Posted on 06/10/2017 4:56:44 AM PDT by Kaslin
First they came for the wedding planners and the bakers. Then they came for the Catholic farmers and the Baptist high school valedictorians. And now, the secularists are coming after the evangelical public servants.
On Wednesday, Russell Vought, President Trump’s nominee to be deputy director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, was viciously attacked by Sen. Bernie Sanders over his Christian faith.
Sen. Sanders deemed Vought unsuitable for office because he believes that salvation is found alone through Jesus Christ. He said someone with that kind of a religious belief system is “really not someone who this country is supposed to be about.”
The Vermont senator’s comments brought strong condemnation from Christians across the nation – including Family Research Council President Tony Perkins.
“Senator Sanders is taking the Obama era’s religious hostility and putting it on steroids,” Perkins said.
Thousands have signed a Family Research Council petition demanding Sanders apologize for his outburst of religious bigotry.
Robert Jeffress, the pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, said there are only two choices for the senator: "Apologize to the country for his foolhardy attempt to introduce an unconstitutional litmus test that would exclude 41 percent of the country, or resign."
The controversy stems from an article Vought wrote in 2016 defending his alma mater, Wheaton College. In that article, he described Islam as a “deficient theology.”
“This is a fundamental problem,” he wrote in The Resurgent. “Muslims do not simply have a deficient theology. They do not know God because they have rejected Jesus Christ his Son, and they stand condemned.”
Sanders confronted Vought during the congressional hearing. The following is a transcript provided by FRC:
Sanders: "'Muslims do not simply have a deficient theology. They do not know God because they have rejected Jesus Christ, His Son, and they stand condemned.' Do you believe that that statement is Islamophobic?"
Vought: "Absolutely not, Senator. I'm a Christian, and I believe in a Christian set of principles based on my faith...
Sanders: "...Forgive me, we just don't have a lot of time. Do you believe people in the Muslim religion stand condemned? Is that your view?"
Vought: "Again, Senator, I'm a Christian, and I wrote that piece in accordance with the statement of faith at Wheaton College..."
Sanders: "I understand that. I don't know how many Muslims there are in America. Maybe a couple million. Are you suggesting that these people stand condemned? What about Jews? Do they stand condemned too?"
Vought: "Senator, I'm a Christian..."
Sanders (shouting): "I understand you are a Christian, but this country [is] made of people who are not just -- I understand that Christianity is the majority religion, but there are other people of different religions in this country and around the world. In your judgment, do you think that people who are not Christians are going to be condemned?"
Vought: "Thank you for probing on that question. As a Christian, I believe that all individuals are made in the image of God and are worthy of dignity and respect regardless of their religious beliefs. I believe that as a Christian that's how I should treat all individuals..."
Sanders: "...Do you think that's respectful of other religions?... I would simply say, Mr. Chairman that this nominee is really not someone who this country is supposed to be about."
As Perkins pointed out, salvation through Jesus Christ is a core biblical tenet held by Christians for millennia.
“Yet Senator Sanders is making it clear that he believes the U.S. Senate should disqualify nominees who express this most basic biblical belief,” Perkins said. “Americans should never be forced to choose between their faith and public service. Nor should the U.S. Senate try to impose a stealth litmus test that says ‘you can be religious as long as you don’t actually believe or talk about what the Bible teaches.”
David French wrote a powerful rebuke of Sanders for National Review.
“There is nothing ‘extreme’ about his statements, and they mirror the statements of faith of countless Christian churches and schools across the land,” French wrote. “Are these believers also not fit for public office?”
It’s a fair question and one that I posed to Sen. Sanders’ office. Does he believe Christians are unfit to hold public office?
The senator’s press office did not answer that question directly.
“The question at hand is not about Mr. Vought’s freedom to hold certain religious beliefs,” the senator’s spokesman told me. “The question that concerns Sen. Sanders is whether Mr. Vought will carry out the duties of his office in a way that treats all Americans equally, even those whose beliefs he has criticized.”
It was an ugly moment in American politics, but it was also an instructional moment for American Christians.
Progressives and secularists are waging a brutal assault on people of faith – and it’s only gotten worse since President Trump took office. I predicted that would happen in my latest book, “The Deplorables Guide to Making America Great Again.”
People of faith must stand together and renounce anti-Christian bigots and bigotry – especially when those bigots walk the halls of Congress.
Christians do not cut your head off for refusing to convert to their religion.
Muslims do.
Sanders socialist ideology is absolutely not what this country is about and he should be dragged out of office and tarred and feathered.
His ilk have damaged this country enough and it’s time to right the course.
All human souls have equal worth. Regardless of individual talents, all souls are of equal worth. God covets all souls. Individuals can dedicate their souls to God or Satan. There is no third choice.
Would this pissant socialist have grilled a Muslim who believes that you are going to hell (condemned to hell) unless you convert to Islam and believe in Allah and his only true prophet? Of course not.
Keep in mind that Sanders is a Jew in name only, like Leon Trotsky.
This is only going to get worse.
The official state religion is atheism in violation of the Constitution.
Do atheists have religious beliefs?
Yes, they believe God does not exist.
It is a religion like all the others and their beliefs are put ahead of all other religions in violation of the Constitution.
“...Sanders’ socialist ideology.....”
is a religion that does not tolerate competition from Christianity.
IMHO
Bernie Sanders does not believe that salvation is found in Christ alone.
Is someone allowed to argue that disqualifies him from office?
If you believe that Christ is The Way, then you are a hateful bigot who wants to impose your religion on everyone. If you want to impose Sharia law on everyone and kill “sinners, heretics and nonbelievers” and force everyone to accept your particular brand of Islam, then you are to be celebrated as a hero and never questioned.
LEMMIE SEE, NOW............
Last time around, ONE (and only one) politrical party BOOED GOD!
Remember?
Remember which one?? Hunh?
Hey Bernie...go back to your beach house and enjoy the payoff from the DNC.
You and your socialist ilk are what’s wrong with this country. Don’t like it? GTFO!!
YOU are NOT what this country is about and YOU need to go read history of what the Founding Fathers were about. You’re a POS, Bernie, and IF you don’t change your ways, yes, you’re gonna BURN.....
Civil war is coming. It's only a matter of time. Will the ever-dwindling number of Christians fight? Or will they be led like sheep to the cattle cars?
“really not someone who this country is supposed to be about.” Describes Sanders pretty well.
That bullsh8t about “salvation through Christ alone” is a problem, first, it is not really the foundational principal of Christianity, it is the foundational principal of a strain of Christianity, those who are “reformed”.
The writings of CS Lewis make it clear that, in the broader view, no matter what your religious affiliation or label or whether one has never even heard the name of Jesus, any human being can be on the path to Heaven depending upon what is in his/her heart or mind. This is more likely the truth.
The other point is, the Bible, Old Testament or New, warns against being too sure one is right. So, the dude should have testified this way: “My beliefs are my own and I will not argue them with you. The relevant question is: Do my beliefs impede or color my ability to discharge the duties of this office in a Constitutional manner and the answer is they do not.”
Instead of stupidly robotically repeating “I am a Christian and ....”
Yes I do. It was the Rat party
There are no atheists in foxholes...........
I agree.
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