"The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit." Proverbs 18:21
One of the basic Biblical principles I learned while under tutelage of the white evangelical church was that words have power. God spoke the world into existence. He gave his children the power to bless or to curse. I was taught that words carried weight and held value; speaking the right or wrong word over someone could impact them for a lifetime. The Scripture says that a man who speaks lies and violence out of his mouth is like an evil tree that bears rotten fruit. (Luke 6:43-45)
Rotten fruit
So it was with a great degree of alarm that I noticed that throughout his term, our former president’s words, laced with bullying, violence, and hatred, largely went ignored by leaders in the church, and unsanctioned by those in a position to hold him accountable. Our country paid a tragic price for this neglect on January 6, 2021.
Although he lost by more than seven million votes, Trump spent weeks whipping his followers up into a frenzy with false allegations of election fraud. Never mind that both state and federal courts had thrown out nearly four dozen Trump lawsuits attempting to upend the results. “Big protest in DC on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!,” Trump had promised them via tweet. And it was. At his behest, a crowd of thousands gathered to join their leader in protest of the election results. Their protest included smashing windows, spreading feces and urine in the corridors of the Capitol building, destroying statues and other historical relics, threatening to hang Mike Pence (for telling the truth by certifying the election results), and killing five people while injuring hundreds more. Trump stood at the Ellipse, behind the White House, and delivered the speech that earned him a second impeachment, this time for “incitement of insurrection.” It was the most bipartisan presidential impeachment in history and also the first presidential impeachment in which all majority caucus members voted unanimously. His rhetoric led to swift rebuke from members of his own party, and three aides resigned.
"There's no question that president Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day." Mitch McConnell [1]
"If you don't fight like hell you're not going to have a country anymore." Donald J Trump, January 6, 2021 [2]
The Bible condemns violence caused by lies and and power-lust.
"Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don’t have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn’t yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it." James 4:1-2, The Message Bible
When I heard about the assault on our Capitol, I ran home to turn on the news, as nauseous as it made me. I had been to Washington, DC, just three years prior, to speak at the National Archives about the Vietnam prisoner of war experience and to conduct a book signing for Six Years in the Hanoi Hilton. My entire DC experience was thrilling, but nothing captivated my imagination more than the glorious rotunda in the Capitol building. I couldn’t help but spin a few circles under the magnificent domed ceiling, under the watchful eyes of the statues of Presidents Reagan, Truman, and Jefferson. I found out later that the statues I so admired had sustained chemical damage, the house floor was defecated on, historic murals were damaged, and technical equipment was broken and/or stolen. The building sustained upwards of $30 million in damages.[3] This desecration of a national landmark happened for one reason and one reason only: because one man couldn’t stand that he lost an election, and he wielded his tongue to call for violence on his behalf.
“Who on earth would really believe this man enough to do this?” I asked my husband. But the live footage on our TV screen answered my question. Those four flags waving together told me everything I needed to know. Nazis, the Proud Boys, “patriots,” and professing Christians, all marching together at the direction of the man for whom they shared a mutual esteem. I learned later that as the Senate evacuated, and Mike Pence ran for cover, high-ranking members of Congress representing both parties called the president and begged him to call off the mob. They were ignored. For three long hours, during which five people died, 140 police officers were injured, and $30 million in damages was sustained, he refused. When a person is overtaken by a lust for power, he will do anything to obtain it. Anything for the “win.”
Anything for the "win."
It’s a motto of Trump’s that seems to have been adopted by many churchgoers who even today attempt to keep up the ruse. It’s not difficult for anyone with a fourth grade education to see, simply by watching the video of his speech, and by reading the transcript of his words, that Trump incited the violence on January 6. By insisting on his innocence, some Christians have revealed a lust for power, accompanied by denial, which is greater than their desire for truth. They have chosen instead to defend a man who is loud enough, violent enough, and seductive enough to give them the political power they really, really want.
Church, we can’t feast with God and snack on the rotten fruit the devil is serving at the same time. It is impossible. By offering us political power through Donald Trump, and soaking up our approval, our praise, and in some cases, our downright obedience in return, the enemy has forged a union with God's people. This alliance with darkness was made crystal clear in the events of January 6. When Donald Trump served up the words, "stop the steal. . ." “meet me at the Capitol” . . . “it’ll be wild” . . . “fight” . . . “show strength!” . . . “You will never take our country back with weakness” . . .“go by very different rules!” . . . “I’ll be with you!,” [4] the power of death and violence was on his tongue. He knew exactly what he was offering to his disciples. He was offering them power, if only they would obey him. And those who loved his words ate them.
More about the toxic power of Trump's words in my book, The Judas Effect: How Evangelicals Betrayed Jesus for Power.
"Read McConnell's remarks on the Senate floor following Trump's acquittal | CNN Politics". CNN, February 13, 2021.
Associated Press, “Transcript of Trump’s Speech at Rally before US Capitol
Riot,” U.S. News, January 13, 2021, https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2021-01-13/
transcript-of-trumps-speech-at-rally-before-us-capitol-riot.
3. Bill Chappell, “Architect of the Capitol Outlines $30 Million in Damages
from Pro-Trump Riot,” NPR, February 24, 2021, https://www.npr.org/sections/
insurrection-at-the-capitol/2021/02/24/970977612/architect-of-the-capitol-outlines
-30-million-in-damages-from-pro-trump-riot.
Associated Press, “Transcript of Trump’s Speech at Rally before US Capitol
Riot,” U.S. News, January 13, 2021, https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2021-01-13/
transcript-of-trumps-speech-at-rally-before-us-capitol-riot.
Halo Woke Amy Hawk. Yes, you are using biblical verses, but you are using it to mock Jesus & Christian. I know it. You're the real Iscariot woman. Kamala Harris support abortion (killing babies, human with spirits) and you defend her. KH defend criminals, illegal immigrants, and don't want to punish and deport them. What's really in your mind?
Are you the wolf using sheep cover? I pray for you to repent and back to Jesus Christ, the Lord & King.
Thanks for sharing this, Amy. I think your take is right on.
The insanity in all of this, is that the Constitution can't protect us from raw partisanship ("party over country") and the outright moral capitulation of a political party, from top to bottom.
There was an expectation by our founders that the people of this country, especially its leaders, would choose, when the chips were down, to act with integrity and moral character. The GOP has utterly failed to do this (they had two key opportunities in the U.S. Congress to do so via impeachment, and cynically gave Trump a pass x 2) and are stunningly shameless. And our legal system has failed us so far b…