I grew up in a culture where apocalyptic fundamentalist Christianity ruled. My young mind and heart thrived on it though it scared the hell out of me, just as it was designed to do. I think there is an intrinsic vein of judgment built into that mind set and the image of summary judgment on mankind for wrong doing is appealing, especially when you just happen to be one of those who will escape God’s vengeance because you have uttered salvivic “magic words.’ There was some subtle, though completely unacknowledged satisfaction in knowing that one would be escaping God’s wrath while those who were “left behind” would be getting their ass kicked.
Fear is an intrinsic dimension of being human. I think this stems from the primordial fear of knowing that our grasp on life is tenuous to begin with and can be taken from us at any moment for no reason at all. And, on top of it all in the end, as the wit has put it, “No one ain’t a gettin’ out of this alive!” And some people are so attuned to this fear base and are ready to exploit it, particularly politicians and religious leaders. Donald Trump is the consummate master of this exploitation rode to power with a steady stream of “red meat” designed to trigger the fears of voters not willing, or able, to employ critical thinking. Of course, evangelical and fundamentalist Christians swallowed everything he said, delighted with the notion that he was going to “make America great again.”
I’m reminded of the words of Jesus, “Perfect love casteth out fear.” I would think that even a tad of the love of Jesus would at least give one some immunity from being the prey of a fear-mongerer like Trump. But, I too have felt the silent call of Trump’s rhetoric from time to time but have paid no attention to it, recognizing it for what it is—my reptilian brain still present and ready to be resurrected at the slightest tip of the hat if I would but feed it with the energy of my attention.
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ADDENDUM—This is one of three blogs that I now have up and running. Please check the other two out sometime. The three are:
https://wordpress.com/stats/day/literarylew.wordpress.com
https://wordpress.com/posts/anerrantbaptistpreacher.wordpress.com
https://wordpress.com/posts/theonlytruthinpolitics.wordpress.com
An Errant Baptist Preacher 