"Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man."
Acts 17:29
A 15-foot bronze statue covered in gold leaf depicting Donald Trump was recently unveiled at a Trump-owned golf course in Florida. The statue was funded with $300,000 from investors seeking to promote a particular cryptocurrency.
Trump was naturally a big fan, particularly of the statue being gold.
A Trump-supporting Evangelical pastor spoke at the unveiling ceremony. The pastor said, "This statue is a celebration of life. It is a symbol of resilience, freedom, patriotism, strength, and the will power to keep fighting for the future of America."
It might sound odd that a man of God took center stage in unveiling a golden statue of an elected representative and that he felt the need to say things like, "Let me be clear: this is not a golden calf," and, "This statue was not created for worship."
Many have asserted that the statue and support for it constitute or border on idolatry or worshipping a false god. To that, the pastor said, "I welcome honest theological conversation. But I reject the false accusation that honoring a leader is the same thing as worshipping a leader."
He also said,
The Bible condemns idolatry, and I condemn idolatry too. But America is filled with statues, monuments, memorials, portraits, and tributes. Nobody says a statue of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., or even Michael Jordan means people are worshipping them.
For most of Christianity, idolatry is the act of worshipping a physical item, such as a statute, as if the item itself is a god worthy of reverence. To do so is a sin that violates the the first of the Ten Commandments: "You shall have no other gods before me." The most notable example of this comes from the biblical story in which Moses's brother creates a golden calf, which the Israelites worship.
Unless people are actually praying to the Trump statue as if the statue itself is a god, the pastor is right -- this does not seem to be a weird act of idolatry. But what about the idea that those who praise the statue are guilty of worshipping Trump like a God? Where is the line between worship and simply honoring someone like the pastor mentions in the case of American heroes like Washington and Lincoln?
The primary reason to create a statue of someone is not to make that person feel good or validated. It is to show others what sort of conduct we as a society recognize as special so that others will aspire to act similarly. This is why we often honor people when they are dead and unable to appreciate it.
We continue to honor George Washington to show members of our society what he did, why it was so extraordinary, and that it should be emulated. He took a huge personal risk to support his belief in freedom, he firmly refused to become a king, he voluntarily ceded power, etc.
When someone seeks to honor someone who is alive and still has formal authority, they distort the honor calculus and create perverse incentives. They are (or at least appear) more likely to be doing so to curry favor with the person, signal something political to their opponents or supporters, etc. than they are to be signaling to our fellow citizens that this is someone for all to emulate.
If the pastor truly believes Trump is a man worthy of honor, could he and the people funding the statue not wait until Trump was dead, or at least out of office, to honor him and signal to others he should be emulated? If Trump no longer wielded power and influence, it would make the support seem more genuine. Instead, this seems like yet another garish way to suck up to Trump through flattery, particularly as the statue was placed on Trump's own property, or simply more cultish behavior from those who have lost their moral bearings.
Even if you truly believe Trump has done things worthy of honoring with a statue, crypto promoters financing a golden statue on Trump's own golf course while a man of god defensively shouts about not violating some of the core tenets of his faith should give you pause. We are left with the feeling that we are seeing another example of Trump trying to inflate his stature while shameless charlatans try to profit, sad sycophants scurry to get a leg up, and religious believers are led astray.