One of the most appalling moments in a campaign season full of them came two weeks ago. Newsweek reporter Kurt Eichenwald, suffered a seizure after a pro-Trump troll sent him a GIF with flashing strobe lights on Twitter. Eichenwald didn’t take this lying down, and vowed to bring the deplorable who did this to him to justice. He persuaded a Texas district court judge to order Twitter to identify the person who sent him that strobe. As if it had a choice, Twitter intends to comply. Eichenwald has battled epilepsy for the better part of three decades, and sees this as a chance to get justice for those who have been hit with similar attacks in the past.
Eichenwald has been one of Trump’s biggest gadflies in the press. But you would have thought that just this once, Trump supporters would have put their partisanship aside and wished Eichenwald a speedy recovery. No such luck. Apparently he’s been bombarded with callous tweets from supposed Christians, such as this.
I dont know @kurteichenwald , but telling by his posts, this dude is struggling with demons or ignorance, both are dangerous #prayforKurt https://t.co/anOaNnoZtl
— S Wilson (@bwilsgirl) December 20, 2016
That was actually one of the milder messages. A number of supposedly devout Christians have gone as far as to tell Eichenwald that they had hoped his seizure would have killed him. As it was, Eichenwald spent most of Friday in bed, and can’t drive for three months.
By Wednesday, Eichenwald had had enough.
A request: Would self-identified Christians please stop telling me they wish I had died from my seizure last week?
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) December 21, 2016
Unfortunately, they didn’t get the hint. Instead, there were more tweets like this.
Oh dear Lord I Pray #Eichenwald sees this #Christmas wish & has his final seizure #merrychristmas 2 everyone https://t.co/tWVzXukpsf
— ?TRUMP?CHICK? (@JustMy_NameHere) December 24, 2016
By Christmas Eve–around the time that much of the Eastern and Central time zones were headed to church–Eichenwald could only shake his head.
Jesus healed those w/ epilepsy in Bible. Some Trump Christians make fun of em. Tonight theyll be in church praising Jesus. Think about that
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) December 24, 2016
Specifically, in Luke 9:37-44.
37 On the next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met Him. 38 And a man from the crowd shouted for help, “Teacher, I beg You to look at my son, because he is my only child; 39 and a spirit seizes him, and suddenly he cries out, and it throws him into a convulsion so that he foams at the mouth; and only with [great] difficulty does it leave him, mauling and bruising him as it leaves. 40 I begged Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.” 41 Jesus answered, “You unbelieving and perverted generation! How long shall I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here [to Me].” 42 Even while the boy was coming, the demon slammed him down and threw him into a [violent] convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the boy and gave him back to his father. 43 They were all amazed [practically overwhelmed] at the [evidence of the] greatness of God and His majesty and His wondrous work.
So they’re making light of someone who suffered from a seizure and from epilepsy, forgetting that this was one of Jesus’ miracles. Lovely.
You might be wondering–how in the world could self-identified Christians be so callous toward someone who suffered a debilitating seizure? Well, as a veteran religious right watcher who is also a devout charismatic/pentecostal Christian, I have a theory. There’s been a lot of talk that Trump was “God’s candidate” whose victory had actually been prophesied, and that anyone who voted against him was standing against the will of God. Apparently these fundies–or more accurately, Christianists–think that by skewering Trump during the campaign, Eichenwald was standing against God himself, and thus deserves to be struck down.
Well,unlike these Christianists, I’m praying for a full and quick recovery for Eichenwald–and that the deplorable who did this to him is brought to justice.
(featured image: screenshot courtesy MSNBC via Mediaite)
