You may well already be familiar with the above image which Donald Trump posted before he later withdrew it? It is obviously AI generated and while he did not create it himself he did help to propagate it and did nothing to stop it going viral. He claimed that he was being portrayed as a doctor and not as Jesus Christ.

A couple of days later, for those of us (and especially Donald Trump himself) who might be confused, I saw the following meme just to make it absolutely clear. 

I am absolutely convinced that nobody would be confused as to which one is the doctor, although I could be wrong, especially in this mad, mad world.

The sad thing is that there is a dangerous megalomaniac reality behind this. The fact that Donald Trump is deluded enough to repost such things shows his state of mind and he has hijacked Christianity in the process. The Christian Right (neither Christian nor Right!) have bought into this excessive and cultic promotion of him being a messianic figure and when significant figures such as Paula White, a prominent US televangelist and "prophet", claim that saying no to Donald Trump is like saying no to God it shows that she too has lost the plot as she has moved her focus from Christ himself and in doing so is raising up a Golden Calf.  

Please note this post is not an attack on Christianity itself

It is not for me to tell others what to believe or not believe, but Christianity is centred around the person of Jesus Christ himself and his claims to exclusivity - "nobody comes to the the Father except through me"  (John 14) and no other. Whether you choose to accept the message or not the fact is that Christians are exhorted to "fix their eyes on Christ" (Hebrews 12); a principle that can be illustrated right throughout the New Testament. Furthermore, the second principle is that Christians are marked by their character, which is not exemplifed in American Exceptionalism. "By their fruit they will be known" (Matthew 7). The fruits are listed elsewhere (Galatians 5) as being love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control and represent specific godly virtues that are manifest in the lives of Christians through the work of the Holy Spirit. Furthermore if a person has godly gifting, but does not have love, they are nothing more than a "clanging cymbal" - noise and bluster without depth and without character.

Once again I repeat that these two principles are central to Christianity, irrelevant of people's personal views on faith and religion and again even the most secularised of people will have higher expectations of Christians and especially regarding character. It is why there is such disgust and judgement when ranking Christian figures are shamed by the exposure of hypocrisy in their personal lives and character all too often concerning sexual practices (but not only limited to) and even worse the often institutional attempts to cover things up like it never happened with a total disregard to the victims or even worse the turning of a blind eye to ongoing "sin" which in essence is all too frequently criminal.

Christians are called to a higher level of accountability because the world expects Christians to display Christlike character. After all Christian can be interpreted to mean "little Christ".

So, coming back to Donald Trump, while the Bible says that God can use Balaam's donkey to speak (Numbers 22) this was to get Balaam's attention even if Trump is a donkey. When Trump poses as a Christian honouring Easter and on the same day threatens to annihalate a civilisation something is very, very wrong. In making such a declaration Donald Trump has joined the same club as Iran's extremist regime who wants to wipe Israel from the map and historically Nazi Germany who sought the destruction of "World Jewry".

Genocide is genocide.

Furthermore, while nobody is perfect, Trump's character, doesn't exactly radiate Godliness in the same way as Moses' face did after communing with God (Exodus 34). I actually know people who do radiate this kind of Godliness because of their deep-rooted faith and devotion. While there are question marks over his relationship and interactions on the island with Jeffery Epstein there is definitive proof of a deeply flawed character that does not reflect Christ. I will start mildly. His constant calling of Joe Biden as crooked is shameful (if it were true why haven't other Republicans or Prosecutors joined Trump in pressing this point), his misogynistic attitudes towards women ("grab her by the p***y" - he disregarded this as "locker room talk") and his blatant mocking of a disabled journalist, His lack of integrity even stretches to his regard to making a "deal". He thinks everything is about making such "deals" and yet when the UK refused to endorse the war in Iran he said he would renege on the trade deal they had made after his tariff blackmail. Hitler had the same regard for deals (the Sudtenland was supposed to be the end of all of his territorial claims in Europe - "Peace in Our Time"). Trump embraces enemies (not in the same sense as "love your enemies") while insulting and threatening long-standing friends and allies (Canada, European Nato partners) and then berates those very same allies because they don't come to dig him out of a hole of his own making in what is a clear disregard (or if I am being kind, "misunderstanding") of Nato's purpose.

Honestly, I didn't expect to write so much in what was going to be a preamble, but I felt I needed to say what I have said and so here we go. With regard to what you think or how I have challenged your thinking why is it that MAGA and sadly some others have embraced him as the Messiah. If anything he is an "anti-Christ" (no I am not necessarily calling him the Biblical anti-Christ- that would be far too "America-centric"). What we have is a Trump-centric cult dressed up in the superficial semblance of Christianity, that actually draws people away from Christ (remember what I said about Paula White) - the Devil himself appears as an Angel of Light (2 Corinthians 11). 

I have frankly been shocked by some of the images that have started popping up in social media and sharing them was my primary purpose in writing today. These are propagandist images (AI generated) on a level not seen since the days of Hitler and Stalin. So while you look at the following images ask yourselves the following two questions, bearing in mind Trump's usage of Christianit:

• are they centred on Christ or Trump?
• do they represent character and integrity?

In answering these questions for yourself you will see the truth. If you are of Christian faith this should send all kinds of alarm bells and if you are not (but still MAGA) then you should still be alarmed that about it all centring on personality and not the founding principles and what the US should represent. I hope you are as appalled as me in what I am about to show you.

And finally, if you have any doubts. Have a look at this. It has rightly been compared to the statue of the "Dear Leader", Kim-Jong-il in North Korea.

Please open your eyes people!

As always stay safe and well my friends.