It is now 25 years since the horrendous 9/11 attack, when the Twin Towers were destroyed by aircraft piloted by Al Qaeda operatives. It caused so much agony among the people of New York especially, with long-term trauma, and changed the mindset of the USA and the rest of the world together.
Some may remember Ruth Bell Graham's (Billy Graham was her husband) comment, "If God doesn't judge America, He'll have to apologise to Sodom and Gomorrah." I hate to ask this, but was 9/11 merely the attack of evil? Or was it allowed by God as a warning to repent, to a nation that had refused to repent before? We see allowance of evil by God in Job, and we see such a pattern in the Jewish Scriptures, of God sending a series of warnings and the people not repenting in heart - until God scattered and exiled them.
It is hard to understand, and it is almost unspeakable to consider that question. Doing so will arouse much anger, yet the 'elephant' remains in the room and is very dangerous. The following pages do address that question, the theme of repentance, looking at what has happened since 9/11 and delving into the passage in Ezekiel that deals with Sodom. This page takes it further, in a different direction.
Now, five years later, we can see stronger messages: the Covid-19 Pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th [Note: October 7th], then the cruelty of Israel's top politicians, and the fraternizing of China, Russia, India and North Korea into an anti-Western alternative. And, increased climate problems. This now affects more those countries like Nepal who contributed less greenhouse gas emissions while the largest GHG emitters (per capita) like Europe, the UK, North America and Russia suffer less [Note: GHG Emitters]. Yet we who are culpable have refused to repent.
Given what has happened over the past five years or so, I wonder: has God moved into a new stage? I have long wondered whether God is bringing down the United States of America just as, two-and-a-half millennia ago He brought down Judah, His own people? But what has happened over the past five years makes me wonder it even more [Note: USA Decline?]. I will mention two things. [Note: If ..] At the end I have collected replies to this page.
I have some sympathy with a Christian version of that view (with some reservations) - that if God blesses a nation, then that nation has a responsibility to bring or offer God's cultural attitude and mindset to all and any nations [Note: God's Culture] - though not with the means that the USA seems to be choosing to use (warfare). But the USA did not go that way. Instead, it seems to me, it went the way of arrogant self-importance and has now turned to arrogant self-protection.
After 9/11, things changed. First there was the reaction of the "War on Terror". Then "America First". Though the USA stopped using the terminology of War on Terror in 2013, the idea still clung on. The moral leader had a duty to help rid the world of evil - in this case, the evil is terrorism. In America First, the idea of moral leadership has been dropped, and the "affluence, arrogance and unconcern" [Note: Ezekiel] at the very heart of the USA is starkly revealed.
The commitment to the War on Terror led to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that were disastrous, and elsewhere. These were discussed in my pages Ten Years On and Twenty Years On from 9/11. The War on Terror, terminology that the USA stopped using in 2013, is estimated to have cost around 4,500,000 deaths, 38,000,000 people displaced, and 8,000,000,000,000 US dollars [Note: Costs] - as well as harm to the economies of all the countries affected by war and displacement. And I would ask the question: Is the amount of terrorism in the world today less than when 9/11 happened? I doubt it. The War on Terror has failed even in its own terms. It is frequently the case that when we refuse to repent and instead "lean on our own understanding" [Proverbs 3] things fail.
But there was also another, probably more significant, failure for the USA. In devoting itself to the War on Terror, the USA showed that its adherence to the Rule of Law, which it had long preached to other nations, was only superficial. "America has always given itself the capacity to not play by the rules" [BBC American Century, 23m 25s] but now it showed this more blatantly than before. The war on Iraq went ahead despite the United Nations having refused to sanction it. It went ahead on the basis of selective (and false) reading of military intelligence. This kind of mistake and/or deceit often happens after a refusal to repent and an idolatrous commitment to a wrong attitude and course of action. The USA, though it had long preached the Rule of Law, has ignored the Rule of Law when it suited it. Hypocrisy on a national scale.
The Rule of Law has been discarded in favour of the Rule of Power. Since Iraq, the USA has often carried out a plethora of military strikes against other countries.
Hypocrisy gets noticed. In the wings, China, Russia, Iran and others were waiting and watching. The USA had set an example, and they followed it. They saw that ignoring international rules 'works'. After all, it may be reasoned, international rules are only fallible human constructions. Especially if their originator has ignored them. So Russia started a "Special Military Operation" (war, to you and me) on Ukraine, which goes on today.
The hope that the USA could be a moral leader evaporated, because it was never true at its heart anyway. It had become (and maybe long had been) a hypocritical pretence. At least in God's eyes. Is it not God who sees and knows the heart? And might it be that God allowed this pretence to be revealed openly?
In Romans 1, Paul tells us that God "gave them over" people to their own passions and darkened ways of seeing things. In Greek and Roman cultures this led to rampant sexualization including homosexual promiscuity. And the Jewish Scriptures tell us that God gave over Judah and Israel because they refused to honour and represent God aright. In Hebrew culture, this took the form of refusing to live the way God wanted them to and turning to idols [Amos 2]. Might God "give over" 'Christian' America likewise? For example to greedy, unconcerned destruction of the world and to culture wars? This is what President Trump seems to me to personify.
Question: Assuming God was involved in election of Donald Trump as US President, either bringing it about (as with Cyrus) or allowing it (as with Job), why did God do so? Was it in order to restore Christian Americans to what they believe to be their rightful position of dominance, or was it to bring the USA down? The latter could be true if God's people have misrepresented God.
I might be wrong, but I believe it was the latter, even though so many Bible-believing Christians support him. Why do I believe this?
| Jesus | Donald Trump |
|---|---|
| Jesus is Prince of Peace [Isaiah 9:6]. | Donald Trump works by warfare both military and psychological. |
| Jesus is meek, humble [Matthew 11:28], serving others [Matthew 20:28], telling us to take the lowest seat [Luke 14:10]. | Donald Trump demands that others serve him, telling all to put "America First". |
| Jesus does not raise his voice [Isaiah 42:2]. | Donald Trump shouts and bellows. |
| Jesus had no dignity or beauty [Isaiah 53:2] but lets his works speak for themselves [John 10:37-8; 14:11] | Donald Trump works by charming people. |
| Jesus is reliable [Hebrews 13:8] | Donald Trump lets people down and reneges on his promises. |
| Jesus is humble [see above]. | Donald Trump is boastful and narcissistic. |
| Jesus loves and treats people with compassion [Matthew 14:14]. | Donald Trump treats people with derision. |
| Jesus treats sinners with respect [e.g. Luke 19:5; Mark 6:34]. | Donald Trump treats those he thinks are wrong, as enemies, with hatred and contempt. |
| Jesus tells us that greatness is servanthood. | Donald Trump thinks that greatness is military, economic and reputational. |
| Think of others ... | |
Donald Trump is almost the antithesis of Jesus, who reveals the heart of Father God. We might say we know them by their fruit and, of course, it may be that this will be known only after some years, but the indications of Trump are not positive. Those Christians who support Trump should consider this carefully.
Some of them might defend themselves by saying that they are trying to restore or prolong a 'Christian' culture in the teeth of a dominant wokish culture. But this is no substitute for being like Christ in the world.
The USA used to be a sort of beacon to the world of the effects of the Gospel of Christ, even if only partially, but now it seems to me that it is the opposite. Even God's people there - many of them - misrepresent God. See section on American Christians. So, as when Judah and Israel grossly misrepresented God, and God scattered and exiled them, might God be abandoning the USA, and those Christians therein?
A commentator who probably knows little of Christ, put it this way:
"'It represents it [USA] had outlived its purpose. It needed to change. Trump just accelerated its unravelling'. 'So, does that mean we've seen the end of America as leader on the world stage?' 'I think we have seen the end of America as the leader of this post-world-war-2 rules-based order. I think that order has gone. It has taken on too much water.'" xxx with David Dimbleby
And David Dimbleby, ended the interview with,
"America appears to be no longer able, or willing, to lead. Trump, the great disrupter can do whatever he wants. ... Behind all that bluster, America can't seem to end its war with Iran, it can't impose the tariffs it wants, it can't tell Russia what to do. It looks as though ... the so-called American Century itself has come to an end." David Dimbleby
Is God bringing down the USA, just as God brought down Judah that God had built up? Jeremiah 45. It happened once before; might it be happening now?
Ultimately the problem with any US administration is that there is a conflation of Christianity with the party lines. This is as true with the Democrats as it is with the Republicans and isn?t healthy. Equally it is to be seen what is good and not good at each end of the political spectrum from a Christian perspective and that?s not always so easy to do ?in equilibrium?.
More the question is why we have one and not the other and if we did have the other we?d also be questioning why we have that one. It?s always a difficult one for America as it is there to lead the free world, but there?s always a limit upon what can be ultimately achieved against horribly powerful nations and regimes in the East that all of us would far rather didn?t exist.
Ultimately then if I were to be asked if it is a ?Cyrus? or a ?Job?, I?d say a bit of both, which arguably was happening in many instances through the Old Testament that I can think of and they were part of God?s strategy in human history. And so what be God?s strategy in the present. That?s a very big question I?ve been asking myself daily for quite a while now certainly at least for the UK.
Anyway that?s my two pennies worth for one evening. Blessings,
Just a few comments:
* In response to your "Europe, the UK and USA - who are the main emitters per person of greenhouse gas emissions," a critic could counter that, tho we're bad, we're not the worst.
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/greenhouse-gas-emissions-by-country.
* After the link to https://abxn.org/ccge/ you might say "as an organization."
* You could add some reasons for believing the US is on a decline: 40 trillion USD in debt, decreasing lifespans, waning influence in the world... https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/4414582-five-reasons-american-decline-appears-irreversible/
Anyway, I admire your work & your diligence!
I just read your piece and found it very insightful and thoroughly biblical.
I like the fact that you mention clearly both the economic and the sexual sins of Sodom.
Indifference to the poor and needy (Ezek 16); rampant sexual perversions as well (Jude 7).
I like very much how you compare Trump with Jesus. Your comparison is clear, succinct and very helpful.
I do hope that Richard Gunton, David Hanson, my wife Anne and other TFN people will respond to you.
Btw I have always found the just war principles my go to when folk talk about any war situ.
You are right to say that the US ignores these vital restraining guidelines and others have followed...
lots of love and blessings Mark
Note on October 7th. A friend of mine, who for some years strongly supported Israel and Netemyahu, when the Hamas attack happened, asked God "Why has this happened?" God told him, "Israel needs to repent - repent of its dependence on military might and on its technological prowess." Interesting that this happened to a person so strongly in support of Israel! What have we seen since then? Increased dependence on military might, but one that has been so utterly cruel that most of the world has turned against Israel. Even Donald Trump, a stubborn supporter of Netemyahu, told him with exasperation, "The world hates Israel because of what you are doing!"
Note on Greenhouse Gas Emitters Per Capita. I use the Per Capita (person) measure because it more accurately indicates responsibility than just the country as a whole. For more, and more detail, see Greenhouse Gas Emissions By Country. It is responsibility we are talking about here.
Note on If ... I do not know whether all this contains a message from God, but I write it in case it is. I do not want to lead people astray by giving something that has just come from my own mind, but nor do I want to be the watchman who fails to sound the alarm (as in Ezekiel). That is why I am writing these. If this indeed contains a message from God, then I am not worthy to carry it because I do not yet "preach with tears in my eyes". I do not 'love' the USA enough; I hail from Scotland. Maybe this is from my Autism, in that it has stifled my feeling the philio-love that most people feel. And I am still contaminated with my own ideas and biases. What I try to do is that, as I write, I go through and excise any bits that exhibit hostility, and any that seem to be my own biases.
Note on USA Decline? Some reasons for believing that the USA is in decline. 1. From AH below, 40 trillion USD debt, decreasing lifespans, waning influence in the world. 2. From reddit come different ones, Comparing 2026 with earlier dates: "In terms of GDP, the US accounted for 30% in 2000/01. In 2026 it's at roughly 25%. In terms of HDI, in 2000, the US was 4th globally. Today it's at 19th. In terms of Happiness, the US has fallen from 11th in 2011 to 23rd in 2026. In terms of life expectancy specifically, the US has fallen from 32nd in 2000/01 to 56th today. In terms of top universities globally, the US had 62 in the 2004 QS ranking. In the latest ranking it's down to 49 in the latest ranking. In terms of military might, the US isn't untouched anymore like it was 20-25 years ago." 3. Wikipedia discusses types of decline: (in relative terms) geopolitical, military, financial, economics, and technological, (in absolute terms) demographic, social, moral, spiritual, cultural, in matters of healthcare, and/or on environmental issues.
BBC. 1 September 2026. The American Century, America First!, in the BBC Radio 4 series "The History Podcast: Invisible Hands" which looks at less-known people who have shaped the USA. Times of the words spoken are given. I use this not as the only evidence but because much of what is said therein puts things well.
Note on NATO. I find it ironic that Trump now dismisses NATO and does not want to reciprocate if a European country were to be attacked! And worse, that he wants Europe to see to its own defence after Europeam countries have sacrificed much for decades to support the USA in becoming and remaining top dog. To my mind (and I might be wrong), the USA owes Europe a huge amount.
Note on God's Culture. God told Abraham, via Melchizedek (Genesis 14; Hebrews 7), that his descendants were to build a culture of Peace and Justice (salem, tsedeq), not warfare and elitism as found in the surrounding nations whom God wanted destroyed. See Melchizedek and Ruth as Type of Christ.
Note on Ezekiel. In Ezekiel 16:49 God tells the prophet what was the sin that got Sodom destroyed and Judah exiled: affluence, arrogance and unconcern. See the sections in Why Did God Allow 9/11? on this and a more detailed exposition.
Note on Costs. The $8tr costs come from the Costs of War Project at Brown University, and in fact leaves out some future costs e.g. for veterans. The human costs, as well as that, are discussed on the Wikipedia page for the War on Terror.
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About This Page
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is on-going work, designed to stimulate discussion on various topics, as part of Andrew Basden's pages that open up various things from one of the Christian perspectives.
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Created: 13 September 2021 Last updated: 14 September 2025 comparing Trump with Jesus. 6 September 2026 The real 5years on, starting with the Iraq War and how it led Russia and China to think they can do what they want. 7 September 2026 completed. 11 September 2026 new Intro, recognising the agony; Replies; corrections.