Is the support for Trump contrary to Christian values?

[Danmark]

Does evangelical support for Trump create a crisis for Christianity?
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archi ... cn2gnaekoQ

Are his policies and personal character consistent with Christian values?

Related to this, should a Christian who wants to bear witness for the risen Christ sell all he has, give to the poor, and follow Jesus?
Or should he or she accumulate wealth to show he is blessed by God?

[nobspeople]

People judge each other all the time, there's no getting around that. Motives aside, I'm still left wondering what values of Christianity so many Christians claim they share with such a waste of oxygen.

I see you feel very stongly about President Trump.

I have no pony in this race: I don't vote, I'm not American and I haven't followed stories about him so I don't now what he is supposed to have done or not done to merit such venom. He is a human being and I leave all final judgement of my fellow man to the Almighty.


Peace out!

Most everybody that knows Trump have some sort of feelings for him in some fashion. I never liked him as a person before THE APPRENTICE. The fact that he ran for president just to promote his brand is disgusting - almost as much as people that continue to support that POS even today, ignoring all he's done or hasn't done.
I suppose he's human, biologically. That doesn't mean he's worthy of anything good. But that's just me 2 pennies.

[Bust Nak]

almost as much as people that continue to support that POS even today...

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[Clownboat]

People judge each other all the time, there's no getting around that. Motives aside, I'm still left wondering what values of Christianity so many Christians claim they share with such a waste of oxygen.

I see you feel very stongly about President Trump.

I have no pony in this race: I don't vote, I'm not American and I haven't followed stories about him so I don't now what he is supposed to have done or not done to merit such venom. He is a human being and I leave all final judgement of my fellow man to the Almighty.


Peace out!

Most everybody that knows Trump have some sort of feelings for him in some fashion. I never liked him as a person before THE APPRENTICE. The fact that he ran for president just to promote his brand is disgusting - almost as much as people that continue to support that POS even today, ignoring all he's done or hasn't done.
I suppose he's human, biologically. That doesn't mean he's worthy of anything good. But that's just me 2 pennies.

I have a feeling that your hatred for the man clouds your judgement.
I say this because your brush is obviously way too broad.
"That doesn't mean he's worthy of anything good."
Nothing! Not one thing some person could argue for?

I'm not one to defend the man, but I have learned that it is folly to attempt to have a resonable conversation about the man when someones hatred for him is so blinding as you seem to demostrate.

As Bill Mayer said, the most important thing for us Democrats cannot be that the man must be wrong. Basically admitting thay anyone will be right from time to time (even those worthy of nothing good as you describe the man) and to pretend that this is not the case is to miss when someone is 'right'. This thinking is folly IMO no matter how much you (generic) hate a person.

I had to bow out of a discussion with a good friend that I would imagine rivals your hatred for the man because it came down to the claim that Donald became president so he could golf at his golf courses for profit. If the cure for Covid was sugar water, my friend admitted that he would need to hear it from a source other than Trump. Such thinking is nonsensical and driven by a blinding hatred IMO.

Again, I'm not going to defend the man. I just took issue with claiming he's not worthy of anything good.

[bluegreenearth]

[Replying to Clownboat in post #134]

I agree with your sentiment for the most part. Intellectual honesty should compel us to acknowledge when someone makes a correct decision regardless of that person's reputation. Personally, I disagree with many of the Trump administration's decisions over the past four years but had to admit that banning "Critical Race Theory" training for federal employees was necessary given its divisive use of identity politics and its endorsements of unfalsifiable claims about implicit bias. I'm a volunteer Diversity Change Agent who supports and promotes equal rights and equal opportunity for everyone at my office regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief or any other non-relevant characteristics, but I reject the "woke" doctrines of Critical Race Theory because it divides rather than unites people. Of course, it wouldn't surprise me at all to learn that White Nationalism was the true motivation behind the Trump administration's decision instead of recognizing where Critical Race Theory actually contradicts the values of people like Martin Luther King Jr. and other notable Civil Rights advocates. Nevertheless, I couldn't oppose this particular decision by the Trump administration, even though my motivation for agreeing with it probably doesn't align with their motivation.

[nobspeople]

[Replying to Clownboat in post #134]

I have a feeling that your hatred for the man clouds your judgement.
I say this because your brush is obviously way too broad.
"That doesn't mean he's worthy of anything good."
Nothing! Not one thing some person could argue for?

I couldn't disagree more. Put it this way: if Trump and I were walking across a field, and he fell in to a 100ft deep hole and asked for help, I'd keep walking. There are people on this planet that aren't worth the oxygen they consume.

I have learned that it is folly to attempt to have a resonable conversation about the man when someones hatred for him is so blinding as you seem to demostrate.

I've never had that issue.

This thinking is folly IMO no matter how much you (generic) hate a person.

Opinions are like, well, you know: every one has one.

I just took issue with claiming he's not worthy of anything good.

And that's you choice, as it's mine to stand by every single negative thing I've ever said about it, none of which I withdraw.

[2ndRateMind]

Trump is a lying, incompetent fool, and given that he instigated the Jan 6 sacking of the Capitol, in an effort to remain in power, quite possibly an accessory to murder. So, yes, I would say without hesitation that support for Trump is contrary to Christian values.

Best wishes, 2RM

[2ndRateMind]

Related to this, should a Christian who wants to bear witness for the risen Christ sell all he has, give to the poor, and follow Jesus?
Or should he or she accumulate wealth to show he is blessed by God?

This is where I am inclined to be a tad controversial. There is no point in giving all to the poor if by doing so you become poor yourself, dependent on the the charity of others. All you have done is increase the number of poor by one. But there must be a happy compromise between the billionaires and those who eke out meagre lives on less than $2 per day. A few years ago, pre covid, I did some back of an envelope calculations based on numbers by Credit Suisse. It seems there is enough money in the world for us all to realise a net worth of some $33,000, and an annual income of some $27,000. That's for every man, woman and child among us on Earth. So those are the limits to wealth I advocate.

Best wishes, 2RM.

[Purple Knight]

There is no point in giving all to the poor if by doing so you become poor yourself, dependent on the the charity of others.

I agree with your post in total but especially this. My area has had an influx of homeless and I observe them. A few really are just down on their luck but many are poor and homeless because any penny they get immediately goes to drugs and alcohol.

[Diogenes]

Does evangelical support for Trump create a crisis for Christianity?
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archi ... cn2gnaekoQ

Are his policies and personal character consistent with Christian values?

Back to the key question raised in the OP, watching the Senate hearings on the January 6 resurrection, it is easy to see Trump indeed created a crisis, perhaps more for the country and the Constitution than for Christianity. The former President called for an insurrection and suggested an absurd anti-Constitutional theory that the Vice President could violate the 12th Amendment. Ultra conservative Judge Michael Luttig and other conservative lawyers including Trump's own WH counsel advised him Eastman's theory was wrong. Even Eastman admitted they'd lose 9-0 in the Supreme Court.

Worse, in the words of the OP, Trump displayed character inconsistent with Christian values when, at the height of the insurrection he tweeted "Mike Pence did not have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and the Constitution...." thus putting Pence's life in danger by lying and calling for violation of the Constitution.
At this moment, when Pence was hiding from Trump's mob, Greg Jacob, Trump's White house counsel, referenced Daniel 6 and Daniel's defiance of King Darius's immoral order against prayer.

Judge Luttig, in reference to the 2024 election, just testified that Trump and his allies and supports still represent a "clear and present danger" to the country.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions ... trump-gop/

[2ndRateMind]

There is no point in giving all to the poor if by doing so you become poor yourself, dependent on the the charity of others.

I agree with your post in total but especially this. My area has had an influx of homeless and I observe them. A few really are just down on their luck but many are poor and homeless because any penny they get immediately goes to drugs and alcohol.

Speaking as an alcoholic who has been warned by his doctor that I need to stop drinking or I'll die, I can tell you stopping it is really, really hard. I have managed to cut down, considerably, but the idea of giving up entirely fills me with the dread of empty days. I hope I make my three-score years and ten, and no one has a right to expect more, but that's just where I am at right now. Drugs, of course, are even worse. Fortunately I have managed to avoid them thus far, and do not suffer from that craving.

Best wishes, 2RM.