Friday, March 29, AD 2024 1:24am

Never Trumpers: The Pharisees ‘R Us Division

 

Christopher Johnson at Midwest Conservative Journal once again demonstrates why he is on my daily blog reading list:

It’s a sign of the desperation of NeverTrumpistan to somehow get clear of The Worst Human Being Who Has Ever Lived Or Ever Will Live Until The Antichrist Comes If He Hasn’t Come Already If You Know What I Mean And I Think You Do that so many people have so frantically grabbed on to this Christianity Today (founded by Billy Graham, we are hurriedly and insistently informed) editorial by CT editor-in-chief Mark Galli that Trump needs to be removed from the presidential office.

Theologically, however, this editorial will have to go a good distance to even aspire to be weak tea; at best, this is lukewarm water.  Mark does admit that “impeachment” in this case is politically motivated.

Let’s grant this to the president: The Democrats have had it out for him from day one, and therefore nearly everything they do is under a cloud of partisan suspicion. This has led many to suspect not only motives but facts in these recent impeachment hearings. And, no, Mr. Trump did not have a serious opportunity to offer his side of the story in the House hearings on impeachment.

But it’s not that the Democrats don’t have a point.

But the facts in this instance are unambiguous: The president of the United States attempted to use his political power to coerce a foreign leader to harass and discredit one of the president’s political opponents. That is not only a violation of the Constitution; more importantly, it is profoundly immoral.
No, Mark, the “facts” are not “unambiguous” at all.  Did you even read the transcript?  Can you point to a single quote where President Trump did what you claim he did?  Because if you can’t, it would seem to me that your statement falls under the “false witness” strictures of the Bible.  Which means that your problem’s not with me, big dog.  It’s with a much Bigger Dog.
Trump’s evangelical supporters have pointed to his Supreme Court nominees, his defense of religious liberty, and his stewardship of the economy, among other things, as achievements that justify their support of the president. We believe the impeachment hearings have made it absolutely clear, in a way the Mueller investigation did not, that President Trump has abused his authority for personal gain and betrayed his constitutional oath. The impeachment hearings have illuminated the president’s moral deficiencies for all to see. This damages the institution of the presidency, damages the reputation of our country, and damages both the spirit and the future of our people. None of the president’s positives can balance the moral and political danger we face under a leader of such grossly immoral character.
Mark?  What part of Psalm 14 is tripping you up?  What part of Romans 3:23 are you having problems with?  Because you just described EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO HAS EVER OCCUPIED THE OFFICE OF PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES FROM GEORGE WASHINGTON DOWN TO THE PRESENT DAY.  And every single other person who has ever lived throughout all eternity, for that matter.
Go here to read the rest.  Politics is always about making choices, and rarely are the choices between the worst and the best.  In 2016 I was off put by Trump’s personal behavior, his juvenile insults and bombast and my suspicion that he would govern as the New York liberal he had been till the day before yesterday.  I reluctantly boarded the Trump train when he pledged to fight abortion as President.  I doubted he would keep his word, but I was certain that Hillary would keep her word to be the best friend that Planned Parenthood ever had in the White House, and so I weighed a doubt against a certainty and voted for Trump.  To my surprise and pleasure, Trump has governed as the most conservative President since Ronald Reagan.  In the light of that fact, the things about Trump that still drive me crazy I can live with.  As for the sham impeachment farce, for Christianity Today to claim that is the straw that broke the camel’s back is simply bizarre, and can be simply filed under things that people were looking for an excuse to do. 

I doubt if the editorial will sway anyone to alter their position on Trump.  The editorial says nothing about the morality of Trump supporters, but a lot about how humans can be quite ingenious about coming up with justifications for actions, especially when the justification manifestly is a mere exercise in excuse making for a hard to defend action.
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Frank
Frank
Sunday, December 22, AD 2019 7:03am

I usually try to avoid making predictions because I am very bad at it. Nevertheless, in this instance I am willing to predict the demise of Christianity Today in the not too distant future. That is, unless its readership already has morphed from Billy Graham’s original target audience to something more closely resembling the pseudo-Christian SJW mentality that now seems to dominate the once-mainline Protestant denominations.

Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus
Sunday, December 22, AD 2019 9:25am

Commentary that I posted on FB:

PRO PRAESIDENTIA DONALD TRUMP

Amici, Americani, Compatriotae,

The Protestant Evangelical magazine Christianity Today recently came out with an editorial post against President Donald Trump and for impeachment because apparently, he isn’t holy enough to pass the purity and piety standards of that organization. We need however to bear certain Biblical examples in mind.

Judah cheated his widowed step-daughter Tamar out of a husband and to get her right to a spouse back, she played the harlot to his lust. Now think about this. He was married to a Canaanite named Shua but he had sexual relations with his deceased son’s wife. You can read the story in Genesis chapter 38. Specific mention is made of Judah and Tamar in the genealogy of Jesus Christ in Matthew chapter 1; they were great ancestors of Jesus the Son of God.

Samson was a Nazirite dedicated to God from birth to defeat the Philistine aggression against the children of Israel. Despite the fact that he was called by God to battle against the Philistines, he fell in love with a Philistine woman, one of the enemies of Israel. Then afterwards when Samson was in Gaza he bedded a harlot. Finally, in Sorek he fell in love with the infamous woman known as Delilah who later betrayed him to the Philistines, and he spent the remainder of his life blinded and in chains. He just couldn’t control his lust and suffered consequences as a result. Yet at the end by God’s power he destroyed the Philistine temple of Dagon and achieved God’s purpose. You can read about this story in Judges chapters 13 through 16.

David was anointed King over Israel by the prophet Samuel in order to replace wayward King Saul. He started out great, defeating Goliath, befriending Saul’s son Jonathan, and eventually assuming the mantle of leadership once Saul had died. Yet he couldn’t keep his eyes averted when Bathsheba, wife of Uriah the Hittite (one of David’s most loyal supporters) was bathing nude on the rooftop. Another man with a lust problem. One thing led to another and he got her pregnant, then had Uriah sent to the front of the battle lines against the enemy so that Uriah would be killed, and David’s crime covered up. But God told the prophet Nathan what had happened, and Nathan confronted David. Once Bathsheba had given birth, the baby died – the consequences of adultery and murder. You can read this story in 1st Samuel chapters 11 and 12. However, the genealogy of Jesus Christ in Matthew chapter 1 makes specific mention of Bathsheba and her second son Solomon through whom David became the great ancestor of the Messiah. And Sacred Scripture calls David a man after God’s own heart. Yet David was completely oblivious to the incestuous rape of his daughter Tamar (different Tamar) from one wife by his son Amnon from a different wife, and how that sent his other son Absalom (brother of Tamar) into revolt against his own father. Sadly, Absalom died by hanging after being caught in an oak tree as his mule went under it. David lost two sons and one daughter because he just had to have multiple wives – he couldn’t keep his lust in check. And still David is called the Great King, and Jesus the Son of David.

But every holy-than-thou Christian decries Donald Trump’s lust problem (while likely ignoring both Bill Clinton’s and their own).

In these three Biblical stories we learn that there is a difference between being set apart for service to God (that’s the real meaning of holy), and Pharisaical self-righteous religious piety and purity. No one can pass the purity and piety test given by the magazine Christianity Today. And certainly, Donald Trump has been as free in his sexual escapades as Judah, Samson and David were (I wasn’t exactly guiltless of the same as a former nuclear submarine sailor). Yet Christianity Today would be loathe to condemn any one of those three great men from the Old Testament. It would never apply to them the standards of purity and piety that it applies to Donald Trump. Yes, Donald Trump is a foul mouthed, crude, vulgar, impolitic, abrasive, egotistical, arrogant, lustful man. That’s a pretty good listing of my defects of character, too. And if you stop and think about it, most of you have at least one or two of those failings if not the majority as well. But just as Isaiah 45:1 called pagan Persian King Cyrus the Lord’s Anointed, so too is Donald Trump called.

We know that from Romans 13:1, “For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” And 1st Peter 2:17 says, “Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.” Those words were written when evil Imperator Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ruled over the Roman Empire. He was the man who had Christians impaled on poles, doused with oil and lit afire while alive to provide lighting for the streets of Rome. He was the man who had St. Peter crucified upside down and St. Paul decapitated. Yet our first Pope tells us to honor the Emperor even if he is a Nero (which Trump demonstrably is NOT).

Christianity Today would do well to learn from these Biblical examples, and from the fact that regardless of his tweets and foul mouth, Donald Trump (unlike every single godlessly wicked Democrat) is pro-life. No other issue is of greater importance than a baby’s innocent life which every single Democratic candidate for President would snuff out even up to the moment of birth. Hate Donald Trump’s tweets and mouth all you want; he protects the lives of innocent babies.

Indeed, you cannot be Christian and vote for ANY Democrat ever. You however do have a choice: Donald Trump or a pro-life third-party candidate – but NOT Democrat. As for me, I will be voting for Donald Trump in the next election even if I must hold my nose, suppress my gag reflex, and squeeze my sphincter to do so. I despise, loathe, abhor, detest and hold in utter disdain and contempt the idolatrous, murderous and sexually perverted Democratic Party that much. No more infanticide!

father of seven
father of seven
Sunday, December 22, AD 2019 9:28am

So CT calls out the most pro-life President ever while the holocaust is still ongoing because he’s “immoral”? Those folks just might want to start worrying about the standard by which they’ll be judged. Good luck with that. I do know that calumny won’t go in your plus column.

Philip Nachazel
Philip Nachazel
Sunday, December 22, AD 2019 12:07pm
Mary De Voe
Sunday, December 22, AD 2019 12:35pm

LQC perfect. beautiful. Let me add that the unborn child protected by Donald J. Trump bears the divinity of Jesus Christ. Abortion is war on God through God’s innocent children. Abortion is war on our nation as the innocent child, legally and morally innocent is the standard of Justice for our nation. Abortion disenfranchises every male of his fatherhood. Enough all ready. The Preamble protects our Posterity. Where is Christianity Today???

Dave Griffey
Dave Griffey
Sunday, December 22, AD 2019 5:24pm

If I may tap into my old Evangelical roots. Galli is one of a growing number of leaders in Evangelical Christianity who are, to varying degrees, deciding that liberalism has essentially won and it’s time to let the Left know who its friends are and who its enemies are. And it didn’t start with Trump. My classmates Russ Moore and Greg Thornbury were already signaling shifts in their old ‘Conservative Evangelicalism to the fore!’ attitudes (especially Moore) long before Trump came along. Even Al Mohler has shown a few small signs of shifting on some of those old God revealed truths about how we understand the past and the present. When Thornbury came out recently and said concerns for religious liberty are merely white racism couched in nationalist rhetoric, it was like hearing Richard Dawkins insist the KJV is the revealed word of God. This was a fellow who, back when we were in school together, insisted that outside the realm of conservative evangelicalism there is no Christianity. Galli is also one who has said the Left has won, deal with it, start baking those cakes and get with the program. These are just some I know from back in the day. There are growing numbers of others. But this all started long before 2016. Why the change I’m leery to speculate. But clearly so many things they once insisted were the revealed will of God have been tossed about in recent years, and they aren’t taking kindly to Christians who are now resisting these things.

Mary De Voe
Sunday, December 22, AD 2019 8:36pm

“If I may tap into my old Evangelical roots. Galli is one of a growing number of leaders in Evangelical Christianity who are, to varying degrees, deciding that liberalism has essentially won and it’s time to let the Left know who its friends are and who its enemies are.”
Sovereign persons who embrace the Sacred Heart of Jesus embrace His divinity. Liberalism cannot win against the divinity of Jesus Christ in the body and soul of Christians
Atheists deny Jesus Christ’s divinity and forfeit their own divinity. Secular humanism offers no divinity nor eternity. Liberalism is trying to make heaven on earth…like Venezuela and San Francisco.
Even if liberalism wins what has liberalism got to offer?

Ernst Schreiber
Ernst Schreiber
Sunday, December 22, AD 2019 9:38pm

Don Surber has the skinny:

The editorial was a one-fingered salute on the way out by Mark Galli, 67, who announced his retirement in October as the publication’s editor-in-chief.

The news media portrayed Galli’s opinion as reflecting evangelical conservatives.

That is a lie. Galli admitted that President Donald John Trump was correct in calling Christianity Today a far left magazine.

Read the whole thing.

Dave Griffey
Dave Griffey
Sunday, December 22, AD 2019 9:47pm

Yes, the Thornbury turn is one of the most shocking of all I’ve heard about. Don’t get me wrong, I always liked Greg. Unlike Russ, who I found a bit cold and single minded, Greg seemed to have that ‘pastor’s heart’ at times when he could step out of the academic and apply topics to personal trials and struggles. More than once we had some nice chats walking through the halls after class. True, I’ve lost touch with him over time, being aware of him only through news stories and such. I know he became quite enamored with Slavoj Žižek over the years. Don’t know if that’s significant, though I found it odd, given what I remember from back in the 90s. But then he might have thought outside the box then and I just didn’t know it. Still this revelation stunned me. When we were in school together, he was part of a panel that tried to torpedo an evangelism group some students were trying to form (including me). They insisted it be for the promotion and advocacy of conservative ‘Evangelicalism’ rather than mere evangelism (it’s also worth noting that some on the panel, though perhaps not Greg, chaffed at the fact that we had women involved in the planning committee). But that was it, Conservative and Evangelical all the way. Calvinist theology, the will of God in the traditional values of the Christian West, winning the culture wars – that was the big conservative revolution that Greg and Russ and others road in on like a surfboard. When I read that article, I would have been less shocked to find out Nancy Pelosi announced she was endorsing Trump for reelection in 2020.

J. Ronald Parrish
Sunday, December 22, AD 2019 11:05pm

Great comments. I could deal with the left wing Protestant slanders, but what breaks my heart is that most of our Catholic Bishops, including the Pope, are in league with them.

Michael Dowd
Michael Dowd
Monday, December 23, AD 2019 3:37am

Trump is a saint when compared with our current “pope”. CT should have spent their time on the harm the latter is doing to Christianity which is much more important and long lasting.

Frank
Frank
Monday, December 23, AD 2019 7:54am

LQC: Bravissimo!

Philip: the linked target requires permission from someone for access. I didn’t request it because I don’t know who would receive the request. Is it you? Thanks!

Philip Nachazel
Philip Nachazel
Monday, December 23, AD 2019 8:26am

Frank.
I apologize for the link.
I’m trying a different path…

Philip Nachazel
Philip Nachazel
Monday, December 23, AD 2019 8:32am

Hopefully this suffices;

https://images.app.goo.gl/9gSPSdWqEgDE3guQ7

He was a great prophet and soon Saint in our Holy Church.

T. Shaw
T. Shaw
Monday, December 23, AD 2019 9:50am

Possibly, the following (seen elsewhere on the web) explains such devolution.

O’Sullivan’s First Law: “All organizations that are not actually right-wing will over time become left-wing. I cite as supporting evidence the ACLU, the Ford Foundation, and the Episcopal Church. The reason is, of course, that people who staff such bodies tend to be the sort who don’t like private profit, business, making money, the current organization of society, and, by extension, the Western world.”

Mary De Voe
Monday, December 23, AD 2019 12:51pm

CNN News and Chris Cuomo do not believe in scientific DNA or “in vitro fertilization” as proof of the beginning of an individual human being with a spark of divinity in his soul.
St. Peter to Cuomo: “Prove that you are human”. Cuomo to St. Peter: “I have individual DNA from fertilization forward”. St. Peter to Cuomo: “You do not believe in scientific DNA or fertilization.”
St. Peter to Cuomo: “God was out walking in His garden when God discovered your forfeited integrity, most of your free will and all of your reason. What do you want here? There is no one here who knows you.”

Mary De Voe
Monday, December 23, AD 2019 12:56pm

CNN’s One on One in reality is Christoper Johnson against Legion. In the words of Christopher Hitchens: ” Like herding cats,”

Steve Phoenix
Steve Phoenix
Tuesday, December 24, AD 2019 2:56am

Christianity Today has a circulation of 130,000, of which 36,000 copies are distributed free.

Philip Nachazel
Philip Nachazel
Tuesday, December 24, AD 2019 3:53am

Steve Phoenix.
Many more copies may be available for free distribution;

https://apnews.com/e6e6fa63541f19afbcf49efeabd2a2fc

Nothing quite like shooting yourself in the foot to see how well you balance on one leg.

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