One of the strangest feelings, for me, is the feeling of commenting on the American Right as an outsider. This is because until VERY recently I myself was part of what was considered America's Far-Right. Now, I find them more than a little bit worrisome. So, why did I change my political views?
I didn't.
My political stance (with the exception of my formerly favorable attitude toward Russia, a view which was shattered in 2022) has not changed all that much in the past decade, give or take the usual adjustments that come from age and experience. I'm still a China-hawk, still pro-gun, still anti-abortion, still in favor of strong border controls (though not to the extent I'm seeing today; the level of no-badge-no-warrant-no-lawyers I.C.E. raids we're witnessing now are a reminder of why I'm pro-gun). I didn't move to the left. What happened is the American Right slid so much farther to the right that I, who was formerly considered Far-Right, am now considered a "RINO" or a "closet liberal" by comparison to the GOP rank and file, which is a state of affairs I never thought I'd live to see. And one of the main reasons I never thought I'd live to see that is because with only a handful of exceptions, American politics has always seemed, at least to me, to be divided between the "Christian Right" and the "Godless Left."
...Which makes it ironic that some of the strongest condemnation of the current US Administration's policies (and against the attitude of that Administration's supporters) is found within the pages of the Bible, and that's what I'm going to send a few articles examining. Here, I'll start with the Book of Obadiah (a short, one-chapter book sandwiched between the slightly more well-known prophets Amos and Jonah).
The Book of Obadiah is one of the few Books of the Prophets that focuses entirely on judgement against a single nation, namely Edom. This is poignant because Edom was founded by Esau, the twin brother of Israel's founder, Jacob. Ergo, one would have expected these two nations to exist fraternally. Ancient Israel would have been within reason to expect Edom to come to her aid when she was under attack, since they were in a very real sense "brother nations." Sadly, it was almost never this way. Through the centuries when these two nations existed, Edom almost always took every opportunity to wound Israel when it was down, and to profit from its losses. This trend starts in Chapter 20 of Numbers and it continues through the entire canonical Old Testament and even into the Apocryphal Books of Maccabees.
Well, in Obadiah, God calls Edom onto the carpet and makes it plain that He intends to crush them for refusing to come to the aid of Israel when Israel (or rather, its offshoot: Judah) was invaded by Babylon, a larger superpower neighbor to the northeast.
...refusing to come to the aid of an allied nation when they were invaded by a larger superpower neighbor to the northeast...
Sound familiar?
And the more one looks through this brief, one-chapter book, the more one gets the feeling that the prophet who wrote it could just as easily be talking to MAGA as to Edom. Observe.
Your proud heart has deceived you, you that live in the clefts of the rock...
You say in your heart "Who will bring me to the ground?"
-Verse 3
Right from the downbeat, we get that Obadiah is speaking to a nation steeped in nationalism and pride, whose arrogant belief that they could insulate themselves from everyone else's problems and say "that doesn't concern me" led to their undoing. It's not hard to apply this to the MAGA movement's "America First" mindset of "I don't care what happens to some other country because that doesn't affect me." And of course, if I set more stock by symbology, I could make a case that there are further references to America in verse 4.
'Though you soar aloft like the eagle, though your nest is set among the stars, from there I will bring you down,' says the Lord.
The nation being rebuked here is compared to an eagle, which is America's symbol. It is also referred to as having its nest among the stars, which a theological symbologist might interpret as a reference to America's flag (which has more stars than any other national flag that I'm aware of) or its status as a space power.
I'll be honest, I find this more coincidental than significant (nearly every Great Power nation mentioned in the Bible, from Egypt to Assyria to Babylon, is referred to as an eagle at some point or another and stars are just as frequently used as a symbol of loftiness or wealth), but since many of America's Christian Right do indeed attach great importance to Biblical symbolism (even at the expense of Biblical morality), I've included it here. What's a great deal more relevant and applicable to present-day America is verse 10 onward. LEt's take a look at verses 10 and 11.
10) For the slaughter and violence done to your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you... 11) On the day that you stood aside, on the day that strangers carried off his wealth, and foreigners entered his gates...
Here again, we have God rebuking a nation that stood aside and allowed a neighbor to be invaded, massacred and have its wealth plundered by foreigners. And of course, it gets better in verses 12 and 13.
...you should not have rejoiced over the people of Judah on the day of their ruin; you should not have boasted on the day of their distress... you should not have joined in gloating over Judah's disaster.
Continuing the previous trend here, God berates Edom for the way they celebrated when Judah was invaded and demolished by a foreign horde, just the way the MAGA wing of the GOP has celebrated Putin's genocidal barbarism in Ukraine. Oh, and the parallels don't stop here. Look at the final line of verse 13.
You should not have looted his goods on the day of his calamity.
One of the most shameful acts of Edom was the way they took advantage of Judah's distress in the wake of the Babylonian invasion, to enrich themselves. They promised aid in return for massive swaths of Judah's wealth, and then delivered nothing.
Read that again. they promised aid and security, in return for a swath of Judah's wealth, then gave nothing.
It's hard to read this and not immediately be reminded of Donald Trump's absolutely extortionate "give us your mineral wealth or we'll throw you to the wolves" deal which ended up giving Ukraine nothing but empty promises in return for a virtual surrender of their mineral rights. This deal, which the US Administration handed to Ukraine at Ukraine's most vulnerable hour as a "take it or we walk" protection racket (a fine display indeed from the self-named 'Arsenal of Democracy') was akin to a lifeguard telling a drowning man "I might be persuaded ta throw ya the life prezoyvah, but eh... what's in it for me, eh?" And in this verse of Obadiah, we see God Himself passing a death sentence on an entire kingdom for the same behavior.
This... isn't the first time I've made this case. I find it shocking that the ones who claim to be Christian (the American Right) are displaying the same attitude that the God of Jacob repeatedly denounced and condemned (as is evident here in this examination of Obadiah). The Americans who claim to be on the side of "God and Country" are supporting Russia, which is opposed to both.
I've spent most of my adult life as a member of the Christian Right. But the point has come when it's really time for MAGA supporters to start asking themselves "which one are you: a Christian, or on the right?"
You cannot serve both God and MAGA.