humor

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Political (and religious) life inside the 'God Made Trump' video matrix

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Political (and religious) life inside the 'God Made Trump' video matrix

With its digital homage to the late Paul Harvey's "So God Made a Farmer" soliloquy, the "God Made Trump" video drew roars of support at key Iowa rallies for Donald Trump.

"And on June 14, 1946, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, 'I need a caretaker,' so God gave us Trump," said the majestic voice. The former president was God's choice to "fix this country," "fight the Marxists" and, yes, "Make America Great Again."

The script added that Trump, a mainline Presbyterian with a tabloid-worthy personal life, would "follow the path and remain strong in faith and know the belief of God and country." He would "finish a hard week's work by attending church on Sunday. … So, God made Trump."

On a first take, this "eerily messianic" video seemed like satire, noted Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons, author of "Just Faith: Reclaiming Progressive Christianity." After all, Trump never joined a Washington, D.C., church and was rarely seen attending worship.

"What's missing from the video is some key theological context: God made everyone," he wrote, at MSNBC.com. "God made every political opponent, journalist, American who died in war, and former presidential aide whom Trump has disparaged. God made the Christian supporters of Trump he mocked behind their backs."

This furor was political catnip for the Dilley Meme Team, the creators of this social-media grenade, especially the blitz of retweets by furious Trump critics.

Self-help author Brenden Dilley stressed that "God Made Trump" was rally material for a logical reason: "Because President Trump absolutely loves the meme. He thinks it's powerful, he thinks it's a great message. … That was repeated to me three different times. He loves the meme. He thinks it's cool."

Responding to Fox News comments during a "Dilley Show" podcast, he added: "It's not satire. … It's just art. ... This is how a MAGA-patriot, voters, creators, artistic people who love President Trump, this is how they feel about him, and this is what they created for him. How is this complicated?"

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Norman Lear: It's impossible to talk about American life without including faith

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Norman Lear: It's impossible to talk about American life without including faith

Early in the premier of Norman Lear's sit-com "Sunday Dinner," the beautiful environmentalist T.T. Fagori raised her eyes to heaven and, with a sigh, entered a spiritual minefield.

"Chief?", she asked God. "You got a minute?"

In addition to praying out loud in prime time, this character offered a theological reverie at dinner while meeting the family of her fiancé, a 56-year-old widower nearly three decades her elder. The problem: His granddaughter heard Fagori mention God during a science lecture.

"You see, I talk about extending 'love thy neighbor' to include animals, plants, stuff like that. I say that the natural world is the largest sacred community to which we all belong," Fagori explained. "I talk about cosmic piety because the same atoms that form the galaxies are in all of us and it's the universe that carries the deep mysteries of our existence within itself.

"You see how all that sounds pretty spiritual. … So, when the kids hear me say these things, some of them think they hear the word 'God,' but they don't. I don't actually mention it. Interesting, huh?"

This 1991 comedy flopped, but it was an important statement from Lear, whose December 5 death at 101 years of age closed his career as lightning rod in popular culture and politics.

For decades, Lear described himself as a cultural Jew who didn't practice any traditional form of faith. He also founded People for the American Way, an old-school liberal advocacy group on church-state issues. But this television icon became more and more intrigued with religious faith, both as a force in American life and as a topic ignored by Hollywood.

During "Sunday Dinner" press events, Lear argued that America was caught in "a deep spiritual malaise, and nobody is addressing it. The Religious Right did for a period and still continues to. But mainline churches don't do that good a job of it. And the media don't deal with it at all."

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Reality keeps raising the April Fools' bar for all those online Catholic satirists

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Day after day, Kevin Knight scans news and commentary pages looking for items that will interest Catholics and others who visit his New Advent website.

With its plain white background, stark graphics and columns of headlines, the site looks something like the powerful, secular Drudge Report. But New Advent focuses on church life and doctrine, not celebrity scandals and political horse races.

Knight does appreciate the occasional zinger. Still, he has learned to be extra careful when April 1 approaches. After all, the Chair of St. Peter is occupied by a pope whose off-the-cuff remarks often puzzle the faithful. Oh, and Donald Trump is president of the United States.

"Yes, it has gotten harder to tell satire and hoaxes from the real thing," noted Knight. "It's getting more necessary to be explicit when linking to some stories -- especially when they deal with Pope Francis. … In the past two years, I've deliberately avoided linking to April Fools' stories for this very reason."

All savvy news consumers need to do to see what Knight is taking about is open an online search program and enter various religious terms and then the phrase "not the Onion," referring to The Onion, a secular satire site.

Take this headline, for example: "Muslim Schoolgirl Sent Home Because Her Skirt Was Too Long." That story is real.

Or how about this? "Pope Francis to make Martin Luther a Saint on October 31." That jest ran on April 1 on the "Liturgy: Service and Gratitude" site.

Consider this headline: "Jesuits to Admit Women to the Society."