Saturday, September 26, 2015
Trump the Presbyterian
Donald Trump has undoubtedly been a sinner in his life but forgiveness of sin is central to Christianity so I cannot see any true Christian shunning him for that. What his heart holds is what matters. John 3:16
I make no judgment on what doctrines he believes but even if he is basically an atheist, which seems possible, he is still very clearly a cultural Christian -- as I am. I value the lessons of my Christian youth and still believe that the Bible is the best guide to a good life and is the bedrock of Western civilization. Although I have been an atheist for all of my adult life, I regularly defend Christianity -- and Trump does too.
In a Left-dominated age, Christians need all the friends they can get and, whatever he believes, it is clear that Trump would be a powerful and unabashed supporter of Christians. Trump for President! -- JR
Donald Trump recently showed up at a gathering of Iowa conservative Christian voters with a copy of the Bible in hand.
As the Republican presidential front-runner and billionaire businessman tries to maintain his lead in early polls with rivals quickly gaining ground, Trump is increasingly courting a wing of the Republican Party that might seem antithetical to his brand: evangelical Christians.
“I love them. They love me,” Trump, a Presbyterian, said of evangelicals last month in Greenville, South Carolina. “I love the Evangelicals, and it’s really shown in the polls.”
After initially declining the invitation, Trump will be speaking Friday in front of an expected 2,000 social conservative leaders at the Family Research Council’s Values Voter Summit in Washington. He joins a speaking program that includes Republican rivals with long records of dedication to religious causes — among them, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a Baptist pastor, and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
In many ways, Trump’s brand as the bombastic, thrice-married billionaire showman would seem an ill-fit among religious conservatives. He once held a reputation as a womanizing playboy, previously supported abortion rights, and appears to spend more time calling into Sunday morning talk shows than attending church.
Russell Moore, the president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, said Trump’s candidacy is fundamentally opposed to Christian values.
“When one looks at the very serious moral character questions, from Trump’s involvement in the casino gambling industry all the way through to his attitude toward women, Donald Trump is the embodiment of everything that evangelical Christians have been standing against in American culture,” he said.
Social conservatives are eager to have “a conversation” with Trump about his previous support for abortion rights, among other positions most conservatives strongly oppose, said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, which is hosting the Value Voters Summit.
On Monday he’s set to host a group of evangelical pastors and bishops from across the country for a private meeting and prayer session at Trump Tower in New York.
Several attendees, including Pastor Lionel Traylor of Jackson, Mississippi, said evangelical voters are particularly drawn to Trump’s direct style and his strong defense of Christians at a time “when Christianity is under attack.” Trump has frequently made reference to attacks on Christians abroad and said that he will be a champion for religious liberty, including defending Christmas.
Trump’s relationship with evangelical leaders goes back far longer than he’s been running for president.
According to previously reported tax documents, the Donald J. Trump Foundation has given to numerous Christian causes in recent years, including $100,000 to the Billy Graham Evangelist Association in 2012, as well as ministries as far away as Debra George Ministries in Texas and the Ramp Church in Lynchburg, Virginia.
Monday’s gathering is expected to open with a prayer service and include discussion of issues affecting the preachers’ communities, said Trump Organization attorney Michael Cohen, who struck up a friendship with Scott.
SOURCE
Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).
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I consider most protestant churches (not necessarily adherents) to be secular, not Christian, at this point. Although I deny you your claim of atheism. Simply because I don't believe there is a science or body of knowledge that can prove or disprove God. That being so, you can't know there isn't a God. Atheism is an assertion based on a lack of science, which obviously isn't science. It means there is an area science can't know.
Given all that, I consider honest agnostics (where I generally put you and some others like you... those who follow Confucius, and perhaps some of the Greek philosophers, would also fit here as an example) to be cautious allies, if they simply can't see or know. Can't trust you to not try to take the bone of contention and run off with it on your tangent, but with a cautious eye, you can be... included.
It's actually many so-called believers, who are actually false believers, who are the most dangerous. Including this pope.
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