And then, at his command, out strode the men's gold-winning USA hockey team. It was a dramatic moment brought to the audience by a man expert in the ways of Hollywood through The Apprentice, which followed a stint as an awful businessman in New York City.
He spoke of the "spirit of 1776," and introduced 100-year-old Buddy Taggart, who fought in the Battle of Manila and earned a Purple heart and a bronze star. "From 1776 to today," declared Captain Bone Spurs, "every generation of Americans has step (sic) forward to defend life, libety and the pursuit of happiness."
The flag-waving segued effortless into mythmaking, such as when he claimed "we just received from our new friend and partner, Venezuela, more than 80 million barrels of oil," an estimate off by more than 50 million. He later stated
Moving forward, factories, jobs, investment and trillions and trillions of dollars will continue pouring into the United States of America because we finally have a president who puts America first. I put America first. I love Aaerica. For decades before I came along, we had the exact opposite.
Trump consistently exaggerates the amoung of investment made in this presidenial term, but that's not where the critical myth lies. "I love America," states the man who called the USA "evil" and its people "bloated, fat, and disgusting." "I put America first" contends the man who in December released from prison former Honduran President Juan Carlos Hernandez, who had been sentenced to 45 years in prison for conspiring to distribute more than 400 tons of cocaine and related firearms offenses.
Loving America and putting America first is a myth invented by the man who in his first term alone on at least six occasions- most famously, with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki- sided with foreign governments over the USA. In Tuesday's State of the Union address itself, Trump condemned his immediate predecessor four times, including an accusation that Biden "gave us the worst inflation in the history of our country" (which did not occur then) and that he "created (our) housing problem," which was ludicrous. Directly criticizing a former President while you yourself are President is virtually unprecedented.
Nonetheless, the most intriguing and very significant myth has gone unexplored, for fear of any politician, news organization, or pundit being accused of "political incorrectness" or worse. After boasting of an initiative of the First Lady, Donald said
I’m very proud to say that during my time in office, both the first four years and in particular this last year, there has been a tremendous renewal in religion, faith, Christianity and belief in God. This is especially true among young people, and a big part of that had to do with my great friend Charlie Kirk. Great guy. Great guy.
So last year, Charlie was violently murdered by an assassin. And martyred, really, martyred for his beliefs. His wonderful wife, Erika is with us tonight. Erika. Please stand.
Thank you. Erika, thank you a lot. In Charlie’s memory, we must all come together to reaffirm that America is one nation under God. And we must totally reject political violence of any kind. We love religion, and we love bringing it back.
The only accurate portion is that Charlie Kirk was murdered, and for his beliefs, though even that is not confirmed. There is a critical myth circulating in respectable conservative circles that "there has been a tremendous renewal in religion, faith, Christianity and belief in God."
It is reflected in the Gallup headline from last June "More Americans See Religion Increasing Its Influence in U.S." The article's author wrote "thirty-four percent of U.S. adults believe religion is increasing its influence in American life, similar to the 35% measured in December but up from 20% a year ago."
Nevertheless, he says the increase "likely does not reflect a change in Americans' personal religious commitment, as 47% of U.S. adults say religion is 'very important' in their lives, unchanged from a year ago." Americans, as far as we can tell, are not becoming more religious- they believe others are. (It's a comforting thought.)
The reason for this is quite simple. Americans keep hearing, from Trump and others. that religious faith is booming in this country. Donald is an accomplished actor, thus an extraodrinarily convincing liar, especially because practice makes perfect. Most of his lies are fact-checked at one point or another. However, bold would be the man or woman who would dare to check for veracity the claim that religion is gaining influence in society. "Anti'Christian" would be the least of the attacks leveled.
Gallup found also
The most notable increase occurred after the 9/11 terror attacks, when 71% in December 2001 saw religion as increasing its influence, up from 39% in February of that year. The 71% reading is the highest in Gallup’s trend, which dates back to 1957.
A second surge occurred amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In April 2020, 38% of U.S. adults believed religion was becoming more influential, up from a pre-pandemic reading of 19% in December 2019. The April 2020 figure was the highest Gallup had measured since 2006.
In 2016, a Duke University academic explained
After the Sept. 11 terror attacks, many expected American
houses of worship to be jammed with parishioners seeking refuge, community and
a place to grieve.
And that spike in church attendance did in fact occur.
Briefly.
But the attacks did not have a lasting effect on American religiosity, says Mark Chaves, a Duke professor of sociology, religious studies, and divinity. Chaves directs the National Congregations Study, which examines American religious places of worship over time. He says the jolt to church attendance following the attacks lasted just a few weeks.
“People thought this type of crisis of national significance would lead people to be more religious, and it did,” he says. “But it was very short-lived. There was a blip in church attendance and then it went back to normal.”
Religious behavior isn’t usually affected in the long term by single events, Chaves says. Rather, religious practice in a society tends to change slowly over a long period of time, often owing to demographic changes. For example, changes to family structure -- like people marrying later, or not at all, or choosing not to have children -- have led to changes in church attendance and other sorts of religious involvement, Chaves says.
And though church attendance spiked briefly after 9/11, America’s overall participation in religious activities was actually in decline at that time -- a trend that was slow enough not to be identified until recently. The best data point to a slow, steady drop in religious involvement dating back to at least the 1970s, he says.
There was a flurry of increase, which then evaporated, in church attendance after the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01, whereupon religiosity continued its long-term decline in the USA. And the effect of Charlie Kirk's murder upon the American psyche, despite the GOP's effort to create the myth that Kirk was an overarching figure in society whose death mobilized right-thinking people everywhere, was perhaps 1-2% as great as "9/11." Donald is eager to perpetuate the myth- hence, the invitation to his widow and the claim that her "great guy" was "martyred."
There is also the the disingenuous notion that America is "one nation under God." The idea emanates from the Pledge of Allegiance, which was written in 1892 without a reference ro religion. "Under God" was added by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1952 in response to "the second Red Scare, a period when U.S. politicians were keen to assert the moral superiority of U.S. capitalism over Soviet communism, which many conservatives regarded as "godless."
Typically, individuals who believe in God recognize God as all-powerful and "in control." The "under God," was added to the Pledge to emphasize our superiority to communist nations, To Donald Trump, a little less obviously to other individuals wishing to exploit religion for political ends,"under God" now asserts superiority over every other nation.
It's absurd to argue that the USA, under the leadership of Donald Trump, is guided by the hand of God. That may be good and may be bad, and is probably both. It would an improvement generally over Donald John Trump- but lends easily to the claim that America is a "Christian nation," all others be damned..
However,crushing truths perish from being acknowledged, especially those persisting to make us feel good. The untruth that our country is a land of Christian faith led by a benevolent patriot is only one. But it's bad enough.
