Immediately upon my return from my fateful visit to Uganda in 2009, just a few months into the Obama presidency, I made a prediction in our monthly newsletter that I had since forgotten about. One of my attorneys reviewing the thousands of documents were we forced to produce to the other side in the Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) v Scott Lively lawsuit just pointed out to me that it is a spot-on prediction of the Trump candidacy. I thought I’d share it with you now.
The Lively Letter April 1, 2009
“There is no question that the times are growing darker, and the Gospel is being challenged in this country like never before. And it will almost certainly get worse. Barney Frank is predicting the passage of at least three major pro-homosexual laws during Obama’s first term and globally, the “gay” juggernaut is advancing apace. In recent months some have been equating his election to the rise of the Hitler, but I disagree. Obama’s election is actually equivalent in a historical sense to the Weimar government prior to Hitler, which was characterized by disastrous socialist economic policies and a concurrent extreme sexual libertinism. The resulting social chaos invited over-correction to the “right” which opened the door for Hitler. There as here the transformation of the moral culture over decades from conservative to corrupt was orchestrated by the “gay” movement: that is the central message and thesis of The Pink Swastika.
“Right on cue, we’re seeing a populist anti-socialism uprising across the country in the form of Tea Parties and other gatherings. I’m all in favor of these, because at this stage the movement is largely Christian sponsored and manned. However, if the movement grows to the point that secularists outnumber Christian activists and begin to assume leadership roles, its tone and goals will likely shift hard to the right and away from Biblically-grounded moderating principles.”
I’d say were right on target with this today, June 30, 2016.
Importantly, I’m not saying that pro-Israel Trump is Hitler by any stretch of the imagination. I actually like what Trump is currently saying on most everything except the LGBT agenda and if he’s not just pandering or playing us all for fools (a BIG “IF”) he could be a decent president, and probably better than Hillary.
I say probably better than Hillary because we need to remember that in 1932 Hitler was the “lesser of two evils” by comparison to the even more evil Communists (e.g. Stalin killed many millions more people than Hitler did). What was known of Hitler in ’32 by the German people and the world made him seem like the solution to the Communist threat spreading out from Soviet Russia, and in fact the German economy initially roared back under Hitler. In the late 20s and early 30s there was a massive pro-Hitler, pro-fascist movement across the western world, including the United States, because then, as now, western culture was polarized: Nationalism vs. Communism.
People desperate for a champion to defeat Communism tended to gloss over Hitler’s known flaws, but after he was in office for a while Hitler’s Antichrist megalomania and vicious anti-Semitism was unleashed and we all know the rest of that dark story. Many former Hitler enthusiasts wished they’d never been so outspoken in their support of him.
Trump would probably be a better president than Hillary but we really don’t know this master salesman much better than the world knew Hitler in ‘32. He could turn out to be another Ronald Reagan, or another Hitler, but probably fall somewhere in between. My guess is that Trump will be a patriotic pragmatist like Putin and invite the church to supplant the Marxists as the primary influence on the culture as Putin did in Russia. That would likely produce a bigger net benefit for the church than the ostensibly Christian but ultimately disappointing Bush administrations gave us, or what we likely would have seen under Dole, McCain or Romney, RINOs all. We’ll have to wait and see.
In any event what choice do we really have in the matter? What choice did Bible-believing Christian voters really have in Germany in the election of 1932? It is the choice of Nationalism or Communism. Trump or Hillary. Or the choice of not voting at all. And that’s assuming Obama doesn’t orchestrate some massive disaster, such as World War III, sufficient to suspend the election and stay in power. I think he’s fully capable of such a thing, truly.
Many Christians are still fighting about the primary and what we might have done differently. Many have decided not to vote. Many are firmly on the Trump bandwagon. I try to stay in fellowship with all of them, because I personally believe we’re under God’s judgment and there is NO scenario other than fervent national repentance and re-affirmation of the first great commandment, 2 Chronicles 7-14-style, that will stop the unfolding of the Antichrist agenda in this world.
Going forward from here I predict wars and rumors of war, earthquakes in diverse places, famine, pestilence and tribulation — with a possible short-term economic revival in the interim. If so count it all joy, because that means the Lord is coming soon. Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus.
