is Trumpism helping or harming the position of Christianity in America?

[Bang]

1 hour ago, Skins24 said:

Some have (I just google'd 'Christians Against Trump'.) But no one cares or listens, so it's not newsworthy....

I've read essays from a lot of religious leaders, to be fair. We've had quite a few of them posted here.
I think many local leaders have done what they can.. it's the everyone else. The rank and file, the gigantic population of American Christians of all denominations.  With all he has done that is straight sacrilegious (not counting the criminal stuff), if the rank and file rose up they could drown him out in seconds. It is their faith he is soiling. I guess I haven't seen the overwhelming outrage I thought it might, should garner.

Maybe folks feel powerless, or that this is somehow a normal political thing.  it isn't like history hasn't shown us plenty of that.

 

~Bang

 

 

Edited March 28 by Bang

[The Sisko]

On 3/24/2024 at 10:21 AM, Simmsy said:

 

Meth works better, I'd condone meth over church.

At least drugs are a straightforward vice. They don't come promising salvation, just a temporary escape that will eventually kill you.

[Simmsy]

17 hours ago, The Sisko said:

At least drugs are a straightforward vice. They don't come promising salvation, just a temporary escape that will eventually kill you.

 Yeah, and I can get meth in 5 minutes, church is two hours.

[Cooked Crack]

 

 

[Cooked Crack]

 

[Riggo-toni]

 

[Cooked Crack]

 

[Captain Wiggles]

Lol. Basically **** Ukraine cuz that's not where Jesus is gonna returns. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

 

Evangelicals are awful. 

[Cooked Crack]

 

 

[Jumbo]

Donie O'Sullivan is top drawer. 👍 

[Cooked Crack]

 

[Captain Wiggles]

The FBI is gonna "roll up" on people for posting memes. 🤣

 

Billy's twitter page is filled with some gems. Like this one here:

 

Quote

“Saying Christ is King is just a right wing version of saying Black Lives Matter.”

[China]

6 hours ago, BringMetheHeadofBruceAllen said:

Funny how the media hasn't really reported on this NAR movement before...I knew evangelicals were illogically backing Trump, but this makes it look far more widespread than anyone ever thought...and confirms that the current evangelicals are basically adopting the same beliefs that the Confederate States of America had about America supposedly being created for white Christians only...and that violence is OK in furthering their goals.

 

https://religionnews.com/2024/05/06/how-trumpism-has-pushed-a-fringe-charismatic-theology-into-the-mainstream/

 

How Trumpism has pushed a fringe charismatic theology into the mainstream

Charismatics who don’t identify as evangelicals also show majority support for the territorial spirits notion (59%), which only drops below a majority (to 34%) for nonevangelical, noncharismatics. In short, these NAR ideas and theologies have spread far beyond the explicitly charismatic circles in which they originated.

 

In other words, what not long ago seemed to be a marginal set of beliefs has become a dominant religious framework among American Christians. We’ve known for quite some time that charismatics and Pentecostals were the fastest-growing Christian group in the country, but no one has shown yet just how widespread NAR-linked beliefs are, or how far they extend beyond a charismatic/Pentecostal identification. From our evidence, it is no surprise that we are hearing much more talk from religious leaders about demons and spiritual warfare.

 

The fact that these NAR-affiliated Christians make up the core of Christian Trump support and the new base of the Republican Party also helps explain why many elected officials have taken a decidedly charismatic turn. It explains why a Southern Baptist in good standing like Mike Johnson would be linking arms with NAR apostles, why provocateur Roger Stone has claimed he too is the subject of prophecies and announced in 2022 that he had a vision of a demonic portal above Joe Biden’s White House. It explains why former Texas Gov. Rick Perry would propagate the notion of Trump being anointed by God. 

 

Evangelicals Hate Stormy Daniels But Love Trump. Here’s Why.

 

He’s been found liable for committing sexual abuse. He’s bragged about grabbing women by the you-know-what. He’s in the middle of a court case over paying hush money to a porn star with whom he allegedly cheated on his wife — the third woman he’s married. And he’s the de facto leader of American evangelicalism.

 

How could Christians embrace a leader who has seemingly treated half the “thou shalt nots” in the Bible as a challenge? The typical answer is that it’s a matter of political convenience. Donald Trump may not be a choir boy, the conventional wisdom suggests, but he offers Christians wins on socially conservative policies, and he appointed Supreme Court justices who delivered for evangelicals by overturning Roe v. Wade.

 

But anyone who’s so much as set foot in an evangelical church over the last eight years knows that Christians don’t describe Trump as an unfortunate necessity, but a literal God-send. Political convenience alone doesn’t explain that.

 

Sex might.

 

According to Samuel L. Perry, a sociologist of religion who has written several books on conservative Christianity including Addicted to Lust: Pornography in the Lives of Conservative Protestants, Trump’s sinful behavior may actually reinforce his support among at least some evangelicals.

 

Trump’s sexual misdeeds may break religious doctrine, Perry says, but they also affirm his masculinity — at least in the evangelical view. They demonstrate that Trump is a virile, red-blooded man, afflicted by God — like all “real men” — with lust. Not just lust for sex, Perry says, but for power. And much like Biblical warriors who themselves struggled with sexual temptation, Trump can wield that power to lead the faithful to glory.

 

In an interview for POLITICO Magazine, Perry spoke about how evangelical ideas about masculinity, pornography and sexuality help explain the most unusual but politically potent alliance in modern politics.

 

Click on the link for the full interview

[dfitzo53]

I'm sure there's plenty of truth in that, but I think it glosses over the general Christian understanding that women are basically problem causers. 

 

It amazes me that any woman stands up and defends that worldview, and doubly so when they are (at least on paper) educated. 

Edited May 8 by dfitzo53

[BringMetheHeadofBruceAllen]

What bothers me about this uber-Moral Majority movement is that they support the use of violence in order to "restore" the US as a white Christian nation. That's basically what the Confederacy was all about. They don't see January 6th as a horrible tragedy, but a STARTING POINT.