Megachurch pastor attacks other Christians who criticize his support of Trump

Robert Jeffress is mad at fellow Christians who speak against Trump.

It's no secret that white conservative evangelicals have been bending over backwards to either support Trump or excuse his many bouts of bad behavior. It's also no secret that their behavior has been criticized by other Christians.

Now, one of them is responding with whining and name calling which will probably do nothing but further this much-needed schism.

Long-time Trump supporter and megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress  recently attacked the Christian critics of evangelical Trump supporters.

This is hypocritical of the evangelicals who say their personal piety won't allow them to support President Trump," Jeffress stated. "I mean, my gosh – how self-righteous is that? When did personal piety ever become a test of who you were going to vote for for president?"

Thie irony of this statement coming from Jeffress is stark, considering he had plenty of ugly things to say about Obama, specifically the statement that Obama was paving the way for the Anti-Christ.

And to answer his question, "personal piety" was the main reason why evangelicals on his side of the spectrum wouldn't support Obama. Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council and the rest of that bunch stood against Obama on a multitude of issues, particularly when it came to LGBTQ equality. One religious right group, the Liberty Counsel, even talked about impeaching Obama.

Jeffress, who once said that God gave Trump authority to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un,  continued to dig the hole:

"What you're seeing is the divide between these 'evangelical elites' who continue to resist President Trump's policies and the vast majority of evangelicals in the pews who swept him into office and continue to support him," he said. people praying over (candidate) Donald Trump. 

In fact, Jeffress says it's the never-Trump evangelicals who have left their core theology behind. "What it comes down to is the 'evangelical elite' really don't embrace these values," said Jeffress.  

"They are more concerned about fixing the problem with DREAMers than they are about protecting the life of the unborn. Or when it comes to Israel, they are much more concerned about the plight of the 'poor Palestinians' than they are of protecting the Jews' right to inhabit that land God gave them." He didn't stop there: "And when it comes to religious liberty, [if] you talk to these evangelical elites privately [you'll find] they really do believe those Colorado bakers ought to be forced to bake that wedding cake for a gay wedding."  

The interview was embarrassing in that Jeffress practically wallowed in a combined fetid mix of his own ego, self-righteousness, and downright cruelty.  One thing I found interesting is how he dehumanized his fellow Christians by painting them as a nameless, faceless horde. It's just like what many of his contemporaries have done to the LGBTQ community over the years.

And then he comes across in an ugly, mocking tone against Dreamers, Palestinians, and of course members of the LGBTQ community. Apparently all of those verses and parables attributed to Jesus about children, the Good Samaritan, and showing love means nothing.   All that matters to Jeffress is that folks like him get to dictate what issues are the most crucial for entire Christian community.

Nothing that he says challenges anyone's mindset about how conservative evangelicals and the religious right have willingly debased themselves in pursuit of influence in the Trump Administration.

If you ask me, Jeffress would have saved time if he would have come out and said the following:

"To hell with us appealing to a higher standard. We only said that junk when the president was someone who wasn't in our hip pocket. Now that we have a president who will cater to all of our whims, we are going to do everything in our power to make his decisions look good, his mistakes look like reverse psychology genius, and his excesses look like deliberate messages from Jesus.  And if the rest of your Christians don't like it, you had better get with the program or kiss my bony ass. We are getting while the getting's good."