I was hoping to not feel compelled to write another post on Donald Trump, years after my last one. But I cannot remain silent.

I doubt that I have any new concepts of substance to add to the many, many reports, articles, videos, and entire books analyzing him and the phenomena of his supporters.

However, in the hopes that even one person may benefit from something I say here, I will speak up. And I feel I must add my small part…. The threat on many levels is extreme if things don’t change. I fear it’s even possible we could get what some Trump loyalists are saying they see coming in certain scenarios, such as conviction(s) of Trump on felony charges. That is, “civil war”, words said seemingly as literal, not just figurative. And some have been preparing.

Threats include our being plunged into a highly autocratic form of government quite unlike the democracy, imperfect though it is, that we’ve had for nearly 250 years. If more people who have been Trump’s followers, or merely indifferent to what he is and has come to represent in America, do not soon begin to see, even they may soon be shocked and wake up only after it’s too late!

Right now, the American public could turn things around dramatically. We don’t necessarily have to wait for one or more convictions from Trump’s many felony counts, or merely hope that he will not win the Republican primary or the general election in 2024. But I have to admit we may well have to.

Too many Republicans (plus a few others) are in his thrall. Estimates are in the 30% to 35% range among all voters who promise to stick by him no matter what is yet revealed that they may not have known; even if he becomes a convicted felon who nearly succeeded in forcefully overturning a presidential election. That is, per the latest indictment, if he’s found guilty on charges of conspiring to defraud Americans of their rights (particularly to have their votes count) or of obstructing the peaceful transfer of power to Biden.

To “turn things around” before a potential conviction or election loss might provoke the turn, the thralldom would have to be broken. That seems unlikely at the moment, sadly! There are at least two distinct realms in which people are under Trump’s spell.

• First, the much larger and foundational group: voters.

• They lead to the second, much smaller but much more influential group, person for person: elected officials from local and state to national levels.

I’ve tried and tried to understand the mentality of millions of Trump’s hard core supporters…. succeeded only partially. That despite having a conservative orientation in teen and young adult years, plus decades of relevant education, (formal degrees plus much self-guided study). Yet I cannot fully grasp the dynamics involved, particularly with the first group, voters. And particularly puzzling is the sub-group (also in the millions) of Evangelical Christians, of which I was one from childhood to about age 45.

I was raised in an Evangelical family and church, educated in that framework through bachelor’s and two master’s degrees (MDiv and MA in Marriage and family counseling – the three, 1967 to 1978). Additionally, I worked for four years during seminary and after in “Christian defenses” with special attention to understanding and combatting Christian-related “cults”. (“Cult” is a broad and often loosely applied term, but here is the basic meaning for “cult-induced” in my title: the exceptionally loyal group following of an authoritarian figure to the extent of loss of critical thinking about the leader’s and group’s beliefs and/or actions.) Strong social reinforcement and “us vs. them” mentality makes it additionally tough to remove oneself from such a cult.

I have been reticent to put the bulk of Trump followers in any category called “cult” or “cult-like”. Now, finally landing there, I am far from the first to suggest it. Others more expert by far than I, in following and grasping the political scene, have been saying this for some time. The context for my knowledge of cults has been mainly religion. What I’m realizing is that Trump cultism is much like religious cultism.

Now, softening the pessimism as to cult members “leaving” the group or disavowing their leader, is this: It is happening, perhaps more than seems so outwardly. That may be partly because Trump followers are generally involved in the broader culture and have friends or family members who are not supportive of him. Through them and media sources, they at least occasionally hear news they cannot relegate to “fake”, particularly major developments such as indictments of Trump, or the extremes of his vitriol and lies in response. As to media, they may only see news through a deeply tinted lens of certain cable channels or social media friend or interest groups they’ve chosen. But they do hear some basic facts that often challenge their undue loyalty. And their critical faculties are not entirely dormant, though highly resistant to re-examination. So I am not despairing.

However, even if we do see a significant breaking away from blind support of Trump, I will have seen things I can’t “unsee”. They will still cause me and many others deep concern about the stability of our democracy. They indicate that spiritual commitment (especially within systems emphasizing purity and adherence to orthodox dogmas) can easily lead to loss of discernment… to a deficit of sight perhaps worse than blindness: an active distortion of provable, easily discovered facts, along with a conscious refusal to allow one’s perceptions (not just opinions) to be adjusted by listening openly to others.

It may go without saying that if group one above, voters, start looking deeper and adjusting unrealistic hopes, their new views would show up in polling. This would then free the spineless politicians who actually don’t like or want Trump but won’t say so or strongly counter him, to begin breaking away. If enough of them do so, there will likely be a snowball effect and the Republican Party itself might be able to be salvaged (which remains very questionable at this moment).

Conversely, Republican so-called leaders, could actually begin to lead by speaking truth, taking the risk of losing their next election as a result. We’ve seen this from Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, and a very few others. But there don’t seem to be others willing to so lead… thus far. I suppose it could yet change, but I don’t see the signs. If a good number of Republican politicians did step up as leaders, they might be able to start opening the eyes of the blinded folks who put them in power.

Whatever happens, we will have a great, great need for restoration of trust, of civility, as well as compromise and collaboration. We can do it, and a determined movement toward the principles of a truly “deliberative democracy” should be part of the healing and growth process.