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

[NightHawkeye]

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.​

 

[LoAmmi]

It's hard to believe sometimes that undying support for Israel seems more important to a subset of Christians than it means to Jews.

 

[TLK Valentine]

Then, there was Jerusalem. That’s what sold me. ​

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

 

[Aryeh Jay]

Wow, the thing that does absolutely nothing for the people of the United Sates is what turned someone.

I take that back, it will cost us about a billion to build the new buildings.

 

[Basil the Great]

I will say that your story is an interesting one, NightHawkeye.

 

[NightHawkeye]

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

As the saying goes ...

It's the economy stupid.​

It's always the economy. That was no less true under Obama ... who bought votes with Obama phones, buying Klunkers, giving away healthcare, etc., etc., etc.

 

[Tanj]

As the saying goes ...

It's the economy stupid.​

It's always the economy. That was no less true under Obama ... who bought votes with Obama phones, buying Klunkers, giving away healthcare, etc., etc., etc.

How do those dots connect to the guy no one has heard of being sold on Trump because of Jerusalem?

 

[inquiring mind]

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.​

And, there’s no telling how much money President Trump has saved, by demanding NATO members step up, by demanding Paris Climate Accord members step up, and by stopping payoffs, my guess like to North Korea (no telling how long that could have been going on and it must have been a lot judging from how crazy Kim is acting). Also, where’s ISIS now? I think we’re safer, sure something could happen (it always could), but everyone now knows that payback will be swift and rough. If fake news, congress and other political entrenchments would get out of his way and let him cut a lot more of the ridiculous hand-out spending, we wouldn’t have to worry about infrastructure, healthcare, or illegal immigration.

 

[RustedBeef]

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.​

What was it that you didn't like about him during the campaign? If I remember right, he promised he would move our embassy in Israel to Jerusalem during the election. A lot of people I know don't like him because they think he speaks inappropriately or that he's bigoted, but I think the way he talks is something we need and I've never been convinced of him being a bigot; he was friendly towards the gays after the Orlando shooting, he is friendly towards Muslims (separate from the religion, mind you), and he genuinely cares about the various minority groups. Personally, I would rather have Ted Cruz in the oval office, but I didn't have much to dislike about Trump anyway.

 

[EmotionlessTruth]

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.

 

[NightHawkeye]

What was it that you didn't like about him during the campaign? ... Personally, I would rather have Ted Cruz in the oval office, but I didn't have much to dislike about Trump anyway.

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.

 

[brinny]

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.​

THIS is what got him the presidency (from the linked article):
....
“I have joined the political arena so that the powerful can no longer beat up on people that cannot defend themselves. Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it.”

THIS is why the political machine hates him.

 

[RustedBeef]

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.

I understand not liking that, but it doesn't reveal anything about the quality of his political ideas.

 

[Paulie079]

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

Clearly this guy doesn't have Twitter.

 

[RustedBeef]

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.

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.

 

[essentialsaltes]

THIS is what got him the presidency (from the linked article):
....
“I have joined the political arena so that the powerful can no longer beat up on people that cannot defend themselves. Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it.”

THIS is why the political machine hates him.

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.

 

[AvilaSurfer]

I was never a #nevertrump guy. But I was always solidly #neverhillary. And so far I’ve been pleasantly surprised.

 

[Glaucus]

I was Pro-Trump. I've changed my mind. I wanted a strong President who would stand up for Christian values and be tough on terror and illegal immigration. What we've instead gotten is an infantile clown who is an embarrassment to himself and our nation, and who is causing more international conflict than he is solving. This isn't Conservatism. He doesn't embody what it means to be a Republican. I've always been a moderate who leaned further right than left, but this insane, juvenile nonsense has caused me to look down deep within myself and ask a lot of questions.

 

[GoldenBoy89]

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

Clearly this guy doesn't have Twitter.

Or eyes to see and ears to hear.

 

[RustedBeef]

I was Pro-Trump. I've changed my mind. I wanted a strong President who would stand up for Christian values and be tough on terror and illegal immigration. What we've instead gotten is an infantile clown who is an embarrassment to himself and our nation, and who is causing more international conflict than he is solving. This isn't Conservatism. He doesn't embody what it means to be a Republican. I've always been a moderate who leaned further right than left, but this insane, juvenile nonsense has caused me to look down deep within myself and ask a lot of questions.

You said Trump has failed to stand for Christian values and is weak on terror/illegals but you didn't give an example of that. It's hard to have a conversation about something when you don't explain your reasoning.

As far as the illegal immigrants go, our border patrol has been expanded and he's done much to fight against these sanctuary cities. With terrorism, he's gone to Middle-East countries and asked the governments there to help fight terrorism at the source, but not only that he's also made several controversial policies to prevent people from traveling here from countries with terrorism issues.