Nothing Illustrates the Madness of Our Age Quite as Well as Political Prayer Candles

Yes, it is ridiculous, and arguably blasphemous, that Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer apparently owns a Stacey Abrams prayer candle.

But it was also ridiculous, and arguably blasphemous to have Robert Mueller prayer candles, and Anthony Fauci prayer candles. And the short-lived but intense interest in purchasing those candles illustrates the appetite for “immanentizing the eschaton,” and seeking for what only the divine can provide in some deeply flawed, flesh-and-blood politician or public figure. If you’re lucky, a political leader will be a good person. But they can’t deliver miracles, they can’t create heaven on earth, they’re as flawed and vulnerable to temptation as the rest of us, and they were never meant to be worshipped as idols.

The Mueller and Fauci candles were as ridiculous, and arguably blasphemous as the Ruth Bader Ginsburg prayer candles, and Andrew Cuomo prayer candles, and Kamala Harris prayer candles, and Pete Buttigieg prayer candles, and Nancy Pelosi prayer candles, and Mike Bloomberg prayer candles, and Jon Stewart prayer candles, and Barack Obama prayer candles, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez prayer candles, and Bernie Sanders prayer candles . . .

. . . and Donald Trump prayer candles.

I mean, it’s not like Jesus went anywhere. He’s not on hiatus or taking a sabbatical from His role as the Messiah. He isn’t in the concussion protocol on the sideline, with some other currently alive human being stepping in as backup.