Does anyone still believe the lie that Trump really won the 2020 presidential election? In the weeks after the election, an unprecedented avalanche of lies cascaded around the internet. Millions believed that the Chinese bribed Georgia election officials, a dead Venezuelan dictator tainted electronic voting machines, Germans used supercomputers and Italian satellites to alter the vote count, somebody in the post office threw away ballots favoring Trump, and maybe the biggest whopper of all, the idiots who invaded our nation’s capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 were Antifa activists pretending to be Trump supporters, trying to make Republicans look bad. And Democrat Nancy Pelosi somehow orchestrated an attack to overturn an election that her party won.
After the election, I got into many conversations with diehard Trump supporters about the hysteria. Many stopped talking to me. But after stripping away all the election lies, I learned the core issue was that they didn’t like the outcome, and so they grabbed onto the latest election fraud lie to justify their dislike.
I heard one common theme over and over and over again about Trump. Many of my Christian friends agree he has major character problems, but they were willing – maybe even eager – to overlook those faults because Trump embraced a pro-life agenda. The rationale – we kill millions of unborn babies in the United States, and now, finally, we had a leader committed to stopping that carnage.
And so, we embraced lie after lie through Trump’s first term, and after Trump lost the election, we embraced even more lies. And by early 2023, more than two years later, after Trump family members and allies and media celebrities who spewed lies admitted under oath they knew they were spewing lies, we still embrace the lies.
Here’s my question. How does anyone still believe the lies, even after the opinion leaders who spewed them now admit they were lying?
One theory is cognitive dissonance gone wild, which boiled to its essence means that Trump fans have invested so much of their egos into believing that Trump won that they can’t accept the reality that Trump lost. And so they glom onto any wacky conspiracy theory they can find to justify their belief because accepting an accurate view of the world is too painful. It would not be the first case of mass hysteria and probably not the last.
But wait a minute. These election lies are so ridiculous that nobody in their right mind would believe this hogwash. Even Trump apologist-in-chief, Sidney Powell herself said, “no reasonable person would conclude that the statements were truly statements of fact.” It’s right there at the bottom of page 27 of her 2021 Dominion lawsuit response. Fox News defends itself by claiming its on-air personalities offer entertainment, not facts. Newsmax even apologized for broadcasting 2020 election lies.
Nope. There’s more going on.
Maybe Trump fans know all about the lies, but they look the other way because the stakes are so high. Because, what else could be more important than defending unborn babies, the most vulnerable people in our society? After all, didn’t Rahab lie to save Israelites in Joshua, chapter 2? And what about WWII, when lots of good people lied to the Nazis to hide Jews? So, what’s the big deal about lying for a good cause? The Bible supports it. And if we have to put up with somebody we don’t like for a while, maybe it’s worth the cost to save millions of unborn babies.
Except, it’s not. And it won’t work.
Rahab and others used lies as a tactic against an enemy bent on evil. But the Trump team lies to the general public as part of an overall strategy. It’s not about saving unborn babies, it’s about grabbing and holding power by pandering to people eager for a champion.
As for results, the public now classifies pro-life people with those who embrace election lies, damaging decades of building credibility. And after the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade, state after state is writing laws to codify legal abortions into law. So instead of saving unborn babies, election lies harm unborn babies.
So, what’s the lesson here? Instead of encouraging wannabe tyrants, let’s get back to persuading the public to embrace a pro-life viewpoint. Because we have a strong case based on merits. And I like living in a United States of America where the will of the people counts more than the will of any politician.
Forget MAGA. Let’s make facts great again.
It is admirable your continued mostly centrist positions on various issues. This piece gets right to the heart of the nonsense of Trump and his followers.
Starting with the abortion issue, it is highly unlikely that any movement or attempt to get women to agree that they should not have the decisionmaking authority over their own bodies and lives will succeed. I’ll repeat a few important points regarding this issue. NO ONE IS KILLING BABIES! Even the bible says that a person isn’t a person until it is outside of the womb and breathing oxygen. Genesis 2:7. Women are being put at risk for sepsis and other fatal conditions by abortion bans. Abortion is necessary health care. I’m curious about your feeling on the abortion pill (that is now also under attack by “pro-life” fanatics). There is some irony in those called pro-life. Most just want a birth. After that, they have no compassion. Anti-abortion politicians and their constituents refuse to agree to implementing compassionate social policy for families with children who are struggling. We could get into the whole economics of that, but another time.
Another bit of irony in this piece is the concept of the big lie and other lies. The biggest lie of all, the most corrupt thing that has ever happened to the human race is religion. Being duped by those in charge to maintain power over people. Just as Trump and his cronies tried to maintain power by lying about the 2020 election, religion and belief in the imaginary has been controlling people for eons.
It is agreed that we need to give control back to the people. Not to corrupt politicians or religious leaders (often in cahoots with corrupt politicians) that have no other intent but to control people.
Toni, thanks for the comment. As you know, discussion is a good thing. Right here is a good place for this one.
First, where we agree. We share an opinion that in cases where there’s a tradeoff between the life of the mother vs. the life of the baby, the mother and her family and medical team should make decisions and government should stay out of it. These cases come up all the time in discussions, but reality is, they don’t happen often. But legislation that does not take these situations into account is short-sighted.
We also agree that babies need care after birth, although we probably disagree about who should own providing that care.
And we agree that – in general – women are in charge of their own bodies. More on that below.
Now, Genesis 2:7. Here’s the NIV translation from my favorite online Bible reference, biblegateway.com
Then the Lord God formed a man[c] from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
It’s part of the story about how God created Adam and then Eve. How anyone interprets that verse to mean unborn babies aren’t people is beyond me. And why are you quoting Bible verses at all if you don’t believe what it says?
Next, on women controlling their own bodies. This is the heart of the controversy. Is an unborn baby a body part or a human being? If a human being, and if we value life as we claim, then compassion demands that we must protect that life. If a body part, then it’s the mother’s choice. How do we decide? Without legal clarity, I vote for a human being not-yet developed enough to live on its own.
I’ve heard an argument that it’s irrelevant whether an unborn baby is a human or body part. The mother offers her body rent-free for nine months and has an exclusive right to terminate that offer any time for any reason. I find that argument abhorrent. I am also grateful my mother let me stay inside her for my first nine months.
And then the pro-birth instead of pro-life argument. The claim here is, we care about the baby right up until birth and then we dump the responsibility on unprepared parents. And of course some new parents are unable or unwilling to care for their babies. Society is far from perfect. Do you really believe killing the baby before it’s born is a proper solution to this problem? Instead of killing that unborn baby, maybe we should think about education for the new parents, or adoption, or other less lethal solutions.
The reason Atheists cite the bible is to show that believers quite frequently don’t even know what is in the bible. Citing the bible in this regard shows that certain phrases in the bible are contrary to the understanding of the believer. A true believer should know this book backwards and forwards. It is likely that those who do this may become Atheists because this book of fiction is often times horrific and as mentioned is contrary to a believers understanding.
Who should be providing the care? All of us. If we want to live in a happy, healthy society, all of us should look at it as an investment in all of us. Investing in the lesser of us makes things better for all of is. It’s called COMPASSION. Another bit of irony is that the bible has many inferences to helping each other. More cherry picking by believers. Again, I suggest that someone who considers themselves a true believer they should read that book from cover to cover. I have done it twice and the Qran once. Once of the many reasons I am not a believer.
No one is talking about termination at anytime for any reason. Again, compassion would dictate a more complete understanding of the many reasons that termination is necessary. In addition to the fact that termination prior to viability is NOT KILLING BABIES!
Maybe all men should have vasectomies at puberty. When they are ready to have children it could be reversed. Do you see how nonsensical that sounds? Men’s heads would explode if it was ever considered that they should not have control of their bodies.
Um, okay. I’m not sure where to start. I don’t think you’ll find anything from me anywhere that says people should not help each other. But I’m a fan of limited government and you like more government. But since this is my blog, that makes me right and you wrong. Sorry, could not resist that one.
Congrats for getting through the Quran. I tried but could not stay awake. Verse after verse after verse haranguing Muslims to convert or kill infidels. How many different ways could ol’ Mohamed say the same thing? In his defense, he was at war during some of it. He was probably mad at his attackers, mostly misguided Christians. Maybe I’ll take another shot at it now that I’m older and I’m supposed to have more patience.
It is true that some Christian believers cherry-pick Bible references out of context to support various positions. So do some atheists. I know an atheist who tried to improperly use Genesis 2:7 out of context to claim the Bible says unborn babies aren’t people.
This next one is more serious.
> In addition to the fact that termination prior to viability is NOT KILLING BABIES!
Nope. Dead wrong. We don’t kill adults temporarily stuck on life support, and we should not kill babies not yet ready to survive outside the womb.
Right on, brother!
Right on!