Posted on 11/29/2015 6:12:20 AM PST by Kaslin
I understand the tremendous popularity of Donald Trump in America in 2015.
He is a larger than life reality TV star; he is incredibly rich and not beholden to anyone; he is fearless and speaks his mind; he articulates the frustrations and anger of millions of his countrymen; he gives the impression that he can fix our economy and will put an end to illegal immigration; he is not a Washington insider; he could be a strong leader who could face down our global enemies; he can even be winsome and self-effacing at times.
Yes, I do understand all this to the point that, for some weeks, I wondered to myself if I could get behind Trump as a candidate. And the question still remains, if the presidential race was between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, could I cast a vote for Trump? (I could not possibly vote for Hillary Clinton.)
But let's not deal in hypotheticals now. The immediate question is: Should evangelical Christians support Donald Trump as the Republican candidate? I do not see how we can if the Word of God is to be our guide and if it's important to us that a candidate have a solid moral compass and a biblically based worldview and I mean to be our president, not our spiritual leader, since we are electing a president, not a pastor or priest.
The Scriptures teach that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45), and so Trump's consistent pattern of reckless speech points to deeper issues which could make him unfit for the office of the presidency.
I'm not just talking about his silly attacks on Megyn Kelly (blood), Carly Fiorina (face), and Marco Rubio (sweat) or his more serious attacks on Mexican immigrants (accusing the many of what the few do) and others. I'm talking about his character assault on Ben Carson, comparing him to a child molester who has pathological problems and, most recently, his apparent mocking of the disability of New York Times reporter Serge Kovaleski.
Worse still, rather than apologizing for his most recent remarks, he claims he is being unfairly attacked for his comments and alleges that he doesn't even know what Kovaleski looks like. Is he lying?
Notice that he referred to Kovaleski, who suffers from arthrogryposis, which visibly limits flexibility in his arms, as a "nice reporter," before saying, "Now the poor guy, you've got to see this guy," flailing his arms as he pretended to be Kovaleski.
Is this the man you want to be our president? The warnings in Proverbs are strong: "Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him" (Proverbs 29:20). And, "A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back" (Proverbs 29:11).
We need a statesman, not an irresponsible flame thrower, and one can be a strong political leader who is cutting and fearless with words think of Winston Churchill without making a fool of oneself.
What of Trump's claim that, "I have no idea who this reporter, Serge Kovalski is, what he looks like or his level of intelligence," and, "Despite having one of the all-time great memories, I certainly do not remember him"?
If this is true, why did he refer to him as a "nice reporter" and what did he mean when he said, "Now the poor guy, you've got to see this guy"? And did he merely flail his arms mocking someone who, he claimed, couldn't quite remember things correctly this was Trump's defense or was he making fun of Kovaleski's arms? (Watch for yourself and you be the judge as to whether he is telling the truth.)
Kovaleski, for his part, states that, "Donald and I were on a first-name basis for years. I've interviewed him in his office. I've talked to him at press conferences. All in all, I would say around a dozen times, I've interacted with him as a reporter while I was at the Daily News."
How could Trump have forgotten someone with Kovaleski's condition?
Trump pointed to the large sums he has given to help people with disabilities, and I don't doubt that he has, nor do I doubt that he cares about the disabled and handicapped.
But what is undeniable is that he is often irresponsible and reckless in his speech, something that could be utterly disastrous for the president of the United States of America. As noted by Jay Ruderman, an advocate for the disabled, "It is unacceptable for a child to mock another child's disability on the playground, never mind a presidential candidate mocking someone's disability as part of a national political discourse."
Yet there's something that concerns me even more when it comes to evangelicals supporting Donald Trump and that is the issue of pride, the sin that is often at the root of a host of other sins (Isaiah 14:11-15), the sin which God resists (James 4:6), the sin which leads to destruction (Proverbs 16:18).
Trump seems to have little understanding of what it means to ask God for forgiveness, while his very open, unashamed boastfulness is part and parcel of his persona. Trump and pride seem to walk hand in hand, quite comfortably at that.
So, while I do understand why many Americans are behind Donald Trump and while I do believe he could do some things well as president, I cannot understand how evangelicals can back him, especially when we have a number of solid, God-fearing, capable alternatives.
(For my video commentary on this, with the relevant clips from Trump, click here. The ugly comments from Trump supporters are quite telling.)
[The difference between Obama and Trump is that Trump admits he’s not a Christian. At least, he’s not one yet. He point blank said so.]
Could you provide a link for that?
That is good.
And THAT is an important reason why I don’t believe he’d make a good president.
The genius of Trump is that he gets under everybody's skin and those everybody's are more than welcome to vote for someone else. In fact, they can Get The Heck (he uses a stronger word) Out.
The genius of Trump is ignores people like the columnist who believe he should cow tow to the MSM and be a lot less entertaining. That alone would stop him from filling large halls to capacity, forcing them to lie about those events. That would end his candidacy since his candidacy is built around momentum on a few highly controversial issues.
Apparently the author of the piece loves illegals although he doesn't come right out and say it. Then my advice is simple: vote for someone else like Jeb.
Gore and Bush “waxed religious” were both stumping on how many “tent revivals” they attended when they were little kids. I suppose hoping to win the Evangelical Vote... I remember it well and thought - who would base their vote on that?
The story is not in America’s best interests, Brown is not helping the cause, merely supporting more holier than thou thinking that will get us another Rat president to weaken our Country further.
Trump may not be an angel but if he’s the best chance to deliver us from Satan’s helper in the WH and it looks like Cruz isn’t going to pull enough votes to get elected I’ll vote for him. Anything but the Satanic children that are in the current regime.
Because they can't beat Clinton. How does the sound of President Hilary Clinton sound to you? How does the thought of Bill Clinton in the White House for 4 more years sound to you?
Think about that. Let it sink in. Meditate on it. Ponder it. Pray over it.
Then be afraid, be very afraid and then you'll know who to vote for.
Their are many leaders in the Bible that I bet you would never have supported according to the core reasoning in the article if you so agreed. Take for example apostle Paul who prosecuted Christians who in the end turned out to be a great servant of God leading the Churches and People to God. Would you have agreed then with God’s decision knowing fully well this was the same man who was killing the Christians then? Other words your logic is flaw so as the Mr Browns.
Donald Trump is “the world” personified. We already have someone living in the White House who thinks he’s God.
Not only did Winston Churchill frequently make a fool of himself, by 1938 he was thought a fool by a strong majority.
He never won an election, and indeed the only time the Conservative Party stood for election with himself as PM, they were crushed. He had a reputation for public drunkenness, and was well known for crude remarks and behavior.
But the writer's selection of Churchill is apropos (I'm sure the writer doesn't get this): It was said of his public career that "he was wrong about everything, except the one thing that mattered".
In our time, the "one thing that matters" is restoring a nation of laws and of borders. About this one thing, there is only one candidate, and his name is Donald Trump.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/18/politics/trump-has-never-sought-forgiveness/index.html
“I am not sure I have. I just go on and try to do a better job from there. I don’t think so,” he said. “I think if I do something wrong, I think, I just try and make it right. I don’t bring God into that picture. I don’t.”
Trump said that while he hasn’t asked God for forgiveness, he does participate in Holy Communion.
“When I drink my little wine — which is about the only wine I drink — and have my little cracker, I guess that is a form of asking for forgiveness, and I do that as often as possible because I feel cleansed,” he said. “I think in terms of ‘let’s go on and let’s make it right.’”
“You believe there is one God. You do well. The devils believe and tremble.”
Like I said earlier, he may be a lost sheep, or he may be a goat, but he is not yet a “found sheep”, by his own admission.
He also doesn’t seem to have a clue regarding the foundational teaching of Christianity. There are a LOT of people hedging their bets on church pews that fall into that category. It’s not just Trump. Folks in that camp probably think he’s a Christian, “just like them”. And they are right.
Well, CNN sure hates him. That’s good enough for me.
It's taken a while for me to get up to speed on his enormous accomplishments, and the fact that he's prevailed in the slimy environs of Albany and City Hall are even more impressive.
Well, at least then your posts about this make sense.
Hope you are right, deeply believe you are wrong.
I tend to dismiss it as well. I want to know who is Michael Brown? What are his religious and political beliefs? Is he a liberal or conservative? What candidate does he support?
I’m voting for a commander in chief, not a pastor in chief and I thought we don’t have religious litmus tests in this country. Only God knows what’s in someone’s heart. If Trump, or others, don’t show shame or humility publicly, oh well. How many examples of this type of hypocrisy have we seen in past with religious leaders of all faiths? What’s their actions, especially when not seen, and do we know all their actions? Perhaps we should remove the tree trunk in our own eye first?
Hope you are right, deeply believe you are wrong.
I’ve said since Obama was elected in 2008: Obama is not the problem. The electorate is the problem, and they don’t have term limits. And here we are...
I think I’ll go watch Idiocracy again.
I’m going to vote for Cruz in the primary, as I think he is a conservative. But I have no trouble voting for Trump if he gets the nomination even though he is fairly liberal and not a Godly man. Why? Because he has the right enemies- the whole of the left and the GOP-E. Whatever happens, he won’t be controlled by them, and that is in my view a good thing.
Leaf,
If Trump gets the nomination instead of Cruz you wont vote for him?
I like Donald Trump because he is saying the very same things about America and her citizens as I have for many years. He believes the GOPe, is crooked and weak. They abide, not by what they tell us, BUT what the campaign paying organizations tell them to do. I’ve seen it time and time again. They foist the likes of Bob Dole, John McCain and Mid Romney on Republicans and now they are putting up J.E. Bush. (JEB) What is his first name for heavens sake? We Have Hillary or Hill, and now JEB. Everyone else are called by their full name or their LEGAL LAST NAME. I like the Donald.
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