A pastor attending President Trump’s campaign rally in Florida last weekend had a horrific experience.
Pastor Joel Tooley, who heads the First Church of the Nazarene in Melbourne, Florida, is warning his Facebook followers of the demagoguery of Donald Trump. While Tooley didn’t vote for Trump, he said he attended the rally with his 11-year-old daughter so she could see the President of the United States in person.
“After all, how many times do you get to see the President of the United States in person – let alone in your hometown? I was eager for her to have this experience. It has to be a pretty cool thing, as a kid to see Air Force One, the President and the First Lady,” Tooley wrote. However, the rally took on a decidedly darker tone when the “religious zeal” Trump’s supporters had for the president became more pronounced.
“As [President Donald Trump and First Lady Melanie Trump] entered the venue and walked to the platform, there was terrific celebration. I have been in the room when other Presidents were in a similar mode – it is always such a meaningful experience to be that close to them, regardless of whether or not you view them with adoration. Theeeee President of the USA!
“The First Lady approached the platform and in her rich accent, began to recite the Lord’s prayer.
“I can’t explain it, but I felt sick. This wasn’t a prayer beseeching the presence of Almighty God, it felt theatrical and manipulative.
“People across the room were reciting it as if it were a pep squad cheer. At the close of the prayer, the room erupted in cheering. It was so uncomfortable. I observed that Mr. Trump did not recite the prayer until the very last line, “be the glory forever and ever, amen!” As he raised his hands in the air, evoking a cheer from the crowd, “USA! USA! USA!””
Then when a group of protesters began criticizing Trump in the audience, who were chanting, “T…R…U-M-P! That’s how you spell bigotry!” The rally attendees became what Rev. Tooley referred to as “an angry mob,” saying the campaign signs in their hands were the only thing that prevented people in the crowd from injuring the protesters.
I didn’t actually want a Trump sign, but one of the volunteers had shoved it into my hands as I walked through the door earlier; “Make America Great Again!” That sign probably saved someone from getting hurt. I held the sign close to my chest as I positioned myself between the chanting protesters and the angry mob. My 11-year-old daughter was clinging to my arm, sobbing in fear.
As Rev. Tooley began to intervene, saying he instinctually became “a protector,” he heard one Trump supporter nearby shout, “I’m going to take you out! This is my president and nobody has the right to disrespect him and nobody has the right to keep me from hearing him!”
“I wish I could have captured the expressions of that man on camera. I will never forget him,” Tooley wrote.
Tooley remarked that the event reminded him of religious services he had attended when watching how the crowd reacted to what Trump was saying.
“I realized then that we were not listening to someone presidential, we were listening to someone terribly powerful,” He said.
Read Tooley’s post below:
What I am about to write and what you are about to read may make some people very uncomfortable, if not angry.
That is…
Posted by Joel Tooley on Saturday, February 18, 2017
