I was #NeverTrump. I’ve changed my mind.

[HereIStand]

They can't even get the budget done and now they are passing a bill that will cut revenue. So is this how you make major improvements to your home? You cut the amount of money that you will be making, increase the debt your going to be accumulating, then pursue costly improvements? That's the logic of Washington, I just don't get it. Oh and by the way, the interim elections are coming up, that's a factor.

Infrastructure will have to come about like Obamacare. That is, write a massive IOU. More gas taxes won't work since gas prices are low and cars keep using less.

 

[Aryeh Jay]

Lol, you're right. What I meant to say is that Trump is trying to increase the number of agents by at least 5,000.

Trying is good, but setting a Government Hiring Freeze for 90 days didn’t help and eight months after the freeze was lifted they are still fewer Border Patrol Officers than under Obama.

 

[inquiring mind]

They can't even get the budget done and now they are passing a bill that will cut revenue. So is this how you make major improvements to your home? You cut the amount of money that you will be making, increase the debt your going to be accumulating, then pursue costly improvements? That's the logic of Washington, I just don't get it. Oh and by the way, the interim elections are coming up, that's a factor.

Maybe it’s ‘forced entitlement reduction’... less money to dole out and no politician gets blamed for cutting, except for cutting taxes, which taxpayers won't fuss about to much.

 

[wing2000]

Infrastructure will have to come about like Obamacare. That is, write a massive IOU. More gas taxes won't work since gas prices are low and cars keep using less.

...or we could simply bring our troops home and channel the savings to rebuilding our country.

 

[Belk]

It's a very short article, but I think this is relevant because hispanics represent 17% of the workforce and that number is growing. Also, the article says the black unemployment last month is half that what it was at the start of Obama's second year in office. Anway...

"Hispanics are reaping the benefits of a strong job market, even as some remain concerned about their place in the country under a Trump presidency.

The president has made cracking down on illegal immigration one of his top priorities, and spoke derisively about Mexicans during his campaign.

On jobs, at least, Hispanics in the Trump era are seeing improvement.

"Hispanics are more confident about their personal financial situation than the general public, and they're also more optimistic that their family's financial situation is going to improve in the next year," said Jens Manuel Krogstad, who studies Hispanic demographics for the Pew Research Center."

OK. How does that show that the economy was doing comparatively bad under Obama?

 

[EmotionlessTruth]

Okay, but what do you mean by his unrighteousness or ungodliness? There are many things he's done and said that align with Christian values. As for your sentiment about his views on war, as far as I know he hasn't at all said he intends to reinstate the draft, so that's a decision out of ignorance on your part I think.

Thanks for your questions. You asked, "what do mean by his unrighteousness or ungodliness". Of course, all men sin – I know I do. Eric Metaxas wrote a book entitled 7 Men and he just did another entitled 7 Women. The overall character of the people he wrote about is inspiring. The character of these people is reflected over their lifetime. President Trump doesn’t have that legacy. No, we did not vote for Pope or a Priest, but I would like the character and legacy following the chief executive our nation into the Oval Office to be someone that could be written about like this. In addition, as a Christian, I want the examples I point to in such powerful positions to at least uphold the ideals of the republic; ideals such as faithfulness, humility, valor, and compassion. President Trump’s 70 years on this planet has a legacy of wealth, power, control, and winning by making deals in this world. He has been married 3 times and his public persona regarding chivalry, courtesy, courteousness, politeness, and graciousness toward women HISTORICALLY speaking, leaves much to be desired. This is simply a value system I don’t want as a model. Why can’t someone be bold and strong AND ALSO humble and loving? Speak softly but carry a big stick… you know!

Thus, it has nothing to do with the “…many things he's done and said that align with Christian values.” It’s the many overt things that don’t, over the course of the last 50 years of his adult life. Again, we all sin, just like the 7-Men in Metaxas' book, but those 7 are known, not for their sins, but for their character, values, and strong stances. President Trump is also known for his character, values and strong stances - there are no secrets.

Also, I don't have anything against the President about his views on war. I just don’t want us as a nation to provoke violence inadvertently. For example, I don’t care where our Embassy in Israel is placed – but if the President and his advisors move it from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, I hope they are aware of and sensitive to the unrest and bloodshed that has already and may continue to result. No, it’s not our nor Mr. Trumps fault that evil people do evil things like riot and kill in the middle east. But wisdom and careful strategic action really do need to take such things into account. I hope they have – but like I said, I don’t care where the Embassy is (thus, leaving it in Jerusalem would have been fine with me) But, if it’s important to move it, just count the cost. You and I are not in those meetings, so we simply don’t know what is discussed and planned. Yet, wars that our nation have been drawn into in the past have been sparked by other such actions. Human beings are so fickle!

Finally, regarding the draft – my statement has nothing to do with what The President has said. It is simply an acknowledgment that all young people register in the selective service and thus, can be drafted if needed. The world is on edge right now. ISIS, hopefully, will be dealt with soon and the President has continued (I’m sure with military advisors) to fight them where needed. North Korea and Iran are hot-beds for who-knows-what! The tensions around the world are high. I just hate violence, war, and death. I pray that cool heads and capable diplomats keep these areas of intense unrest from exploding into something that we as a nation can’t avoid.

You can continue to defend the President. I, too will defend him as appropriate. My point was that I cannot change my position because it was based on a 50-year track-record that is not godly, not even superficially, and I would have preferred a Chief Executive that at least had the veneer of a godly character for the past 30, 40 or 50 years of their life.

 

[inquiring mind]

OK. How does that show that the economy was doing comparatively bad under Obama?

More employment has helped the economy... would that work?

 

[Belk]

More employment has helped the economy... would that work?

Well, it shows that it has improved somewhat in one sector. That seems a far cry from showing that, by comparison, the entire economy was bad under Obama.

 

[inquiring mind]

...or we could simply bring our troops home and channel the savings to rebuilding our country.

That would be great, but ‘those we cannot speak of’ would then have a free-hand to grow and sell all the ‘tulip poppies’ they want, establish their own states, build-up rogue armies, armaments and recruits to spread their love and tolerance for us all around the world.

 

[Aryeh Jay]

That would be great, but ‘those we cannot speak of’ would then have a free-hand to grow and sell all the ‘tulip poppies’ they want, establish their own states, build-up rogue armies, armaments and recruits to spread their love and tolerance for us all around the world.

But they are doing it right now and have been for decades.

 

[Root of Jesse]

I was #NeverTrump. I’ve changed my mind.

What ended up doing it for me is the body of work he’s accumulated without the help of Congress. I’m no fan of executive orders, but after a flurry of mostly righteous orders in the beginning that reversed many of Obama’s failing orders, he started calming down. The ones he ended up putting in place, from the various travel bans to pulling back on Obamacare to trying to cutting the bureaucracy down to size were all positives. I started saying fewer and fewer bad things about him because he simply wasn’t doing very many things worthy of complaint.

Then, there was Jerusalem. That’s what sold me. He did what every President should have done since 1967. This isn’t a 22-year-old endeavor. It’s a five-decade-old series of failures by American Presidents, including Ronald Reagan, that Trump finally corrected.​

I haven't been a big Trump fan until lately. It's a lot of things-his speeches, the tax bill, Jerusalem to name a few. I voted for him as "ABH" Anyone but Hillary. But I've voted that way since the late 80's-hold your nose and choose the lesser of two evils.

 

[RustedBeef]

If Donald has demonstrated a Christian value, it's gone unnoticed... odd for a man who lives for the spotlight.



But easy when the reasoning is self-evident.



Already refuted.



"Crying" doesn't count as doing much. What he has attempted to do -- cut off federal funds -- was unconstitutional and was rightly stopped.



Anyone can ask, but what has he given them in exchange for their promise (pinky swear, so you know it's serious!) that they'll do... something.



Except for those countries which have already sent terrorists our way -- Saudi Arabia being at the top of the list. The door is still wide open for them.

I'm not sure how to work the quote system as well as you, so bear with me.

"Trump hasn't shown any Christian values"
- I'll give an example of one. After the Orlando shooting at that gay clubhouse Trump spoke friendly to the gays and criticized the Islamic terrorists for killing people strictly for their beliefs.

"I'm not giving a reason because it's self-evident"
- Well, I thought so about why the article I linked to about the unemployment rates, but someone asked me to quote the part I thought was relevant, and I did. Obviously it's not self evident if someone has to ask for it.

"Border patrol expanded refuted"
- Yes, I corrected myself as I meant to say Trump put in plans to increase the number of agents by at least 5,000.

"Sanctuary city fund cutting unconstitutional"
- I don't believe it's been fully resolved yet.

"Asking government leaders to fight home grown terrorism"
- You seem to think him meeting with the middle-eastern leaders and them agreeing to do so is meaningless. Well, the Crown Prince recently saying they'll fight terrorism until it's eradicated because he won't allow them to distort their "peaceful" religion and placing an embargo on Qatar for supporting terrorism isn't exactly nothing. Saudi Prince: Coalition will fight terrorism until it's eradicated - CNN

"Trump didn't ban all countries with terrorists"
- He can only do so much and get away with it, but he did put travel restrictions on the 7 countries the Obama administration listed as being terrorist hot spots, and Saudi Arabia wasn't on it.

 

[inquiring mind]

But they are doing it right now and have been for decades.

And that's with resistance.

 

[Root of Jesse]

It takes a certain type of integrity to be able to admit when one has been bought.

Folks are always bought when the government does something they favor, then.

 

[Root of Jesse]

I don't think I could ever change my mind because my ultimate decision was based on blatant unrighteousness and ungodliness, not on political issues. The truth is, politically speaking, I don't care if we move or not move our embassy in Israel; I don't care if we build a wall or not; I don't care if we cut taxes or not; nor do I care if we block visitors from certain countries or not. I do care about war (as I have a 15 year old son and do not which him to be drafted as soon as he is 18 in order to fight a war); I also care about limiting or eliminating abortions and that marriage is between a man and a woman for life, however, President Trump is not a person who can authoritatively speak or represent either issue.

I think Christians need to be prophetic - not about political issues, but about the truth. Nathan rebuked David for truth. John the Baptist rebuked Herod for truth. In general, the prophets of the Old Testament had the job of keeping the king faithful to God, ethically, morally, and spiritually - but not politically, unless it crossed over into an area of a clearly Divine directive. For those of us in Christ, the only clearly Divine directive is to Love God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength and to love our neighbor. Of course, we can debate how these two things cross into our American political landscape, but there are some clear practices that are outside of God's will which we can all easily agree to. I can't support President Trump in such areas and I feel compelled to be clear and not subtle about this, regardless of the political agenda. Many evangelical leaders seemed to ignore this when supporting Trump during the election last year.

Thus, I could not change my position unless the President gained some emotional intelligence and he developed an overtly authentic faith where he could appropriately speak in the public square about his past sins and his future stance for truth.

The president has a prayer meeting every morning in the Oval Office, and has a spiritual director.

 

[Root of Jesse]

When Trump lost to Cruz in the Iowa caucuses he made outlandish accusations and quickly garnered the support of Fox News ... and the Republican establishment. Never trusted him after that.

Yeah, I boycotted Fox News until after the election for this...

 

[Root of Jesse]

"He simply wasn't doing very many things worthy of complaint."

Clearly this guy doesn't have Twitter.

That's a problem?

 

[Root of Jesse]

Yeah, the powerful are crying over the tax bill. Can't wait for next year to see how Trump and the Republican Congress will defend the less powerful from dangerous food stamps and Medicare.

The fact is that, without any intervention, people aren't using food stamps or Medicare this year as much as they were during Obama's administration.

 

[wing2000]

That would be great, but ‘those we cannot speak of’ would then have a free-hand to grow and sell all the ‘tulip poppies’ they want, establish their own states, build-up rogue armies, armaments and recruits to spread their love and tolerance for us all around the world.

...who is to say they don't have a free hand today? Last time I checked, the poppy trade was thriving in Afghanistan. The Soviets were smart to get out of that country...how many decades will it take before we learn that our military can not nation build or control outcomes?

 

[Root of Jesse]

Was the economy doing bad all the way up until January 20, 2017?

Actually, the economy was doing bad until Nov 8 2016. After that, the economy took off.