A Satanic Master Signifier: The Prosperity Preacher, the President, and the Disobedient Virus

Abstract

This article presents an account of prosperity gospel preacher Kenneth Copeland’s unwavering support for Donald Trump. Employing an approach to discourse derived from Ernesto Laclau and Chantelle Mouffe, I examine two aspects of Copeland’s teachings and practices. First, examine his infamous judgement upon Covid-19 (The Judgement), in which he declares war on the virus as a satanic plot. Second, I consider his spiralling teachings on faith, which, like The Judgement, pay considerable attention to the figure of Satan. Both of these aspects reveal Satan’s central role in establishing the stability of Copeland’s discursive world. Satan functions, in Laclau’s terms, as an empty signifier. I call this empty signifier the master signifier, a play on the master Satan. I claim that to understand Copeland’s commitment to Trump, Trump’s relationship to the master signifier is crucial. Copeland casts Trump as an anointed king, a central player in the cosmic battle to realise America’s divine destiny. To be a member of the prosperity gospel community, despite its twists and turns, is to be committed to standing with the anointed against the external foe, Satan.