Donald Trump’s relationship with the Lord can be summed up most succinctly by one word: money. At least that is what one is left to believe by examining the speaker line-up at the 2016 Republican National Convention taking place in Cleveland, Ohio.
The pastor on tap for the convention is the infamous Trump stumper and prosperity gospel extraordinaire, Mark Burns of South Carolina.
According to POLITICO, Burns is among Trump’s favorite new religious mouthpieces. One can only assume they have connected over their faithful devotion to the Almighty…Dollar.
Burns it seems would like nothing more than to convince the rest of the African American community of which he is a member, and indeed, faithful Christians of all races across America, that Trump is the righteous choice come election day in November. Burns told POLITICO in typical pastoral nonsensical jargon:
“I’d like to talk to the heart of Mr. Trump, the heart that he has for this country.”
He continued in what surely must rank near the top of the most ironic statements in the campaign thus far:
“It’s so important for the leader of our nation to be a voice for all Americans. Being a leader that’s not going to pander to a particular group.”
By “voice for all Americans” we can assume that Burns meant all Americans who are not Latino or women or gay or Muslim or handicapped or any of the long list of groups that Trump has managed to offend and vilify throughout his reckless romp to the GOP Presidential nomination.
To be fair to Trump, the entire prosperity gospel movement made infamous by such unscrupulous pastors as Creflo Dollar and Mark Burns, is all about money. That Trump would embrace this brand of gospel as his evangelical conduit makes perfect sense. As both make their fortunes by inflating their value through peddling ridiculous claims.
Trump by promising that his name alone makes commodities like steak, water, buildings, and the Presidency more valuable.
Prosperity gospel charlatans by promising that they can turn poor people rich by taking their money.
Both despicable in their own right. Both con artists.
We all know that Trump is Biblically illiterate, given his Two Corinthians gaffe at Liberty University. But he is not alone. For it seems both Trump and his prosperity gospel lackeys were absent the day they taught Matthew 19:23-24 at Sunday school:
“Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’“
Here’s a video of Mark Burns looking at camera 1 and then at camera 2 with eerie precision.
Image via Flickr by BIP America Company under the Creative Common License 2.0.
