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ILLUMINATION

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A Marriage Forged in Hell

7 min readMar 11, 2025

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A stark and symbolic image of a golden cross melting into the shape of a political crown, dripping molten gold onto an open Bible below. The Bible’s pages curl and smolder as the gold covers its text, symbolizing the corruption of faith by power. In the background, shadowy hands reach toward the crown, representing those who seek to wield religion for their own authority. (Image created by the author in Midjourney.)
Crown melting into the Bible. (Image created by the author in Midjourney.)

O n the surface, Christianity and Trumpism make for some strange bedfellows. One claims to follow a humble carpenter who taught about loving your enemies and turning the other cheek; the other rallies behind a gold-plated real estate mogul who never forgets a slight and demands absolute loyalty. Yet the alliance between evangelical Christians and Trump is no accident. This seemingly contradictory marriage reveals something fundamental about both movements — something that explains their natural compatibility despite their apparent differences.

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What binds these movements together isn’t shared values but shared mechanisms — specifically, what I call the “PR facade.” This is more than simple hypocrisy. It’s a sophisticated system that allows adherents to publicly align themselves with noble, aspirational ideals while simultaneously engaging in behaviors that directly contradict those same ideals. More importantly, it provides the psychological architecture for denying this contradiction even exists.

This essay examines how Christianity and Trumpism employ identical psychological patterns to create movements where stated values and actual operations exist in parallel universes — never…

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Published in ILLUMINATION

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Edgar Rooke
Edgar Rooke

Written by Edgar Rooke

Writer challenging the myths that shape religion and politics. Uncovering uncomfortable truths from the Bible to the ballot box.