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.)
Not to mention Evangelical ain’t monochrome
Lots of nuance
Yeah, his business acumen falls in the same category as the Atlantic City casinos. Not impressive.
I remember when he bought the Eastern Airlines shuttle. He was going to run it like a “diamond’ the Trumpt Shuttle. He ran it into the ground. When I think of Trump business ability, I think sleaze.
Go, Trump, GO!!
Is it one or the other to you? A jerk, or a nice liar?
In the north or the south, your objection to my comment is still called a strawman.
Not familiar w Michael Brown, the author.
and then there is you........ judge of judge that creates evidence from visceral hate
“When I think of Trump business ability, I think sleaze.”
As opposed to Hillary Clinton, for example?
I hope Trump wins because I do not want Hillary. Evangelicals can vote for whatever loser they want who won’t be able to give them a preacher for POTUS. Which is okay as long as that person can win the general election.
I think many of them like Obama and Hillary because it gives them some misery to gripe about.
We have run out of time to play games.
The bible is pretty clear on that one.
Please f9cuz on what I said as opposed to what you think I meant.
You read too much int9 my posts. Read my tag line. That’s the biggest clue.
I have no idea what you are talking about. The only thing I hate is sin.
As an Evangelical myself, go Trump go!
Exactly
Simon Peter had this exact same problem. Guess what? Jesus Himself made Simon Peter His first-round draft pick.
Do you understand?
Jesus picked deeply flawed men -- which is the only choice He had because no one other than Him is perfect -- to carry out His will.
And they performed admirably and effectively.
Without doing a head count, it looked to me at the time you posted this, there were more Trump SUPPORTERS than “haters” who had posted. But I guess facts don’t matter when there are pictures to post and names to call.
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>> “Simon Peter had this exact same problem. Guess what? Jesus Himself made Simon Peter His first-round draft pick.” <<
Well, no and no.
Trump and Simon Peter are spiritual opposites.
Peter was hot for the faith, too hot at times, leading to some embarrassments for him.
Trump is hot for Trump.
He has publicly said that he is too nice of a guy to go to hell, while stating in the same event that he has no need to confess his sins.
Finally, Yeshua picked John as his #1 apostle, and gave him the job of writing the three most important pieces of the New Testament.
What do you suppose Trump might contribute? Throwing the country under Antichrist?
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Well for some of us, forsaking God is what put the nation on the brink to start with.
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>> “Though somehow NY cheap, trash talking jerk Trump managed to build a multi-billion dollar real estate empire in one of the toughest venues on the planet.
Go figure, hey?” <<
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Lucifer takes care of his key players!
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Some of you are getting ridiculous. Being wary of Trump does not equate to supporting Obama. Although I would indeed be disappointed with any evangelical Christians who bought in to Obama.
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