Evangelicals Are Supporting Trump Out of Fear, Not Faith

[Speedwell]

Think back to your own "locker-room" days. You ever brag about things about girls that never happened? Well, most of the rest of us did.

No. "most of the rest of us" did not, only the most ignorant and thuggish, and "most of the rest of us" made it clear that such behavior was unacceptable and dishonorable towards women. A real man does not generally discuss his intimate encounters with a woman, and certainly has no need to fabricate them.

 

[Speedwell]

...and people keep asking why Evangelical Christians tend to be Republican!

Is recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel really that important to them?

 

[cow451]

Is recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel really that important to them?

Yes! Because, like... Israel, you know.

 

[Willie T]

No. "most of the rest of us" did not, only the most ignorant and thuggish, and "most of the rest of us" made it clear that such behavior was unacceptable and dishonorable towards women. A real man does not generally discuss his intimate encounters with a woman, and certainly has no need to fabricate them.

Well, many of "the rest of us" are only mortals, and we certainly did many foolish things. And as very young adolescents, we did a lot of things we would like to also claim we didn't do.
Unlike some others, we even still sin.

 

[renniks]

the evangelical church is called to be a source of light in a darkening world. It is not given the luxury of fear-based decisionmaking. Indeed, of all the groups in American life who believe they have the least to fear from American politics, Christians should top the list. The faithful should reject fear.

This is made plain to young Christians from the early days of Sunday school. There, many millions of young believers are taught the biblical verse: “For God gave us not a spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

But in 2016, something snapped. I saw Christian men and women whom I’ve known and respected for years respond with raw fear at the very idea of aHillary Clinton presidency. They believed she was going to place the church in mortal danger.
The Christian writer Eric Metaxas wrote that if Hillary won, America’s chance to have a “Supreme Court that values the Constitution” will be “gone.” “Not for four years, not for eight,” he said, “but forever.”


That wasn’t faith speaking. They were the words of fearful men grasping at fading influence by clinging to a man whose daily life mocks the very values that Christians seek to advance.

But why? The American evangelical church isn’t so weak that it needs Trump’s version of secular salvation.David French: Evangelicals Are Supporting Trump Out of Fear, Not Faith

That article states the state of affairs with the evangelical church with Trump. It's not the first time I saw this and saw this during the Bush presidency. A lot of evangelicals then I recalled believed that Bush was right to invade Iraq due to the belief Saddam having weapons of mass destruction and he harboured al terrorists who were part of 9/11. Here is the link to the evangelical support for Bush in the case for war in IraqLooking back at conservative evangelicals' support for the Iraq War | Faith | Dallas News

The choice was between two highly flawed candidates. What do you suggest one do in that situation?

 

[wing2000]

We had only two choices. We rejected the worse of the two. Personally, I would have voted for Ben Carson, Herman Cain or Col. Allen West.

...and in 2019, where is the "Evangelical" support for a GOP candidate to oppose Donald Trump?

 

[Speedwell]

Well, many of "the rest of us" are only mortals, and we certainly did many foolish things. And as very young adolescents, we did a lot of things we would like to also claim we didn't do.
Unlike some others, we even still sin.

There is no doubt that we all are sinners but that is not an excuse for taking pride in toxic masculinity.

 

[wing2000]

the evangelical church is called to be a source of light in a darkening world. It is not given the luxury of fear-based decisionmaking. Indeed, of all the groups in American life who believe they have the least to fear from American politics, Christians should top the list. The faithful should reject fear

I was taught that Christians are to be the light of the world. Somewhere along the line, some prominent evangelical leaders decided the Great Commission was secondary to preserving America.

 

[LittleLambofJesus]

Anyone who thinks that evangelical Christians have nothing to fear from extremist politicians probably do not remember much about history. As Santayana said, those who do not remember history are condemned to repeat it.
Germany's Jews just couldn't bring themselves to believe that the Third Reich was going to do anything seriously harmful to them, either. After all, many had served the Fatherland as soldiers during the Great War and were patriots, so why should they fear?

And it was not the Jews only. The Christian churches were persecuted and many clergy wound up in concentration camps. Persecution also was the fate of Christians in the Soviet Union, Cuba, and elsewhere.

In the 70ad Olivet Discourse, Jesus said that whoever followed Him would suffer tribulation, prison and death.

Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke's Temple/Jerusalem Discourses harmonized- Poll Thread

Matthew 23:34
`Because of this behold!
I am commissioning toward ye Prophets and Wisemen and Scribes, out of Them Ye shall be Killing and ye shall be crucifying......

Matthew 24:9
Then they shall be delivering ye up in to tribulation and shall be killing ye
and ye shall be being hated by all of the nations because of the Name of Me
Mark 13:9
Yet be ye looking out yeselves!
For they shall be delivering ye up into Sanhedrins and into Synagogues, and ye shall be being lashed<1194>
and upon Governors and Kings to be standing on account of Me, into a witness/testimony to them.
Luke 21:12
Yet before all of these, they shall be laying the hands upon ye and shall be persecuting ye,
delivering ye up into the Synagogues and Jails,
being led upon Kings and Governors on account of the Name of Me
======================
Some interesting threads concerning the Holocaust in WW2 and the Bible.

The Holocaust: Was it the wrath and judgment of God?

This thread is to discuss a relatively controversial subject: whether or not the Holocaust was the wrath and judgment of God upon the Jews. The question is a controversial one. Going into Scripture, we find examples of what God will do to the Jews if they disobey his commands:
1) Do you believe that the Holocaust is incompatible with the revealed Scripture of the Judaeo-Christian God?
2) Do you believe that any God who would use the Holocaust as punishment is cruel?
3) Is it possible that the Holocaust was the wrath and judgment of God?
I'll leave the rest open. Thoughts?

Was Gods punishing the Jews because in the holocaust because they killed? Jesus

Was the holocaust Gods punishment of the Jews??
Many say that because of the Jews rejecting Jesus and insist he be crucified that God punished them in the Holocaust (I do not believe this but welcome comments)
Just as many gentiles died in Hitler's death camps, mainly Christians as Jews did, so then God was killing gentiles and not just Jews explain that. Explain that Tony
Records show that at least of the six million Jewish people murdered in the death camps of which another 7 million of them were gentiles
I believe that there is a lack of understanding of Jesus' death.
Any comments

WHY did God allow Jews to suffer the Holocaust?

I am not claiming to know the mind of God, but I'll answer in a way similar in which I heard Dr. Ravi Zacharias answer the question of how a benevolent God can allow suffering.

We live in a world of post-modernism where there are no absolutes (except of course that one); morals are whatever you choose. But, if we have no inherent morals, then we have no inherent value. Thus, in the world's mind there is nothing to say that what Hitler and the Nazis did was wrong -- in fact, it was relatively good, some might say.

Without the inherent value and worth that God gives us by first dirtying His hands and shaping us instead of speaking us into being shows the intent and closeness that God intended in the beginning, we are nothing. Dr. Zacharias brings up the poem "Creed" by Steve Turner which is followed by this:

I think the reason God allows the Holocaust is so people can begin to realize the worth of other humans.

The 1st Jewish Holocaust in the 1st century, including 70ad:

Visual Timeline of the Roman-Jewish War ARTchive
"..probably the greatest single slaughter in ancient history."
ROMAN SIEGE AND SACK OF JERUSALEM
=======================
Jeremiah 19:
2 “And go out to the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the Potsherd Gate; and proclaim there the words that I will tell you,
6 “therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “that this place shall no more be called Tophet or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.

Isa 30:25
There will be on every high mountain And on every high hill
Rivers and streams of waters,
In the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.

James 5:
5 ye luxuriate upon the land and ye squander, ye nourish the hearts of ye, in Day of-Slaughter
8 be ye patient! also stand-fast the hearts of ye, that the Parousia <3952> of the Lord has-neared/hggiken <1448> (5758);

 

[iluvatar5150]

...and people keep asking why Evangelical Christians tend to be Republican!

What the heck does the capital of Israel have to do with evangelical Christian doctrine?

Or are you talking about the procedural nonsense with respect to how he imagined a 2/3 majority vote?

 

[cow451]

The choice was between two highly flawed candidates. What do you suggest one do in that situation?

If one is named Trump, vote for the other one. Simple.

 

[Shiloh Raven]

I was taught that Christians are to be the light of the world. Somewhere along the line, some prominent evangelical leaders decided the Great Commission was secondary to preserving America.

The compromising began when Donald Trump showed up on the political scene and started pandering to conservative Christians. It was then that many prominent evangelical leaders began to compromise their personal convictions on Christian morality and traditional family values to support and endorse him. Case in point... James Dobson, Jerry Farwell, Jr., Franklin Graham, and Pat Robertson.

James Dobson:

James Dobson condemning Bill Clinton in 1998: "Character does matter. You can't run a family, let alone a country without it. How foolish to believe that a person who lacks honesty and moral integrity is qualified to lead a nation and the world."

Source: What James Dobson Said in 1998 About Moral Character and the Presidency

James Dobson endorsing Trump in 2016: "I’m not under any illusions that he is an outstanding moral example. It’s a cliché but true: We are electing a commander-in-chief, not a theologian-in-chief.”

Source: I’m an evangelical. The religious right leaders who support Trump don’t speak for me.

Franklin Graham:

Franklin Graham condemning Bill Clinton in 1998: "Bill Clinton's months-long extramarital sexual behavior in the Oval Office now concerns him and the rest of the world, not just his immediate family. If he will lie to or mislead his wife and daughter, those with whom he is most intimate, what will prevent him from doing the same to the American public?"

Source: What Franklin Graham Said About the “Private Sins” of Bill Clinton in 1998

Franklin Graham defending Donald Trump in 2018: “I think some of these things — that’s for him and his wife to deal with. I think when the country went after President Clinton, the Republicans, that was a great mistake that should never have happened. And I think the same with Stormy Daniels and so forth is nobody’s business. And we’ve got other business at hand that we need to deal with.”

Source: Evangelist Franklin Graham Says Donald Trump's Alleged Affair Is 'Nobody's Business'

Pat Robertson:

Pat Robertson Calls for Clinton's Impeachment

Standing by Donald Trump, Pat Robertson calls lewd video ‘macho talk’

Jerry Farwell, Jr.

Watch: Jerry Falwell Jr. goes after Clinton at Republican National Convention

Evangelical Jerry Falwell Jr. defends Trump: Jesus “never told Caesar how to run Rome”

 

[renniks]

If one is named Trump, vote for the other one. Simple.

What if the other option is worse than Trump?

 

[cow451]

What if the other option is worse than Trump?

A poster cannot fathom that possibility. And the only competition for that possibility is not running again.

 

[renniks]

A poster cannot fathom that possibility. And the only competition for that possibility is not running again.

That's a matter of opinion. Trump is abrasive, but he made some good moves, IMO.

 

[ToddNotTodd]

Is President Trump a moral man? I don't know, was President Clinton a moral man?

No and no. Anyone who thinks differently has a set of morals that I can’t recognize.

President Trump has not met all my hopes, but he does support issues important to me.

Is adultery important to you? How about the telling of falsehoods? Not being mocking, insulting or hateful? Cheating? Any of those important?

Trump is an embodiment of the seven deadly sins.

 

[renniks]

No and no. Anyone who thinks differently has a set of morals that I can’t recognize.



Is adultery important to you? How about the telling of falsehoods? Not being mocking, insulting or hateful? Cheating? Any of those important?

Trump is an embodiment of the seven deadly sins.

Of course they are important, but again, the other option was a woman who made a career out of lying. I don't think Trump is more sinful than most politicians, his sins are just more obvious.

 

[iluvatar5150]

Of course they are important, but again, the other option was a woman who made a career out of lying. I don't think Trump is more sinful than most politicians, his sins are just more obvious.

How's that choice for honesty working out for you?

 

[LittleLambofJesus]

Of course they are important, but again, the other option was a woman who made a career out of lying. I don't think Trump is more sinful than most politicians, his sins are just more obvious.

Perhaps..........

John 8 and Jesus writing in dirt
Mar 13, 2009

This event in John 8 is rather unique as it appears it is the only place in the NT/NC showing Jesus writing anything. What are views here on what Jesus wrote and if the people He was confronting would have seen it, what would their reaction have been if any. Thanks and God bless.

John 8:
6 This yet they said trying Him, that they may be having to be accusing of Him. Yet Jesus down-stooping, to the finger Wrote into the ground,
7 But when they continued asking him, he looked up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone at her."
8 Again he stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground. 9They, when they heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning from the oldest, even to the last. Jesus was left alone with the woman where she was, in the middle.
============================
Then this concerning Trump:

Released video shows Trump and Epstein at 1992 party

 

[ToddNotTodd]

Of course they are important, but again, the other option was a woman who made a career out of lying. I don't think Trump is more sinful than most politicians, his sins are just more obvious.

There were more than a dozen Republican candidates in 2016. Christians voted for Trump in the primaries. Face it, you guys wanted this immoral jerk more than the other candidates.

And you seriously think that Trump’s sins are on par with Mike Huckabee or Rick Santorum?