Trump, Christian Fundamentalism and Lemmings

Trump, Christian Fundamentalism and Lemmings—An Analysis (15 December 2024) by Lawrence Davidson

Part I — The Real and Unreal World of Lemmings

Lemmings are small rodents who live in underground tunnels in far northern climes. They are pretty successful from an evolutionary standpoint. They spend the snowy winters breeding and this sometimes leads to food shortages in the Spring. Food shortages, in turn, can lead to migration to new territories. It is the migration behavior that has led the Lemmings to become part of a human “urban legend.”  

In 1958 the Disney Company released a documentary entitled White Wilderness which featured a concocted view of the migrating little critters jumping off cliffs (the Disney folks were forcing them to do so, and sometimes just throwing them over) into a body of water and drowning. It was totally contrived but the Lemmings died anyway and their survivors got stuck with a specious reputation for a collective suicidal impulse. 

Part II — The American Lemming Phenomena

And what does this have to do with today’s United States? Well, through the auspices of Christian fundamentalism/nationalism, a growing number of Americans have become like those enthusiastic mythical Lemmings, blissfully heading for a cliff—let’s call it cultural and/or constitutional suicide. 

The Public Religion Research Institute found that in 2023, 10% of Americans identified as “adherents” of Christian nationalism, while 20% identified as “sympathizers”. In the red states aligned with the Republican Party, these numbers rose to 14% and 24% respectively, while among Trump supporters they further rose to 21% “adherents” and 34% “sympathizers”. 

Others, perhaps a majority of Americans, are just blissfully ignorant of this threat. This has to do with the inherently local focus of communities. Most people, while paying attention to what is going on around them, learn of outside events only through a distorting mass media. These folks might learn about the danger of Christian nationalism through the potential struggle to come. 

And, then there is that group of Americans who are standing dumbstruck (as would real Lemmings if they had seen and understood Disney’s libelous White Wilderness) at the Christian fundamentalist/nationalist forfeiture of rationality. 

It is important to ask who is standing in for the manipulative Disney production crew, as this all plays out?

Part III – The Production Crew And the Trump Connection

Let’s take up this last question. Who are the production crew stand-ins? Answer: they are America’s messianic Christian leadership such as “the Ziklag Group, a tax-exempt charity that works to instill Christianity as the guiding principle in every sector of American society.” They have plenty of money and so have funded a growing number of political allies such as Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. The often hysterical Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is also an ally. In an interview (July 2022), she said that, “We [Republicans] need to be the party of nationalism and I’m a Christian, and I say it proudly, we should be Christian nationalists.” Fellow member of Congress Lauren Boebert (R-Col.) has also expressed support for Christian nationalism. At the state level, many politicians such as Doug Mastriano (R-PA. Senate) are prominent figures in the Christian fundamentalist/nationalist movement. Mastriano has called the separation of church and state a myth.

This army of “true believers” has tied itself to the coattails of our next president, Donald Trump—a man who is a true believer only in himself. In truth, he is little more than an opportunist with an insatiable ego. What makes this alliance possible is the strange fact that the Christian fundamentalists/nationalists have expressed a belief that this narcissist is an agent of God. In other words, Trump has found a place for himself in today’s Christian fundamentalist mythology. 

Briefly, here is the slight of hand analysis that allows the Christian sectarians to make the Trump connection. First of all, it should be said that for these pro-Trump Christians, “a savior does not have to be a good person but just needs to fulfill his divinely appointed role.” So Trump, the consummate sinner, is not disqualified. In fact, the Bible is said to be full of nasty characters that, allegedly, were recruited as agents of God. Thus, “the prosecutions underway against Trump have been easily interpretable as signs of persecution, which can then connect to the suffering Jesus theme in Christianity.”

Trump has encouraged this bizarre connection. His campaign has posted a video entitled “God Made Trump” which he has screened at campaign rallies.” The message here is that Trump has been given a divine mission to “save America from certain cultural collapse.” He often shows photos of “evangelicals laying hands on him in the Oval Office, which is something that Christians do when they ordain pastors or commission missionaries.” One particular result of all this is that at the 6 January insurrection you have rioters carrying large crosses and praying as they attacked the Capitol. In addition, “people at his rallies were carrying signs that said, ‘Thank you, Lord Jesus, for President Trump.”

All of this has been a great asset to Trump the politician and there is every reason to believe that he will reward the faithful. He says that [like the Disney Production crew] he will aid and abet in pushing the country down the Christian nationalist road and thus over the cliff that represents Constitutional suicide. How does he suggest that he will do this? (1) By continuing the process of stacking the federal judiciary with rightwing ideologues. (2) By sanctifying states’ rights which, one suspects, he will support whatever the courts say.

Part IV —Christian Nationalism And Its Proper Analogy

This latter process of working along the lines of states’ rights has already begun. On 19 November 2024, the Texas Tribune reported that “a majority of the Texas State Board of Education gave final approval Friday to a state-authored curriculum under intense scrutiny in recent months for its heavy inclusion of biblical teachings.” The deciding vote was cast by a recent appointee of the rightwing GOP governor, Greg Abbott. The report goes on, “although the curriculum isn’t required, the state will offer an incentive of $60 per student to districts that adopt the lessons, which could appeal to some as schools struggle financially after several years without a significant raise in state funding.” This led to the charge from critics that the Christian Nationalists are essentially buying state education policy. There are approximately 6 million students enrolled in Texas public schools. Another critic observed that “This move has ultimately violated parents’ rights to guide their children’s faith. In short, this is a push coming from ideologues, rather than anyone with expertise in educational best practices.” 

That hit the nail on the head. Ideologically driven authoritarian regimes—and that is what the Christian Nationalists aim for— want to be the sole guide for their citizens

 in all things. That is they want to turn the citizenry into mythical mindless Lemmings. Thus, it should come as no surprise that these Texas ideologues do not stop with textbooks. They also want to control all books in school libraries, downplay the role of minorities and erase the notion of climate change. 

The link to Trump can best be seen in the state of Oklahoma. Here, the Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters has decided that a particular version of the Christian Bible—“a pricey one peddled by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump”—should be put in every public school room in the state. He believes he can do this because (1) Trump “wants prayer back in school” and (2) Trump was elected with a “mandate” to get what he wants. By the way, what does Walters want to evict from the state’s present classroom? The answer is  “radical leftism.” Walters fully expects to achieve his goal despite expected court ordered delays. He is counting on Trump’s stated desire to eventually do away with federal oversight of education altogether. According to Walters, and Trump as well, only the states can make kids “patriotic and get parents back in charge with school choice.” Don’t be misled by the last part of this quote. If the parent isn’t a Christian Fundamentalist he or she won’t be in charge of anything.

What would the school children of Texas and Oklahoma (among other states) look like after several generations of this sort of ideological determined education? The best analogy to be found is probably children in the People’s Republic of China.

The “intergenerational transmission” of the ideological beliefs of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is a major stated aim of China’s educational system. Superintendent Walters would no doubt approve of the fact that, in 1991, the CCP began an ongoing “Patriotic Education Campaign,” the intention of which is to (1) “reduce narratives of class struggle. And (2) “emphasize the party’s role” in establishing China’s great power status. Translated into Christian Fundamentalist/Nationalist ideological terms, this would be the equivalent of (1) deemphasizing minority historical roles to teaching U.S. history and (2) emphasizing the white Christian basis of the country’s alleged moral superiority and greatness. 

If you want a comparison with the Texas move to take control of curriculum and library resources as a form of censorship, it is the staunchly atheist CCP’s educational dictates in the Uyghur communities (northwestern China). The Uyghur’s of Muslims, and that is just the reason “Islamic education for children has been prohibited and teaching the Quran to children has resulted in criminal prosecution.” Let the Christianizing efforts in Texas take the form of state law and punishments for doing your own thing are bound to follow. 

Part V — Conclusion

It is going to be a struggle for the American Christian fundamentalists/nationalists to match Chinese accomplishments in terms of ideological dominance. After all, to do this they will have to dismantle the U.S. Constitution. However, as noted above, they have a firm base from which to build particularly in the American south and midwest. They now have an ally in the White House and more allies in Congress. And, they are certainly not deterred by reason or common sense. 

The rank and file Christian fundamentalists are the movement’s core, manipulated version of Lemmings, willing to remake the U.S. by committing constitutional suicide. And, just as is the case of the CCP, they are quite ready to support a coercive environment which demands that we all go along with a canonical playing out of their Christian nationalist fantasies. A logical first step is to take over public education because children’s ideas about the world are easily manipulated.

To be sure, education of any kind is always at least in part propaganda. The job of public schools is to turn out employable and loyal citizens. The question is loyal to what? Loyal to the Constitution that, at least potentially, can encourage a tolerant, equalitarian, multiethnic society? Or loyalty to an emphatically Christian capitalist, neoliberal society? What does the United States want to be when it grows up?

It used to be that American aspirations were thought of in terms of humanism. Using the definition of the American Humanist Association, “Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without theism or other supernatural beliefs, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good.” There are literally thousands of humanists in American history who have strived to make this country an ever more livable place. Many of their names are readily identifiable. And none of them sought to make people into the ideologically driven Lemmings. So, almost inevitably, the Christian fundamentalist/nationalist movement finds humanistic aspirations an anathema. Thus, according to the prolific Christian fundamentalist writer and critic, Robert L. Waggoner, “Humanism is THE major modern philosophical enemy of Christianity.” 

I would say that it is time for Americans to make a choice— but, of course, they just have. And enough Americans have chosen Donald Trump to put this ally of Christian fundamentalism into power. Perhaps it is time to declare simple and obvious truth: open-minded reason is more trustworthy than some inscrutable deity. Under Trump’s “blessed” hand, many of us are likely to end up like Job.