Left out: has real hair.

Apocalyptic Death Cult.

Wish they would go ahead depart early.

*phophets, but he probably does have false profits, too.

Matthew 7:15-20

It's an interesting passage and possibly in the M source. Unless of course you were talking about the Mark passage.

He was already known as a sleazy conman and the butt of jokes for decades before he won in 2016. How could they not know?

Maybe the joke went over their heads?

From what I gather, many evangelicals who support Trump see him as a fighter against a corrupt worldly government and a champion of their causes.

Then there's the MAGA concept, which plays into their Great Replacement paranoia (the fear that the white Protestant American majority is being replaced by non-whites and non-believers).

The fact that he is about as far from Christ-like as it's possible to be doesn't seem to deter them all that much.

That’s a big part of it, same reason they let rapist pastors stay in positions of authority. The entire belief system is ripe for abusing

Because you aren't following "the Spirit" (aka listen to your religious leaders dogmatically and tell yourself you are correct because you misinterpret your confirmation bias as spiritual guidance).

Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” And they were amazed at him.

That's because it was a sidestep answer. In that religion, all things belong to God. Caesar minted the money using their own gold. So, all roman money belonged to caesar and you had to pay your taxes using roman money. The question is then "what exactly is Caesar's and whats gods?" The rabbis couldn't follow up with that question without getting crucified themselves.

That "interpretation" of that story came about after king Charles wanted to raise taxes to raise an army to put down an Irish rebellion. Rightly, parliament didn't trust him to do that and not use the army on them straight after. So, they refused and said the king has no right to force them to do so.

Then, all of a sudden, as if by magic, king Charles was like "you'll never guess what I just found in the bible. Yup, it says so right here. God says you all have to give me money. I know, I know, I couldn't believe my luck when I found it too. Good job I'm a king and wouldn't lie about such things."

Also a racist rapist.

...I found them all drunk, and I did not find any of them thirsty. My soul ached for the children of humanity, because they are blind in their hearts and do not see, for they came into the world empty, and they also seek to depart from the world empty.

But meanwhile they are drunk. When they shake off their wine, then they will change their ways.

• An apocryphal statement nearly 2,000 years old that seems to have underestimated people's taste for the opiate of the masses

I mean, yeah. It's happened before. :)

American trail mix

Bro it's 2024. The sky being blue is disputed.

The historical existence of several Jewish reformers of the era baked into a singular allegory is not disputed.

It's not worth arguing with the folk that push this narrative.

If they are as poorly informed to make the argument it's likely in large part because of an affinity for the concept greater than an affinity for knowledge of any details surrounding it.

So providing a counterpoint or more details just falls on willfully deaf ears.

To be fair though, the blame falls more on proselytizers deafening so many ears with their bullshit than on the people with such an acquired distaste for the canonical Jesus that they feel the need to throw out historical Jesus with the bathwater. I definitely get the sentiment, even if the historical Jesus became one of my hyperfocus interests over the past few years.

I don't agree. Christianity exists today because of the institutions that Paul built not because of any given Gospel that they had. Institutions always win out over ideas. The "true" Christianity was the church. Even if something Gnostic had worked it's way into the Bible it isn't like there would be a major difference in how the religion operates.