Dear Higher Education Pessimistics, I see how you love fearmongering about higher education and how you love to blame people leaving religion on being “indoctrinated” with “liberal” ideologies. The truth is though, nothing I was taught in my college classes made me change my mind about the beliefs I grew up with. What made me change my mind started with reading the Bible, which I have read completely.
The section that made me examine what I was taught was Matthew 7:15-20, where Jesus was warning about false prophets. The part that resonated with me is the part in which he said,” You will recognize them by their fruits.” Because of this, I started to observe the fruits of Christianity around me. What I saw is political idolatry of the Republican Party and Donald Trump, systemic sexual and spiritual abuse going unreported, nonsensical fearmongering of certain people groups (Liberals, Muslims, or the LGBTQ+ Community, etc.), and not to mention how they always love claiming the high moral ground while doing the same or worse stuff that those they fear monger about.
I tried (and wanted) to reform it. Which is why I stayed as long as I did. Even during the Trump administration. Even after the January 6th insurrection. But when Evangelicals (including those I personally know) started blaming President Biden for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying “Weak men create hard times”, that was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me and made me realize I don’t believe in the values of organized religion, because they prioritize bashing a President they don’t like, then showing their support for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. Quite frankly, I’m surprised that I didn’t leave for good before 2022.
Since then, I started exploring other worldviews and religions and I don’t identify with any and I’m fine with that because being raised religious I was often told to be content not having tons of unanswered questions and sometimes even discouraged from thinking and trying to come up with answers to difficult questions. As a result, I had to act like I knew everything and that I had all the answers. Now, that I am irreligious, I am comfortable accepting the fact that I don’t know everything and that’s why I have decades to find answers. I quote I once read said,” A scientist will read dozens of books in his lifetime, but still believes he has a lot more to learn. A religious person barely reads one book, and thinks they know it all” or as Albert Einstein put it,” The more I learn, the more I realize I don’t know. The more I realize I don’t know, the more I want to learn.”
Anyone who knows me since about 2018, knows how into politics I was. It started around late 2017 or early 2018. I was so engrossed in politics that I fell into the trap of political idolatry. Due to the political polarization, in the United States. I saw politics as the best way to change things that I did not like about America. I thought that if the politics of America would change, the culture would change.
What I failed to understand and what I believe many others fail to understand as well, is that culture usually influences politics. Not the other way around. I remember hearing the story of a reformed Baptist from England named William Carrey who was a missionary to India. One of things that he is known for is ending the Hindu practice of sati. What used to happen in India would be that when a Hindu husband died, his bride would then be burned alive. However, when William Carrey went to India, he was able along with others to stop this practice. How did he do it? He did not abolish this practice by simply convincing the government to abolish it, leading others to have a change of heart about sati. He started to make progress by influencing the culture and proving that there was no basis for this practice in the Hindu scriptures called the Veddas. Eventually, it lead to the abolition of sati in India in 1829. Despite the fact that India is still an overwhelmingly Hindu country, sati is banned to this day. I wish I had fully understood this sooner.
Maybe if I had understood this sooner, I would not have wasted so much time posting about politics and things that do not matter at the end of the day and that cause more division than unity over gray issues. That is why from December 2, 2021 to January 2, 2022, I took a break from news networks to help me to focus on things that are eternal and will matter at the end of the day. Going forward I have decided to follow more neutral news accounts such as NPR, PBS Newshour, Reuters, Associated Press and Axios. No media outlet is completely impartial or unbiased, however I find these outlets to be far more neutral in reporting than CNN or Fox News. It is not wrong to have strong options about politics, I still have strong opinions about certain issues, but one must be careful to not fall into the same trap I did of making an idol out of politics.
For a while now I have been wanting to write about prophecy. Why is that? I have noticed many Christians being deceived into believing false prophets and false prophecies, even when the prophecies did not come to past. The biggest example I can think of is during the year 2020. It was politically the most polarizing year of my lifetime in the United States. America was and still is the most divided it has ever been in my lifetime and my parent’s lifetime and my grandparent’s lifetime. Many “prophets” prophesied that Donald Trump would win the election and be given a second term. Unfortunately, what not many people knew was that these “prophets” were speaking visions of their own heart since they wanted Trump to be president a second term and they were not speaking from the Lord. However, when the votes were finished being counted on November 7th 2020, Joe Biden won both the popular vote and the electoral votes and on January 20th 2021, he was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States. Due to the lack of discernment when it came to prophecy I feel compelled to write an analysis of what the Bible says about prophecy. Unfortunately, this has not just happened in the USA, but in other countries as well. I remember in a country where I have connections with, there were a lot of my friends from this country sharing this video of a man prophesying that there would be a change of government in this country by the end of 2020. However, by the end of 2020, there was no change of government in this country.
Before you get upset at me please understand that although I using political examples, me writing this has absolutely nothing to do with my political opinions and if you continue reading this article past this paragraph, you will see that this article is not about politics, but prophecy. If evangelical “prophets” back in 2020 started prophesying that Joe Biden would become the new president of the United States, and he did not win the election 2020 election and if January 20th 2021 came and Joe Biden was not sworn in as president, and Donald Trump was sworn in for a second term, I promise you that I would still be be writing an article on prophecy.
Growing up in an unhealthy ultra-charismatic environment, I had people prophesy to me many times. At the time I did not have the spiritual maturity to know that what they were saying was not true, but now whenever I have people come up to me and prophecy to me, the first verse that comes to mind is 1 John 4:1 which says, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” In other words, this verse is saying just because someone says “God showed me” or “God told me” does not mean they are really seeing or hearing things from God. Secondly, if someone does “prophesy” to you, you must make sure that they are really hearing from God, because false prophets do exist and we are warned of this.
Then that leads to the question, “How can we know whether a prophecy is true or not true?” One of the most obvious ways to see if a prophetic word is true is to read the Bible, because if someone is saying something contradictory to God’s word than it is guarantied that the person prophesying is not hearing from God since in Hebrews 6:18 it says that it is impossible for God to lie. Another answer can be found in Deuteronomy 18:21-22 where it says, ”And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’— when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.”
If you claim that you are a prophet or that you are constantly hearing things from God, I encourage you to ask yourself this question, ”If I were under the old covenant, and I was convinced that I received a prophetic word from God, would I be willing to die if it did not come to past?” The reason why I would encourage you to ask this question is because under the Old Testament although all sin was bad, not all sin bore the same punishment and the most severe punishments bore death or execution, which includes false prophecy. In the same passage I quoted earlier, it is written in Deuteronomy 18:20, ”But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.” If you think I am being to harsh, then remember it like this: Be very careful about saying “God told me” or “God showed me” because false prophecy or speaking a false word in the name of the Lord is not something God takes lightly.
Since as seen in Deuteronomy 18:20-22, that false prophecy was something that was worthy of death in the Old Testament and that if someone prophesies something that does not come to past they must not be feared, it can be concluded that prophecy is not one of those things were you get a do over. Some object to this conclusion and say, ”Saying that a you’re not a prophet unless you get every prophecy right is like saying you’re not an evangelist unless every person you evangelize to comes to Christ.” However the spiritual gift of evangelism and prophecy differ greatly. When someone claims to prophecy, they are claiming to receive new revelation from God that has not yet come to past and that we have no way of knowing whether it will come to past. With Evangelism on the other hand, an Evangelist is simply spreading the news of revelation that has already come to past, which is the Gospel. Therefore, this argument is a false equivalence.
The final point I want to make is that not all false prophecy is from the devil. Some like to think that prophetic words are either from God or the Devil. However, this is not the case. For example, during a time when there were many so called prophets in Israel, the prophet Jerimiah warned the Israelites: “Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord” (Jeremiah 23:16).” So, while some think there are 2 types of prophecies, there are actually 3. First there is prophecy that comes from God from prophets such as Isaiah, Jerimiah, and Ezekiel. Then there’s prophecy that comes from the devil. These are false prophets who say things they know are not true in order to deceive people. Then there is prophecy that comes from the human heart. These prophets say things that they want to be true. So if someone prophesies a word in the name of the Lord, do not automatically assume it is demonic, it is many times just someone saying things that they want to be true.
“Prophet Jerimiah” by Michelangelo
I now hope that you were able to read past the introduction to see that the article was not about politics, but prophecy. Personally, I think that it was a good thing that I waited about year to write on this subject, because I hoped that some people would have calmed down enough to read what God’s word has to say about prophecy. This article was primarily written so that people will know that we should not believe everyone who speaks in the name of the Lord, as well as the fact that speaking a false word in the name of the Lord is not something God takes lightly, and that not all false prophecy is demonic. My final hope as a whole upon writing this article would be that Christians would next time practice more discernment when someone says,” Thus saith the Lord.”
The 2013 film “12 Years a Slave” is based on the memoir and true story “12 Years a Slave” written in 1853 by a former slave named Solomon Northup. The film begins with Solomon Northup in the fields working in the fields as a slave on a plantation in Louisiana. Shortly afterwards, it shows Solomon Northup before slavery as a freeman who had a family and a happy life as a landowner in New York (a state where slavery was not legal at the time.) However, when he went to Washington D.C. (where slavery was legal at the time), he was abducted, shipped to Louisiana, and sold into slavery. After 12 years of living on the plantation he meets a Canadian that helped him to leave the plantation.
Solomon Northup as a freeman.
The film is incredibly well done. The acting is phenomenal with great performances from Chiwetwl Ejiofor as Solomon Northup and Michael Fassbender as Edwin Epps. The scenery and historical accuracy are also very appealing. When I watched it, I felt like I was it was being filmed at the time period in which it is taking place, even though video cameras weren’t invented back then. When I watched many of the scenes in the movie it reminded me so much of what I had read in history books.
A picture from the beginning of the movie.
This may be shocking, but I actually did not like watching this movie. One may be shocked and ask,” Why did you not like the movie? Didn’t you say that it is incredibly well done?” Well, yes, it is, but it’s not a feel-good movie, so although the film is well made, it is also very hard to watch despite the fact it has a happy ending. Director Steve McQueen does not hold back showing the horrendous reality of slavery in the United States before the American Civil War. I remember as a young teenager wanting to see this movie, but now after watching it I’m glad I didn’t see it when I was younger, due to its realistic portrayal of slavery in the United States.
I’ve seen over 600 movies, I think. Usually when I watch a movie for the first time, I can usually decide whether I want to watch a movie ever again. “12 Years a Slave” is different. I’m honestly not sure if I will see it again, not because of the quality of the film rather due to the fact that it is not a feel-good movie.
I have another story to tell. This time it’s the story of how even though I was raised in a Christian home, I walked away from God but came back. I was born on December 25, 2001 in Overland Park, Kansas to missionaries to France and my dad is a pastor, so I grew up in a Christian home, yet I had a twisted understanding of God which contributed to my doubt in Christianity. I first became saved and asked Jesus into my heart when I was 6 years after watching a Christian DVD series and became baptized at the same age. A few years later I began asking life’s big questions. According to my dad when I was 8 years old, I asked something like,” Dad, how do we know that the Bible is the word of God and how do we know that Christianity is true and that other religions aren’t?” Up until the time I was a teenager, I never shied away from asking these types of difficult questions.
Here is a photo I have of me when I was in kindergarten or first grade at the Louisville Zoo in 2009.
My depression and anxiety began when I was in middle school due to the fact that I was in a very academically intense Christian school that I had been in since kindergarten and eventually left after 8th grade. My depression and anxiety were bad enough that I had to start taking medication for them during middle school. (At one point it my life, it got worse and I had to take 5 medications daily.) My middle school memories are not pleasant from my homework almost always being late to swearing at the principal’s face when I got sent to her office. Due to the intense academic environment, I determined my self-worth based on how good I was at academics or how well I did in school. I could have scored A’s and B’s in school and it would still not be good enough since my classmate’s grades were always higher than mine. I remember having many suicidal thoughts, wishing that I was dead, and never came into existence. When I was in 6th or 7th grade, I had a feud with another boy in my class, I eventually wound up doing something that was wrongly motivated, and it upset my entire class and from the moment on I no longer really had many friends at my former school anymore. Because my classmates were now more hostile towards me, I started feeling lonely and it made my depression and anxiety worse.
A selfie of me taken when I was in 8th grade in 2017.
After I left that school, I remember going to a youth camp in 2017 that eventually led me to being an atheist/agnostic. The theme for the camp was about being fearless. I remember the speaker talking about the results “bowing down” to fear. He said that bowing down to fear is the reason one gets depressed. Later that night, another speaker talked about how he had to take multiple medications due to his traumatic childhood, but God healed him, so he no longer has to take his medication. He later said that the problem was that he trusted his medication more than he trusted Jesus. Upon hearing this, it made me believe that the reason that I was depressed and the reason that have to take medication is because I am bowing down to fear. I then decided to quit taking my medication, but it didn’t take long (2 days I think) for the exact same side-affects that happen when I don’t take my medication to happen. This moment led me to question Christianity even more and become more hostile to Christianity as well as the organization that hosted the camp. I would wonder and ask,” if God loves us and is all powerful than why won’t he just heal me, so that I won’t have to take my medication?” Because of this moment I became an atheist/agnostic.
As an atheist/agnostic, I had come to the conclusion that maybe God is real, maybe he isn’t but even if he is than it’s irrelevant. What made me come to such a conclusion? The answer is what I was taught about God. I didn’t know what it was called at the time, but I later realized that I was exposed to the teachings of prosperity theology. The main teachings of this doctrine that I was exposed to were, the fact that it is always the will of God to heal and if one doesn’t get healed it is due to a lack of faith and having the ability to speak things into existence. I used to believe this as a child, until I started to really read the Bible last year at age 18 and finished reading the entire Bible on February 6th, 2021. When I came across the Bible verses that I heard people use to justify their doctrine, I realized that all of the verses that I heard them frequently use were taken out of context. The other false teaching I was exposed to was having the ability to speak things into existence. Since I only questioned the existence of God when things were bad, I realized that I was “following” Jesus for the wrong reasons. I was following him so I could get whatever I wanted. It was almost like God was like Santa Claus to me. I was taught at a young age that if I just pray and have faith than I can get whatever I want. It took me literally years to get rid of that doctrinal mindset. I one time saw a sign in a coffee shop saying, “If we only believe in God when things are good, then we don’t really believe in God at all.” I could go on and write about why I strongly disagree with this doctrine, but I think my thoughts are better saved for another article.
I started to become less hostile towards Christianity and started to try reaching out again to God again when I started reading books about apologetics by people such as Lee Strobel and I watched the movie about his story as he searched for evidence for Christianity as well. I also have a memory of praying to be able to go to Russia. I would always talk to my dad who has preached in many countries say,” Dad you go all around the world, why don’t we go to Russia?” I would then talk about all the cool things I had read about Russia such as the fact that it is the largest country in the world and how it had 11 time zones. My dad finally said, “Jean-Marc, I only go to places where I am invited. If I get invited to Russia, then I will find a way to bring you with me.” I remembered constantly praying, but I didn’t see it happening, so I quit praying to go to Russia. I remember thinking, “If God can do anything, then why isn’t he answering my prayers? Didn’t he hear me the first time I prayed” Due to my twisted understanding of how God always answers prayer if we had enough faith, I got very angry and it was another moment that made me decide that if God was real than it doesn’t matter since there is no guarantee that he will answer prayer. Funny enough, in 2018 or around 90 days after I quit praying to go to Russia and my dad made that agreement with me. He got an invitation to speak in a church planting conference in Novokuznetsk, Russia. I had an absolute blast in Russia. For the first time in a very long time, I felt accepted within a social circle and the feeling I had of loneliness since middle school went away. Because of this moment, I started to determine my happiness based on whether I had any chance on going back to Russia, since that was the only place where I felt accepted.
A group photo I have from my first trip to Russia in 2018.
Back in 2019, I lived right next to a Bible college. There were sometimes Russian speakers that attended the Bible college, and so I prayed that during the fall semester that there would be Russian speakers that I could practice Russian with since I don’t know many Russian speakers around my age in my city. At the Bible college I used to live close to, they have an event where they pray over all the countries that their students are from and so I decided to watch the live stream on Facebook. While I was watching the live stream, I saw that there was a student from Belarus praying for her country and a student from Germany (a country where someone in my family is planning to be a missionary to) and I later found out that they were roommates whom I will call Anastasia and Lina. As soon as I saw this, I assumed that it was an answer to prayer and so I tried to get acquainted with them. At first, they seemed friendly to me when I told them about my connections to their countries, but then they all the sudden acted hostile towards me. I remember that they even though I tried to be friendly to them they would always find ways to avoid me. I remember that I started learning some German because I have family member that is moving there and because of what happened with me and Lina, I did not even use a language app for German until about 6 months to a year if I remember correctly. What is even more unbelievable is that because of Anastasia, I almost quit learning Russian because the pain she caused me was so great. Can you believe that? I think it would be hard for many people to believe since anyone who knows me personally knows I am not who I am without the Russian language. I did not quit learning Russian; however, I had a conversation with someone in my church and I talked about what happened with me and these people and how because of it I was going to quit learning. He responded to me by saying something like,” You were interested in Russian before you met this person, so don’t let this bad experience keep you from pursuing your passion.” I had many conflicts with Anastasia especially. I remember the cycle I was in. I would start off by trying to be friendly to Anastasia, then Anastasia would find some way to get upset at me, then she would feel bad and apologize, and then the cycle would happen all over again. This happened three times if I remember correctly. Only on the third time I think, she said one of the most hurtful things that anyone has ever told me, or maybe it was so hurtful because of how she said it. It traumatized me so much that I still remember the exact words she said and the date she said them. On October 28, 2019 she harshly told me, “We’re not going to be friends. I just don’t want to. I can’t.” I remember being so wounded by these words, that I decided as I was walking back home, I was going to commit suicide the same night. I did not just have suicidal thoughts; I had a plan on how to do it. As I was looking for the things to hang myself, I was caught and taken to the hospital where I was put in inpatient psychiatry.
When I was there, it felt like a prison. Not in the sense that I was with a bunch of dangerous people, but in the sense that I was separated from the rest of the world. What bothered me the most was denying God while I was on suicide watch. I remember when I was being interviewed by one of the doctor’s there asking, “Are you a religious person? Because if you are a chaplain can visit and speak with you.” I responded by saying,” I don’t consider myself religious, but my parents are.” You might be wondering,” How could you have denied God?” The answer is that I still had a hard time letting go of my twisted mindset of God, so I assumed that if Christianity is true, then that bad thing that happened between me and Anastasia happened because God wanted it to happen. Although I did not want anything to do with any God, God was still faithful. I saw this as he provided me with some of the best and most compassionate psychiatrists in the entire country. I know this may seem like an exaggeration, but I am not exaggerating because when I talked to a different doctor to get my medication changed after suicide watch, I told him the name of the hospital where I stayed at and he responded,” There are only 4 or 5 hospitals in the entire country like it.” Coincidence? I think not.
The first photo taken of me after being discharged from suicide watch.
Looking back on my experience, the thing that I regret the most was not trusting God and denying him. As I write this story, the man that comes to mind is Joseph. I, like Joseph, had unjust things happen to me such as being sold into slavery and being taken into a foreign land (Genesis 37:12-37), but Joseph still remained loyal to God. Sort of like Job. That is the example I wish I would have followed. I also wish I had trusted God to use a situation intended for evil and use it for good, like Joseph’s story. My personal favorite verses from Genesis are from when Joseph’s brothers were afraid of how Joseph would treat them because he had sold them into slavery, he told them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives (Genesis 50:19-20 NIV).” That is principle I have learned to apply to my life, which is to use a situation intended for evil and use it for good.
The other thing I wish I would have realized at a younger age was that not everything that happens, happens because God wanted it to happen. An example from the Bible is from is how the Apostle Peter wrote, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9 NIV).” What this verse is saying is that it is not the will of God for anyone to go to hell, but rather to repent of their sins so they can go to heaven when they die. Yet in the book of Revelation, it is made very clear that not everyone will be in heaven. As a matter of fact, it gives a list of people who will not be in heaven, “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death (Revelation 21:8 NIV).”
Maybe you are reading this and you are not sure that God is real. I was the same way. I was very convinced that all powerful God could not allow suffering. But I wanted to be sure whether I was right or not and I found the truth. It reminds of what God told the Israelites after Israel was destroyed and became exiles. God told them,” You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart (Jerimiah 29:13 NIV).”
The last thing I want to say that was not originally in my outline when God put it on my heart to write this is to be careful with your words. I don’t know for certain whether Anastasia meant to cause me the pain that she did, but regardless of whether she meant to or not it still hurt. A verse that immediately came to mind as a wrote this article was, “The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing (Proverbs 12:18 NIV).”
I still have problems. I still ask hard questions that I don’t know the answers to. I still don’t know why these bad things happened to me. I don’t why I had that experience I did at that youth camp. I still don’t know why Anastasia said what she said. What I do know is that regardless of whether bad things happen to you, God will find a way to use a situation that Satan intends for evil and use it for good like he did with Joseph.
Donald Trump during the 2020 presidential debates.
“‘Evangelical’ used to denote people who claimed the high moral ground; now, in popular usage, the word is nearly synonymous with ‘hypocrite.’” – Pastor Timothy Keller.
I confirm this statement to be true because whenever I hear the word evangelical it is usually used in a negative way or as a derogatory term. This is not just a statement; this can be statistically proven.
According to Lifeway Research, 72% of Americans believe the church is full of hypocrites. Why is that? It is a complex issue with the reasons varying for each person, but one issue that I want to focus on since I feel that it is more prevalent today, is due to politics. Another Lifeway Research study in 2019 discovered that 25% of people ages 23-30 who went to a church for at least a year quit attending church because they disagreed with the church’s politics.
This proves that American Evangelicalism is no longer a theological movement like it was in the 1900’s. It is now a political movement. Evangelicalism originally was not about politics. The word evangelicalism comes from the Greek word εὐαγγέλιον or euangelion which means “good news.” In this context, this good news was the Gospel, the news of a savior that died on the cross for our sins. It is an absolute disgrace that its original meaning has been lost, all because evangelicals have become more political than faith oriented.
Ever since abortion was legalized at a federal level in 1973, Evangelicals have seen politics as a first resort to make change in our country and in our culture. I was the same way. I would always post about politics on the internet, because I thought that politics was the means to change what I did not like in our country. What I failed to understand is that culture usually does not reflect our politics. Politics reflects our culture. I am not saying that is wrong for Christians to run for political office or be interested in politics, as a matter of fact if foreign languages was not my primary interest, I would probably study political science or law in college instead. What I want to emphasize is that if we really want to change the culture, then we should deal with the root problem, which is the culture and the sinful nature of man, not politics. In a book called Total Truth by Nancy Pearson, the author said that she talked with a member of Congress and he said, “I got involved in politics after the 1973 abortion decision because I thought that was the fastest route to moral reform. Well, we’ve won some legislative victories, but we’ve lost the culture.”
The word evangelicalism has not just lost its original meaning in The United States, but in other counties as well. As an example, I personally know a missionary to Germany. For those who don’t know, Germany is a very liberal country. It is so liberal that its capital, Berlin is known as the atheist capital of the world. When my missionary friend talks to the average German and when they find out that she is an evangelical and from the Bible Belt, literally the first thing that they ask is, “Do you support Donald Trump?” That is ridiculous. When one is a missionary in a foreign country, they would want to be asked questions about apologetics or about what they believe, not whether they support a political candidate or President or not.
I bring this example up in discussions I’ve had with people to explain how evangelicals’ devout support for Donald Trump has made it harder to witness to non-believers and how this affects their openness to the gospel. Evangelicals who still supported Donald Trump would say something like, “Supporting a political candidate or president has nothing to do with spreading the gospel.” I agree it should not be the case. But if one finds out that someone is an evangelical and the first thing they get asked is what their political views are, not what they believe spiritual and theologically, then that should send a message to evangelicals to re-examine their priorities. Although white evangelicals have historically preferred Republican candidates since Ronald Reagan due to America’s abortion problem, it was uncommon for nonbelievers in different countries to immediately ask evangelical missionaries about their politics when they found out that they are evangelicals.
I know this because when my parents were missionaries to France back in the 90’s, which is another very liberal country, and when people found out that they were Christians, they would ask questions about the Bible and ask them hard theological questions such as, “If God is good and all powerful and why does evil and suffering exist?” As French people got to know my parents, they would eventually ask them about their politics, but not until much later.
Earlier I mentioned in my article how many non-believers in America see evangelicals and Christians as hypocrites. I quite frankly do not blame them because evangelicals acted very hypocritically during the Trump presidency. Back when Bill Clinton was president, morality and character in a president mattered to evangelicals, but when Donald Trump became president, they could have cared less about the character of a president. I remember reading many prominent evangelical’s responses to former president Bill Clinton’s adulterous affair with Monica Lewinsky talking about how immoral Bill Clinton was and how he was unqualified to be president. Fast forward years later when the public found out that Donald Trump had an affair with a porn star and bragged about grabbing women’s genitals and forcing himself on women, evangelicals and evangelical leaders turned a blind eye. They said, “Who cares? We’re not electing him to be a pastor, we’re electing him to be the president.” Do you notice the hypocrisy? I definitely do.
I am not writing this to bash evangelicals, rather I’m trying to show the consequences of evangelical’s devout support for Donald Trump. Although theologically speaking I am an evangelical, I don’t use the word evangelical anymore due to what comes to non-believer’s mind. While I definitely did not like some of Donald Trump’s policies, such as how he handled COVID-19 and the Muslim travel ban, that is not what bothers me the most. What bothers me the most is how evangelical’s support for Donald Trump has damaged the reputation of America and of evangelicals across the world and since evangelicals have backed up Donald Trump no matter what he does, non-believers assume that everything he has does is Christian. They think it’s Christian to call a black athlete a “son a of a b*tch” for peacefully protesting during the national anthem or to call Haiti and other African countries “sh*thole countries.” Since non-believers already have the impression that evangelicals are all hypocrites, things such as evangelical’s hypocrisy with caring about morality in presidents when Bill Clinton was president but not when Donald Trump was president, gives people such as secular humanists more ammunition to push their ungodly agenda.
I remember the storming of the Capitol. I remember seeing people with signs with, “Jesus saves” written on them as they were storming the Capitol building. I then remember seeing a man waving the Christian flag as he broke in the Senate chamber in the Capitol. This historic moment will also give secular humanists more ammunition to push their ungodly agenda since the storming of the Capitol was done in the name of Christianity. America has been blessed with a heritage that has respected the right to practice any religion or no religion. America has also been blessed because even though not all of the Presidents in the history of the USA were necessarily believers, they have at least self-identified as Christian. That will change. Due to the fact that The United States is becoming more secular like Europe, I think we will eventually have a secular humanist or a postmodernist as president and when they get in power, they will use the hypocrisy of the evangelicals as an excuse to take away religious freedom and freedom of speech and evangelicals will have brought it upon themselves for prostituting themselves to Donald Trump and for sacrificing their reputation and dignity for political gain.
Jean-Marc Brand 