Column: Is God really on Donald Trump’s side?

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Not long ago, Donald Trump was sworn in for a second term as Republican president of the USA, four years after the end of his first term. His election had come as a surprise, given that he was a convicted criminal who had been impeached twice, says writer Laurence Coupe.

Present on the podium was the evangelical Christian preacher Franklin Graham Jr, who informed those present that they should ‘look at what God has done’ and rejoice.

This was a sentiment echoed by Trump himself. Referring to the assassination attempt that had been made at a rally in Pennsylvania a few months earlier, he dramatically proclaimed: ‘I was saved by God to make America great again’.

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He failed to refer to what had also happened at that rally. A volunteer firefighter, Corey Comperatore, had been killed shielding his wife and daughter from gunfire, and two other men had been left in a critical condition.

Guest columnist Laurence Coupe is a writer.Guest columnist Laurence Coupe is a writer.
Guest columnist Laurence Coupe is a writer.

Here we are faced with a quandary. If God had saved Trump’s life, why had he not saved that of the firefighter?

Does God have a preference for politicians with a criminal record over ordinary citizens trying to protect their families?

The day after his inauguration, Trump issued a pardon for over 1,500 rioters whom he had inspired to attack the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, despite the fact that more than 140 police officers had been injured, and five had died in the days following. All justified, we are to believe?

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Another striking pronouncement of Trump’s was his vow to send astronauts to Mars: ‘We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars.’

"Perhaps we need to challenge the way the leader of a country can appropriate the concept of an interventionist God to promote his own agenda", writes Laurence Coupe."Perhaps we need to challenge the way the leader of a country can appropriate the concept of an interventionist God to promote his own agenda", writes Laurence Coupe.
"Perhaps we need to challenge the way the leader of a country can appropriate the concept of an interventionist God to promote his own agenda", writes Laurence Coupe.

‘Manifest destiny’ is an American doctrine going back to the mid-19th century, justifying the expansion west by white settlers as a God-given right.

It was used to justify the violent appropriation of the land hitherto belonging to the Native Americans.

It is striking that Trump should use that phrase even when referring to space travel, surely knowing its resonance all too well.

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All this set me thinking about Bob Dylan’s famous song, ‘With God on Our Side’ (1963), in which he catalogues all the wars that the USA has fought so far, including that against the country’s indigenous people: ‘The cavalries charged, /The Indians died./Oh the country was young/With God on its side.’

As for further wars, he ironically remarks: ‘You don’t count the dead/When God’s on your side.’

Perhaps we need to challenge the way the leader of a country can appropriate the concept of an interventionist God to promote his own agenda.

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