I do not understand the support Donald J. Trump enjoys among my people, the evangelicals. I appreciate that we are willing to forgive and forget, but that all-important element, “repentance,” appears to be missing in the Republican candidate.
This is judge-y of me, I know, but I’m not alone in my dismay. This, from one of Billy Graham’s grandchildren:
But then, maybe the New York Times’ so-called schism among evangelicals has always been there. Maybe this is just one more disillusionment we face in this woe-begotten election season. Is this the “dark and rotting core” of evangelism, as the Times said?
Then let it die. Let evangelism die and be reborn (there’s precedent) as something more akin to Jesus’ original intent.
Here: Reread the Beatitudes. Then tell me where building a wall/exporting Muslims/grabbing women without their consent is mentioned. Better yet, read the entire Sermon on the Mount, a pretty good political platform if ever there was one.
And then, brothers and sisters, go off in prayerful pursuit of your soul. See you at the voting booth on Tuesday.
Dating Jesus 
I don’t know……….
A political platform which contains “Judge not lest ye be judged”? That would take some serious spin to be workable.
The problem is, in a democratic republic based upon tolerance, Christians just don’t do well.
We really fucking don’t, do we? But I still cling to the Sermon on the Mount as a really great platform — a blueprint, if you will. (I’ve wanted to type “if you will” since I woke up this morning. Indulge me.)
The GOP still works that whole “city on a hill” thing sometimes, but the Reagan Era is a few hills back, I think.
The Sermon on the Mount would be a good blueprint, I think, for Christians. But they would have to read it first. You know…read it…not listen to some cherry-picking hypocrite spoon feed it to them. And then they should read it again. Because I think if they did, most of them would have some very difficult decisions to make. Especially when it comes to politics.
We agree. Read it, or, as I say about any syllabus I have for my students: “Learn it. Live it. Love it.”
With Christians I would be satisfied with “Learn it. Live it.”
I object to labeling all Christians as the same! We/some Christians do very well when it comes to tolerance. We lead the way, sometimes. It’s no more right to lump all Christians as one as it is to do that with Muslims. Just saying. We UCC (as one example) Christians have a voice, too.
OK, I said my piece. As you were, my friends. TGIFBED! Thank God It’s Friday Before Election Day!
You know, Jac? I am not an Islamaphobe. I am not a racist. I am also not a beneficiary of the anarchy of conscience that affords to any person the societal privilege of Christian affiliation without any demands on performance. I know what I see. I read history.
Just sayin’.
My comment was only a reminder that there are liberal Christians out there. Using “Christians” to label all of us as the same isn’t accurate. We liberal Christians deserve to have our voices heard, too.
I understand your frustration. We share it about some Christians who IMO are hypocrites. Either that, or we have the Christian Institution and the Christians who wish to follow Jesus. Maybe they are not the same and churches need to choose one or the other and label themselves/act accordingly.
“…you never ask questions when God’s on your side”. Bob Dylan.
I remember something from my Catholic girlhood (abandoned, alas) called the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy. Some were: feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick, etc. – all an excellent blueprint of what Jesus would do. I don’t remember “grab the pussy” as part of them. I still can’t comprehend why evangelicals would support a short-fingered vulgarian and consider Hillary as the Antichrist. The works of mercy included something about visiting those in jail – but not putting them there.
Nor can I comprehend it. Bless their (moronic) hearts.
They’re still practiced! Pope Francis has quite the fondness for them.
This was good: https://theunexpectedpastor.com/2016/11/03/how-can-you-vote-for-her/
Nice one!
I have to ask Christians who are thinking about voting for Trump to consider this:
Jesus said this in Mark 12:28-33
“One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all you soul, and with all your mind, and with all you strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
This is Donald Trump:
He is a man who brags about his ability to sexually assault women (his words on camera and audio tape). Numerous women say he did exactly that to them. When asked on camera before he got into politics if he treats women with respect, he answered with, “I can’t say that either” (his words on camera). He not only disrespects women, but has over time made racists comments and taken actions that have been discriminatory in his business. The KKK has endorsed him. He has targeted whole groups of people and claimed they are a danger, despite the fact that very few people within his targeted demographic are actually criminals. He even reacted with racist comments toward a federal judge, purely due to his ethnicity. Trump belittled the Muslim parents of one of our Bronze Star, Purple Heart fallen soldiers, because he didn’t like that the dad spoke up as an American patriot to denounce Trump’s bigotry toward all Muslims. Trump actually mocked this soldier’s mother and falsely inferred she wasn’t permitted to speak due to her religion. He mocked the disability of a journalist. He has instigated violence toward those who disagreed with him at his rallies, saying, among many other things, “Part of the problem … is nobody wants to hurt each other anymore.” This is a man who admires Putin’s oppression of Russian people. This is a man who has a Federal lawsuit ahead for raping a 13 year old girl! He has swindled people out of money (Trump University as an example). He stiffed contractors. He has a class-action lawsuit against him and Trump U for fraud. In fact, Trump currently has 75 pending lawsuits against him and he claims the system is rigged. He rigs the system to benefit himself at every opportunity. This is a man who spends so much time sending nasty tweets about people that his staff had to recently take over his Twitter. He attacks, bullies, and lies about people, every chance he gets in order to boost himself. He has always been focused on loving himself.
So I have these questions: As a Christian, whose greatest commandments according to Jesus are to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself, how does Donald Trump measure up in loving his neighbor? Is this the person you can in good conscience support and enable with your vote?