Post B5OsntnMPKgPxUo2Fc by mattsheffield@mastodon.social
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 (DIR) Post #B5OsnpixXkmnKgiSps by mattsheffield@mastodon.social
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       🧵Trump's war against Pope Leo is about something far larger than his foreign wars, it's actually a struggle for control of American Christianity.This thread will summarize the main points of my latest essay about how Trumpism is a replacement Christianity. Continue or click through:https://flux.community/matthew-sheffield/2026/04/trump-hates-pope-leo-because-he-sees-himself-as-the-real-vicar-of-christ/
       
 (DIR) Post #B5Osnq6M8lV8VFf9Iu by mattsheffield@mastodon.social
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       Trump recently posted AI images depicting himself as a Christ-like figure, drew backlash, deleted it — then posted a second image of Jesus guiding his actions.These aren't jokes gone awry. He and his hardcore supporters really believe he's the rightful Christian leader.
       
 (DIR) Post #B5OsnqUSh8mdi0wOsS by mattsheffield@mastodon.social
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       The central identity point for all reactionary politics is one you almost never hear about in the MSM: They literally hate modernity and want it destroyed.For 11 years now, the media keeps wondering why far-right Christians love Trump. It's not a mystery. He is their destroyer. https://flux.community/matthew-sheffield/2021/05/liz-cheney-epistemic-collapse-conservatism/
       
 (DIR) Post #B5OsnqzIqTSBFfN1wu by mattsheffield@mastodon.social
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       The tyranny, the corruption, the blatant religious censorship and bullying. This is exactly what right-wing theologians have wanted for decades: shooting pastoral rivals, jailing immigrants, encouraging ICE brutality.Reactionary Christians have stewed in impotent hatred against evolution, women's rights, civil rights, and Biblical scholarship. Where Christians see Jesus as the Word of God made flesh, Trump Christianity sees him as the incarnation of will to power.
       
 (DIR) Post #B5OsnrQFEJ0KbDyXwW by mattsheffield@mastodon.social
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       Trump entered politics in 2015 offering far-right Christians a deal: "Christianity is under tremendous siege. If I'm there, you're going to have plenty of power." He's kept his end of the bargain. All he asks is absolute, worshipful obedience in return.People often mock Trumpers as cultists, but the disturbing nature of their beliefs is still underestimated.If you go to Amazon, you can find hundreds of children's books about Trump, including a book showing him at Jesus's birth:
       
 (DIR) Post #B5OsnrlrvuIlgI5oeG by mattsheffield@mastodon.social
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       Pope Leo XIV — the first American pope — commands the loyalty of 60 million U.S. Catholics and refuses to submit. He cannot be praised into silence or ignored into irrelevance. So he must be attacked. Trump doesn't see Leo as a religious leader — he sees him as an illegitimate rival.Before Leo was selected, Trump said that he wanted to be the pontiff: "I’d like to be pope. That would be my number one choice," he said.
       
 (DIR) Post #B5Osns64imSsgxXx8y by mattsheffield@mastodon.social
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       This was not a joke. It was, like everything Trump says, a test of others. He's like a street thief stealing a wallet and then pretending it was a gag.Days after saying he should be pope, Trump posted a meme of himself dressed like one.For Trump, jokes are predictions of his movements. He did the exact same thing with the Kennedy Center.
       
 (DIR) Post #B5OsnsPDZbmFeKVEyu by mattsheffield@mastodon.social
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       Trumpism is a new religion. It has its own clergy like Paula White and Lance Wallnau. It has its own commandments like "thou shalt never disparage Trump."It has its own sacraments of watching him on TV and buying his merch.It's worked astonishingly well to remake Evangelical faith.As an American pope, Leo XIV has a unique grasp of what Trump has done. And he's using his power to stand against it.Lots more in the piece so please read and boost! Thanks! /end https://flux.community/matthew-sheffield/2026/04/trump-hates-pope-leo-because-he-sees-himself-as-the-real-vicar-of-christ/
       
 (DIR) Post #B5OsntnMPKgPxUo2Fc by mattsheffield@mastodon.social
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       PS: Trump is also doing the exact same thing regarding Judaism. He sees himself as the rightful leader of all American Jews, even though he is not Jewishhttps://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trump-israel-democrats-1.7148147