Posted on 06/26/2018 8:20:43 AM PDT by Morgana
While some of the most notable commands from God are “you shall have no other gods before me” and “you shall not murder,” it seems that evangelical historian John Fea has discovered another divine decree: “thou shalt not vote for Donald Trump.”
On June 24th, The Atlantic published an article by Fea with the headline “Evangelical Fear Elected Trump.” In the piece, Fea, the author of the book Believe Me: The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump, offered his explanation for why 81% of evangelicals voted for the current president – and claimed that the “fear” which motivated his fellow believers symbolized their failure to maintain faith in God.
“The Bible teaches that Christians are to fear God – and only God,” Fea wrote in his book, according to Salon. “All other forms of fear reflect a lack of faith, of failure to place one’s trust completely in the providential God.” In defense of this claim, he referenced several passages from the Bible including 1 John 4:18, which states, “there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.”
This fear, he claimed, was directed primarily towards former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and the Obama legacy that she would potentially carry on. Although he admitted that for most evangelicals their problem with Obama, (and, consequently, Hillary) came down to the fact that Obama was pro-choice, Fea seemed to discount this and proceeded to equate the evangelical attitude to hate.
“Evangelicals are not supposed to hate,” he wrote, “But many hate Hillary Clinton.” He apparently did not see devotion to protecting the unborn as a mission of love.
And this fear, according to Fea, has historical context. “It is…possible to write an entire history of American evangelicalism as the story of a people failing miserably at overcoming fear with hope, trust, and faith in their God,” he insisted.
The problem of this fear supposedly has its roots in early America and began “with the 17th-century Puritans in Salem, Massachusetts, who feared that there were witches in their midst threatening their ‘city upon a hill.’” In other words, the evangelicals’ reasons for voting for Donald Trump were somehow connected to the hysteria in Salem that led to hanging 19 people.
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But Fea had a solution. The way to remedy his plague on the Christian community is to find “better, more Christian, options…by simply opening up the Bible and reading it.” (As if the Bible does not encourage the protection of the unborn.)
One wonders what type of love Fea is really promoting. Is it characterized by selfless devotion to other people, including the helpless and innocent? Or is the love he is speaking about a blind devotion to the liberal mindset?
Did he say Christian voters aren’t really Christian if they voted for Hillary?
Because voting for God hating, baby killers, anti-Israel, mooselimb lovers, white haters is a better choice?
Infidel
Ask John Fea...over the past year....what ‘Christian foundation’ seminars that he attended and was put up at resort hotel operations. Watch him pause because he’s been to a couple of conferences of ‘fake Christian’ organizations where they use simple persuasion and interrogation gimmicks to fake you out.
Various groups exist today, and that’s their chief gimmick...convince highly noted Christian people of some fake or fraudulent position. John fell for it.
Does this writer have any suggestions as to who should have been voted for? When it is ABC time (Anybody But Clinton) and the dog catcher ain’t on the ballot... then what? Not vote? Pfffft...
Do like the scriptures tell you and be of sound mind; vote pragmatic (which might not apply to most politicians).
It is that simple.
Another so called “Christian” chastising Americans who didn’t vote for a thieving, corrupt, anti-American commie. Sorry Spanky, if voting for Clintoon is a qualification to be a Christian these days, you can count me out.
Religion and politics are like oil and water.
They don't mix together so one shouldn't even try.
Right..... instead we should have voted for the one that thinks its no problem to let a full term baby in the process on being born be stabbed in the skull with a scissors and have his brains sucked out.
“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;” Isaiah 5:20
For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
What an idiot. Can we send him to Iran for awhile?
He interprets the Bible in whatever way suits his political agenda. “A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.” Proverbs 18:2.
Boy they’re trying real hard to peel off the evangelical base from trump!! It ain’t working!! I’d rather vote for this man than vote FOR ANYONE from the RAT INFESTED pit from hell...remember how the dnc booted out God from the convention?! I do!!at least we don’t MURDER OR SNATCH INNOCENT BABY full term FROM THe womb and gut their brains out!
This guy has it totally backwards.
Another “Christian” writer from the Tony Campolo/Rob Bell wing of Christianity.
Vote for the party of baby murder and perversion?
Er ... No.
I put my trust in God and pulled the lever for Trump. :)
Right, because Christian voters are more at home with the party of abortion and gay marriage.
we should just tell him God says stfu
It's unrelective, at best.
On the policy front, Clinton was, for most white evangelicals, an extension of the Obama presidency—a candidate who would steamroll their long-cherished conservative values.Faced with a choice between Clinton and a race-baiting, xenophobic, lying adulterer who promised to support conservative Supreme Court justices, white conservative evangelicals chose the latter. In 2016, American evangelicals were looking for a strongman to protect them from the progressive forces wreaking havoc on their Christian nation. Donald Trump was the strongman.
Ummm, not really. I'd classify it more as system percieved to be broken, presenting a choice between active evil hungry for power, and a chaotic trickster.
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