Devout Trump supporters are too committed to change
No amount of evidence will sway the hearts and minds of committed Donald Trump supporters because they have surrendered their identities to MAGA.
Identity is our stable understanding of ourselves. It is the expression of ourselves at a fundamental level. It is so central to our being that to lose it is to lose our world, our sense of place, and our reason for being.
It is so vital to our self-concept that we fight all threats to our identity.
MAGA is its own culture, and culture can be a primary driver of identity formation.
“Every culture says, ‘this is how you can determine who you are and how well your self-worth, your self value, how well you feel about yourself,’ said Timothy Keller in one of his many talks on identity. “Every culture does that. No culture uses the term. And every culture pushes an identity process on you, as the only one.”
The devout Trump supporter expects others to see them as proudly MAGA. Any other identification wouldn’t do.
This means that attacks on Trump are personal affronts. This is why stories that highlight Trump’s flaws, mistakes, or failings, or anything that contradicts the MAGA narrative, are “fake news.” Once “fake news” is declared, there can be no further discussion.
On social media, anyone who criticizes Trump, whether rational or rant, is a “libtard” or a Biden voter (which has become the highest form of insult in Trump world.)
Insults and grievances, modeled by their leader, are a standard rhetorical device.
To avoid the cognitive dissonance of acknowledging any Trump flaw, the Trump devotee doubles down on the venomous insults.
Here are some MAGA comments left on news stories about this past weekend’s “Hands Off” protests:
(NOTE: I have no idea if any of the folks who made those posts are Christians, but the comments do accurately reflect MAGA culture).
I’ve found that the more committed Trump supporters are, the less likely they are to engage in dialogue. They do not attempt to defend Trump or any of his actions. They spew insults as a substitute for reasoned, fact-based arguments.
But even the ones who at least bring up this or that policy position are often wrong on the details and are immune to any counterargument. There is no fact you can muster, no source you can cite, that will make a dent in their righteous armor.
Keller again, “If we get our very identity, our sense of worth, from our political position, then politics … is about us. Through our cause, we are getting our self and our worth. That means we must despise and demonize the opposition.”
For Keller, our identity should come in Christ Jesus.
“Sin is building your identity—finding your greatest meaning, significance and security—on something besides God. Everyone centers his or her life on something, and whatever that is becomes by definition and function your god—something you adore and serve with your whole heart, and your ‘savior’—something you have to have in order to feel spiritually and emotionally significant and meaningful.”
Exodus 20:3-6
“You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments”
Jeremiah 17:5
“This is what the Lord says: ‘Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord.’”
How can you discern whether an elected leader has become a false idol?
When a person never finds fault with his leader or is unable to admit when the leader has made a mistake;
When the leader’s faults, particularly those that conflict with scripture, are consistently overlooked;
In discussions, when the focus of the conversation is shifted, whataboutism is employed, or attention is redirected to what others have done or said;
When criticism of the leader is perceived as a personal attack;
When those who criticize the leader are attacked or demeaned, or reports questioning the leader’s actions or words are dismissed and labeled as “fake news.”
If one of these five items applies to a person, that person might be engaged in idol worship. If all five apply, the case is all but closed. Only God knows for sure.