america's anti-Christ right: as revealed through COVID-19

“Hear the word of the LORD, you Israelites, 
      because the LORD has a charge to bring against you who live in the
​                  land…”  (Hosea 4.1, NIV).

   introduction

In this installment of “Mad State of our Rebellion,” I will make two points. Or, rather, I will bring two charges against America’s newest political extremist right-wing ideology championed[1] by tRUMP, America’s Caligula. Identifying the right’s crimes is not difficult, of course. They are everywhere. Finding them is not even sport. The difficulty comes in limiting oneself to two of the dozens and dozens of crimes committed by this vile ideological dead end—an ideological dead end that has turned into a death cult during the pandemic of 2020. So, limiting oneself to just two charges against America’s right requires extraordinary self-control. But I am up for the challenge.
 
So, without further ado, I bring the following charges against America’s political right of 2020:
 
1.     America’s political right, dominated by those who self-identify as “Christian,” largely evangelical, have, through their response to the Coronavirus, shown themselves to be decidedly anti-Christ. Any attempt to associate themselves, their principles, and their actions with Jesus of Nazareth is tantamount to taking the name of God in vain. It is blasphemy of the most damnable kind.
 
2.    Because America’s political right is anti-Christ and thus commits sins indicative of that polluted ideology, the Coronavirus—a naturally occurring phenomenon that began to rage in 2019 and is divorced from the will or actions of God—continues to rage and kill in mid-2020 America. It will continue to rage in America until such time as the nation’s right repents of its sins or a vaccine is finally available (and even then, the virus may continue to rage on the right as the anti-vaccine madness rages on the same flank).
 
Stick with me. Be patient. Though you may wonder and worry about me, I’ll show myself to be Biblical, rational, and reasonable.
 
 

   prolegomenon

First, a bit of self-defense.
 
It is no secret that I have been highly critical of America’s Caligula and that portion of the electorate, dominated by evangelicals, that voted him into office. I have wished at times that I was Elijah and could call down fire from heaven against the priests and worshipers of Ba’al. Some have complained that my criticism is unchristian. “Thou shalt not judge…” “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone….” Yada, yada, yada. (Where was such highfalutin “righteousness” when a man by the name of Obama held the U.S. presidency?)
 
We have commented on such well-known scripture passages elsewhere and so will not take up space here to answer such self-serving complaints. Suffice it to say that we must all judge. We cannot live without evaluating the environment, the things, the individuals, the institutions, the society that surround us. We determine who and what will influence us and who and what will not; who we will follow and who we will not.  This requires “judgment.” It is how we survive. Those who voted for Caligula passed a judgement about the man. They judged him worthy of the high office to which they elected him. At the same time, they judged his opponent as unworthy.
 
Such “judgement” was and is their right. We would not remove it. We would, however, argue about the principles upon which such judgment is passed. But, enough of that. Now is not the time to philosophize or theologize about “judgment.”
 
There are some who take exception to my leveling “charges”—playing the role of “prosecutor”—and uttering execrations against wickedness on the right. These few have rightly pointed out how consistently I have maintained that Jesus, and by association, Heavenly Father, is a paraclete, “defender,” or “defense attorney” while Satan is an “accuser,” a “prosecutor.” As far as any analogy can capture something of the grandeur of Deity—which is not far—I stand by that analogy.
 
It is clear from scripture that Jesus defends those who are oppressed and without defenders. Sinners, oppressed by their sin—all those who labor and are heavy laden—can appropriately expect him to come to their defense, often defending them as much from themselves as from anyone else. On the other hand, sinners, ignorant of and unburdened by their sin—and, in the tRUMPIAN age, even proud and unrepentant of their transgressions—cannot justifiably expect such advocacy. Rather, they can expect instruction in the form of chastisement, judgement in the form of prosecution, and consequences in the form execration.
 
The same spirit by which Jesus promises defense in the New Testament leveled charges and prosecuted sin over and over again in the Hebrew Bible in the person of Yahweh. Through a wide variety of messengers, Yahweh frequently leveled charges against and “prosecuted” falsely secure Israelites guilty of infidelity toward God and the principles by which He asked them to live.
 
“Hear the word of the LORD, you Israelites, 
    because the LORD has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: 
“There is no faithfulness, no love, 
    no acknowledgment of God in the land. 
There is only cursing, a lying and murder, 
    stealing and adultery; 
they break all bounds, 
    and bloodshed follows bloodshed.”[2]
 
“Hear, you mountains, the LORD ’s accusation; 
    listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth. 
For the LORD has a case against his people; 
    he is lodging a charge against Israel.”[3]
 
“Therefore I bring charges against you again, 
    declares the LORD. 
        And I will bring charges against your children’s children.”[4]
 
“The Lord takes his place in court; 
    he rises to judge the people. 
The LORD enters into judgment 
    against the elders and leaders of his people: 
It is you who have ruined my vineyard; 
    the plunder from the poor is in your houses….”[5]
 
Our resort to prosecution and execration of sin, then, is a well-established, time-honored, and justified response to individual and societal transgression of divine norms. Amen.
 
I do, then, charge America’s right with being anti-Christ. Though I might point to any one of many evidences, for the purposes of this post I choose to limit myself to just one: the right’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. The right’s response to this crisis is classic anti-Christ. The evidence is irrefutable.
 
To elucidate this ungodly and death-dealing ideology, we will need to do a little theology to clarify two items. First, we will need to establish what is meant by “anti-Christ.” Second, we will be under the necessity of saying something about Christ, his character and excellencies, so as to know what it is that America’s right-wing anti-Christs appose.
 
 

   anti-christ

We have discussed this appellation elsewhere, so we will cut right to the chase here by making two points.
 
First, many “Christians” speak of THE anti-Christ. This sole anti-Christ, they assert, is an extraordinary phenomenon of the “last days” or “end times.” Even a casual reader of the Book of Mormon knows this assertion is flawed and false. There is not just one, single, solitary anti-Christ, who haunts the end times. Anti-Christs are not limited to the latter-days. There have been, are, and will be many. They litter the planet’s spiritual landscape, polluting every age. Anti-Christs are legion.
 
I have identified the current occupant of the White Outhouse as anti-Christ, not because he is THE anti-Christ of the “end times,” but because he is AN anti-Christ—one of a class of polluted and vile individuals who oppose all that is holy and would, had he the chance, have the God of heaven crucified anew—he would not do it himself only because he is a cowardly bully who encourages and inspires others to do his dirty work. I will go to my grave testifying that he is anti-Christ. I have many uncertainties. This is not one of them.
 
Disciples of America’s present mad Caligula, largely made up of “Christians,” partake of the same spirit of anti-Christ as their dear leader. These “Christians” simply cannot claim exemption from my characterization of them as anti-Christ based upon a false uniqueness, or singularity of anti-Christ. Therefore, if they wish exemption from the appellation, it must be on the bases of their beliefs and practices. They must evidence that their beliefs and practices are consistent with, rather than contrary to those taught and lived by Christ Jesus.
 
This brings us to our second point: An anti-Christ is not simply one who denies the existence of Christ. An anti-Christ is one who denies his essential essence and character and lives a life in direct and continual opposition and challenge to the divine essence and character.
 
With this in mind, we will examine the beliefs and actions of the right through the lens of the coronavirus pandemic. We will compare these beliefs and actions with those of Jesus. So, we will need to do a little theology and examine the essence of the man from Galilee to see if the American right is “pro” or “anti” Christ.
 
 

   god’s essential at-one-ment or connectedness

This word, “atonement,” in my view, comes as close to capturing the essence of God, his character, and his labors as any finite word in any human language—and even then, it is, no doubt, pitifully inadequate.[i] I will go further and run the risk of scandalizing the reader by saying that “atonement” does better at capturing the essence of God than even “love.” The apostle John certainly affirmed, “God is love.”[6] Then again, no less an authority than Moses suggested this:
 
“Hear, O Israel, Yahweh, our God: ‘Yahweh is one.’”[7]
 
In their struggle to affirm monotheism over polytheism, Jews most often read this portion of their beloved Shema principally as polemic against false gods and as affirmation that Yahweh is the only God. Christians have followed suite. But I do not so read this passage. Rather, I hear in this passage a witness that goes beyond John’s insight about divine love.
 
Certainly, God is love. But beyond that, He is “connected,” “attached,” “united,” “at one” with his children, with all creation. He is a connected, social Being. In coming to earth in the person of Jesus, his first objective was to reveal the one and only true God and his enduring and unshakable attachment, unity, connectedness, at-one-ment with all creation. What, after all, is love without attachment? Absence. Connectedness is at the root of at-one-ment and its significance.
 
When Jesus, God Himself according to the witness of the Book of Mormon, entered a tabernacle of clay, he was engaged in at-one-ment. When he lay in the hay of his crib, he was engaged in at-one-ment. When he healed the leper with a touch, he was engaged in at-one-ment. When he healed a woman with an issue of blood through her touch, he was engaged in at-one-ment. When he sat and ate at table with publicans and sinners, he was engaged in at-one-ment. When he dismissed legions from a man in the land of the Gadarenes, he was engaged in at-one-ment. When he rescued his helpless disciples by calming the tempestuous waters of Galilee, he was engaged in at-one-ment.
 
We could go on and on and on. His entire life, from first breath to last, reflected at-one-ment; the connection, attachment, linkage, and unity he felt with his children. He is a connected being. This is what makes him who he is. God is not God only because he is a spectacular individual, though he is. He is God because he forms countless trillions of associations, connections, linkages, etc. He is God because he is at-one with and linked to an infinite number and variety of life forms.
 

 
   the right’s anti-at-one-ment or disconnectedness

As we turn to America’s political right and consider its response to the coronavirus pandemic, need I say more? Is there any need to highlight headlines or quote from their accompanying articles? Is there any need to point to the millions of Americans on the right who howl in selfish rage and refuse to wear a mask or engage in other behaviors that can safeguard the health of others, particularly the more vulnerable members of society? Could there be any better example of the disconnectedness and disunity of the right with their fellow beings?
 
Tell me that they are engaged in any way with “at-one-ment”! Tell me they are connected beings! Tell me they feel attachment and unity with their fellow beings! Tell me they are not anti-at-one-ment!
 
Tell me, in other words, they are not anti-Christ!
 
It doesn’t matter what you tell me or how hard you seek to justify their ungodly madness, I know better.
 
As I have seen and heard the selfish madness that spews from the unhallowed lips of America’s deadly political right-wing, I have heard the echo of scripture’s first recorded human words—or, rather, the arrogantly belligerent retort,
 
“Am I my brother’s keeper?”[8]
 
Blinded by the false god of American individualism and exceptionalism, worshipful of the false prophet that defiles America’s White Outhouse, and like that ancient murderer of Biblical lore who would be controlled by nothing but his own perverted avarice and lusts, America’s right shouts a resounding, “NO!” “I am not, will not be connected to another.” “I am my own person, and I will damn well do what I damn well please, others be damned.”
 
You see? The verdict could not be any clearer: America’s right is anti-at-one-ment. It and the adherents of its twisted dogma are anti-Christ. Case closed.
 

 
   let the consequence follow

So, where does this leave us? Where do we go from here?
 
We suffer. Suffer the consequences of sin.
 
 A couple of points. First, the right’s unwillingness to acknowledge the pandemic is sinful, for it is a denial of truth. The right’s juvenile but deadly rebelliousness against safety measures that clearly save lives is sin, for it reflects a lived anti-at-one-ment—an unwillingness to acknowledge and act upon the divine and cosmic truth that we are all connected. We acknowledge our linkage (at-one-ment) and live principles consistent with that linkage or we die; become extinct as Malachi warned in the final verse, the final words of the Hebrew Bible.
 
Second point. The pandemic shows that sin can kill. Now, to be clear. I do not say God pushed the pandemic button on his punishment console and, whoosh, here came the coronavirus. The virus is simply a natural occurring phenomenon of a telestial world. Nor do I say that God has kept the virus humming along because of the sin of the right’s anti-social Cain-like attitudes and behavior. The right’s sins have kept the virus humming along without any help from God—or Satan either, for that matter, for he is far too busy whispering into the twisted hear of the more than willing hearer who sits defiling America’s White Outhouse.
 
What role, then, does God play?
 
He warned us. He instructed us. He counseled us. He told us in scripture what kind of behaviors were safe and what kind of behaviors were dangerous. He told us the basic principles by which we survive, physically or spiritually. He showed us in the person of Jesus that we must live as connected beings because there is no safety—not physical, not spiritual; not on earth and not in the cosmos—for disconnected beings. We either link up or die.
 
Since, apparently, the living example of a tabernacled and connected God wasn’t enough, Mormons received an additional tutorial in the form of a temple endowment. THIS IS THE FUNDAMENTAL MEANING OF THE MORMON TEMPLE ENDOWMENT—APPLICABLE FAR, FAR, FAR BEYOND OUR PINCHED VIEW AND LIMITS OF THE “FAMILY.” Survival is only possible through linkages, connections, associations, unity, at-one-ment, far, far beyond family to include every living soul, every living thing.  Because of this additional light, the sin that flows from traditional “Christians’” rejection of the doctrine of at-one-ment in the face of the pandemic, pales in comparison to that of an endowed Mormon who, having been instructed in the temple, sins against this additional light—not greater light, for there could be no light greater or brighter than that of a tabernacled God walking among us. Will the consequences of traditional “Christians’” sin also pale? Above my paygrade.
 
 

   conclusion

God is a connected being. Jesus, “God Himself,”[9] demonstrated the divine connectedness to humankind by entering a tabernacle of clay, as we, and thereby becoming one of us. Rather than “sacrifice,” “expiation,” “redemption,” etc., it is this connectedness, oneness, to which the word, “atonement,” refers. The unalterable divine oneness with humankind is the message God intended to send through a life filled with atonement on the part of Jesus Christ. Though the word is not used, there are few passages more descriptive of the nature of atonement than that found in the second chapter of Hebrews.
 
“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, “‘I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.’
“And again, ‘I will put my trust in him.’ And again, ‘Behold I and the children which God hath given me.’
“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”[10]
 
To the extent that His atonement included suffering, it was the result of God linking Himself, merging with a human race enmeshed in the sufferings of mortal existence. To the extent that His atonement included sacrifice, it was the result of God demonstrating the necessity of individuals putting the whole above the needs of the individual. To the extent that His atonement included death, it was in demonstration of the extreme lengths to which He would go to prove his connectedness. In His life and in His death, He demonstrated that there is no extreme to which He will not go to demonstrate and prove His unity with His children and with all creation.
 
Those who would call themselves “Christian” must strive to follow Him through imitation. Their imitation will be imperfect. But, they will never permit any ideology to get in the way or compete with the irresistible truth of their oneness with others. Even when it costs them personally, they will always ideologically acknowledge their connectedness with others and strive to live a life that reflects that unalterable oneness. In imitating the Savior, theirs will always be the goal set forth in the Savior’s intercessory prayer.
 
“That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one…”[11]
 
Anything short of, or, worse, opposed to the cosmic reality of at-one-ment will show itself to be something other than “Christian”—those who act upon such opposing attitudes, strangers and foreigners to Christ.
 
“Behold, this I have given unto you as a parable, and it is even as I am.  I say unto you, be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine.”[12]
 
The atonement of Jesus Christ is as clear a rebuke as ever there was of the cherished—and foolish—America individualism, and its attendant false notions of “freedom” reflected in the current Coronavirus skeptics and anti-maskers. Those who refuse to wear a masks or practice social distancing in the name of personal “freedom” and selfish “individualism” show themselves to not be His. They show themselves to feel and act in ways that are contrary to His divine character. They show themselves to be anti-Christ.
 
Because we are all connected, we all suffer because of the rebellion on America’s political right flank. It matters little whether we wish to be or feel connected to those on the right or not; whether we agree with their apostacy or not, whether we participate in their anti-social and anti-Christ ways or not; we all suffer together.
 
In likening the church to a body, Paul bore witness that when one member suffers, the entire body suffers.[13] Here, we suggest, Paul was far too narrow and too parochial in his thinking and in his understanding of the magnitude of divine connectedness. His analogy of the body holds at a level far broader than the church. It holds at the level of all humanity. It holds at the level of the entire cosmos and of all creation.
 
COVID-19, then, acts as a revelator. It reveals our connectedness and that we all live together, as one, or we all suffer and die together. It reveals those who reject the revelation of at-one-ment that represents the central feature of Jesus’ earthly ministry and is the most fundamental aspect of his everlasting character. It reveals the spirit of anti-Christ. If the right continues to resist these truths—resists our irresistible connectedness, aitoneiment— both in pandemic and in myriads of other societal venues, there will be nothing left but extinction—the extinction of America and the extinction of the human race.
 
In light of the glorious truth of at-one-ment, and the right’s dark and irrational resistance to the irresistible, who can complain about our thunderous warnings, our strident charges and accusations against America’s political right-wing anti-Christs? Who can complain of our uncompromising execrations against the right’s unholy and ungodly blasphemy?
 
And now, my brethren, what have ye to say against this? I say unto you, if ye speak against it, it matters not, for the word of God must be fulfilled.”[14]


[1] He did not invent it. It was lying dormant, silent, ashamed of its own ugliness. But tRUMP made ugly hip.
[2] Hosea 4.1-2 NIV, emphasis added
[3] Micah 6.2 NIV, emphasis added
[4] Jeremiah 2.9 NIV, emphasis added
[5] Isaiah 3.13-14 NIV, emphasis added
[6] 1 John 4.8
[7] Deuteronomy 6.4, author’s translation
[8] Genesis 4.9
[9] See Mosiah 13.34
[10] Hebrews2.9-15
[11] John 17.21-23
[12] DC 38.27
[13] See 1 Corinthians 12.26
[14] Alma 5.58


[i] I have addressed the word, “atonement,” elsewhere and so will necessarily be brief here.
The English word, “atonement,” seems not to have existed before Tyndale’s 16th century translation of the Bible. He seems to have invented the word from other Latin analogous word forms. “Atonement” is Tyndale’s translation of Hebrew, kaphar. “Atonement” is, in truth, not representative of the Hebrew word, which means, essentially, “hide,” or “cover.” The English word, “atonement,” only appears one time in the New Testament, at Romans 5.11.
Having said all of that, it would be a mistake to assume that the idea of “atonement” is not represented in the New Testament. The idea is everywhere, as we have shown elsewhere and will briefly summarize below. It would also be a mistake to think that “atonement” is not a solid, even inspired qualifier for God, his character, and his labors. In fact, I would argue that few words in any language have ever better captured the essence of divinity than the English “at-one-ment.”
In so maintaining, perhaps I do little more than reveal my “Mormon” roots. In both quantitative and qualitative terms, Mormons use the word as no one else. The culture’s unique use of the word almost certainly flows from the word’s frequent usage in the Book of Mormon, where it dominates descriptions of God, his character, and his redemptive labors. Mormonism’s unique use of the word makes it all the more amazing that so few have really wrestled with and appreciated the depth of the word’s witness about God.
Many times over a 30-year ministerial career I asked students and congregants to consider synonyms for the word, “atonement.” I was often met initially with perplexed looks, like the very idea was somehow bizarre. Then, after a quick scripture search and a bit of struggle with the English language, they would come up with the most common answer, “sacrifice,” or the less common, “redemption,” “reconciliation,” or the even more rare “expiation,” “satisfaction,” and “propitiation.”
This is unsurprising. When Christians think of Jesus’ Atonement they think of his final hours on earth. They think of his suffering in Gethsemane and his renewed suffering and then death at Calvary. The more thoughtful might even include his resurrection from the garden tomb. The extraordinary might include his ascension into heaven from the Mount of Olives. But all these fall short of capturing the word and the all-encompassing aspect of Jesus’ character and labors that it entails. His entire life, from his first breath to the cradle to the grave to the right hand of God was a ministry of atonement. His every encounter with another, a moment of atonement.
So, after inviting my students and congregants to have a closer look at the word, “at-one-ment,” I would suggest that they consider these words—still insufficient—as synonyms for “atonement”:
 
“Connectedness.”
“Attachment.”
“Linkage.”
“Participation”
“Merging.”
“Bonding.”
“Unity.”
“Oneness.”
 
God’s suffering and death flowed from his connectedness to us, but are not, in themselves, atonement. His atonement did not begin or end there. His atonement is as old as the universe and will endure forever and ever.

“As ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists…” (1 John 2.18)