Jared Yates Sexton is a writer, political analyst, and Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Georgia Southern University. That last one is particularly important, because he had to get pretty creative to come up with his analysis of Donald Trump’s perception in the Evangelical Christian community:
The evangelicals I'm talking to see the escalation of Iran as fulfillment of End Days prophecy, cementing their perception of Trump as a faulty messiah used by God. Many are bragging openly about their foresight in prepping, others are purchasing more weapons.
— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) January 5, 2020
Sounds legit.
— Ron Coleman (@RonColeman) January 6, 2020
Riiiiiiight. https://t.co/7NJtHDZUL3
— Oh THAT Guy (@NathanWurtzel) January 6, 2020
— Cal Sí-3PO Reyes (@TheCalCoconut) January 6, 2020
are these evangelicals you're talking to actual people, or are they like imaginary, woke 8-yr olds people tweet about?
— Look, Fat (@jer2911tx) January 6, 2020
Yeah… this didn’t happen. Nice try, champ.
— Matthew (@matthops82) January 6, 2020
Actual evangelicals would tell you lying is a sin. pic.twitter.com/xNfYUa0UJB
— Anthony Bialy (@AnthonyBialy) January 6, 2020
Actual Evangelicals might also take issue with the rest of Sexton’s thread:
Seems as good a time as any to remind everyone of what I call the Cult of the Shining City, which is white identity Christianity that blends segregationism, prosperity gospel, and nationalistic occultism that originated as a response to the Civil Rights Movement.
— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) January 5, 2020
As Civil Rights leaders used Christianity as a means to push for equality, white evangelicals responded by changing the gospel to focusing on wealth and power. Trump is part of this tradition and the Cult of the Shining City sees him as an embodiment of their teachings.
— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) January 5, 2020
In the 1980s, with the rise of Reaganism and burgeoning millennial angst, the Cult of the Shining City was obsessed with apocalyptic conspiracy theories that focused on minorities, Satan, and the New World Order. They call it the Deep State now.
— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) January 5, 2020
New World Order/Deep State conspiracy theories are all anti-Semitic and white supremacist based. It's about other groups coming together to take power from the white race. Trump, because of his adherence to the prosperity gospel and white supremacy, is a natural leader for them.
— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) January 5, 2020
Whether Trump is aware of the Cult of the Shining City or not, it seems like many actions have been taken to establish himself as a faulty messiah, including the Israeli embassy. This Iran move is tinged in it, and the members see it as a step toward a final, apocalyptic showdown
— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) January 5, 2020
Something to think about: Cult of the Shining City members look for coincidences and timing to show meaning. They see the impeachment and the Iran escalation as inextricably linked. It's Good vs. Evil, God vs. Satan. Trump, here, is the proxy.
— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) January 5, 2020
It's something to remember that they're not looking for peace. The Cult of the Shining City is constantly awaiting war on a scale we've never seen. World ending destruction. They're pushing for this to not only turn to war but to destroy literally everything. That's the energy.
— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) January 5, 2020
The unfortunate truth is that the Cult of the Shining City is just another side of the same coin as death cults like ISIS. We have people on both sides looking for the exact same war, fighting over who Jesus will fight for. The rest of us, unfortunately, are stuck in the middle.
— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) January 5, 2020
He definitely sounds like someone who really gets it and should be taken very seriously as a serious person.
