How long, oh Lord? (Trump edition)
I reluctantly followed the news over the weekend — since my job involves politics I try to give myself a break when I’m with my family — and of course read about the tweets Trump sent attacking Baltimore. In case you missed it, Trump responded to criticism from Baltimore Congressman Elijah Cummings by attacking his city as a “dangerous and filthy place” where “no human being would want to live.” As even Fox News noted, this “seems to be the worst kind of racial stereotype.” Some have responded by defending Baltimore, or pushing back on Trump. But I couldn’t help but think of Psalm 13, which begins, “How long, o Lord?”
I haven’t heard anyone outside the Administration defend this, so I’m not sure what line they will use this time. I’m especially interested to hear Trump’s evangelical supporters’ defense, as it is impossible to square these tweets with the teachings of Jesus they claim to follow. Maybe this will finally unsettle their disturbingly close connection to this man, but I doubt it. And I’m realizing the situation we — by that I mean white Christians — have put ourselves in.
Psalm 13 is attributed to King David. Some believe David wrote it during his son Absalom’s rebellion against his rule. Whatever its genesis, it starts with a cry of despair — “How long, O lord? Will you forget me forever?” — followed by a prayer for deliverance. It ends with a celebration of God’s grace: “I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.” It’s a common Biblical theme — God turns away because of our mistakes. Bad things happen as a result. After calling to God for help, things get better.
So we deal with another round of Trump’s nasty attacks on Americans, as children are being held in inhumane conditions by our own government and America is planning to cut refugee admissions to zero. I think many in American can sympathize with David’s plea: how long must we endure this?
As I’ve said before, the question has a particular resonance for Christians, since so many of us back Trump and our faith has been twisted to defend his policies. One passage of this psalm really stands out to me — “consider and answer me, O Lord my God…lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him.” Whenever I read that I can’t help but think of the triumphalism of pro-Trump evangelicals — thinking Trump’s reign proves God is on their side — and their glee over the struggles of progressive Christianity. How long can this be allowed to happen?
But that’s the thing. Trump wasn’t a Biblical punishment imposed on us. America elected him — with a big asterisk on that sentence of course. And the support of white Christians was instrumental to his success. Yes, it was primarily white evangelicals, while mainline Protestants are predominately liberal. But I think mainline Protestants need to do some soul-searching too, to figure out why we’ve been over-shadowed by conservative evangelicals.
This happened because many of us — either by action or inaction — allowed it to happen. But we still wait for deliverance. As Paul Musgrave noted, many liberals thought Mueller would save them, but have been disappointed. Some are counting on evangelicals to turn on Trump, and mythical reports of this keep popping up. Yet as Ryan Burge pointed out this weekend, that’s not happening.
Trump is not going to step down through divine deliverance. It’s going to require effort by all of us. There is certainly energy among Trump’s critics throughout America. And, as I’ve noted, progressive Christianity is having a moment, gaining attention and possibly political power, so this may counteract some of the negative forces undermining American Christianity. So maybe I’m the only one who needs this reminder. But I thought it was worth saying.
