Trumpism Is Emptying Churches

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-04-07/trump-s-brand-of-christian-conservatism-is-driving-people-from-church

42 comments

  1. Nice … so the MAGAotts claim to be Christian, but don’t actually have to go to church or love their neighbor. Preach water, drink wine.

  2. Churches were emptying before Trump. (I refuse to give him credit for every positive thing happening in this country)

  4. Many Church Leaders are part of the active Trump Cult. So, why is it a surprise that their church members are opting out?

  5. Bible salesman. Hah. Not former president. Bible salesman.

  7. When he constantly promotes shit that contradicts the Bible, what do you expect?

  8. Can confirm. I recently got up and walked out of my church when a guest pastor spoke highly of Trump and disparaged Biden.

    When a pastor mentions Trump it stops being a church. Basic.

  9. Couldn’t happen to a more deserving ‘industry’. Now..

    TAX THEM.

  11. This guy is so talented he will bankrupt the RNC, Trump Inc and bring evangelism / selective Christianity spiraling down in flames along with himself. Fingers crossed!

  12. I became a Christian for a few years when I was in high school, and ended up briefly going to a pretty conservative Christian school. Most of the faculty was pretty much what you’d expect, but I had an amazing English teacher who got me into reading literature and philosophy and always seemed very open minded and wise. I lost my faith a few years later but always deeply respected her and her faith. I randomly checked her Facebook profile at some point recently and it was all full of belligerent Trump garbage. It really stung. Like how could this have happened?

  13. You would think that the complete and total lack of proof of God would have done that long ago…

  14. Churches have been collapsing since the pandemic.

    It’s not just Trumpism.

  15. Gee, Evangelical Christian Fundamentalism, as well as traditional Catholicism has embraced a man as its savior who is literally the opposite of everything that Jesus Christ preached and they wonder why people are abandoning the church in droves.

    I sure hope they’re able to figure out the problem someday.

  16. The strangest part of the Christian right is that they are such hypocrites when you look at how Christ lived his life and who he surrounded himself with. The outcasts of the society, those in most need of gods love, are the ones Christ sought out and healed and loved.

    I imagine the LGBTQ+ community, immigrants seeking asylum at the border, etc are the people Christ would have been loving and welcoming with open arms, if he were alive today.

    Sadly, this is all a primary reason why my family has stopped going to church.

  17. Good. Religion is the ball and chain that prevents the advancement of human civilization and achievement.

  18. I went to an evangelical church in 2016. Haven’t been back since election. I never dreamed my church would turn its back on Christian values like they did.

  19. “Do not follow the shepherd too closely for ultimately he is to lead the flock to slaughter.” – Marcus Aurelius, Emperor of Rome

  20. I became an atheist because Christian establishment and its need to force its values on everyone else while failing to live those values.

  21. American churches have a lot going against them.  For one thing, ironically, American culture hinders actual church attendance.  When you have to work 50 hours a week to keep a roof over your head, the last thing you wanna do on a Sunday morning is drag your ass out of bed to listen to the same stories you’ve already heard for 2 hours you could be spending sleeping or taking care of household tasks before going back to work the next day.  Secondly, COVID did a real number on church attendance.  Virtual was a decent option and some churches adapted but being asked to give money thru your TV/laptop screen isn’t nearly as pressuring as having to put something in a basket being passed down the row filled with your friends/neighbors.  And once that in-person routine is broken, it’s not likely to come back for most people.  Thirdly, politics and demographics, baby.  When American Christianity tied itself to conservatives, and conservatives focus on older, reliable voters, churches lose the younger demographic.  If your “leaders” side with repression, hatred, bigotry, xenophobia, and other -isms antithetical to the teachings of Christ, or at best remain silently complicit, then don’t be surprised when you reap what you sow when the pews empty out as the congregation ages and dies.

  22. Good.

    Him and his fanbase have hijacked Christianity and desecrated it to the point where it means absolutely nothing. Hell the moment I see a social media account with an american flag + bible verse or cross emoji combo I immediately assume that person is a hypocritical asshole. They consistently act like the worst human beings on the planet then start claiming Jesus or the Bible as if it absolves them of their wrongdoings.

  24. Trump is the mouthpiece of Satan. Any Church that repeats his rhetoric is corrupt and needs to be abandoned. Biden is a practicing Catholic who understands separation of Church and state.

  25. The irony is… their book warns them about this man.

    What does that say about what is truly in their hearts?

  26. The people who are sure the “wall of separation between church and state” doesn’t exist should have spent more than a fraction of a second thinking about it.

    Walls work in 2 directions.

    You aren’t taking over government, you’re just destroying your church.

  27. Naked hypocrisy is emptying churches, trumpism is just a symptom.

  28. True, I walked out of my church in 2016 when my priest said we should vote for the pro life candidate.

  29. I grew up in the church. My grandfather was a pastor. When I heard hateful right wing nonsense coming from my parents and siblings and it bore no resemblance to the teachings of Christ, it killed any chance of me ever raising my kids in the faith.

    Jesus would want nothing to do with this Republican Party. Buncha dudes trying to shove camels through eyes of needles.

  30. Good. Tax all religion out of existence. We need to move on as a species.

  31. “Donald Trump, a 77-year-old Bible salesman from Palm Beach, Florida, has emerged as the nation’s most prominent Christian leader….. ” .. is the greatest Topic Sentence ever..

  32. I went even further and let a priest have it after a mass where he spoke negatively about immigrants. I told him Jesus would be at the border ministering to these people.

  33. A Pastor or a religious leader should never talk about who you should be voting for or endorsing political candidates/political parties.

    Likewise, politician should never tell you which church you should support or how you should pray.

  35. Christian Churches are full of some of the worst people on Earth. People that seek redemption through a few prayer’s instead of changed behavior and real apologies. They do not practice religion, but instead practice manipulation and strategic ignorance.

  36. My mom left her church because they all became Trump cultists. And my mom was super into her church. She went on mission trips, taught classes, held smaller leadership roles, etc. I think it astounded her how all these seemingly kind and loving people just fell right into Trump ideology without question.

  37. I left the church in 2019 after seeing my wife’s godfather fully descend into the Trump cult as the 2020 election drew closer.

    I had so much respect for this man – he was also the one who officially baptized me a few years prior. It was just too much seeing how much hatred he was suddenly spewing.

  38. I definitely left the church as soon as I saw them side/stay with Trump when he said things that crossed the line over and over. If it weren’t for Trump I don’t know that I would have seen the patriarchy for what it is and the damaged it has caused. Without Trump I may have never known the truth behind how people really are and how easily they can be controlled and manipulated.

  39. Trump is the reason I became an athiest. After seeing every Christian fall for the most unchristian person I learned real quick religion and conservatives just use each other as a means to an end and none of of means shit.

  40. My grandparents are incredibly religious. When their daughter started going to a different church, same denomination just closer to her house, my grandma was legit worried that would damn her to hell.

    They had to stop going to their church of 60 years because it became a trump cult. I’m proud of them for standing for their morals but astonished that American conservatism has poisoned churches to the point that it’s driving out the genuinely religious.

    Conservativism is a disgusting ideology.

  42. I left the church as soon as I heard multiple people at my own church saying Trump was sent from God.

    I just refuse to be a part of that insanity.

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