

“Would you rather have someone whose tongue is maybe a little wild, but has incredibly good policies that make your life better?” he asked the congregation. “Or someone who has a silver tongue and says all the right things and has terrible policies which ruin your life and those of your children and grandchildren?”

Partly out of confirmation bias as I’ve been saying this since before his victory in 2016 and highlighting it as the thing lefty/intellectual/“elites” don’t get about his appeal. Trump hits the “right” buttons while his wildness, lack of “refinement” and apparent sense-making are all features. So many want “change” … Trump is “change”, right from his personal nature and demeanour.

Another …

And he said that the decline in church attendance over time had meant that many of those who considered themselves religious were less influenced by spiritual leaders and more by right-wing media and politicians - Mr Trump foremost among them.

Oh … JFC!! I suppose this is a good predictor of how the west collapses. Deepening class separation across all spheres of civil life allowing chaotic manipulation by demagogues. Can’t help but think of the fall of the Roman Republic and Dune here. Also can’t help but think that the whole Hitchens/Dawkins anti-religion thing, which feels like it got a bit old for the mainstream, really has an essentially important fundamental point … as a whole type of institution and cultural phenomenon, it may simply not be worth it on the whole.