Ted Cruz Tells Reporters "I'm a Christian First, American Second"

Yahoo News ^ | 25 Jan 2016 | Tom McKay

[mandaladon]

According to presidential candidate and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, there's one thing that more important to him than the country he's running to lead: his God.

In a remarkable exchange in New Hampshire, Politico reports, Cruz told reporters "I'm a Christian first, American second, conservative third and Republican fourth."

"I'll tell ya, there are a whole lot of people in this country that feel exactly the same way," he added.

Cruz, currently ranked second in GOP candidate polls according to RealClearPolitics, enjoys wide support among evangelical Christians in important, early-voting primary states like Iowa, where Cruz is locked in a tight race with current frontrunner Donald Trump. Cruz repeatedly accused Trump and his support of "more deal-making" and enjoying the support of unpopular "establishment" Republicans.

By proclaiming himself a Christian first and an American second, Cruz is professing higher loyalties than the United States — odd for a candidate who has repeatedly accused Muslims of doing much the same thing.

[Harpotoo]

I’m an American whose religion happens to be Jewish. But that’s just me.

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

He’s speaking code to his followers.

What comes before God?

[sockmonkey]

What do you know about dominionism? The Seven Mountains Mandate?

To me, from what I've seen of Ted's Dad and his associates on video, it seems like Prosperity Gospel on steroids meets the Taliban.

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

A Christian who tells rich Gays one thing in private to get money and tells Christians something else in public to get their votes.

Cruz and his homosexual donors agreed on state determination of marriage laws. It's the same thing that Cruz has said elsewhere.

[Boogieman]

Jesus himself posited basically the same thing in the famous quote:

“Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, render unto God what is God’s.”

Our lives belong to God, Caesar can sweat the small stuff.

[Fhios]

Like hammering nails into the bottom of your rowboat.

[CA Conservative]

So he puts his ideology and party before his family.

Show me where in that statement you find support for that. You are really reaching to find something negative to say.

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

Carson talked himself out of a chance to be a contender and Cruz is doing the same thing. Wouldn't it be better to keep things like that to yourself!

What's more important than telling the truth about God?

Ted is also probably familiar with this verse:

"But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven."

[PJBankard]

Does anyone know the question that was asked to Cruz in regards to his response?

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

The trick to getting elected is to have a majority of your followers also be a majority of the voters.

If this hurts Ted, why are Trump supporters complaining?

[smoothsailing]

Let Cruz set his own priorities. :)

[beandog]

Because they can’t do anything but complain.

[Luircin]

I’m a Christian minister, and I believe that what you’re saying makes sense even from a Christian standpoint. If you look at it in a certain way.

For those whose vocation is unfortunate enough to be President of the United States, it’s a BIG responsibility. But temporal authority does not equal spiritual authority. You will note that Jesus and the Apostles never went in for temporal authority.

Let me try to put it this way. Someone who calls himself a Christian who works for a logging company who spent all day trying to convert his co-workers instead of actually logging would be a bad logger, and for that matter, also a bad Christian.

In the same way, a President who tries to mix faith and job in that respect would not be a good President. It would be abandoning his vocation.

We the People, if we’re still allowed to do so, vote a President in so that he will uphold the laws of the United States and see that they are faithfully executed. If any President should abandon this duty in order to try to do a pastor’s job, he would be a bad President.

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

A better way of putting it: "I value my core Christian faith as one of the top priorities in my life"

Your relationship with the Creator of the universe is ONE of the top priorities of your life?

What could possibly be equal to a person's relationship with God?

[jimbo807]

Ted is torpedoing his chances.

[Donglalinger]

Try I’m Muslim first and American second and see how that goes over

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

Every believer here should be able to at least say a hearty AMEN to this statement... but they stone him.... wow!!!

"Where your treasure is, there your heart is also."

[Patriotic1]

Mine too (Although I consider myself a Catholic first, with Christianity being the main part of Catholicism). It actually took a long time to transform my thinking to that way.

[NurdlyPeon]

I could care less too (but I’d have to be dead).

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

Because they can't do anything but complain.

It sure seems that way.