On Miracles and Conspiracy Theories

They're Both Incredible

I’ve been reading Tim Alberta’s excellent account of the turmoil in the evangelical community, The Kingdom, The Power and the Glory. Alberta has authority here. He is a Christian. His father was an evangelical minister in Michigan, conservative yes, but not Trumpoid; since his death, the congregation has been decimated by members who care more about politics than piety; the current minister, a decent man, tries to remain above politics, ever-mindful of the true teachings of Jesus, which run counter to everything Donald Trump stands for. But his church is collapsing.

There is a terrible sadness to the account. Alberta is relentlessly civil, especially when interviewing the new crop of evangelical ministers—moneychangers, all—who discovered the best way to raise a congregation is to spout Trumpist lies and conspiracy theories, especially the latter. He quotes, for example, a sleazeball named Bill Bolin who leads the FloodGate Church in Michigan. Bolin regales his congregation with the story of a doctor [unnamed of course] who insisted:

“Between one and two hundred United States Congress members. plus many of their staffers and family members with COVID, were treated by a colleague of his [unnamed of course] over the past 15 months…with…” Bolin stopped and put a hand to his ear.

A chorus of people responded, “Ivermectin.”

Ivermectin was a veterinary drug, created to fight heartworm in animals, later used to treat head lice and other parasites in humans. Its Covid-fighting properties, which do not exist, were touted by Donald Trump. But in the evangelical fever swamps ivermectin has more credibility than vaccines—even though the Warp-Speed vaccines were a Trump triumph—simply because the government says it doesn’t work.

Which raises a question: Why are right-wing evangelicals such easy prey for conspiracy nonsense like quack medicine and QAnon? Why is there any resonance at all to the obscene notion that Hillary Clinton runs a pedophile ring in the basement of a pizza parlor in D.C.? Or that Donald Trump won the 2020 election, against all evidence? I have an idea: Because conspiracy theories are first cousin to miracle stories—and miracle stories, which I’ve always taken as allegory, are the point of entry to spirituality for those who take the Bible literally. Both conspiracies and miracle stories reassure the least of these, those easily misled. There are those who believe in Jesus because he performed magic acts, like walking on water, raising the dead..or being raised from the dead. (Although I do love the fact that the first miracle Jesus performed was turning water into wine—the Women’s Christian Temperance Union sort of avoided that.)

This is, indeed, the Greatest Story Ever Told: God came to earth, was murdered by authoritarian nitwits, then was resurrected. It resonates in the manner of ancient scapegoat rituals, the deepest, most sacred stories in the ancient world, where the martyr is killed—specifically—for the sins of society. This predates history; it is hard-wired in our sensibility. (The Jews socialized scapegoat sacrifice by turning the martyrs into actual goats.) And the Jesus story was true, in the most important way: He didn’t die. The words of an obscure Galilean rabbi became among the most important in history

It explains why Trump is being so relentlessly portrayed as a martyr now. He is suffering for the sins of the Deep State, which wants to destroy both him and the evangelical church. The flock has experienced the opposite of Saul’s meditational epiphany on the road to Damascus. They have been struck blind—and dumb, in the crudest sense of the word—by Mephistophelian grifters. These preachers, Alberta points out, spend a lot more time preaching Old Testament meshuggas than the Beatitudes.

Take hell, for example. It’s the ultimate conspiracy theory. Lance Morrow describes the allusive power of hell here, in a wonderful Wall Street Journal piece. The Gospels speak of Satan, but not that much of his domain. Hell, after all, is not a very Christian concept; forgiveness is. Indeed, the Gospels—among the most beautiful books in the Bible—are more about how to live righteously than the tortures awaiting sinners. And they prescribe a difficult course: Love your neighbor. Be humble. Care for the poor. Turn the other cheek. And Satan? He seems a lot like Trump. Alberta quotes John 8:44: “When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” Pastors like Bill Bolin and Robert Jeffress—Trump’s favorite—are living the lie. They are fleecing the flock. They are waterboys for evil.

Back in the 1990s—under the guidance of Pete Wehner, David Kuo and Mike Gerson, all of whom went on to work for George W. Bush—I spent a fair amount of time studying real followers of Jesus, saintly ones, people who walked the walk. It was inspirational…and aspirational: I aspire to, but simply can’t approach, the gorgeous, generous faith of the black ministers and white evangelicals—and the Catholic nuns who teach, and love, the urban poor in parochial schools—whom I eventually wrote about for The New Yorker, of all places. There was an evangelical in Texas named Tillie Bergin who had a congregant who was a prostitute. Tillie fretted over what to do for her. She prayed on it…and decided to buy the woman a nice new dress to wear on the street. At least, she’d feel a little better about herself. I was awestruck by the Christianity of the gesture.

A great strength of Alberta’s book is the time he spends with the real followers of Jesus, at places like Wheaton College in Illinois. They are struggling furiously—intellectually—against the anti-Christian predilections of Trumper Christ-inanity. They struggle to find a strategy to lead their congregants back to a righteous path. The vehemence and vitriol of the opposition they face is frightening and deeply depressing. It seems that Donald Trump, who has destroyed so much in our society, has also taken a wrecking ball to Jesus.

On the Other Hand…

Rendering unto Caesar, I have an op-ed column in the New York Times today, arguing that Democrats should stop being such wimps.

Meanwhile, Among the Chosen People…

I’m a Jew, of course…although I consider Jesus the greatest Jewish prophet. I find the culture of Judaism, the intellectual rigor, sustaining. The religion, not so much: those three-hour Saturday services, leaden with the obeisant masochism of Old Testament prayer; the rules and regulations—too many laws, too little love; no bacon, no lobster. Nope. Not for me.

But there is an invaluable thing about Judaism: its celebration of justice. A jewel in the crown has been the Anti-Defamation League, which I first became aware of—and incredibly proud of—sixty years ago when it gave full-throated support to the Civil Rights movement. I’ve had my troubles with the ADL since. Its former leader, Abe Foxman, once accused me of anti-Semitism for writing, accurately, that some of the Neo-Conservatives supporting John McCain, and plumping for war with Iran, seemed more concerned with Israel’s security than America’s. Abe said I was accusing the Neo-Cons of dual loyalty, an ancient anti-Jewish shondah. Hilarious, that. I copped to Abe’s imprecation. (In fact, as a Jew who has often been critical of Israel—and is now, over the bludgeoning of Gaza—I will also cop to dual loyalty: I need Israel to exist, as a backup plan. I’m rooting for it to exist in peace and security with its neighbors.)

Anyhoo…the Anti-Defamation League has chosen to bestow its annual award upon a fellow named Jared Kushner. Now, Kushner helped shepherd the valuable Abraham Accords to fruition, but he was also a prominent member of the Pro-Defamation League. That is, Donald Trump’s White House. He might deserve an award if he and his wife, Ivanka, came out with a loving deprecation of Orange Guy: “Hey pops! Give it up already. You lost the election!” You can sense, in their body language, they believe that. It would be nice if they actually said it.

Absent that public testimony by Kushner, the Anti-Defamation League could find plenty of others to honor. From Ukraine to the Kibbutzim to the memory of Alexander Navalny, it was a good year for courage. But ADL seems to be playing politics with this award, hedging its bets, perhaps lining its pockets. Straighten up, guys. We’re talking about the survival of democracy here.

Philip K. Howard Rules

No-relation Klein (Ezra) has a valuable column in the Times, in which he makes the point that the various brick-and-mortar triumphs of the Biden Administration would seem more concrete, as it were, if the Administration could blast past the various rules and regulations that have accreted over the years, barnacling the necessary work of the federal government, slowing construction down to a paper-paralyzed crawl.

This has been the lifelong quest of Philip K. Howard, who has written a series of books about the quicksand of modern government. His latest is Everyday Freedom. It is short, sweet and, as always, smart. His argument is that common sense has been supplanted in the world of governance by rules and regulations imposed by litigation liberals. Some of these rules are necessary, of course. Seat belts were a good idea. But other, minuscule impediments that become a beaver dam of obstruction, need to be culled. I await the President—Democrat or Whatever Comes After Republican—who takes this to heart. Biden might start right now, if he wants to get credit for what he’s done.

The Incredible Katie Britt

Jonathan Katz exposes a fabulous lie told by Katie Britt in her SOTU response.

Lucian Truscott finds alien life on Earth, despite the Pentagon’s protestations.

And for newcomers to Sanity Land

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