America: an Inside/Outside Perspective, Part 4. The Post-Election

I have Republican friends who are now distancing themselves from the storming of the capitol, saying that small group of rioters does not represent the 75 million others who voted for him. That is a fair point. They don’t want Trump supporters or the Republican party to be tainted by people like the shirtless guy in buffalo horns and face paint, who looked like he belonged at a football game, not an insurrection.

I see a number of American Christians who also feel the need to distance themselves from the riot. Because many in the mob used the name of Jesus. They prayed. They carried crosses. They carried banners with the names of Jesus and Trump. The prominent conservative Southern Baptist Al Mohler is quoted in an article in the Atlantic, saying he is “tremendously embarrassed” by Trump’s behavior. Christians don’t want that mob to represent Christianity.

How does it all look from the outside? In a word: crazy. I saw one comment online that the mob at the Capitol looked like a group of people LARPing or cosplaying, not rising up in rebellion. This would be amusing if it were not for the fact that five people died. And for the fact that the crowd chanted “Hang Mike Pence.” And for the fact that, whether or not he wanted them to storm the building, the president told his supporters to march on the Capitol. Now we hear reports that the FBI is preparing for armed protests at all 50 state capitols. The world is wondering what is going on in America’s post-election period.

I shared some thoughts from a Dutch friend a couple days ago. He reflects the feelings of many here. He grew up looking to America as Europe’s best friend, like a big brother worthy of admiration. “Going to the US meant you made it,” he shared. He remembers a grown man showing off a treasured dollar bill after a trip to the US. People and nations aspired to be like America, to have a free democracy like America. But now, he says, “There is a big group in that country that apparently doesn’t trust democracy anymore unless their own candidate wins.”

I know it looks and feels different from within. I have heard from people about the reasons they supported Trump and continue to support him. They don’t like the Democratic party’s support of abortion. They don’t trust the left, who they see as destructive to basic freedoms. They don’t trust the media, which reports things with a bias. Many people fear that the future of America hangs in the balance and it’s time to act. Some feel that they have been ignored by the professional politicians.

That fear and the zeal for Trump is extremely difficult for people on the outside to understand. And as my friend said, it is really difficult for European Christians to understand the zealous support of many American Christians for Trump. The church I serve has people from around the world. Like my friend, many admire the US and have a desire to travel or live there. I don’t speak to them all about US politics, but I’m pretty sure they don’t understand either. People often ask for prayer for the political situation in their home countries; now some of them are bringing up the US.

Secular people in the US and in Europe may point to this as confirmation of their position – what the world needs is less faith, less religion, less God. I would say that precisely what the world needs is more worship, on the model of the prophet Isaiah. The fact that a group of people attaches the name of God to some foolish action does not speak for all Christianity. In fact, one of the ten commandments is against using God’s name in vain. The prophets expanded that command and applied it specifically to God’s people.

For example, God spoke through the prophet Isaiah, “Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals I hate with all my being…When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you…Your hands are full of blood!” (Isaiah 1:14-15). The use of God’s name does not vindicate those who use it or their cause. In fact, the use of God’s name in prayer and worship is worthless if one’s life is not brought into God’s will, which Isaiah defined in detail.

Isaiah wrote, “Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow” (Isaiah 1:16-17). Isaiah spoke against idolatry, greed, pride, violence, oppression, overuse of alcohol, obsession with fashion, victimization of the powerless, and more. He doesn’t mention abortion, but his obvious concern for the vulnerable leads me to think he would oppose it. So how would Isaiah vote? To what extent can his vision of God’s will come about through politics? The political influence of Christians in Europe is tiny; can Christians here still be the salt of the earth and the light of the world?

Where did all of Isaiah’s ideas about idolatry, justice and everything else come from? His encounter with God in worship. When he recounts his vision of God in chapter six, he says he thought he would die. God’s holy presence is high voltage; a mere human like Isaiah can’t handle it. By God’s mercy he was made clean, and was sent with a message that still applies, especially to people who would use God’s name. And for secular people who long for a just world, this is where it comes from.