• dhork@lemmy.world
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      I wonder what all of his Protestant Evangelical backers think of this.

      My eschatology is a bit rusty, but I think this is the type of thing that they thought the Antichrist would do. But maybe that’s why the evangelicals back him, thinking the rapture is just around the corner…

      (Or maybe, the “rapture” is happening right now, except instead of the chosen, worthy people being disappeared to Heaven, they’re all being disappeared to El Salvador. The joke’s on all those evangelicals, I guess. Ha.)

      Edited to add: Doesn’t “El Salvador” literally translate to “The Savior”? Kidnapping the innocent and whisking them to “The Savior”, never to be seen again, definitely tracks.

        • blaue_Fledermaus@mstdn.io
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          Just to note: these books are heavily based on dispensationalist pseudo-theology.

          But I agree that trump is an Antichrist

          • andros_rex@lemmy.worldOP
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            100% agreed on the pseudo-theology. Left Behind is a terrible series.

            I just find it funny, because he acts like Carpathia. Like, Carpathia is characterized as smart and charismatic, but nothing in the writing backs that up - it relies heavily on some sort of magical attraction. Which is got to be the only way that you can explain how conservative Christians who have spent the last 50 years shrieking about sexual morality have latched onto this guy like he’s the Second Coming if you believe any of this shit. (The real answer of course, is that opposition to LGBT people was on the whole not religiously motivated, just “we don’t like the icky people.”)

              • andros_rex@lemmy.worldOP
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                24 hours ago

                Fred Clark is the kind of Christian that got me out of my “angry Reddit atheist” phase. He’s a great writer.

          • dhork@lemmy.world
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            Agree. But, is dispensationalism really “pseudo-theology” if people believe it?

            • blaue_Fledermaus@mstdn.io
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              Heresy then?
              It’s a biblical interpretation framework based on giving theological significance to the order of the books in the Bible, ignoring previous history of theology and history of the formation of the Bible.
              Theology is one the oldest sciences, it has Method; Dispensationalism throws it away and does it’s own thing.

              • andros_rex@lemmy.worldOP
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                The question I think is the Protestant vs Catholic orthodoxy versus orthopraxy. Discarding works. Often not caring about following rules - you just tearfully apologize and say you’ve talked about it with Jesus. Jim Baker is the name that springs to mind immediately, but if you asked me to compile a list of similar hypocrites it would be encyclopedic level work.

                A big thing too is that practice and theology have never been married. If Christ has been the Church’s bridegroom - I can’t think of any Church that can really claim to have been faithful. Certain types of people just get their sins overlooked. Trump exemplifies that - the Mark Driscoll disgustingly misogynistic style pastors that haunt every small town in the Midwest, where rape is an inconvenience and “WIVES SELL PUSSY FOR LIFE” in the words of “Yeezus.”

                The Catholic Church exemplifies this in its failure to adequately address the sexual abuse crises and at times active cover up (what did Jesus say about millstones?) There’s also the Magdalene Laundries, the burning of basically all Mayan literature, and so on…

                So blah blah blah - the point being - when have the people being called Christian really cared about what the darn book even says? We talk here as if Christianity is not for them more of a weird ethnocultural idea, with something akin more to our most primitive instincts to group and out group?

                “Christianity” that I have interacted with has always been this strange distortion. This post Scofield and Darby distortion. So many atheists think the gotcha on the rules matters to many of them - it doesn’t.

                It’s like arguing with a Dallas Cowboys fan.

                • blaue_Fledermaus@mstdn.io
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                  Yes, certainly!

                  But I think there’s a difference between corrupt hypocrites not practicing a “reasonable” theology, and a corrupt theology supporting a corrupt practice.

                  There are those that care, but the nature of actually following it means doing it quietly and without seeking recognition.

              • dhork@lemmy.world
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                Sure, call it heresy. But the Pope called Martin Luther a heretic, too, and yet that didn’t stop people from believing that he might have been on to something.

                If someone believes something deeply, whether or not it is batshit crazy, who am I to tell them they’re wrong? If it is that bonkers, I will just write them off as a crackpot and let them be.

        • dhork@lemmy.world
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          That’s all from those books, right? I haven’t read them.

          But I do know that Trump likes Golden Toilets, and has made his own crypto shitcoin. So maybe he is the Shitty Antichrist?

      • eestileib@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        “Evangelical”, when I was a kid, meant “racist who is mega devoted to the Bible and goes to church twice a week, and maybe doesn’t apply enough critical thinking to what the preacher says.” They’d know Bible quotes, ask themselves what Jesus would do, and although I completely disagreed with them and fled the state I lived in ASAP, they were coming from a sincere place.

        Evangelical", today, is purely a statement of political alignment with MAGA. Most don’t even go to church. They’re literally willing to worship a golden idol.

      • blakenong@lemmings.world
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        Do we talk about ridding ourselves of the antichrist or would that be “uncivil” and “inciting violence?”

      • blargle@sh.itjust.works
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        Arguably the Antipope (or would be, if he decides to keep pushing this ‘’‘joke’‘’ like he has with the conquering Canada crap…)

  • throwawayacc0430@sh.itjust.works
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    Do it. Become pope.

    US Constitution, Article I, Section 9, Clause 8:

    No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

    No more presidency for you, dumbass.

    (but then again, the constitution doesn’t seem to matter any more so what do I know 🤷‍♂️)

    • Revan343@lemmy.ca
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      without the Consent of the Congress

      I don’t see the problem, Congress wil consent to anything, let him do anything; he could grab them right by the legislativussy

    • very_well_lost@lemmy.world
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      Trump has been in flagrant violation of the ‘emoluments’ part of that section for the entirety of his presidency — both terms.

      Guess what consequences he faced for that. Go on, guess!

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      without the Consent of Congress

      They’d just give their consent, and we’d still be in “not quite a constitutional crisis” we’ve been in since he took office.

  • WizardofFrobozz@lemmy.ca
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    This is a flex. It means “watch me insult the largest Christian organization on earth with literally no consequences. My base’s support won’t budge and the rest of you cowards will continue to take it.” Has nothing to do with the pope or being the pope- it’s just another demoralization tactic.

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    Hey Texas, a political meme is using AI to push an agenda. You going to do something about it?

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    This guy is so crass and so gormless he doesn’t hesitate for one second to spit in the face of 1.5bn Catholics in the world.

    Having said that, I wouldn’t mind a picture of Trump as a dead Pope…

    • dhork@lemmy.world
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      Catholics (in America at least) would happily let him spit in their faces, as long as he continues to make abortions harder to get. Never mind the fact that the Church is equally against the death penalty, or treating migrants like cattle…

      • Spezi@feddit.org
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        American catholics are very different to european catholics. Not that european catholics are good, but compared to the US version they are outright progressive.

        • jaybone@lemmy.zip
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          I think it varies. West coast Catholics tend to be pretty progressive compared to Midwest or southern Catholics in the US.

        • dhork@lemmy.world
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          If they pick another reformist Pope (especially one from Africa or Asia), I would expect the American Bishops to openly revolt and name their own Pope. It’s been over 500 years since we had an Antipope. I think we’re due.

  • Boddhisatva@lemmy.world
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    He’s going to pull a Henry VIII and make a state sanctioned version of Christianity called the Church of America, isn’t he.

  • BigMacHole@lemm.ee
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    ONLY the TRUE Chosen One Of God would DO something like THAT! Now I’m even MORE CONVINCED Convicted Fraudster and Rapist and Thrice Married Billionaire Donald John Trump is GODS SON!

    • andros_rex@lemmy.worldOP
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      He’s not Catholic. JD Vance supposedly is.

      Trump claims to be a non denominational Christian.

      WHAM 1180 AM radio host Bob Lonsberry asked the Republican front-runner if he had a favorite verse or story from the Bible that’s impacted his thinking or character.

      “Well, I think many. I mean, you know, when we get into the Bible, I think many. So many,” he responded. “And some people—look, an eye for an eye, you can almost say that. That’s not a particularly nice thing. But you know, if you look at what’s happening to our country, I mean, when you see what’s going on with our country, how people are taking advantage of us, and how they scoff at us and laugh at us.”

      Now, I’m not a Christian anymore but I think it’s reasonable to say that is not an expected response to “what’s your favorite Bible verse or character.” Hell, as an atheist/discordian I can barely stop myself from infodumping my favorites on here. (Judah and Tamar, I also absolutely love Jesus and the Canaanite woman)

      “Christian” is more of a cultural/community marker for these people, and a vague “I hope I see grandma again” than it is anything resembling “faith.”

  • Mike Stark@me.dm
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    @andros_rex
    As a catholic I’m offended, I imagine the red hat crowd adores this… They think he’s sooo clever… he surely didn’t think of this on his own, he;s really not that clever

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      As a former Presbyterian and current Deist for lack of a better description, I’m offended by this picture.

    • andros_rex@lemmy.worldOP
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      He’s certainly got the network.

      “She confided in me about her casual ‘friendship’ with Donald. Mr Trump definitely seemed to have a thing for her and she told me how he kept going on about how he liked her ‘pert nipples’,” she testified.

      She then described in graphic detail how Mr Trump allegedly caused pain to the victim’s nipples – and claimed she saw the resulting injury firsthand.

      In further Left Behind Antichrist parallels, quite a few of the business close to Carpathia get knocked off as he consolidates power. The kind of people who might know where bodies are buried, or what really happened on the night in Epstein’s cell.