Beth Moore draws flak and praise after warning Christians against ‘dangerous’ Trumpism
Popular evangelical Bible teacher Beth Moore is drawing both flak and praise after delivering a stern warning to Christians against Trumpism, which she called “astonishingly seductive & dangerous.”
“I do not believe these are days for mincing words. I’m 63 1/2 years old & I have never seen anything in these United States of America I found more astonishingly seductive & dangerous to the saints of God than Trumpism. This Christian nationalism is not of God. Move back from it,” the author and founder of Living Proof Ministries began Sunday in a tweet which has since gone viral with more than 144,000 likes as of Tuesday morning.
“Fellow leaders, we will be held responsible for remaining passive in this day of seduction to save our own skin while the saints we’ve been entrusted to serve are being seduced, manipulated, USED and stirred up into a lather of zeal devoid of the Holy Spirit for political gain,” she continued.
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Moore also warned that in the highly charged and divided political climate, the response among Christians rejecting Trumpism should also not be “Bidenism” but true faith in Jesus.
“And, God help us, we don’t turn from Trumpism to Bidenism,” she said. “We do not worship flesh and blood. We do not place our faith in mortals. We are the church of the living God. We can’t sanctify idolatry by labeling a leader our Cyrus. We need no Cyrus. We have a king. His name is Jesus.”
Moore’s comments attracted praise from many Christians like outspoken activist Bishop Talbert Swan, who serves in the predominantly black Church of God in Christ. He said her comments are a glimmer of hope for white evangelicals who have been heavily criticized for their unwavering support of President Donald Trump.
“There is hope for the white evangelical community,” Swan wrote in a tweet quoting her comments.
Pastor Greg Locke, popular internet personality and leader of the Global Vision Bible Church in Tennessee, rebuked Moore in his response on Twitter for what he called her “trashy rhetoric.”
“Ma’am, you’ve honest to God lost your mind. This trashy rhetoric is why America is in the place that she is. You say ‘move away’. I rebuke you in the name of Christ. You are NO friend to babies, Israel, religious Liberty or the nuclear family. SIT DOWN,” wrote Locke, who is an avid supporter of Trump and also a part of the Christian activist movement that insists he will be declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election despite the Electoral College formalizing President-elect Joe Biden's victory on Monday.
Dana Loesch, nationally syndicated conservative talk radio host, television personality, and bestselling author, suggested Moore was being a hypocrite in her concerns about Christian behavior.
“I wish you spoke out against abortion as loudly as you do over your petty political nonsense,” Loesch replied.
Moore, however, isn’t the only prominent conservative who has spoken out against Trumpism in recent days.
David French, a prominent Tennessee attorney, Iraq veteran and senior editor of The Dispatch, raised concern about the movement in an op-ed on Sunday.
“A significant segment of the Christian public has fallen for conspiracy theories, has mixed nationalism with the Christian gospel, has substituted a bizarre mysticism for reason and evidence, and rages in fear and anger against their political opponents—all in the name of preserving Donald Trump’s power,” he wrote.
“I’m not writing to engage in a serious theological debate with those who’ve committed themselves to dreams and visions of dark conspiracies. I’m writing as a warning and as a call for action. Here’s the warning: While I hope and pray that protests remain peaceful and that seditious statements are confined to social media, we’d be fools to presume that peace will reign.”
