“For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.” – Matthew 24:4

For how little the Bible actually discusses the Antichrist, there certainly is much discourse about this figure in modern evangelical Christianity. What goes unacknowledged, however, is that the Bible often discusses multiple antichrists instead of a particular figure. 

An antichrist is simply a person who embodies the opposite of Jesus and his teachings. Jesus taught love and care, empathy and compassion. So an antichrist must reasonably be a hateful, greedy, malignant narcissist, or something to that effect. 

Like the Book of Revelation, the idea of the Antichrist is a distilled symbol of a much more pervasive issue throughout human history – that of the greedy. People like this rise to the top of society often, and it seems the world is never quite free from selfish men attempting to bend the arc of the universe to their will. 

Distilling such a pervasive issue into a neatly-packaged symbol is a convenient and effective way to communicate a message. However, over the last two thousand years, that message has become unrecognizable. An antichrist is no longer any figure who acts contrary to the teachings of Jesus, but a particular figure who will usher in the end of days. This strain of thought has been present since the writing of the New Testament itself, but it is more or less the sole perspective now. 

And while I do not subscribe to the idea of an end of days, I must say it is quite remarkable how similar the current leader of this country is to the figure illustrated in the Book of Revelation. 

This is not because of some divine prophecy, but the simple fact that all selfish men, and especially selfish leaders, sing the same song. When the ego takes charge, there are only so many ways a person in power may act. 

Let us pretend for a moment that this leader – and it is obvious who I speak of – is the modern evangelical notion of ‘the Antichrist.’ What then?

The issue is that so many reject this Antichrist not because of his many, many heinous acts and utter disdain for humanity, but simply because he thinks of himself as higher than their deity of choice. This is a massive problem, one that reflects a commitment to obedience rather than one to any actual sense of morality. 

As I have posited previously, a religion that prioritizes obedience over morality is not a framework for betterment. It is a framework for control. The result of this is painfully obvious: millions in this country are magnitudes more offended by a simple picture than they are over the death and destruction this figure gleefully leaves in his wake. 

Let me repeat: this figure has blood on his hands. But for the group of people who believe themselves to be the epitome of morality, the one act that has shaken their faith in this figure is his choice to depict himself as a deity. It is not even his narcissism, but the simple fact that he depicted himself as their god. 

Finding the proper words for the feelings of revulsion I have over this disingenuous virtue signalling is difficult. There are many thoughts I wish to put on paper, but these must suffice. 

Do not allow one questionable act to outshine the utter depravity of people like those in power today. More importantly, do not allow those who criticize this singular act to pretend they are any more moral than others if they so happily turn a blind eye to the plain-sight death and destruction people like this wield.