No Two Masters: Religion and Trump

By: Joseph Dunnigan

In March, I saw a red car going very fast and very erratic on Interstate 87. 

As the car passed by me, I noticed it had pasted to the driver’s side window the image of President Donald Trump. 

The image was in such a way that it looked as if he, the President, was the driver of that car. On the car’s red hood was also a Trump banner. On the back, well, I was too distracted by those decals to remember much of the back. 

Now, driving along Interstate 87 can be boring at times. So much so you get to thinking. When I saw that Trump emblazoned automobile, I was heading to a trail called Stairway to Heaven. Perhaps that was what prompted my thoughts about the Bible. 

I recalled a verse in Genesis that talked about a Stairway to Heaven. I believe it was Jacob who had dreamt that dream. 

My thoughts did not end there. 

I then began to remember another story. This time from Exodus. Moses had left his people for a while. And from what I remember, when Moses returned, he saw his people worshipping an idol. This angered God but it wouldn’t be for the last time. For you see, my next thought ran forward in that book of books to the New Testament. 

This time a new prophet arose in the form of a carpenter’s son out of Bethlehem. And this prophet of prophets forged a new path by building upon and making clearer the old one. For you see, I vaguely remembered a line about not being able to serve two masters and another one about upholding the first of the ten commandments as the greatest of all. 

All this bible thinking led me to another topic. This time it was about voting demographics. While I won’t mislead you into believing I somehow knew this already or looked this up while driving to my hike, I did, upon my return home, sit in front of my laptop for an hour or two and lord and behold I found this:

According to a 2024 Pew Research Center Poll Article, “Among White evangelicals, support for Trump is higher among those who attend church regularly.” That same article also stated, “Support for Trump is also marginally higher among White Catholics who attend Mass at least monthly than among White Catholics who attend Mass less often.”

Then there were several news articles that had headlines such as this one by the BBC, ‘Anointed by God’: The Christians who see Trump as their savior”’ or this one by the NY Post, “Kamala Harris didn’t have a prayer with Christians — but won nonbelievers: survey.”

A Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) 2024 Post-Election Survey, found that, “White evangelical Protestants continue to be the religious group with the strongest backing of Donald Trump, with 85% reporting that they voted for the President-elect. Majorities of both white Catholics (59%) and white mainline/non-evangelical Protestants (57%) also report voting for Trump.” But it also stated that not all Christians or religions had a majority support for Trump. In fact, that same survey stated, “Strong majorities of Black Protestant voters (83%), unaffiliated voters (72%), those from other non-Christian religions (67%), and Jewish voters (62%) report voting for Harris.”

As I read those sources, my thoughts returned to that red car with all those Trump decals. And I thought about a post shared by President Trump on Truth Social, where Trump was depicted in the form of a golden statue. That post of his was reported by several news outlets such as Sky News and the NY Post. 

Then, I thought about a 2020 Home and Garden article about Trump’s gold laden apartment and another one from January of this year which was featured in Veranda and discussed the gold that’s all over Trump’s Mar-a-Lago. 

I thought about those voters who went to church on Sundays and Masses on high holy days. I thought about all this and then I pondered: What if Moses came down from the mountain now? What if God saw those images on that car? What would Jesus do?

After having these thoughts, as if that was enough, today I saw that The Hill and other outlets have recently reported that while the markets crash, Trump promoted a $5 million visa gold card. A gold card that included the image of his face on it. 

 I never had a chance to see the real driver of the red car. For all, I know he, she, could have been one of those few nonbelievers who voted for Trump. Nevertheless, there are many true believers who share in that type of display, that type of praise, that type of dare I say…idolatry. And while some pray for Jesus to take the wheel, it seemed for that driver prays for earthlier figure do that.

I won’t mislead you with all this religious allusion. I don’t go to church. I don’t claim to be religious in any sort of way. Nonetheless, I can’t help but wonder which master is being served by all this?