Progressive Witchcraft?

Witches! All of them, witches!

You know how I always am talking about how few occultists are out there? According to Christian commentators Rick Joyner and Lance Wallnau, I've got it all wrong, because the Women's March on January 21st, the day after President Trump's inauguration, was "witchcraft." Taking that statement to its logical conclusion, all three million who participated were witches, and only the witches with the means to attend at that.

This begs the question that I'm sure is on the mind of every good and true Augoeides reader - if there really are that many occultists out there, why aren't I selling more books?

Wallnau claimed that the Women’s March represented “the unmasking of the nature of the progressive spirit”–which at bottom has a desire to “control and intimidate, manipulate.” Therefore, Wallnau said, the progressive spirit was “the spirit of witchcraft,” which is the same as the spirit of Jezebel. That spirit is reportedly enraged by the ascendancy of Trump, whom Wallnau once claimed was chosen by God himself to be our next president.

Joyner and Wallnau were speaking in code–a code that is all too familiar to me. As many of my longtime readers know, back in my college days, I was deceived into joining an incredibly controlling hypercharismatic ministry that was aligned with the New Apostolic Reformation, a blatantly fascist offshoot of the religious right that believes it can bring about the Second Coming by taking over the world. Joyner and Wallnau are reckoned as “apostles” in that movement.

Many people in these circles were positively giddy at Trump’s rise. Wallnau, for instance, said that a Trump presidency represented a golden opportunity to gain “serious influence” over the culture with a view toward taking over the “seven mountains,” or forces, that influence it. These people also believe that anyone who dares stand against them should be presented with two options–convert or perish.

That prospect led Joyner and Wallnau to join other fundies in convincing 81 percent of their followers that Trump’s misogyny didn’t matter because he made the right clucking noises on abortion and marriage equality. In so doing, they made it clear that they intended to build a “culture of life” on the backs of domestic violence survivors–many of whom actually triggered during the campaign and on Election Night.

And now, to hear these “prophets” talk, those women who were in Washington to stand against a man who openly bragged about groping women and treating them like objects are showing “meanness” and “rage?” They do so out of a desire to “control and intimidate, manipulate”? Calling for women to be respected and not objectified is a sign that you’re influenced by ” a spirit of witchcraft”? I can’t even.

Seriously, though, this is what absolutely flummoxes me about occultists who supported Trump. I can understand disliking Clinton enough to vote third party, but it was clear even before the election that Trump would be empowering these very people, the Christian Dominionists, whose Seven Mountains Theology calls for eliminating all religions besides their particular brand of Christianity. Liberal and mainstream Christians, that means you've got targets on your backs now too.

The argument I generally see thrown back at me is that Trump isn't a Dominionist - to be fair, I don't think he is - and he can keep them in check. But if that's really true, and that's really his plan, what he's doing right now is incredibly dangerous. For him, and for the rest of us. Trump's failure to fully divest from his businesses, which many legal experts think either is or could lead to a violation of the emoluments clause, means that he's leaving possible grounds for impeachment right there on the table.

Likewise, his flailing Twitter wars and stubborn denial of facts related to pointless issues like the size of his inaugural crowd could open him up to removal under the 25th amendment, on the grounds of mental stability. Whether the charge winds up being bullshit or not, providing so much ammunition to Dominionists who much rather see true believer Vice President Pence in office is a bad idea. If Trump really does want to keep the crazies from taking over the country, he needs that "Presidential pivot" sooner rather than later.

The thing is, I don't know whether Trump really cares to stand up to any of these folks, and as long as he goes along with their agenda, he'll be safe in office. But what that means is that the Dominionists get to run the show. If anybody out there is still wondering why I might be angry with Trump-supporting occultist, that's the gist of it right there. Disagreements with Dominionists aren't regular "political disagreements." They are disagreements that could get us imprisoned, deported, or even killed just for practicing our beliefs.

I have said to people on more than one occasion that if Trump were to govern more like Jesse Ventura or Ross Perot, both independents who I have voted for in the past, I would have a lot fewer problems with him. But so far, based on his behavior in office, his public statements, his cabinet picks, and his executive orders, I haven't seen anything like that emerging. What I see is a guy who is happy to pass whatever draconian measures come across his desk as long as the people handing those measures to him tell him how great and classy he is.

Maybe I'm wrong. For the sake of America, I seriously hope that I'm wrong. But the Dominionists have been playing the long game for decades, and as far as I can tell, Trump has an attention span only slightly longer than that of goldfish. That means he's clearly outmatched, but it looks as if he still hasn't figured that out.