Trump's attack on Bishop Budde includes an attack on religious liberty and church-state separation.

[lees1975]

https://signalpress.blogspot.com/2025/01/criticism-of-bishop-budde-by.html

There's no question that Trump's demand for an apology from Bishop Budde, because she dared speak truth to him based on a core principle from the Christian gospel, which she supported with a citation of a portion of that gospel, is un-American. There's no surprise in his demand for an apology, since he has no idea what the Constitution says, and even if he did, his ego would not allow him to submit to obedience of it. Let's get this straight. We have a President who is a lawbreaker and a felon, and so we should not be surprised when his actions show ignorance of the law, or, more likely, contempt for it.

One of the differences of opinion between right wing extremism and the Christianity represented by Bishop Budde is that Trump's attack on the bishop was also an attack on the first amendment, particularly on the principle of separation of church and state, the "wall" built by the establishment clause. White Evangelicals have, since the beginning of their existence in the late 19th century, promoted some form of Christian nationalism. This is caused by their faulty, literalist interpretations of the Bible which attempt to impose elements of the Old Testament Jewish theocracy into Christian practice. There's a long history there that is worth knowing, especially by those who wish to see this movement defeated in elections.

There's a whole history of a movement labelled "Anglo-Israelism," that is an underlying feature of Evangelicalism, the idea that the white Europeans who emigrated to America were chosen by God to be given a chance to build a Christian nation using the resources of the virgin North American continent. The establishment clause and the first amendment are clear obstacles to this perspective, and clear evidence that the founders were not intending to establish America as a "Christian nation".

Trump, to secure his Evangelical base, has made the erosion of this separation part of his agenda, evident in his attack on Bishop Budde. This is where the Bishop's sermon has drawn the battle line. The establishment clause and the principles of religious liberty were the result of the influence of Christians in the United States who had experienced persecution under state church rule, and who came here to escape from it. Bishop Budde, and the millions of American Christians who are in churches and denominations not influenced by aberrant fundamentalism or mystic Pentecostalism, are the strongest supporters of church-state separation and religious liberty. They are an essential part of any agenda formed, or reformed, to help combat Trump and his Project 2025 agenda.

[Igel]

1. Author gets Anglo-Israelism wrong.

Sounds convincing, and maybe that's a nifty definition made up to buttress a specific point.

Wiki nails it.

It's a different kind of movement that seeks to assert that there's a ceremonial law in the OT as well as a "moral" or "spiritual" law that encompasses a lot more than just touchy-feely things. Lots of Xian sabbatarian, Hebrew Roots, Torah-observant groups out there.

[lees1975]

2. Anglo-Israelism is a broad subject.

There is the ceremonial variety, which blends the old and new covenants and places the emphasis of Christian practice on following the Torah, and the ceremonial law. The frontier revivalist preachers made the same mistake, not considering that the words of Christ are the interpretive filter for the rest of the Bible, and the old testament, old covenant, was declared fulfilled by Jesus in Matthew 5:17.

The Mormons have a similar brand of theology, more complicated in its explanation but the same idea of being "chosen" people by God above others.