Irony or Hypocrisy?

Any evangelicals wish to respond?

<crickets>

Like I’ve Been Saying...

7+ minutes of “Nailed It!”

Not Exactly “Christian”

Evangelicals, are these policies being guided by Christian principles?  Is “your man” Trump being guided by Christian principles when he creates these policies?  Is the Republican Party being guided by Christian principles when it chooses to support this man and these policies?

No. No. No.

Let’s stop pretending that this man and this party are “Christian.”  They aren’t.

No, Evangelicals, You Haven’t “Forgiven” Trump

Here’s a little reminder from the Bible:

So, a couple of conditionals and commands:
(1) If someone (like Trump, maybe?) sins, call him out!
(2) And IF that someone then repents, THEN you should forgive him.

Here are the problems:
(1) Evangelicals have ignored the first command entirely when it comes to Trump.
(2) And then, because Trump has specifically said that he has literally NOTHING for which to ask forgiveness, then he hasn’t repented, so Christians cannot forgive him.

Both of these problems add up to evangelicals’ blatant ignorance of their own sacred text, their Christ’s specific teachings, and their new king’s (i.e., Trump’s) anti-Christian antics.

For shame.

Short ‘N Sweet

More Evangelicals Are "Coming Out"

And they are coming out as "anti-Trumpists" … AS THEY SHOULD.

Here's the newest media publication by an evangelical pastor who knows Trump is absolutely NOT the man with whom any person of God should associate himself.  Again, a tidbit to get you to read the op-ed in its entirety:

"Trump is an anathema to everything I was taught to love about Jesus, everything I was taught about how to live out my faith. His disdain for decency, disrespect toward basic tenets of right and wrong and complete disregard for the most vulnerable among us could not be more fundamentally un-Christian. To vote for him because he sees the political expediency of supporting restrictions on abortion is a Faustian deal with the devil that is ultimately more likely to exact greater cost than reward."

Please read the whole thing and pass it along.  November is coming soon!

A Hymn for Evangelicals

Maybe the evangelical tide is starting to turn?

We can only hope.

From the Mouths of (Cartoon) Babes

Pretty straightforward, I'd say.

Maybe White Evangelicals Should Start Taking Their Cues from Their Black Brothers & Sisters

Recently, a large group of black pastors collectively wrote and signed a letter in support of the recent editorials by Christianity Today criticizing the unbridled immorality of President Trump.  In the process, they, rightly so, publicly admonished their white pastor counterparts who condemned the original CT editorials, a condemnation that Franklin Graham blasphemously echoed.  That letter from the black pastors, in its entirety, can be found here, and it is certainly worth the read. Here's a snippet:

"It has been said that 'the local church is the hope of the world, and it rests in the hands of its leaders.' If we truly believe that, then the local church can never be in a position to sacrifice its integrity and abandon all truth for the sake of political expediency. That is exactly what these 170 pastors have done by consistently justifying and excusing the behavior of the now-impeached president."

This black-white division over what seems to be (at least to an objective viewer with a modicum of criticial-thinking ability) a clear distinction between morality and immorality in the White House right now got me thinking about history.  And I specifically thought about the white evangelical response to the Civil Rights movement in our nation.  So, after doing some research on The Gospel Coalition website, I was reminded that during this last major racial-identity political divide, the white evangelicals were most certainly wrong then, too.

Here are a few tidbits from that lengthy article that, sadly, seem to be History trying to remind us all of the putrid stain of the white-evangelical support of blatant injustice:

• One researcher said, "I find that my fellow churchmen who supported the cause of justice were more often the exception, not the rule."
• "White southern evangelicals were blinded by their majority status to the injustice around them."
• "White southern evangelicals imbibed and perpetuated the Lost Cause mythology.  Developing at the end of Reconstruction and the closing of the nineteenth century, white southerners constructed memories of the Old South that perpetuated assumptions about ... the seemingly victimized status of the region.  It found expression ... at the more popular level--one deeply infused with religious meaning-- ... as a form of civil religion."
• "Southern evangelicals fought ferociously against any and all efforts to dismantle the system of white supremacy."
• "Most [white] preachers took a more oblique approach, remaining silent about black equality while condemning faith-based civil-rights activism as a 'prostitution of the church for political purposes.'"

Wow.  Every single one of those historical facts sound eerily, sadly, pathetically familiar to what the white evangelical community is doing right now.

So, here are my points: (1) No, white evangelicals, you weren't victims then, and you aren't victims now.  Stop playing that tired, false card to the rest of us.  You still have a solid "majority" status in our country, and you probably will for a while. However, that doesn't give you the right to steamroll blindly over others who are real victims.  And, (2) the black community's entire history in this country has been one of oppression and injustice at the hands of the white majority; thus, they can certainly recognize and label true, institutionalized injustice when they see it.

Right now, they see it.  And its name is "Trump."

It is now time that the white evangelical community learn from its sordid mistakes in the past, listen to those fellow Christians who know a thing or two about injustice, and humbly unite with those black brothers and sisters against a political climate that is promoting immorality at every turn.  

The Church of MAGA

Can I get an "Amen"?

The Christian Right Is Finally Starting to Get It!

And by "it," I mean that Trump is nothing more than a snake-oil salesman, a two-bit huckster, a New-York-streets con man.

This article in the USA Today, by an evangelical Christian himself, is just the most recent example of someone in the Christian community having both the courage and the critical thinking skills to speak out against this most unholy of marriages between Trump and the evangelical community.

To whet your appetite so that you'll go and read the entirety of the brief piece, here is the thesis:

"Donald Trump tries to brand himself as the savior of American Christians who will give them everything they want if they give him their votes. But as with the prosperity gospel, Christians must be wary of worldly promises from false political saviors. Christians will only ever have one savior, and he’s not in the Oval Office — he’s at the right hand of God the Father."

Just so we all take note, these types of pieces are FINALLY starting to pop up in the media; in fact, recently, they seem to have started becoming quite common.  I can only hope that this new thoughtful insight by the Christian community (although coming much later than I would've thought) continues to build up some steam as we all move towards November. 

Which Way To Spend Money Feels "More Christian"?

War 

OR

Green New Deal for the Environment AND Medicare for All AND Debt-Free College?

Or, put another way ...

I know this isn't specifically a spiritual argument, but it sure feels like one.

Loving Trump = Salvation

Jim Bakker, that infamous televangelist from the 80s, has resurfaced, it seems.  And this time, showing how much he learned from his public humiliation back then, he has thrown a whopper out there.  In all seriousness, he recently said the following:

"Trump is a test whether you're even saved.  Only saved people can love Trump."

(It's not fake news, I assure you.  You can watch the clip for yourself here.)

He, too, seems to be living by and preaching the Gospel of Republicanity.  To him, in no uncertain terms, supporting Trump (i.e., believing his lies, justifying his narcissism, ignoring his anti-Christian behavior) is the same thing as being a soul-saved Christian.  And, of course, the opposite is undoubtedly true as well: not supporting Trump (i.e., questioning him, noting his moral degeneracy, holding him accountable) is the same thing as being a pagan with the one-way ticket to Hell.  So incredibly perverse.

His reasoning lies in the concept of forgiveness.  He states the following to "prove" his initial point:

"You gotta forgive.  You gotta be able to forgive.  You forgive when you're saved."

So here are the obvious fallacies with that line of reasoning: (1) Trump himself has stated that he doesn't ask for forgiveness because he doesn't make mistakes (which, btw, is possibly the most anti-Christian statement that has ever left his filthy mouth), and (2) forgiving and ignoring are two totally different concepts, something that many evangelicals have forgotten when it comes to Trump.

In fact, according to the "Focus on the Family" website (a decidedly conservative Christian forum), forgiveness is not about "letting the offender off the hook," since Christians should "still hold others accountable for their actions or lack of actions"; and forgiveness does not include "letting the offense recur again and again," since no one should "have to tolerate .. a lack of respect or any form of abuse."  Herein lies the problem with Bakker's premise, for these are exactly what "forgiveness" has become to evangelicals when Trump is involved.  He continues to lie; he continues to bully and humiliate; he continues to love himself above all others; he continues to denigrate people of color and women; he continues to be the epitome of hypocrisy.  And all the while, Christians IGNORE his blatantly anti-Christian words and actions.

So, moral of the story: Jim Bakker was a bullshit scam artist in the 80s, and Jim Bakker is a bullshit scam artist now.  The problem is that his audience never learned that fact.  

"Trump's a Man Who Keeps His Promises."

At least that's what I continue to hear from friends and acquaintances who voted for this man and who plan to vote for him again this year.  Many will begrudgingly acknowledge that he is not a man of the highest moral fiber (an understatement to be sure, but at least there is an acknowledgement), but these Trumpists are able to thoroughly ignore such a flaw because during the campaign, "he made promises, and he's keeping them, by God!"

So, willfully ignorant evangelical Trumpists, because keeping campaign promises is your guiding light in the midst of the dark chaos of this presidency (and it should be), allow me to ask a few questions of you:

• First and foremost, have you forgotten about this little tidbit? According to Fact Checker, this man has vomited out approximately 15,500 lies since taking office, which is an average of approximately 15 per day for every … single … day he has been this country's president.  If keeping a promise is so important (and, again, it should be), then we shouldn't ignore the FACT that this man is a habitual liar.
• Second, how about that campaign promise that he was going to be so busy working for the American people that he was "not going to have time to play golf"?  Update: this man has averaged a visit to one of his golf courses 1 out of every 5 days he's been in office.  Maybe he hasn't been so very busy working for us after all.
• And how about that campaign promise (repeated ad nauseum) that he was going to "build the wall" and that he was going to make Mexico pay for it?  Update: it's not being built (thankfully), and Mexico (of course) is refusing to pay for it.
• And how about that campaign promise that he would cut the national debt "very quickly"?  Update: that national debt has ballooned by 68% in only his three years of office.
• And how about that campaign promise that Obamacare would be repealed and replaced with something "much, much better" so that there would be insurance for everybody and it would be "a lot less expensive"?  Update: since Trump took office, more than 3 million Americans now do not have healthcare, and costs have skyrocketed (See insulin prices.).  
• And how about the campaign promise that he would get us out of the "endless wars in the Middle East"  Update: Trump has sent 14,000 more American troops to the Middle East just since May, ANNNNNNND he just assassinated the main general in Iran with no explicit provocation, thereby assuring more American military involvement in the area for years to come.

This is a man with absolutely no personal concerns about lying, about saying one thing and doing the complete opposite, about filling his gullible followers' minds with soundbites that have no substance.  Certainly, we can all agree that such a trait is FAR, FAR removed from the teachings of the Christ.  So, let's just all stop pretending that he is a moral man of integrity who "keeps his promises."  He hasn't; he doesn't; and he won't.

Period.

It's Time for Christians to Admit They Were Wrong

Here's an EXCEPTIONAL piece on a Baptist News website that humbly and graciously shows that it is time for Christians to stop believing they are always right.

It briefly covers issues of race, gender, sexual orientation, and, yes, politics (without specifically mentioning Trump).  Here's his thesis:

"Sadly, we have been trained to worship the received interpretation of Scripture rather than the overarching narrative of Scripture embodied in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Just as we have been trained to worship the Bible as the word of God more than Jesus as the divine Word of God. Is our faith so fragile that to admit we have been wrong in one area necessarily pulls a string that undoes all the rest of our faith? Is our faith really a house of cards?"

It is well worth the read, and it encapsulates what the present spirit of the true follower of Christ should be in this particularly divisive age.  Please take a couple of minute to read and to pass along.

Hypocrisy = "Do As I Say, Not As I Do."

President Donald Trump in his Christmas message Wednesday urged Americans to strive to “foster a culture of deeper understanding and respect, traits that exemplify the teachings of Christ.”

So says the same man who has done this.

And, then, the same day he sent out his Christmas message (just a few hours later, in fact), he tweeted about "Crazy Nancy Pelosi."

Soooooooo...
In other news:

• An alcoholic father, with his fourth beer before noon in his hand already, screams at his adult-age kids not to drink on Christmas because it is Jesus's birthday!
• A high school English teacher writes a mistake-ridden email home to parents, complaining that their kids need to pay a lot more attention to details such as spelling and capitalization and punctuation when they are writing.
• A Republican senator who has condemned homosexuality his entire career and who has supported gay-conversion therapy comes out as gay.  (Oh wait.  That one actually happened.  Numerous times.) 
• A heart surgeon is a chain-smoking, couch-potato glutton.
• A child-care worker has a criminal past as a pedophile.
• Smokey the Bear is actually a habitual arsonist.

Maya Angelou once stated the following: "When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time. People know themselves much better than you do. That's why it's important to stop expecting them to be something other than who they are."

Donald Trump has, hundreds of times over (possibly thousands at this point), shown all of us who he truly is.  And, just so we're clear, who he truly is, is NOT a Christian.  He is a truly awful human being, and a single, prescriptive tweet on Christmas does not erase that indisputable fact. 

Another Evangelical Triumph

Christianity Today has published another thoughtful and brilliant piece.  And although I would disagree with its more-than-conciliatory tone (at times), I thoroughly appreciate what it's trying to do--to note, with open eyes and minds, what has been obvious to so many of us since Day One of this Trump debacle.  And that is,

"to say that the alliance of American evangelicalism with this presidency has wrought enormous damage to Christian witness." 

And why is that (in a nutshell)?

"The problem is that we as evangelicals are also associated with President Trump’s rampant immorality, greed, and corruption; his divisiveness and race-baiting; his cruelty and hostility to immigrants and refugees; and more. In other words, the problem is the wholeheartedness of the embrace. It is one thing to praise his accomplishments; it is another to excuse and deny his obvious misuses of power."

PLEASE go and read this one as well.  And pass it along to deliberately blind evangelical friends.  It is high time that this dialogue happen, for Trump is, without a doubt, morally, ethically, spiritually, and psychologically unfit to serve as this country's leader.  And when enough evangelicals realize that obvious fact, we, as a country, shall be rid of this sordid stain on American history.

And Now, Donald Trump's Unchristian Response to Christianity Today

Sooooooo much to unpack within this newest rage tweet, so I'll be brief.

• He immediately equates politics with religion by using political terms ("far left" and "progressive") to describe a religion-focused publication.  Plus, he's gaslighting here.  Anyone who is familiar with the magazine would certainly label it "centrist" with a penchant towards many conservative talking points.
• I'm not sure whether or not CT (not "ET," by the way, Mr. Trump) "has been doing poorly," but I do know that it has received a significant spike in subscriptions since their editorial about removing Trump from office has come out.  There's some irony there, no?
• More gaslighting--it was not a "perfect transcript of a routine phone call"; it was, without a doubt to anyone who can think for himself, a quid pro quo.  Just because Trump keeps saying otherwise over and over and over doesn't make him any less guilty of abuse of power. 
• What's worse--a "Radical Left nonbeliever" who wants to take care of the sick, the poor, the disenfranchised, and the entire environment (i.e., any Democrat, although I do not believe any of them are "nonbelievers"--more gaslighting), or a megalomaniacal, racist, lying, juvenile, name-calling, non-believing, hypocritical bully who wants only to take care of his uber-rich friends?  
• Note the false equivalency between "your religion & your guns."  Christians, please realize THERE IS LITERALLY NOTHING IN THE BIBLE THAT LINKS THESE TWO TOGETHER.  NOTHING!  In fact, an exceptional argument could be made that Jesus was a pacifist.  Plus, Christians, if you really were "pro-Life" (and not just "anti-abortion"), maybe you'd want these instruments of death more strictly regulated than they are.  More irony, yes?
• Seems that there is another implied quid pro quo here--Trump has done so much "for the Evangelical community," so they MUST, in turn, blindly support him and, therefore, ignore his myriad moral failings. Actually, so far, that's been working for him.
• He promises that he "won't be reading ET [sic] again."  We all know he never did in the first place because of two factors: (1) he's not truly concerned with moral/ethical/spiritual issues on a personal, life-changing level; and (2) he doesn't read.

So, to summarize, Trump the non-Christian is, once again, showing quite clearly that he is doing nothing more than using the willfully ignorant evangelical community for his own unchecked power.  And they, sadly, have complicitly allowed it all.

But maybe, just maybe, the chinks in the armor are finally starting to show.

Franklin Graham Has Done It Again

(And by "it," I mean "proven that he truly has sold his soul to Republicanism over Christ.")

Here is his response to the Christianity Today article that I referenced in my last post.

Allow me to pick apart his numerous fallacies:

• "For Christianity Today to side with the Democrat Party in a totally partisan attack on the President of the United States is unfathomable. Christianity Today failed to acknowledge that not one single Republican voted with the Democrats to impeach the President."  Graham begins his argument by solidifying his worship of Republicanity; he is equating Democrats with non-Christian and Republicans (and the President) with Christian.  Just so we all know--it doesn't matter what letter comes at the end of your name (R or D) when it comes to a moral argument (which is the type of argument CT was making); it matters only what is morally correct.  His immediate grasp on this political talking point clearly shows where Graham's loyalty truly lies.
• "They [CT] want readers to believe the Democrat leadership rather than believe the President of the United States."  Yes, they do, because the Democrats are right in this instance--it's well documented that there was a quid pro quo and that there were numerous attempts at obstruction of justice.  Plus, the President of the United States LIES--it's well documented that he has no moral qualms about lying. Ever.  Finally, the CT editors were very clear in acknowledging that the Democrats began all of this never-Trump partisanship years ago when Trump was first elected; however, they also state that these same Democrats have uncovered truths--ugly, sordid, sinful truths--about this man, and it is time for evangelicals to stop ignoring the truth, no matter what the initial purpose may have been.
• "Look at all the President has accomplished in a very short time. The economy of our nation is the strongest it has been in 50 years, ISIS & the caliphate have been defeated, and the President has renegotiated trade deals to benefit all Americans." My first note here is to see what a Christian minister believes are noteworthy accomplishments--2 of the 3 that he mentions are based on money.  That is telling in and of itself, especially since he has been known to ascribe to the prosperity gospel, a complete perversion of the Christ's mission on this earth.  Second, the "economy" isn't as great as Trump (and Graham) would like us to believe for "all Americans"; in fact, it's pretty awful for the "less-thans" of our nation.  According to a Federal Reserve survey, 43% of households can't afford the basics to live; more than 25% of adults have skipped health care within the last year because it was too expensive; 40% of adults have less than $400 in savings; and 50% of the people showing up to food pantries are above the official poverty level but simply cannot make ends meet each week.  And let's not forget that even though blue-collar wages have stagnated for over two decades, Republicans have fought hard against a "living wage" but have made sure the richest 1% are now paying in taxes, for the first time in our history, a lower percentage of their income than the working class of America.  Good thing a Christian minister is focused on the President's economic successes, especially since he seems to want to ignore the very ones Christ himself focused on.
• "The list of accomplishments is long, but for me as a Christian, the fact that he is the most pro-life president in modern history is extremely important—and Christianity Today wants us to ignore that, to say it doesn’t count?"  No, CT does not want you to "ignore" that fact; they say so quite clearly in the article.  Rather, they believe that this singular act does not wash away his moral rot, the very moral rot that Graham himself consistently ignores.  Graham should be careful; his hypocrisy is showing. 
• "The President has been a staunch defender of religious freedom at home and around the world—and Christianity Today wants us to ignore that?"  No, Trump has fought for "Merry Christmas," not for "religious freedom."  And just so we're clear, "religious freedom" means freedom for ALL religions, not just the one to which you ascribe, Mr. Graham.
• "Christianity Today feels he should be removed from office because of false accusations that the President emphatically denies."  This one statement is the most telling of them all.  First, they are not "false accusations"; rather, they are well documented and completely corroborated by numerous first-hand witnesses.  And, if they are false, then why won't the President allow people to testify, the very ones he keeps saying would completely exonerate him?  If he is so innocent, why wouldn't he welcome his opportunity to participate in the constitutionally sound impeachment trial (rather than refusing entirely) so that the public could see quite clearly how everything the Democrats are saying are completely false?  (Here's the answer: he's guilty.)  And finally (and make sure you catch this one), he LIES, more so than any other president in history--this is completely researchable and defensible.  And when you stake your argument on the fact the President "emphatically denies" these allegations, you display yourself as nothing more than a gullible fool, one who is willing to believe a habitual liar for political expediency rather than examine the clear and consequential evidence.  (BTW, when President Bill Clinton stated that he "did not have sex with that woman," did you believe him?  He did emphatically deny it.  Of course you didn't believe him because Clinton was LYING to save himself.  It's the same here, hypocrite.)
• "Christianity Today said it’s time to call a spade a spade. The spade is this—Christianity Today has been used by the left for their political agenda."  No.  They are simply noting evidence, the very evidence that you are choosing to ignore, the very evidence that displays how morally and ethically rancid this human being is. There's nothing "left" about that; instead, it's your job.  Yet you, a "Christian minister," refuse to hold him accountable; you simply choose to acquiesce and fawn and worship this man who would be king with no consequences for his immoral behavior.  
• "Is President Trump guilty of sin? Of course he is, …."  Then, CALL HIM OUT FOR IT!  Christianity Today has bravely and righteously chosen to do so.  Now, it's your turn. 

What an absolute Republican tool this man has become!  He has truly lost all sense of a moral compass, and with that loss has come a complete lack of credibility, something that the editors of Christianity Today warned evangelicals about.  Sadly, they were unequivocally right.

Better Late Than Never, Evangelicals!

FINALLY, a major Christian publication is coming out to say what they should have said on Day One; that is, Trump is morally and ethically unfit for office.  He always has been; he always will be.  Any claims against that thesis are simply indefensible.  Period.

Read the short but powerful article here.

Seriously, go read it.  And then pass it along to all evangelicals that you know.

Welcome to the party, Christians.  Glad to have you.