I want to re-up this because it has been astonishing to me how much so called *christians* apparently do not care anymore how they are perceived by others. You have a man who was impeached twice, is an adjudicated rapist, a fraudster, and now a convicted felon. Trump has additional felony counts against him in 3 trials that have yet to happen. He is surrounded by felons, which makes the Republican party look like a lawless criminal organization: Steve Bannon is only the latest one to have to report to prison by July 1. He openly solicits bribes. He lies constantly, like breathing, and yet some people believe what he says (those people apparently like being conned by a swindler). Every time I see this I remember the verse from Revelation in the Bible that says the liars will be thrown into the Lake of Fire; I guess christians pick and choose. Trump is embraced by some portion of a religious ideology that, at least in my youth, used to pretend to be righteous.
Repeating part of that article
The president of the United States attempted to use his political power to coerce a foreign leader to harass and discredit one of the president’s political opponents. That is not only a violation of the Constitution; more importantly, it is profoundly immoral.
The reason many are not shocked about this is that this president has dumbed down the idea of morality in his administration. He has hired and fired a number of people who are now convicted criminals. He himself has admitted to immoral actions in business and his relationship with women, about which he remains proud. His Twitter feed alone—with its habitual string of mischaracterizations, lies, and slanders—is a near perfect example of a human being who is morally lost and confused.
Trump’s evangelical supporters have pointed to his Supreme Court nominees, his defense of religious liberty, and his stewardship of the economy, among other things, as achievements that justify their support of the president. We believe the impeachment hearings have made it absolutely clear, in a way the Mueller investigation did not, that President Trump has abused his authority for personal gain and betrayed his constitutional oath. The impeachment hearings have illuminated the president’s moral deficiencies for all to see. This damages the institution of the presidency, damages the reputation of our country, and damages both the spirit and the future of our people. None of the president’s positives can balance the moral and political danger we face under a leader of such grossly immoral character……
To the many evangelicals who continue to support Mr. Trump in spite of his blackened moral record, we might say this: Remember who you are and whom you serve. Consider how your justification of Mr. Trump influences your witness to your Lord and Savior. Consider what an unbelieving world will say if you continue to brush off Mr. Trump’s immoral words and behavior in the cause of political expediency. If we don’t reverse course now, will anyone take anything we say about justice and righteousness with any seriousness for decades to come? Can we say with a straight face that abortion is a great evil that cannot be tolerated and, with the same straight face, say that the bent and broken character of our nation’s leader doesn’t really matter in the end?
… To use an old cliché, it’s time to call a spade a spade, to say that no matter how many hands we win in this political poker game, we are playing with a stacked deck of gross immorality and ethical incompetence. And just when we think it’s time to push all our chips to the center of the table, that’s when the whole game will come crashing down. It will crash down on the reputation of evangelical religion and on the world’s understanding of the gospel. And it will come crashing down on a nation of men and women whose welfare is also our concern.
Has anything changed with Trump 5 years later? Nope, he still wants to go after his political enemies. I’m old enough to remember Nixon was vilified for having an *enemies list*. The trial in New York that he just lost showed, again, that this man has no problem with having had sex as well as an affair behind his wife’s back, and falsified records to try to hide it from the public so that he could win the election. He lost a civil lawsuit about defamation in which he was adjudicated to be a sexual assaulter. In the second lawsuit JUST THIS YEAR he lost because he lied and falsified his property records to game the system. That’s not to mention how he defrauded a charity and in that lawsuit was told he AND HIS FAMILY could no longer operate a charity in New York.
And yet, there is a faction of people that ignore all this and somehow believe that if they suck up to him, the public at large will in turn ignore that these so-called christians appear to be lawless and immoral goons themselves. I’ve wondered at what point the goal of christianity, at least for the people that claim to follow it, became to exalt a con man with no morality to look up to. Looks like a quest for power to me, and I am certain that people that have aligned themselves with christian nationalism are doing so for that explicit purpose, ie, to gain power for themselves through whatever means they can do it. That’s instead of attempting to lead an ethical life while using Jesus words in the Bible (at least the parts that are good) as a guiding light. How can, for example, you be against bullying and try to teach your own children some appropriate moral values but then be in a political party that has a bully as the leader. I believe that people definitely can be good without god and the reverse attitude that people can be bad while pretending to worship god also applies.
Maybe it’s just evangelical christians (and not sure that evangelicals have become synonymous with christian nationalist at this point) that have decided to ride with the devil. It’s as if the goal of the evangelicals is to accept sin and dumb down any requirement that people should be better, if not perfect. And because they have an enclave with their church where they are surrounded by hypocritical people who also, with the goal of power, are willing to ignore the moral precepts of Jesus, thus changing the goal from being a light to being the ones under the bushel basket.
I remember when those baloney “He Gets Us” ads came out. From KeithGiles
It’s as if they seem to think that the rest of us – those who are not Conservative Evangelical Christians – need to realize how loving, forgiving, accepting and affirming this Jesus guy was….and if we just knew that, we’d decide to show up to one of their Conservative Evangelical Churches next Sunday to see who this Jesus guy was and what this Christianity is all about.
But…if anyone actually did decide to attend one of those Evangelical Churches, what would they find?
Would they be loved if they were gay? No.
Would they be welcome and accepted if they were refugees or immigrants? Not a chance.
Would they feel safe and loved if they had ever paid for an abortion? No way.
So, what’s the point?
Do they think that people don’t know that Jesus was loving and kind?
Do they think that we need to be reminded how much Jesus isn’t like most Evangelical Christians?
Of course, the truth is that Atheists, Non-Believers, and people of other faiths already know that Jesus is about love, forgiveness, acceptance, mercy, kindness, grace and compassion. They don’t need anyone to spend $100 Million on a Super Bowl ad to figure that out.
Just watch any “man-on-the-street” interview on YouTube where non-Christians are asked what they think about Jesus: They love him!
Now, ask them what they think about Christianity, or about Evangelical Church-goers: They want nothing to do with them.
This type of thinking is why I believe that the so-called *christian* evangelicals no longer have evangelism as a goal, attempting to bring people to a better life based on moral values and ethics. Instead, and churches like Stonewater show this, they support political power in attempt to take over all facets of this world and push bigotry and racism on everyone. Also seems to the casual observer, especially when there are churches that are show-biz oriented, that at least for some, christianity is merely a social club that has no strong ethical mooring.
“They profess that they know God, but in works they deny Him, being disobedient”: Titus 1.16
And that includes supporting a man who compares himself to Jesus but calls 2nd Corinthians in the Bible Two Corinthians
Repeating again what the Billy Graham magazine said
Remember who you are and whom you serve. Consider how your justification of Mr. Trump influences your witness to your Lord and Savior. Consider what an unbelieving world will say if you continue to brush off Mr. Trump’s immoral words and behavior in the cause of political expediency. If we don’t reverse course now, will anyone take anything we say about justice and righteousness with any seriousness for decades to come? Can we say with a straight face that abortion is a great evil that cannot be tolerated and, with the same straight face, say that the bent and broken character of our nation’s leader doesn’t really matter in the end?
