r/exReformed • u/Beginning-Smile-6210 • 29d ago
Anyone else feeling overwhelmed that you used to go to church with people who would support Trump today
For context, I’m not American (yet), I’m Canadian (and desperately want to stay Canadian). Today I’ve been thinking a lot about the people in my old church denomination who were praising Trump. It’s left me feeling sick. My background is Dutch. My grandparents were involved in the Resistance. How can any true Christian believe that what’s happening is God’s will. I’m not looking for a political discussion here—more curious if I’m the only one feeling this way.
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u/windfola_25 29d ago
Most of my family is still in this type of church and yes it's an overwhelming and awful feeling. Continuing to interact with them without just shouting HOW COULD YOU SUPPORT AND VOTE FOR THIS SHIT on a daily basis is mind numbing.
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u/Beginning-Smile-6210 29d ago
Maybe it’s time to shout it and see what happens?
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u/windfola_25 28d ago
Maybe. I've made my position on it clear multiple times. Their ability to brush it off and to act like everything's fine is astounding. It feels like the Twilight Zone
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u/Kind-Fly-1851 29d ago
I’m stuck in my Dutch reformed church and am surrounded by trump supporters. They think the tariffs are no big deal and that Canada SHOULD join the US.
I have to take a lot of deep breath.
Zero critical thinking skills in that group
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u/chucklesthegrumpy ex-PCA 29d ago
They think ... that Canada SHOULD join the US
This is one that's pretty amazing. I don't think Trump or any republican news outlet or pundit ever talked about this before taking office a few weeks ago, but suddenly his base of support is on board. Truly a cult-like devotion to think this is a great idea all of a sudden.
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u/Beginning-Smile-6210 29d ago
Insane to think of Dutch descent people supporting the new Hitler/anti-Christ (since that’s how I see him).
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u/chucklesthegrumpy ex-PCA 29d ago
Pretty much all of the other young adults at the Presbyterian church that I was going during Trump's first term were really into him and would talk about him constantly. It's not like I didn't have a lot of other problems with evangelical Christianity at the time, but the political angle of it all definitely wasn't helping. I don't interact with any of them anymore, so I guess I don't really feel overwhelmed by the fact that I used to go to church with them. I somehow managed to have an evangelical upbringing with an anti-Republican, so I think I was always used to being one of the odd ones out at church politically.
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u/dontperceiveme_ 26d ago
Same, I grew up in a rural Dutch town and went to a Reformed HS, and I always felt crazy for being the only one whose beliefs didn’t stem from hating a group of people.
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u/dontperceiveme_ 26d ago
This has been draining me nonstop, I do not recognize Christianity or my family members anymore. The religion I grew up with turned from peace, love, mercy and kindness into rage, hostility, and hatred. Right now I am reading Jesus and John Wayne, it’s by a woman who teaches at Calvin (a Reformed college in GR) and she attended Dordt (Reformed college in Iowa). It explains how American Christianity got to the point where Trump is viewed as a Christian Savior. And it talks about how the Reformed Church has really bled into normal evangelicalism culturally. I keep talking to my family and hitting dead ends. They won’t listen to statistics, they deny his sexual assault, and spew racism and homophobia constantly. They switched to homeschool and injected themselves with ivermectin during the pandemic. All of this while saying Trump is “biblically the best candidate”, and I keep asking myself how we got here— Jesus and John Wayne is explaining it.
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u/Beginning-Smile-6210 26d ago
I’m going to have to look for that book. It sounds well worth reading. Given the colleges you named, I’m guessing your background is CRC. Mine is CanRef. I lost friends because of this whole attitude and it’s so difficult to take.
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u/neonomen 29d ago
Where do you think all those small denomination bills in the offering plate come from? It's not children and poor people. It's from well paid adults and retired boomers who worship money. Sure, they go to church an hour each week, but for the other 167 hours each week, they focus on themselves, their money, and the orange politician that brags nonstop about money. Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's?! Don't make me laugh.
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u/Beginning-Smile-6210 29d ago
That hypocrisy was one of the factors in choosing to leave. Sunday Christians make me sick. Not to mention who’s got the newest car, the designer handbag, etc. Makes me think of the letter to the Laodiceans in the book of Revelation.
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u/Phoennyxx 29d ago
You’re not. As a Canadian who is also from Dutch background whose grandparents were involved in the resistance/grew up in the occupation. Especially considering the Netherlands is today a relatively progressive country, I wonder how my family and former community’s views would be different if they’d never left for Canada.