The Trance Regime continues to prove that Trump was the test and that the Christians who voted for him failed that test miserably. Many theologians and pastors, myself included, have been writing and speaking against Trump since his first foray into running for office. I’ve written about him and his policies in all of my books. The reasons why were obvious to me. Trump began his campaign with authoritarian rhetoric and then went on to govern like the racist, misogynistic, bigoted, sexual predator that he, who by his own admission, is. He, and the people who prop him up like Stephen Miller, have told us repeatedly who they are in clear terms. Dr. Robert O. Paxton, a prominent historian and the author of The Anatomy of Fascism, declared in 2021 that Trump is indeed a fascist. Dr. Paxton had previously been hesitant to use that label for Trump and the MAGA movement until Trump intentionally incited the January 6, 2021 insurrection attempt. I had read Dr. Paxton’s book long before the insurrection and concluded then that Trump is a fascist. The things he has done since being reelected continue to prove me and Dr. Paxton right.

One of the clearest ways this can be seen is the intentional targeting of Spanish speaking and Muslim immigrants — many of whom were in the U.S. legally when they were targeted. This latter fact puts paid to the notions spouted by MAGA world that “if people come legally, they’ll be left alone,” or “we’re only going to deport the illegals who commit crimes.” The Trance Regime simply does not care about the rule of law, another fascist trait, and they are haughtily brazen in showing the country that they believe they can act with impunity regardless of what they’re trying to do. They have defied judicial orders. They have denied people due process before illegally deporting them to another country to be imprisoned in one of the worst prisons on Earth. That prison is in El Salvador, a nation whose president once proclaimed himself to be “the world’s coolest dictator.” Of course, Trump likes Nayib Bukele, because Bukele is an authoritarian dictator, and that’s what Trump wants to be. He’s a tiny little man in desperate need of extensive psychological therapy.

Far from being efficient and competent, the Trance Regime’s immigration crack downs by ICE agents have been fraught with mistakes. Those mistakes are not just administrative errors, as they have claimed, but are horrible human rights abuses. This administration simply does not care. As long as the people targeted are not white, as long as they speak Spanish, or are Muslim, Trump’s minions have shown that they will do what they want. Then they lie to cover their tracks, as they have been doing in the case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia. He was deported to the super-max El Salvadoran prison despite having special status to prevent ever being deported to El Salvador due to threats on his life from gangs there. As Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a Senior Fellow at the American Immigration Council, noted in an interview with Democracy Now, Abrego Garcia had done nothing wrong. Speaking of Trump’s administration, he stated, “Their goal is to ramp up deportations and arrests as quickly as they can, and if that leads to a bunch of innocent people getting swept up alongside, the message that the White House is sending is they don’t care.” That, simply put, is unimaginably cruel.

Contrast that cruel policy platform with what the Bible says about loving one’s neighbor, the golden rule, and how we are to treat immigrants. The Bible says a lot about those things and none it sounds like the Trance Regime’s illegal deportations to a brutal prison run by a thuggish dictator. Biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann in speaking of the theology of the Hebrew Bible, the Christian Old Testament, wrote, “it is evident that Israel’s most characteristic and and theologically intentional practice is to attend to the needs of those who are too weak to protect themselves. In the tradition of Deuteronomy, those too weak are characteristically widows, orphans, and resident aliens.” He went on to say that the wealth and resources of Israel should be seen as “common resources that are to be managed and deployed for the enhancement of the community by the enhancement of its weakest and most vulnerable members.” (Brueggemann, Theology of the Old Testament, p.422) This theology from Deuteronomy is definitely aligned with the teachings of Jesus in passages such as Matthew 7:12; 25:31-46 and Luke 6:31; 10-25-37. It’s also aligned with Paul’s teachings in Romans 13 and Galatians 3. Simply put, there is nothing that looks like Jesus in the Trump administration.

For all of those Christians who still support Trump, it’s time to repent. Jesus said that “by your fruit you will be known.” Supporting violence, bigotry, racism, misogyny, and fascism produces poisonous fruit as evidenced by the screenshots below and the horrific actions of the Trance Regime. Y’all failed the test, but you can take it again, thus repudiating a wannabe dictator whose main aims are wealth and power — both of which Jesus refused. Your vote and vocal support of Trump won’t save you from his abuses. Repent and join the resistance.