The first post below in italics, is one of those posts which is very dangerous in my view, if you are not discerning enough. It was shared in a prayer chat group. The person who shared it did not add his own comments, and I suppose you would have to conclude he agreed with the views. I decided to share it with my small group but added my opinions about it and also decided to write about how we should read such posts carefully. This post below is probably a quite blatant version that is easy to dissect, but there may be others that are more subtle, or maybe the writer is just blind to his slight prejudices. The part after the post is what I wrote that hopefully will provide enough guidance.
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Something worth thinking about, understanding and praying accordingly. It just makes sense. This was written by Patti Roberts (Oral Robert's ex-daughter-in-law who was married to Richard.)
The Lord says that we must learn to make the distinction between Donald J. Trump, the President, and Donald J. Trump the man.
As President he wears a prophetic mantle of the Lion of Judah. And, as such, he roars the roar of the Lion of Judah and he is powerful in taking down the enemies of God and of America. This is the prophetic mantle in operation. This is his appointment and destiny. He did not chose this, but God chose this for him. He was made to be able to obey God in this anointing. And he is performing his destiny with the help and power of God behind him.
This Lion is the King of the Jungle, or the swamp, whichever you prefer. It is quite likely that he personally has no idea of the power and purpose of the mantle that sovereignly rests upon him. He was not brought up with this spiritual understanding. And, if he does understand it it is because the Lord's people have prayed for him and labored before the Lord in intercession for him to be able to obey God as he executes his calling.
He was born for such a time and job as this. For the length of time that God has established for him to wear this mantle, he will be unstoppable because God chose a man with the heart of a Lion.
Donald J. Trump, the man is a different story. As a man he is full of contradictions. As a man he has many flaws, warts, and unsightly behaviors. The Spirit says that we must entrust 'the man' into His care, keeping and grooming. The man is loved by the Lord and is being shaped by the Lord in the laws of the Kingdom of God.
He is being shaped by the Lord as a parent shapes and trains a willful child. Just because others see the faults of the child does not mean the child is not cherished by the parent. The Lord says that shaping Donald J. Trump, the man, is His business and it is private between the man and God.
God places him behind a holy curtain while He works, loves, shapes and teaches the man. God will not use him as a Lion without loving and shaping him as a beloved child. But, this process is not for the public, or for the household of faith to mess with, other than to pray for mercy upon him. And, to pray for him as he is in the crucible of God's Divine Love. In other words, we may comment on the Lion, but we must be very careful how we think of or comment on the man.
Those without spiritual eyesight only see the man, and do not value or cherish what God is doing in the man as he operates in the Lion of Judah mantle. The warning is to step back, pray in humility for the man and for the Lion. Both are precious in the sight of the Lord. To the degree that you or I judge the man, is the degree that we will be judged by the Lord.
Don't get in God's way. Don't esteem yourself above the man. Don't be part of a group that attacks the work of the Lion while not being able to distinguish between the man and the mantle. It would be far more beneficial for one to shut up and just pray for him. What is being done through him is holy. And what is being done to him, by God, is also holy. Handle with care. Handle with care
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Fallacies in arguments
I am particularly concerned these days about how social media has really distorted the ability of people to think critically about what they read. Mainstream media is not innocent either. Controversy is good business for them.
I'll just touch on the post I shared and pick out what I think are common misleading statements or tactics that conspiracy theorists use.
"It just makes sense" - this is subtle. You are already being primed to believe what's coming next. Surely you can't disagree with what makes sense.
"This was written by..." - appeal to authority. He/she must know what they're talking about right? Who are you to disagree with an expert? Secondly, in a post that's shared or forwarded, unfortunately there's no way of knowing if this is even true.
"The Lord says we must...", "The Spirit says..."- also appeals to authority and is even more powerful (and dangerous) for believers. First question - is this meant to be literal? Where in the Bible does it say that? If they come up with some analogous verse that they say is to be interpreted the way they argue, then you can discuss and agree or disagree. Most importantly, you have removed that false veneer of authority.
"As President he wears a prophetic mantle..." Same as above. Where does it say that? The most difficult part of the argument for them will be to explain Obama or Biden. Were they not wearing the same prophetic mantle when they were/are the President? Especially since the argument is that Trump did not choose it but God chose it for him. They will probably claim Trump is special or a one-off.
The most dangerous element of this is the idea that America is somehow God's chosen country and people, and the most rabid right wing evangelicals all subscribe to this. Sadly, this delusion is not confined to Americans.
"... he personally has no idea... Not brought up with this spiritual understanding...". No further explanation needed for this as well as the section about the flaws of the man (vs the prophetic mantle) etc. This is how conspiracy theorists work. They either find something plausible (it could be true!) or over-generalised (he's a man just like us so he is not without sin, God loves everyone and so should we)
"God places him behind a holy curtain...". This is also appeal to authority and also circular reasoning. He was anointed therefore he is protected by God. He is protected by God therefore he must be chosen by God. Therefore we must be careful in how we comment in case we offend God.
"Those without spiritual eyesight..." This is another type of appeal to authority as well as also a false dichotomy i.e. there are only two possibilities. If you see only the man, you don't know what you're talking about. If you see the man and the Lion, welcome to the club! But you could have spiritual eyesight and yet disagree!
The last part is the most obvious. This both appeal to authority as well as a sort of slippery slope argument. "Don't get in God's way...", " Handle with care". Or what I like to call, The Santa Claus argument - you better watch out.
"Don't esteem yourself above the man" is a type of straw man argument. They accuse you of an argument you did not make ( esteem yourself...) and use that to attack your position.
Apologies if this is rather long. Hope it's clear enough and helpful.
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