Idolatry in Primetime

Donald Trump spoke this week of a country that millions of Americans do not recognize because it exists only in his head.

Donald Trump has created his own world. Trump lives in his self-created reality. It’s a delusional world of his own making, detached from facts and dangerously disconnected from the lived experience of millions of American people. Trump made his reputation as the host of a reality TV show. And that’s all that Donald Trump has ever been--a TV host. The State of the Union address revealed once again that Donald Trump lives in a self-created reality TV show. That is the world from which he spoke this week.

Fact-checkers showed that Trump lied repeatedly about the economy, immigration, and much more. But what was more alarming than the plenitude of falsehoods was the spectacle in the chamber with nearly every Republican rising in applause for his every lie.

Most Republicans are aware that prices for many essential goods are rising. They know inflation is not disappearing and that our economic growth has slowed. Yet they stood and clapped for misleading narratives that contradict what many of their constituents are experiencing.

Trump’s lies about immigrants were as cruel during his speech as his policies are against the “strangers” Jesus told us to love and protect. Once again, Trump portrayed immigrants and refugees as violent criminals while data show these communities commit far less crime than native-born American citizens. That’s just documented reality. But Trump can’t talk about immigrants without making vicious generalizations and maliciously victimizing white people in the process.

Trump brought victims of crimes committed by undocumented immigrants into the chamber balcony as his special guests and lingered on every horrible detail of the crimes. We should affirm compassion and justice for these victims, but using individual tragedies as character descriptions for entire communities is morally corrosive and evil, especially given that this is the ideological foundation of his mass deportation campaign.

What Trump did not talk about in his State of the Union was what is actively happening in Minneapolis, where the violent attackers are his ICE agents, masked and armed without badges or warrants, roving in unmarked vans to assault and detain hard-working neighbors who have committed no violent crimes, separating families, and pursuing deportations without meaningful due process. He didn’t talk about the growing local opposition to prison camps for immigrants, which he wants to build all over the country. There was no mention of how ICE’s cruel, violent, and lawless behavior has led to the killings of two U.S. citizens so far. But the families of Renee Good and Alex Pretti were not invited on Tuesday to mourn their grief and honor their loved ones’ lives.

Over a dozen survivors and their family members of Jeffrey Epstein’s pedophilia trafficking system were invited as guests by Democratic members of Congress. Needless to say, none of them were acknowledged by Trump, given that on Tuesday morning, NPR and other outlets reported the Department of Justice(DOJ) had withheld some of the Epstein files that implicate and even accuse Trump of sexual assault against a minor. Their suffering, along with the suffering of thousands of families nationwide, was missing from his speech because it doesn’t fit Trump’s world and self-interest.

Many of the reporters and commentators on Trump’s State of the Union speech spoke of how Trump’s declarations of reality simply don’t fit the lived reality of ordinary people around the country. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer even referred to it as “Donald Trump’s state of delusion,” claiming “he’s in a bubble” and “doesn’t know what the average American is going through.” Trump’s reality is starkly different from the realities of many Americans across the nation, and reporters say that could become a midterm election issue for Republicans. But it is increasingly clear that we can expect Donald Trump to try to undermine those elections. Our work at Faiths United to Save Democracy (FUSD) will be pivotal as we approach the midterm elections.

Near the end of his speech, Trump turned to religion. “We love religion, and we love bringing it back,” he said, “And it’s coming back at levels that nobody actually thought possible. It’s really a beautiful thing to see.” Then Donald Trump said a sentence that might be the most succinct definition of idolatry I have ever heard. Trump told the country, “When God needs a nation to work His miracles, He knows exactly who to ask.” Never has idolatry in the United States of America been simpler, clearer, and more stunning. It is the language of American Christian nationalism distilled to a single line.

Scripture warns us clearly about confusing God’s sovereignty with our own ambitions. Nations are not saviors. Politicians are not messiahs. Anyone in public office, the President included, should lead with humility before law, institution, and most importantly, before God.

At the end of Donald Trump’s delusional speech, I remembered very deeply that we don’t have to accept his version of reality if we know the truth that can set us free.

I was reminded of that in my hometown of Detroit. A long-planned weekend in Detroit became something more. In the church where I spoke, one of the most racially diverse crowds in its history gathered, including many from outside the congregation and even outside formal religion. People were hungry for a faith that tells the truth and stands with the vulnerable.

We also saw this hunger as we launched A Call to Christians in a Crisis of Faith and Democracy last week. Over 400 national faith leaders had already signed it and agreed to act together. Within days, over six thousand more Christians, including clergy and lay leaders, began adding their names and answering this call of unity. I encourage you all to watch the video, explore the events and resources on the website, and sign if you haven’t yet.

That is our reality. Not the one Trump showed in his for-TV address, but one that is rooted in relationship, truth-telling, and in the gospel command to love our neighbor. Although Trump’s claim that the state of our union is strong was a lie, the state of our union against him is strong.

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