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

[London Kev]

From the point of view of a non-American this is all very confusing.

 

I mean you have a being that is thought by His followers to be all-knowing, omnipotent, all-loving, maximally powerful, etc etc. And then you have God.

 

Can't they just have a Celebrity Deathmatch or something to resolve this?

[China]

1 hour ago, London Kev said:

From the point of view of a non-American this is all very confusing.

 

I mean you have a being that is thought by His followers to be all-knowing, omnipotent, all-loving, maximally powerful, etc etc. And then you have God.

 

Can't they just have a Celebrity Deathmatch or something to resolve this?

 

It would probably go down something like this:

 

 

[China]

The Roots of Josh Hawley’s Rage

 

In today’s Republican Party, the path to power is to build up a lie in order to overturn democracy. At least that is what Senator Josh Hawley was telling us when he offered a clenched-fist salute to the pro-Trump mob before it ransacked the Capitol, and it is the same message he delivered on the floor of the Senate in the aftermath of the attack, when he doubled down on the lies about electoral fraud that incited the insurrection in the first place. How did we get to the point where one of the bright young stars of the Republican Party appears to be at war with both truth and democracy?

 

Mr. Hawley himself, as it happens, has been making the answer plain for some time. It’s just a matter of listening to what he has been saying.

 

In multiple speeches, an interview and a widely shared article for Christianity Today, Mr. Hawley has explained that the blame for society’s ills traces all the way back to Pelagius — a British-born monk who lived 17 centuries ago. In a 2019 commencement address at The King’s College, a small conservative Christian college devoted to “a biblical worldview,” Mr. Hawley denounced Pelagius for teaching that human beings have the freedom to choose how they live their lives and that grace comes to those who do good things, as opposed to those who believe the right doctrines.

 

The most eloquent summary of the Pelagian vision, Mr. Hawley went on to say, can be found in the Supreme Court’s 1992 opinion in Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Mr. Hawley specifically cited Justice Anthony Kennedy’s words reprovingly: “At the heart of liberty,” Kennedy wrote, “is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.” The fifth century church fathers were right to condemn this terrifying variety of heresy, Mr. Hawley argued: “Replacing it and repairing the harm it has caused is one of the challenges of our day.”

 

In other words, Mr. Hawley’s idea of freedom is the freedom to conform to what he and his preferred religious authorities know to be right. Mr. Hawley is not shy about making the point explicit. In a 2017 speech to the American Renewal Project, he declared — paraphrasing the Dutch Reformed theologian and onetime prime minister Abraham Kuyper — “There is not one square inch of all creation over which Jesus Christ is not Lord.” Mr. Kuyper is perhaps best known for his claim that Christianity has sole legitimate authority over all aspects of human life.

 

“We are called to take that message into every sphere of life that we touch, including the political realm,” Mr. Hawley said. “That is our charge. To take the Lordship of Christ, that message, into the public realm, and to seek the obedience of the nations. Of our nation!”

 

Mr. Hawley has built his political career among people who believe that Shariah is just around the corner even as they attempt to secure privileges for their preferred religious groups to discriminate against those of whom they disapprove. Before he won election as a senator, he worked for Becket, a legal advocacy group that often coordinates with the right-wing legal juggernaut the Alliance Defending Freedom. He is a familiar presence on the Christian right media circuit.

 

Click on the link for more

[China]

Southern Baptist Leader Openly Supports Impeachment and Conviction of Trump

 

If you’re wondering whether any conservative Christians are willing to support the second impeachment of Donald Trump, there’s at least one prominent voice from that movement in full support of ousting the insurrectionist.

 

Russell Moore (above), the head of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission is arguably risking his livelihood by urging fellow Southern Baptists to support the removal of Trump:

 

Moore has been a frequent critic of Trump for years, often putting him at odds with more conservative members of his evangelical faith tradition.

 

Last week, following the attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters, many faith groups demanded the president’s removal. Moore tweeted a plea for Trump to resign.

On Monday, Moore went further, addressing a community of Southern Baptists directly in his newsletter.

 

“If I were the vice president, I would assemble the cabinet in accordance with the 25th Amendment,” Moore wrote in an email newsletter sent via the ERLC. “If I were a member of Congress, I would vote to impeach. And if I were a United States senator, I would vote to convict.”

 

“And I would be willing, if necessary, to lose my seat to do so,” he continued. “As a matter of fact, I am willing, if necessary, to lose this seat.”

 

Click on the link for more

[TradeTheBeal!]

 

[China]

Thousands sign petition to fire Franklin Graham for supporting Trump

 

More than 17,000 people have signed a petition calling for evangelical pastor Franklin Graham to be fired for his support of former President Trump following the deadly Capitol riot.

 

The petitioners are demanding that Graham be dropped from the Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA), according to the Charlotte Observer. The petition was drawn up by the Christian organization Faith America, which criticizes Graham’s “idolatry” of the former president.

 

“With blasphemous preachers like Graham blessing Trump's Big Lie and pretending ‘antifa’ was behind the attack, it's no wonder the failed coup featured crosses and ‘Jesus saves’ banners and flags. Graham and the religious right must be held accountable for their deadly dishonesty,” said the petition.

 

Faithful America accused Graham of propagating Trump's baseless claims of electoral fraud, claims that were at the base of inflaming the rioters that stormed through the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Graham is the son of the late evangelist Billy Graham. 

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Jim Bakker, Who Said Christians Would Riot for Trump, Now Denies It Happened

 

Televangelist Jim Bakker spent a part of last year selling (and then defending himself against selling) a fake all-purpose cure for COVID, SARS, HIV, and “all venereal diseases.”

 

He’s no longer hawking fake coronavirus cures but he’s spewing a different kind of poison instead.

 

On his show Tuesday, speaking with End Times author Jonathan Cahn, Bakker claimed that Christians weren’t part of the January 6 insurrection… even though Christians held up Jesus banners and prayed after barging into the Capitol.

 

Quote

“I still don’t understand all of that,” Bakker said. “Christians don’t burn buildings down. Christians don’t riot. They just don’t. I’m talking about born-again Christians, biblical Christians.”

 

As Right Wing Watch points out, Bakker shouldn’t be surprised for another reason: Back in August, he said that if Donald Trump lost the election, “we’re gonna have a revolution. The church people are going to march in the streets.” That’s obviously not the same thing as an insurrection, but it certainly lays the groundwork.

 

In 2017, Bakker also said a riot would occur if Trump were impeached.

 

Quote

“If they go through with that, there will be a riot in the United States of America, and you’re going to find little old ladies rioting, you’re going to find the church people out rioting because they’re not going to take it any more,” Bakker said in November 2017.

 

There are other examples, too. The point is: Bakker set the stage for a riot that included Christians. And now that a riot involving Christians has occurred, Bakker, as usual, is denying reality.

 

Click on the link for more

[China]

Why Joe Biden's faith-based 'equity' agenda is getting pushback from religious conservatives

 

As President Joe Biden tells it, the nuns who taught the future president based their religious instruction on the Gospel of Matthew: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

 

That tenet was echoed during his first days in office, when Biden signed orders to ensure fair treatment for marginalized groups on housing and other issues.

 

“We’re all God’s children,” Biden said. “We should treat each other as we would like to be treated ourselves.”

 

Another of his earliest actions strengthened anti-discrimination protections for gay and transgender people. On Thursday, Biden was expected to sign a memorandum to protect the rights of LGBTQ people worldwide, including providing protections to gay and lesbian refugees and asylum seekers.

 

But what to Biden is an “advancing equity” agenda grounded in his deep Catholic faith appears to some Christian conservatives as attacks on their own intensely held beliefs that will unravel the “religious freedom” protections championed by the Trump administration. Those protections treated religious beliefs as paramount, even if they conflicted with another person’s rights – to an abortion, to marry a person of the same sex, or to be transgender.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Larry]

Yes, the belief that treating people as you would treat Jesus is a threat to the (recently constructed) notion that (falsely) claiming "it's my reiigion" is a magic shield that allows one to ignore anti-discrimination laws.  

[Larry]

just heard a chunk of this NPR radio story in the car.  Thought I'd post it here.  

 

NPR (Audio broadcast):  New Survey Shows 3 In 5 White Evangelicals Say Joe Biden Wasn't Legitimately Elected

 

Starts off by covering the "Patriot Church" in Tenn.  Who opened their service, following the Capitol assault with "Onward Christian Soldiers", and later in the same sermon, referred to Joe Biden's election victory as "The greatest coup in modern history".  And then goes on to point to the survey referenced in the headline, to indicate that these views are in some ways not just the lunatic fringe.  

 

[Rocky21]

A LOT of so called Christians have really lost their way.  It's so sad. 

 

I blame Falwell Sr. for mixing religion and politics.  I don't remember it being there before...and it has never left since.  

[PleaseBlitz]

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/02/10/americans-far-more-likely-to-say-evangelicals-will-lose-influence-rather-than-gain-it-under-biden/

 

Americans far more likely to say evangelicals will lose influence, rather than gain it, under Biden

 

Quote

Evangelical Christians were among former President Donald Trump’s most loyal supporters. So it is no surprise that half of all U.S. adults think evangelical Christians will lose influence in Washington under President Joe Biden’s new administration while just 9% think they will gain influence, according to a January Pew Research Center survey.

Most of the remainder (39%) say evangelical Christians will not be affected by the change in administrations.

 

White evangelical Protestants are particularly likely to expect a loss of influence during the Biden presidency. Nearly three-quarters (72%) say evangelical Christians will lose influence, as do a clear majority of White Protestants who do not identify as born-again or evangelical (61%). In both cases, just 5% expect evangelicals to gain influence.

 

In general, White Americans are especially likely to say evangelical Christians will lose influence as Biden takes office. Black Americans, however, are divided on this question, including Black Protestants, who are equally likely to say evangelicals are set to gain or lose sway under Biden (27% each). Roughly two-thirds of Black Protestants (69%) identify as evangelical or born-again Christians.

 

[China]

Southern Baptists divided over politics, race, LGBTQ policy

 

Divisions over race, politics, gender and LGBTQ issues are roiling America’s largest Protestant denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, ahead of a meeting of its executive committee next week.

 

On the agenda are two items reflecting those divisions: A recommendation that a church in Kennesaw, Georgia, be ousted from the SBC because it accepted LGBTQ people into its congregation, contravening Southern Baptist doctrine; and a report by an executive committee task force criticizing the widely respected leader of the SBC’s public policy arm, the Rev. Russell Moore. Among the grievances against Moore: His outspoken criticism of Donald Trump during Trump’s 2016 election campaign and his presidency.

 

Jim Conrad, the pastor of Towne View Baptist Church in Kennesaw, said he’s at peace with the likelihood that his church will be “disfellowshipped” by the executive committee during its meeting Monday and Tuesday.

 

But Conrad sees broader challenges for the SBC as its stances on various sensitive issues are questioned from inside and outside.

 

“The problem the SBC is facing right now is this: In order to work with them, you’ve got to be in lockstep agreement with them on every point. Nine out of 10 won’t get you by,” Conrad said. “That’s just a shame. They’re going to limit themselves in terms of who’s able to work them.”

 

Click on the link for the full article

[LD0506]

Stop pretending like this is new, or that Trump caused it, they've been indoctrinated with bull**** since birth until it runs out their mouths.

 

 

[PeterMP]

4 hours ago, LD0506 said:

Stop pretending like this is new, or that Trump caused it, they've been indoctrinated with bull**** since birth until it runs out their mouths.

 

I'm betting this is fake.

https://www.reddit.com/r/uspolitics/comments/3vl1o4/jesus_himself_celebrated_christmas_michelle/

 

In talking about indoctrination and spreading false information, I'd bet you've posted something madeup.

[China]

Christian Evangelist: Biden, Who’s “Not the President,” Is Blocking Prophecy

 

Televangelist Robin Bullock, who said last November that the COVID crisis could be blamed on people who voted for Hillary Clinton and said last week that President Joe Biden “doesn’t exist,” continues to spread the Big Lie.

 

He said that Biden is somehow interfering with the “prophets” who insisted Donald Trump would serve a second term.

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

 

Christian Pastor: Trump Will Be a Two-Term President, Just Not Consecutively

 

If you’re a right-wing pastor who believes God ordained Donald Trump to be president again, who now has to come to grips with the fact that he’s a loser, how do you make sense of God’s Plan?

 

If you’re Shane Vaughn, you just pretend there’s something bigger in store:

 

 

Click on the link for the full story

[China]

Catholics Responded to a Joke Account Asking When They Felt Unwelcome in Church

 

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is a real organization made up of real Catholic leaders. Its Twitter handle is @USCCB.

 

The Twitter handle @USCCBP — with one extra letter that stands for “Parody” — typically riffs on the Church’s problems. Last month, for example, it tweeted, “What’s it like being a woman in the Church? LOL literally no one here knows.”

 

But on Wednesday, that parody account asked a simple question that some people seem to have taken all too seriously. The answers were more informative that anyone could have guessed.

 

 

Click on the link for more

[China]

When evangelical snowflakes censor the Bible: The English Standard Version goes PC

 

Long before Donald Trump made attacks against "political correctness" a key theme of his 2016 election campaign, evangelical leaders like Wayne Grudem, author of "Systematic Theology", have railed against it, particularly when they see it invading their turf — with gender-neutral language in Bible translations, for instance. But a new study by Samuel Perry, co-author of "Taking America Back for God" (I've previously interviewed his co-author, sociologist Andrew Whitehead), finds Grudem himself involved in much the same thing. 

 

"Whitewashing Evangelical Scripture: The Case of Slavery and Antisemitism in the English Standard Version," looks at how successive translations have changed in the English Standard Version of the Bible, for which Grudem serves on the oversight committee. 

 

In revisions from 2001 through 2016, Perry shows, the word "slave" first gains a footnote, then moves to the footnote and then disappears entirely — in some contexts, like Colossians 3:22, though not others — to be replaced by the word "bondservant," which could be described as a politically correct euphemism. A similar strategy is used to handle antisemitic language as well, Perry shows. 

 

It's one thing for politicians to hypocritically switch positions mid-air, or hold contradictory positions simultaneously, but it's quite another thing for theologians — or at least it's supposed to be. Evangelical Christians in particular are supposed to revere the literal truth of the Bible, not fiddle around with it to make it sound better to contemporary audiences. 

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Riggo-toni]

I've often stated "Show me a Christian who insists on a literal reading of the Bible, and I will show you someone who has never read the Old Testament."

When people talk about the Bible insisting on putting homosexuals to death or some other crazy ****, I like to pose the following:

 

Here are 4 acts described in the Bible, and 4 punishments. Can you match the punishment with the sin?

 

Cursing one's father or mother.

 

A woman stops a fight between two men by hitting or grabbing one of the men by the testicles.

 

Lesbians aka "women who lie with women"

 

Kicking a pregnant woman in the stomach so that she miscarries (primitive version of abortion, apparently)

 

Here are the punishments in order of severity (least to worst)

 

Not allowed to serve as an archer in the army

 

Pay a fine

 

Have a hand cut off

 

Put to death

 

 

 

 

[dyst]

I’ve always been a believer that the religion itself it usually fine, it’s the followers who cloud it.

[NoCalMike]

The only thing related to Christianity Trump helped with was to bring the hypocrisy in their leadership ranks even more to the forefront than they were previously, and in all honestly at least during my entire lifetime beginning as a baby during the Reagan years, it is never even been that much of a secret.

[GhostofSparta]

1 hour ago, Riggo-toni said:

I've often stated "Show me a Christian who insists on a literal reading of the Bible, and I will show you someone who has never read the Old Testament."

When people talk about the Bible insisting on putting homosexuals to death or some other crazy ****, I like to pose the following:

 

Here are 4 acts described in the Bible, and 4 punishments. Can you match the punishment with the sin?

 

(1)Cursing one's father or mother.

 

(2)A woman stops a fight between two men by hitting or grabbing one of the men by the testicles.

 

(3)Lesbians aka "women who lie with women"

 

(4)Kicking a pregnant woman in the stomach so that she miscarries (primitive version of abortion, apparently)

 

Here are the punishments in order of severity (least to worst)

 

(A)Not allowed to serve as an archer in the army

 

(B)Pay a fine

 

(C)Have a hand cut off

 

(D)Put to death

 

 

 

 

Added the letters and numbers to make it easier. But sadly I know the answers here:

1-D

2-C

3-A

4-B

Edited July 12, 2021 by GhostofSparta

[Cooked Crack]

 

 

[spjunkies]

Edited July 12, 2021 by spjunkies

[Larry]

5 minutes ago, Cooked Crack said:

 

 

 

Minor correction.  

 

They don't want a nation under God's authority.  They want it under theirs.