Everyone Could See that Trump is a Liar and a Wannabe Dictator in the Debate

09/12/2024 Micael Grenholm 5 Comments

Donald Trump lost big in his debate with Kamala Harris when, among other things, he rambled about Joe Biden not being president, that everyone attending Harris’s rallies are paid actors, and that immigrants eat cats and dogs in the small town of Springfield, Ohio.

The latter was corrected by the debate moderator, who said that Springfield’s authorities have denied this, but Trump protested like a five-year-old and shouted, “I saw it on television!!”

The most bizarre part of the debate, however, was when Trump boasted that a dictator likes him. Kamala Harris had just pointed out that Trump tried to undemocratically hold onto power after he lost the 2020 election like a dictator and that even people who worked with him called him a “disgrace.” And how did Trump respond?

“Viktor Orbán, one of the most respected men—they call him a ‘strongman’—he’s a tough person, smart… He said: You need Trump back as president.”

For normal people, it’s not a good sign when a racist dictator who persecutes journalists and condemns “mixed-race nations” endorses you, but Trump is incredibly impressed by dictators and wants to be like them. Kamala Harris pointed out: “These dictators and autocrats are rooting for you to be president again… You adore strongmen instead of caring about democracy.”

This is far from the first time Trump has praised a dictator and expressed himself in an anti-democratic way:

Trump praised President Xi in China for consolidating power in order to become president for life, saying he wanted to try the same thing.[1]

Trump has repeatedly “joked” about serving longer than the legal limit of two terms.[2]

Trump has repeatedly praised authoritarian leaders, including Putin, Duterte, Erdogan, el-Sisi, and Orbán.[3]

Trump praised the brutal dictator Kim Jong Un, calling him “strong, funny, and smart.”[4]

At a G7 summit, President Trump loudly asked, “Where’s my favorite dictator?” while waiting for the Egyptian dictator.[5]

Trump has defended those who stormed the Capitol to prevent Joe Biden from being democratically elected and said he would pardon them if he becomes president again.[6]

Trump has looked up to the sky and declared that he is “the chosen one.”[7]

Trump shared a tweet in which he was called the King of Israel and the Second Coming of God, and he thanked them for the compliment.[8]

Trump has explicitly written that the U.S. Constitution should be suspended to prevent him from losing elections.[9]

Trump told his supporters that they wouldn’t need to vote again after this election.[10]

Recently, Trump has repeatedly said that he would “only” be a dictator on day one if he’s re-elected and would use presidential power dictatorially to get revenge on his political enemies.[11]

He also recently claimed that all his political enemies will be arrested when he comes to power.[12]

Trump is the greatest threat to U.S. democracy we have ever seen. Let us pray and act so that he loses big in November!

Micael Grenholm is a Swedish church historian, author and an editor for PCPJ.

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Pentecostals & Charismatics for Peace & Justice is a multicultural, gender inclusive, and ecumenical organization that promotes peace, justice, and reconciliation work among Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians around the world. If you like what we do, please become a member!

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Nonviolence, Politics

Evangelicals Call Jesus “Weak” for Promoting “Liberal Talking Points”

08/31/2024 Micael Grenholm 2 Comments

Russell Moore used to be one of the top officials of the Southern Baptist Convention and is currently the Editor in Chief of Christianity Today. Last year, he was interviewed by NPR and explained why he thinks American Christianity is in crisis:

It was the result of having multiple pastors tell me, essentially, the same story about quoting the Sermon on the Mount, parenthetically, in their preaching — “turn the other cheek” — [and] to have someone come up after to say, “Where did you get those liberal talking points?”

And what was alarming to me is that in most of these scenarios, when the pastor would say, “I’m literally quoting Jesus Christ,” the response would not be, “I apologize.” The response would be, “Yes, but that doesn’t work anymore. That’s weak.” And when we get to the point where the teachings of Jesus himself are seen as subversive to us, then we’re in a crisis.

I’m sure many want to discard this as some extreme, uncommon view among a very small minority of church goers, in spite of Moore telling us that multiple pastors has told him similar stories. However, the vital question is not how many evangelicals have a heretical view of Jesus’ words and teaching, but how this situation could even arise in the first place.

And it’s not that mysterious when you think about it, is it? Moore himself has been a vocal critic of Donald Trump and what the support for him among white evangelicals has done with their movement. With his adultery, sex with pornstars, constant lies, mocking of disabled people, hate against immigrants, disrespect for the poor and other sins, Trump is extremely unlike Jesus. Yet, he is constantly portrayed by many evangelicals as the one to save the country, sometimes in very blasphemous ways, which Trump himself makes sure to capitalize on:

And so, it’s not strange that when some evangelicals who are told over and over again that a Christian champion looks like Trump cannot recognize the true Jesus. As Russell Moore said in the very same interview:

I think if we’re going to get past the blood and soil sorts of nationalism or all of the other kinds of kinds of totalizing cultural identities, it’s going to require rethinking what the church is. And I don’t think that’s something new. I think it’s very old. I think it’s recovering a first-century understanding of what it means to be the church.

Micael Grenholm is a Swedish church historian, author and an editor for PCPJ.

Politics

Trump has no Empathy and is a Threat to Democracy, According to His Former Aides

08/17/2024 Micael Grenholm Leave a comment

More and more of those who previously worked for Trump are now warning about him, stating that he lacks a moral backbone and lies constantly—which most of us had figured out already, but now even those who were once his supporters are starting to realize the truth. Not a moment too soon!

Stephanie Grisham, on the right in the picture below, worked for Trump when he was president, called herself a “true Trump believer,” and was, among other things, his press secretary. She recently urged Republicans to vote for Democrat Kamala Harris instead and revealed what Trump says when he thinks no one is listening.

“Behind closed doors, Trump mocks his supporters—he calls them ‘basement dwellers,'” Grisham said during her speech at the Democratic Party Convention. “Basement dwellers” is an insulting term describing someone who is poor and lacks a social life.

“When people were dying in intensive care units, he was mad that the cameras weren’t filming him,” Grisham said. “He has no empathy, no morals, and no fidelity to the truth. He used to tell me: ‘It doesn’t matter what you say, Stephanie. Say it enough, and people will believe you.'”

Trump’s campaign responded to this in a very calm, professional, and nuanced manner. No, of course not.

They wrote that Grisham is “a dummy and a liar” who “clearly suffers” from many “mental issues.”

The question that arises, of course, is whether that doesn’t make Trump an even bigger “dummy with mental issues” since he hired her to be responsible for his communication with the outside world. The claim that it’s Grisham who is lying and not Trump is bizarre, given that he has been caught lying over and over again.

Grisham’s account of how Trump was annoyed that TV cameras were filming intensive care patients instead of him is also confirmed by another of his former employees, Olivia Troye, who also urges Republicans to put democracy above party and vote for Harris instead of Trump.

Other former Trump employees who are warning about him include his former Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper, who has called him a “threat to democracy,” and his former National Security Advisor, John Bolton, who has said that he is “unfit to be president.”

This is far from the first revelation about the gross things Trump says when he thinks no one is listening. He told his friend Billy Bush that you can grab women by their genitals and sleep with married women when you are as famous as he is, and he told a bunch of billionaires who support the Republican Party that he would make them and himself “rich as hell” by significantly lowering taxes for the super-rich.

Micael Grenholm is a Swedish church historian, author and an editor for PCPJ.

Politics, Racial Justice

Trump’s Mass Deportations Would Cost Trillions and Leave Millions of Children Without Parents

08/03/2024 Micael Grenholm 3 Comments

Donald Trump’s plan to deport 15 million people is both dangerous and inhumane. This plan would require enormous resources, cause humanitarian disasters, and lead to economic and social instability in the United States.

The former president Trump has promised, if he’s elected again despite now being a convicted felon, to deport more people than there are undocumented immigrants in the country, meaning even legal residents and citizens could be at risk. Such an operation would demand a massive amount of resources and personnel, making it extremely costly and logistically complicated—perhaps even impossible. The deportation process would cost over $210 billion and require a workforce larger than the U.S. Army.

Trump often claims that millions of undocumented immigrants to the US come from prisons and mental institutions, but that is simply false and has been described as “laughable” by experts. In reality, immigrants are just like other people: some are bad, most are good.

The humanitarian consequences of Trump’s plan would be devastating. Mass deportations on this scale would result in the separation of millions of families and leave approximately 4.5 million American children without one or both parents. This would place a massive burden on social systems and likely lead to a humanitarian crisis. If the children are not deported themselves, they would need state care, which would cost an additional $118 billion. Most of these children would belong to Christian families.

Economically, deporting such a large portion of the workforce would create labor shortages in several sectors, driving up inflation and harming the economy. It has been estimated that the U.S. GDP would immediately decrease by 1.4 percent and by $4.7 trillion over the next decade. This would also negatively impact the housing market, putting over a million mortgages at risk.

Socially and politically, Trump’s plan involves state National Guards and other security forces conducting mass arrests in cities and communities across the country. This would create a situation where residents live in constant fear of arbitrary and violent interventions. There is also a risk that this would lead to violent confrontations between federal forces and local authorities or residents trying to protect their neighbors.

The motivations behind Trump’s plan are also troubling. Stephen Miller, who has a history of racist, white nationalist, and xenophobic views, sees the deportation of non-white immigrants as a personal mission and has been appointed by Trump to oversee this monstrous project. The plan is not just a political proposal but part of a broader agenda to change the demographic composition of the U.S. Which is in line with Trump’s ambition to remain in power at any cost, even if it requires terminating the Constitution.

Legally and constitutionally, Trump’s plan raises significant issues. The proposal to revoke birthright citizenship violates the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and bypassing legal processes to carry out mass deportations would contravene fundamental legal principles. This would undermine the rule of law and set a precedent for future authoritarian measures.

Overall, Trump’s plan to deport 15 million people is both dangerous and inhumane. It would cause significant humanitarian and economic damage, create social and political instability, and undermine the rule of law. We must take this threat seriously and work to prevent Trump’s plans from being realized, as the consequences would be devastating for both individuals and society as a whole.

Jesus said: “When I was a stranger, you welcomed me… Whenever you did it for any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for me.” (Matthew 25:35, 40). Deporting millions of people from the richest country on earth while making millions of children of children orphans is the opposite of that.

Micael Grenholm is a Swedish church historian, author and an editor for PCPJ.

Nonviolence, Politics

The United States of Assassinations

07/20/2024 Micael Grenholm Leave a comment

Assassination attempts are always horrendous, evil and sinful, and we condemn the attempted murder of Donald Trump in the strongest terms. No political disagreement is an excuse for violence. Yet, the United States has a dark history of political assassinations – Lincoln, Kennedy, Luther King – as well as assassination attempts. And before Trump, there was Pence.

In this election cycle, many seem to have forgotten the attempted assassinations of Mike Pence, Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress on the January 6th storming in 2021 when Trump supporters tried to overturn the results from the 2020 presidential election. Some of them had even made a noose, shouting that it was time to hang Mike Pence for accepting the election results.

Trump is asked to give a message of hope to the J6 prisoners. He says they are patriots, and what’s happening to them is a disgrace since Antifa and BLM burned down all our cities and nothing happened to them. pic.twitter.com/poz6KED184
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) January 14, 2023

Trump has repeatedly supported the January 6th rioters, calling them great patriots, and has even expressed support for those who shouted “Hang Mike Pence” according to his White House chief of staff at the time, Mark Meadows.

Of course, this does in no way legitimize or excuse the assassination attempt of Trump. As a peace organization, we reject all typs of violence, both when it comes from Trump’s camp as well as when its directed towards it.

Violence is all too often a vicious cycle: sin that leads to sin that leads to sin. After Trump had been hit and the Secret Service had killed the attacker, his bodyguards wanted to immediately take him to a safe area but the former president ordered them to wait so that he could raise his fist to the audience and shout: “Fight!”

The audience loved it, and even some in the non-MAGA crowd have called it “badass”. At the Republican convention where Trump was nominated as presidential candidate in spite of being a convicted felon, the audience shouted “Fight! Fight! Fight!” as he entered the stage with a damaged ear from the attack.

This conflict narrative of fighting is strangely combined with calls for unity, primarily directed at political opponents. Trump’s speech at the convention, which was his first after the assassination attempt, called for unity and respect for a couple of minutes only to then go after the Democrats for over an hour, calling them dangerous and a threat to democracy that uses the justice system for illegitimate “witch hunts”. Meanwhile, president Joe Biden was asked by reporter Lester Holt to stop pointing out facts about Trump in the name of unity, including when Trump welcomed and laughed about a political opponent being attacked with a hammer.

Do you see the double standards here? Trump and many of his supporters have welcomed political violence and threats of violence multiple times, but when political violence is aimed at Trump the demand is not only that his critics should denounce the violence (which, of course, they should) but also denounce factually correct statements that are critical of Trump, such as him being a threat to democracy with his disdain for election results that don’t go his way. And if calls for unity is incompatible with talking about threats to democracy, why don’t Trump’s supporters criticize him when he described the Democrats as a threat to democracy?

Because of the very fact that we’re against all violence, we feel obliged to remind everyone that the Trump movement is in no way foreign to assassination attempts and deadly threats. Violence begets more violence – what’s needed is the way of the Prince of Peace who tells us to love our enemies and reject all kinds of killing.

Micael Grenholm is a Swedish church historian, author and an editor for PCPJ.

Creation Care

Christians Can No Longer Overlook the Disastrous Consequences of Climate Change

03/02/2024 Micael Grenholm 2 Comments

What’s the most pressing political issue Christians should care about today? There are many answers to that question, and different Christians have different priorities, but I want to argue that all Christians should put climate change very high on that list, if not at the top? The climate crisis impacts everything else.

Do you think the economy is important? Climate change will ruin it unless stopped. You think migration is an important issue? Climate change will cause billions of people to flee from their home. Does any other political issue have the top priority for you, like abortion, education or law and order? Climate change might ruin all modern civilizations and all the societal orders connected to them?

As stewards of God’s creation, Christians are called to protect and preserve the earth for future generations. In the face of accelerating global warming, the urgent need for climate action becomes not only a responsibility but a divine mandate. The current state of our planet, marked by rising temperatures, melting ice caps, and increasingly severe weather patterns, underscores a critical moment in human history. It is a moment that demands a collective response grounded in faith, compassion, and justice.

The Biblical Foundation for Environmental Stewardship

The Bible is rich with references that underscore the importance of caring for the environment. Genesis 2:15 teaches us, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” This verse highlights our God-given role as caretakers of the earth, entrusted to us to nurture and protect.

Psalms 24:1 further reminds us, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” This psalm beautifully articulates the concept of stewardship, emphasizing that we do not own the earth; rather, we are caretakers of God’s creation.

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Nonviolence, Politics

Choosing Another Messiah

01/05/2024 pcpjwriter Leave a comment

by Ramone Romero.

I did not die so that you could defeat,
steal from, kill and destroy your enemies.
I died so that you would love them
as I loved you while you were My enemies.

What do you want, My children?

Do you want Me and My kingdom
or do you want Barabbas
and what he fought and killed for?
You cannot have both.

Woe! Woe! Woe!
My people are choosing Barabbas,
following him, and teaching his ways!
They reject Me for another ‘Jesus’!

Turn, My people!
Turn from your ways and be saved!
For the path you are choosing
leads only to death!

I give life through the Cross
—not through the sword!
If you live by the sword,
you will die by the sword.

*****

Ramone Romero is an artist based in Osaka, Japan.

—

(art: “The Release of Barabbas” and “Follow the Lamb”, by Ramone Romero)

Nonviolence

What if Jesus Entered Gaza?

12/01/2023 pcpjwriter 1 Comment

by Sune Fahlgren.

This advent, Matthew 21 will be read in churches all over the globe, telling the story of when Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey. Let us imagine Jesus instead approaching Gaza City… The Prince of Peace has heard the cries from over two million people, completely without future and hope. What happens when he rides into war-torn Gaza?

A gigantic humanitarian disaster is already a fact. Jesus knows this and therefore chooses to see reality with his own eyes during a few days of temporary ceasefire.

The disciples have rushed ahead to arrange permission through the now only possible border crossing at Rafah, a place that Jesus passed with his parents during their flight to Egypt. The disciples present Jesus as the supreme leader of the approximately 300 Christians remaining. They want to celebrate the advent of hope with Jesus’s radical message of peace at the center.

The stir is great at Rafah during the temporary ceasefire, with both prisoner exchanges and queues of long-haul trucks with aid. Like everyone else – diplomats, healthcare, and aid workers, truck drivers – Jesus must go through security procedures. Even his sandals are x-rayed. However, he is completely unarmed. Jesus and three of his disciples are allowed in.

Inside the Gaza Strip, which is no larger than Las Vegas, some young boys offer Jesus a donkey to ride on. Cars exist, but gasoline is now lacking. Lamps exist, but there is no longer electricity. Water exists in springs, but it is not drinkable.

Jesus’s path goes through a moonscape. Old monasteries and Christian memorials from desert fathers and mothers are now just grains of sand. Israeli military operations in 2008, 2012, 2014, and now 2023 have dropped tens of thousands of bombs, causing devastation of unimaginable proportions. Every teenager in Gaza has been traumatized multiple times.

The closer Jesus gets to Gaza City, the stronger the sewage stench from the Mediterranean. There are no longer any functioning purification plants. All sewage is flushed into the sea. Even the once beautiful beaches with fishing boats are now a ticking bomb.

Jesus rides slowly into Gaza City, which has become a “ghost town”. He recites aloud the old prophetic words: “Prepare the way for the Lord in the wilderness, make a straight path in the desert for our God…” Then Jesus begins to pronounce names of places where violence has triumphed in modern times: Guernica, Oradour, Babij Jar, Katyń, Lidice, Sharpeville, Treblinka, Hanoi, Rwanda… “And in advent 2023, we must add Gaza,” says Jesus with sorrow in his voice.

The remaining people in Gaza City have heard about the unusual visit and come running. In the absence of anything else, they lay their t-shirts on the ground. Some have made palm leaves out of bomb scrap. Some young men dance dabke in front of the donkey ride, and children sing along the way “Biladi, ya ardi” (“My homeland, my earth”). Jesus is hailed as a prophet, a liberator.

The disciples start to get worried. Surely Jesus shouldn’t be this political? He could be killed as a supporter of Hamas. Silence the children! They are singing the national anthem. But Jesus calms the anxious:

“Strangely enough, there is currently a unique space for action for all involved parties. I want to talk to the leaders of Israel and the Palestinians about their responsibility, and offer a vision of Gaza as a thriving free trade area in the Mediterranean – like Singapore in Asia. I want to meet with Netanyahu, and as a Jew, plead for the peace talks to be resumed for the sake of Israel’s own best.”

Jesus reminds that he has already delivered a speech to humanity known as the “Sermon on the Mount”. A message of bold kindness and radical mercy. It is now the mission of his disciples to turn this manifesto into socio-politics and broad popular movements. Violence must not obliterate politics! The Jewish philosopher Hannah Arendt argued that “only through politics does real power and freedom develop.”

Nativity scene in the Lutheran Church in Bethlehem, Palestine, Christmas 2023

We, who in thought accompany Jesus into Gaza, probably find it hard to see a solution to the war that is now raging. But still, it is not only the violence and nationalism of the warring parties that prevent a just peace, but the self-absorption of many at political or at “biblical” and other religious positions. My question is therefore: Where are the broad alliances, built on respect for each other, where we dare to seek out the core of the conflict?

Gaza is a microcosm of evil and barbarity in our time, but also of simple people’s distress, courage, and resilience. To imagine Jesus riding into Gaza highlights the horrors of war: the arrogance of power, the ongoing displacement, and the vulnerable situation of civilians.

Sune Fahlgren is associate professor of practical theology at the University College Stockholm, Sweden. This is a modified translation of an article he wrote for the Swedish newspaper Dagen.

Nonviolence

A Prayer for Israel and Gaza

10/09/2023 Micael Grenholm 3 Comments

God, you are the light that darkness cannot overcome. You are the Prince of Peace and the Reconciler, you make the impossible possible.

Protect all those affected by the war between Hamas and Israel. May the horrific acts of terror be stopped, may those taken hostage be freed, may those seeking refuge from rockets and bombs be spared, and may this terrible conflict come to an end.

I pray especially for the children on both sides who are the most vulnerable—hold your hand over them, God, and give them a peaceful future. Amen.

Two things that should be self-evident:

Murdering, raping, and kidnapping civilians is not a “fight for liberation”; these are horrific acts of terror that Hamas has committed against Israel and cannot be excused.
Stopping the import of food and water to the entire population of Gaza is the wrong way for Israel to respond to these acts of terror; it is a life-threatening collective punishment that violates international humanitarian law.

Half of the population of the Gaza Strip is children. A million children who bear no responsibility for Hamas’s rule and their horrific terror attacks. They are some of the most vulnerable right now in the war.

Doctors Without Borders are on the ground in Gaza and report that most of their patients are children between the ages of 10 and 14. They have called for humanitarian corridors so that food and medicine can reach the most vulnerable.

They also write that they have offered medical support to Israeli hospitals where a very high number of injured are being cared for after Hamas’s terror attacks. So far, the Israeli healthcare system has managed without their support, but they are ready to help there too if needed.

Donate to them here!

All people are created by God, and all suffering on both sides must be prevented. As missionary Heidi Baker wrote the other day on site in Jerusalem: “Pray for peace and for the innocent, no matter their nation or creed.”

Micael Grenholm is a Swedish church historian, author and an editor for PCPJ.

Nonviolence, Politics

What if the 9/11 attacks hadn’t led to the wars that killed a million people?

09/11/2023 Micael Grenholm Leave a comment

Shane Claiborne just wrote some wise words on Facebook:

It’s been 22 years since the September 11th attacks. It’s an important day to remember how precious life is… and to stand against violence in every form.

On the 10th anniversary I teamed up with my pal Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, and we did an event called “Jesus, Bombs, and Ice Cream” which featured Terry Rockefeller from September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows. She, and so many other victims of 9/11 are heroes of mine. These survivors of 9/11 declared:

“Our Grief Is NOT a Cry for War” — and became some of the most credible, passionate voices against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

—

I often wonder how the world might be different if our response to the tragedy of 9/11 had not been more violence — war and retaliation. Nearly 3000 lives were lost here in the US. And it is now estimated that over 1,455,000 lives have been lost in the aftermath of 9/11. Not many of us feel any safer. And it is quite clear that our violence has done more to fuel the fire of extremism than to stop it.

We now know that 15 of the 19 terrorists on 9/11 were from Saudi Arabia… yet Iraq and Afghanistan have now been decimated by our response to 9/11. And the US continues to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia.

Lord, help us.

I hope that September 11 becomes a day when we lament all violence, and move forward with a renewed conviction that violence will not rid the world of violence. Violence is the disease, not the cure.

Lord, guide us in the path of peace.

“Don’t repay anyone evil for evil… but overcome evil with good.”
–The Bible, Romans 12

Shane Claiborne is a Red Letter Christian and a founding partner of The Simple Way community, a radical faith community that lives among and serves the homeless in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia. He is the co-author, with Chris Haw, of Jesus for President. He has also written Executing Grace: Why It is Time to Put the Death Penalty to Death.

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