Today in dubious fundamentalist news, we learn that Donald Trump is leading the fight against the occult and the Antichrist - at least according to one of reverend and potato soup entrepreneur Jim Bakker's buddies. Recently Bakker interviewed Tom Horn, an "End Times" preacher who claims that Trump is going to liberate America from "witchcraft" and "supernaturalism."
There's a whole lot wrong with those statements, so let's start at the top. America has never been "under the control of the occult." Many of the Founding Fathers were Masons, and early on in the history of the United States Masonry played a similar role to the state churches of Europe. That's probably what Horn is talking about, but contrary to what fundies think, Masonry is not a form of occultism or a system of magick or anything like that.
And the Founding Fathers never prophesied anything of the sort regarding the End Times and the Antichrist. Modern "End Times" Christianity only dates back to Millerism, which was founded in 1833 - long after the Revolutionary War period. Most of the Founding Fathers were nominally Christian, but many were Deists and so forth who had no particular ideas about the "End Times" or really anything that modern fundamentalists obsess about.
Also, the whole magazine cover angle is silly. When have you ever known Donald Trump indulge in symbolism or obfuscation? I can't stand the guy, but one thing I will say is that he's not shy about sharing his positions, thoughts, and plans about basically everything. If Donald Trump wanted to tell the world he was fighting the Antichrist, he wouldn't do something dumb with a magazine cover. He would tweet "I'm fighting the Antichrist." And that would be that.
So basically, Horn's whole argument is ridiculous. But it does bring up a serious question. What about those occultists who are out there defending Donald Trump? I certainly hope they realize that Bakker, Horn, and the rest of the fundamentalist movement consider them just as evil as the witches casting binding spells against Trump. Because they're occultists, and occultists are evil - and in league with the Antichrist. Full stop.
I've never supported a politician backed by the religious right for precisely that reason, and I never will. I'm pretty sure that they'll throw all of us occultists under the bus the moment they have the chance.
Yesterday, Jim Bakker interviewed Donald Trump-loving End Times pastor Tom Horn, who declared that a recent Time magazine cover featuring an image of President Trump leaning against a crumbling Washington Monument was a prophetic sign that Trump is leading the fight against occultism in America.
After Bakker voiced his concerns that Trump is under constant attack from the occult, Horn explained that Trump’s election was God delivering America from a dark spirit of witchcraft and “the supernaturalism that has been at work behind the scenes.”
Horn said that America, since its inception, has been under the control of the occult and that the Founding Fathers actually prophesied “a coming global leader … that is going to lead the United States into a new world order,” who Horn asserted would be the Antichrist. But the Time cover, he said, was a prophetic sign that Trump is leading that battle against this coming supernatural darkness.
“Did you see what Time magazine did?” he asked. “In their feature article on Trump called ‘Trump Goes To War Against Washington, D.C.,’ it’s a giant picture of him leaning against the obelisk and breaking it. That was a very subtle and telling message about who this war is against. This is a battle against supernaturalism. Some got it and most didn’t, but that is exactly the point that they were making.”
There's a whole lot wrong with those statements, so let's start at the top. America has never been "under the control of the occult." Many of the Founding Fathers were Masons, and early on in the history of the United States Masonry played a similar role to the state churches of Europe. That's probably what Horn is talking about, but contrary to what fundies think, Masonry is not a form of occultism or a system of magick or anything like that.
And the Founding Fathers never prophesied anything of the sort regarding the End Times and the Antichrist. Modern "End Times" Christianity only dates back to Millerism, which was founded in 1833 - long after the Revolutionary War period. Most of the Founding Fathers were nominally Christian, but many were Deists and so forth who had no particular ideas about the "End Times" or really anything that modern fundamentalists obsess about.
Also, the whole magazine cover angle is silly. When have you ever known Donald Trump indulge in symbolism or obfuscation? I can't stand the guy, but one thing I will say is that he's not shy about sharing his positions, thoughts, and plans about basically everything. If Donald Trump wanted to tell the world he was fighting the Antichrist, he wouldn't do something dumb with a magazine cover. He would tweet "I'm fighting the Antichrist." And that would be that.
So basically, Horn's whole argument is ridiculous. But it does bring up a serious question. What about those occultists who are out there defending Donald Trump? I certainly hope they realize that Bakker, Horn, and the rest of the fundamentalist movement consider them just as evil as the witches casting binding spells against Trump. Because they're occultists, and occultists are evil - and in league with the Antichrist. Full stop.
I've never supported a politician backed by the religious right for precisely that reason, and I never will. I'm pretty sure that they'll throw all of us occultists under the bus the moment they have the chance.
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