Trump has distilled American Evangelicalism to a vinegary residue. He has stripped it to a hollow husk. An acidic shell is all that remains as The Cynical & Crafty Far Right Guides conclude their long, long manipulation of Evangelical churches.
Decades ago, The Cynical & Crafty Far Right Guides humble-boasted that they 'lack the gift of faith.' And while that phrase was still warm in exhalation, The Cynical & Crafty Far Right Guides gave instructions to Evangelicals about proper, godly political ambitions.
For what end? For a devout end? No. For a pious end? No. For a spiritual end? No. None of that. Remember, The Cynical & Crafty Far Right Guides 'lack the gift of faith.' What was in it for The Cynical & Crafty Far Right Guides? Why did The Cynical & Crafty Far Right Guides seek religious customers? For what end?
Answer: For power: a power gilded with piety and wielded in the aid and protection of accumulated wealth. That's a far distance from the penniless Christ who called the poor 'blessed' but not the rich.
The Cynical & Crafty Far Right Guides Who Lack the Gift of Faith made a great success in constructing a Religious Far Right who would attempt the impossible task of shoving the double-wide wealthy tushes of Wall Street cretins through the narrow eye of a knitting needle.
With the ascendancy of Donald Trump to the Presidency, The Cynical & Crafty Far Right Guides Who Lack the Gift of Faith reached an apotheosis. The time is near when they will no longer need Evangelical churches to play the spaniel. Evangelicals have been most useful, but their service may have a term.
A good sign that The Cynical & Crafty Far Right Guides Who Lack the Gift of Faith care little for Evangelicals is that they never had any intention of vacating Roe v. Wade. The abortion issue has been too lucrative in votes and emotions and donations to ever silence it with a Supreme Court reversal. The Cynical & Crafty Far Right Guides Who Lack the Gift of Faith always wanted abortion to stay legal, even as they posed as pro-lifers.
Wait and see. In the next year or so, The Cynical & Crafty Far Right Guides Who Lack the Gift of Faith will place a Justice or two on the Supreme Court. Nothing will stand in the way of vacating Roe v. Wade then. And yet (stain these words in pink ink) they will not vacate Roe v. Wade. They never intended to. Will this convince Evangelicals that they have been duped?
Awaken, Evangelicals! The Cynical & Crafty Far Right Guides Who Lack the Gift of Faith are not your friends. The devil arrayed himself in angelic garb to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
* In the gospels, someone dabbed a nauseous and narcotic sour gall on the lips of a dying Jesus.
uponreligion.com