A Religion

 This essay has to do with Trump’s  supporters as evidenced by a recent No Kings protest, a Hegseth comment and TV news. On Saturday, Linda ,Pat, Diane and I joined a large group in Auburn for the No Kings protest.  I was told that a few people going  by  in cars gave them the middle finger and also  heard about a few people being shot with BBs from a passing automobile.  Hegseth , during a press conference, prayed to God or something for the Iranians to be killed.  And, late night comedians are scheduled to be on a "vacation" because of their  anti Trump comments.

In Genesis-Chapter 1 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kind in the cattle according to their kind .... and God saw that it was good.  And God created man in His image of God He created him male and female.  He created them    And God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea.........  Note that God created man in His image and they were to be fruitful and multiply and subdue all the other creatures that he created. Unfortunately, there wasn't any mention about killing or treating other humans inhumanely nor about wiping out and extinguishing  any of His creatures.

Is claiming to be a Christian a symptom of unresolved conflicts ; simply a convenient, manipulative slogan of inclusiveness or some other combination of  motives ?  We currently have an authoritarian government.and with this “Christian’ leader ;is his government associated with loving your neighbor ,promoting justice, reducing human suffering,  speaking the truth of happiness and contentment in an image of God? 

Hegseth's comments pertain to rallying around the “totem” flag, patriotism , nationalism ,power, and hate with  killing the  'evil’ Iranians all in the name of God. In what manner does  Hegseth resemble God ?  To what type of God was Hegseth praying ? Praying for God that he will assist you in killing another is simply evil, crazy and irrational.Pope Leo XIV rejects the idea that God justifies war.The authoritarian orientation of Hegseth claiming to be a Christian  is  doubletalk as he only speaks in God’s name. Love thy neighbor  and love thy enemy as thyself are just words for  Hegseth and  are indicative of religious hypocrisy 

This Hegseth character has  had multiple marriages, countless affairs, an alcoholic who stupidly gave away past military operations to a reporter. He’s a  faithful” Christian’ that worships himself and the pursuit of power, lies and destruction with  an authoritarian moral and ethical foundation. So, who is good- who is evil? And, Hegseth is good and those that oppose him are evil and should  submit .Hegseth is an authoritarian Christian .His professing prayers does not make him religious.

Christians go to church and hopefully  the  sermons are about love and charity.  And when political, hopefully they did not support the withdrawal of food and medicine - aid to foreign countries, nor  was there  support for all the various   raids and killings ignoring legal warrants by Ice.  How did the sermons address the injustice of the tariffs  AI, White House graft, the Save Act ,threats to the Constitution, attacks on the Free Press, Rule of law, the Epstein files and the Iranian war?  Were the sermons  humanistic or authoritarian in attitude ?

Freud, briefly the origins of religion, is essentially a repetition of early childhood emotional and behavioral experiences with authoritarian parenting orientation .Primitive man found himself helpless ,powerless , at the mercy and fearful in his encounters with the daily hazardous external forces of nature, as well as his own  instinctual drives.  At that  time ,primitive man did not have  the availability of scientific knowledge and thus was unable to use his  reason and rationality to deal effectively with all  these outer and inner forces. 

For all practical purposes, primitive man utilized  a magical illusional thinking  by  reverting back to the time  when he was that fearful , powerless and insecure as a  child. In essence, he remembered the safeguarding  and security he experienced with the  father , mother or leader of his tribe . That young child perceived those figures to be extremely  smart, with wisdom, omnipotent , strong and powerful  He learned that he could win  love,protection, defending and  a sense of belonging by obeying their commands. However, the  child remembered he would encounter anger,displeasure  or even being dismissed when he transgressed and/ or ignored their directions. These emotional  and behavioral dynamics represent authoritarianism - leader providing love and protection only with submission but rejection, loss of love and expulsion when disobeying .

Thus, the belief in authoritarian  religion is an illusion, magical thinking ,being part of a like minded  group  based on man's worship,obedience and loyalty only .But  for not believing, it was punishment and  eternal damnation. Illusion and magical thinking also interferes with critical thinking which impedes the power of reason , rationality and ethics  with a belief in an all present omnipotent God .With a lessening belief in  God and Him being dead leads to a destruction ,an attack on moral ethics, principles,values and behavior. And, it provides a blocking of anxiety awareness with its obsessive rituals, practices,prayers and traditions. For one example, listen to the  Tradition lyrics  from “Fiddler on the Roof.” 

And, when 22%, on one poll,  give the opinion that they are very happy with Trump’s  policies, this suggests  cognitive dissonance, rationalization, denial, authoritarian conscience  with their worship, support and devotion .With identification,he became their  orientation,  system of thought , action , conscience and “religion.”  A “god ,” who is their savior  and will  protect them . He is their safety net. They remain faithfully revering  subjects no matter what he says or does, as they are totally dependent, loyal and submissive to  him. When he says fake news  they agree and reinforce his distortion of reality. His reality is their reality. If  they rebel , he withdraws his love , attacks and punishes  those non-believing traitorous  infidels.

In essence , these Trump's followers have projected that he is associated with  love, wisdom and justice . And,in doing so,they are depriving themselves of these qualities.  They have become  small, completely powerless without strength as  their  thinking “ powers “have been projected onto Trump.

This mechanism of projection is also associated with  an interpersonal  masochistic submissive character structure . In that, one person is awed by another, and attributes his own powers and aspirations to the other person.  This projection  mechanism makes people endow Trump with many  human  qualities of super wisdom , justice and fairness ..Also, this dynamic results in  alienation, loss of faith in self and less empathy and an inability to love self and others different than themselves.

Are these Trump followers as happy as the characters are in all those television commercials?  They cling to the happiness  belief that we are the greatest country in the world and that Trump is making America great again .  Yes, that messaging is being drummed into them endlessly.  Just listen to Fox News , a Trump  tweet or interview . These followers are not longing for the truth, justice and love as their life is not based upon a solid foundation . Essentially, they  are ignoring the shadows of uneasiness, anxiety and confusion, which is constantly there by claiming to be a  good Trump Christian .

The authoritarian  religion of Trump and his followers  is not their answer to an active faith  and instead  it’s an escape from the intolerable doubt . They have made their decision not out of devotion but in search for protection,security,power belonging and consensus .

 

Demonstration, opposition and resistance are the foundations found in the  Judeo-Christian morality .Initially  it was Adam and Eve's disobedience, followed by Moses and then Jesus. And in our Republic, patriotic Americans such as Paine , Henry, Jefferson, Franklin, Thoreau, Emerson and Lincoln presented courage,faith ,reason, resolve and moral clarity with their thinking,emotions and  disobedient actions. Those middle finger pointing and BB shooting characters are characterized by their   ignorance, moral  authoritarian orientation and exasperated by their insecurity and hate. The peaceful protest of  peaceful  males and females of  Grandparent age  are admired as true patriotic Americans and terrific models .The aged knows and can provide super examples of truth, reason and care regarding our republic.

Reference Fromm,Erich. Psychoanalysis & Religion.