The Wall of Jericho

There are a significant number of values that was instilled within me throughout my childhood that still remain today. These values are at the core of what many refer to as “Good Christian Values.” Be kind to others. Share what you have with the less fortunate. Show understanding, love, and strength with others. And above all, Love JESUS and trust in His word! I held tightly to these values and made them a part of who I am as a man. Not only did I trust in his word, I also carried it with me every where I went. It was in my hand at all times. That’s how important those values have always been to me. And most of them still are. A wall of virtue had been built, and I dared anyone to break it down.

This wall of virtue surrounded the church. And while there were extremists on the fringes of the church (Hello Westboro Baptist Cult) that disregarded those virtues, and even some amongst the politicians that would play upon the church to get their politics moved forward, the vast majority of Christianity… and, dare I say it, Evangelical Christianity… still had that wall around it. My own evangelical upbringing had given me every opportunity to put lights on that wall and show those virtues to all the world.

And then the Israelites showed up, lead by a loud and powerful, orange-haired Jacob. It saddens me that those who raised me have been blinded by his lies, had their walls of virtues torn down by his rants of anger and hate, and their pride has been swollen to immense proportions by their unwillingness to admit that he was wrong… for it would, in turn, mean they would have to admit they were also wrong.

To this day, I find it difficult to fathom how my family and friends of the past are incapable of seeing the absolute destruction Donald Trump has lain to the evangelical Christian movement. They are so focused on party politics and ensuring they get their way that they have completely forgotten who they are and what they are supposed to live for… or WHO they are supposed to live for. Yes, they still claim their love for Jesus and bemoan this ol’ world’s hardships and iniquities, but now they do it under the belief that Donald Trump can somehow make it all better. But to support him, they have to ignore SO much of who he is. They have to ignore the lack of evidence to his claims. They HAVE to ignore that he is NOT a Christian man.

“But he is a Christian man!” They all shout at me as they point to the countless times Trump has held up a Bible and spoken of Christian values… What does Christian mean? Christ-ian: Latin; Christ-like. To be like Christ. Before you claim that he’s a Christian, please ignore the fact that Christ never once spoke of alienating your neighbors, making Rome great again, or grabbing Mary Magdalene by the… ahem… well, you know. Flawed? Sure he is, but so am I, and even my former evangelical self would be ASHAMED at any kind of support to such an evil man.

But he got them. Almost all of them. Christians from all walks of life. He got them by two small virtues: Abortion and Christian nationalism. Seriously. If I wanted to rule the country in tyranny and evil and all I had to do to get that was promise the so-called “good guys” that I would end abortion and make their Bible the law of the land, why not do it? That’s exactly what Trump did. A power-hungry narcissist figured out the flaws in the wall of virtue: the virtues themselves.

He found the two brightest virtues and used them. He shouted. He and his Isrealite army shouted. They marched around the fields of politics, shouted, then went home, only to do again. Then, on November 2nd, 2016, the wall of virtue around evangelical Christianity came tumbling down. And the Christians barely even noticed. They continue, to this day, to try spreading their virtues of love, compassion, understanding, do unto others, etc. But now their cries fall upon deaf ears. Those who are outside of the faith no longer look up to Christianity as a possible life choice, they no longer believe in the sincerity of those who follow Christ, and they are beginning to realize they no longer want to tolerate the lies for much longer.

The damage from the fallen wall has already shown itself. Instead of Christians trying to end Roe vs. Wade by their own walk and virtue, they have forced that belief on America. Instead of convincing everyone that homosexuality is a sin and must be avoided through their walk with Jesus, they now look to the courts to force gays back into the closet where they belong. (Their words, not mine.) And instead of going out and teaching all nations, they look to wars to force all nations. And they wonder why no one is listening anymore. No one is listening because when they look upon Christianity, they no longer see a wall of virtue. They only see ruin and rubble, and an angry, orange-haired man standing on top of that rubble, convincing those within it that it’s still a beautiful wall.