How Can A Christian Vote For Donald Trump?
BY Herschel Smith
8 years, 8 months ago
There is an interesting comment left at PJM:
Matt Walsh is one of the best Christian bloggers out there. This is what he wrote on facebook today commenting on the election. Strong words, but they should be heard.
Trump won South Carolina, a supposedly conservative Christian state, by a wide margin tonight.
A few quick reactions:
– Don’t rationalize this. He didn’t win because of Democrats. The man won Evangelicals. The man who — JUST THIS WEEK — praised Planned Parenthood, and who fishes for applause lines by cussing out his competitors and mocking disabled people, and who can’t name a book in the Bible, and who said he doesn’t need forgiveness from God, and who brags about sleeping with married women, and who said he’d love to date his own daughter because she has a hot body, and who supported the murder of fully developed infant children, and who blatantly lies and then lies again about lying, and who has encapsulated literally the exact opposite of anything that could remotely be considered a “Christian value,” won with the indispensable assistance of Christians. The anger I feel towards those Christians in this moment cannot be put into words. They should be ashamed. I will pray for them.
– Speaking of winning conservatives, Trump — JUST THIS WEEK — said he likes the Obamacare mandate. This was, according to conservatives, the most important thing to defeat not but two years ago. Now some of those same conservatives are voting for a big government liberal who says he supports the very thing these very people were sure would undo the Republic just a few months ago.
– If Trump wins the nomination, conservatism in this country is officially dead, and the country itself will be close behind it.
– Speaking of the country’s demise, Trump fans are gleefully ushering in tyranny. I am tired of hearing about their “anger.” They claim they are angry at the very thing they now embrace. They aren’t angry. They’re bored. They’re immature. They’re infatuated with celebrity and fame and money.
I am not a Jeb Bush supporter (this comment was left on an article having to do with Bush). I have openly supported Ted Cruz, but that doesn’t matter now. It appears that no one can win the nomination except Donald Trump. Christians have had a lot to do with his success.
My oldest son Josh works with someone who told him when asked why he was voting for Trump, “we need money and Trump knows how to get it!” So much for the Southerners aren’t dumb hicks like you think they are meme. This was why it was one time required that you be a head of household and land owner to vote. Trump won South Carolina partly because of dumb people.
But the commenter is right. The biggest part of Trump’s success in the S.C. primary had to do with winning the evangelical vote. I have to hand it to Trump. He knows how to perform a magic show. It’s like the magician who shouts “Look here, Obamacare is a disaster …,” noise and flashing lights, and in the other hand he is hiding what he doesn’t want you to see, that he wants a single payer health care system just like Obama. “Look here, A WALL, and it’s going to be big and beautiful and we’re going to get Mexico to pay for it …,” the people go wild, flashing lights, and in the other hand he holds the truth, that wall has a gigantic door through which they can all pass back in. “I’ll tear down the system …” flashing lights, and in the other hand he holds the truth, he wants to meet with these people in the oval office and make deals.
Oh, on that last one, it isn’t hidden. He said so. Well, to be honest, he said so about the other two as well. But the idiots didn’t see it for the flashing lights, or they didn’t want to see it because they are members of a religious cult. But on the biggest one, “Look here, I think abortion is horrible …,” flashing lights, but I’m pro-choice and Planned Parenthood has good people and does good things.
It’s on this last one that the commenter has fixated, and for good reason. I recall a time when we preached about abortion, and my family picketed the only abortion clinic in our city, and when Christians cared. Trump has said that Planned Parenthood has good people and does good things. Listen to me carefully. Everyone working for Planned Parenthood is evil (or at a minimum, very naïve and deluded), the organization is evil, and it does not do good things. Moreover, if you give money to any part of it, it’s just like giving money to the United Way. You designate your giving, and they say “thank you very much,” and readjust and reallocate their dollars so that it all works out the way they wanted it to with the general funds anyway.
Planned Parenthood is a child of Margaret Sanger, a well-known eugenicist, and ideological follower of Adolf Hitler. She was evil and now suffers in hell with Hitler (the only happy part of this sad story). Christians who support Trump are supporting a man who unashamedly says that these people are good and do good things, and has given his money so that they can pimp eugenics.
But I don’t care about Trump. This is the important part. After hearing all of that, Christians still voted for him. After searching my memory, my heart and my mind, I can come up with nothing more than the Christian church in America has lost its soul. It one time cared about doctrine, theology, and good teaching. At one time in history, theology and philosophy were heard from the pulpit (in the North it would have been from W.G.T. Shedd and Charles Hodge, in the South from James Henley Thornwell and R.L. Dabney). At one time in history, the church wasn’t anemic. But those times have long gone. The Christian church in America may as well not exist.
I feel sorry for this loss – the loss of our scruples and values. And before it is responded that Trump says he’s a Christian, and said of the Pope that it is disgraceful for a spiritual leader to question a person’s faith, or asks the question can someone’s behavior discredit a profession of faith?, I have some very direct words for you.
I am not a Roman Catholic and don’t believe in the so-called “Chair of Peter.” No man is my intercessor except the God-man, Christ Jesus. So I won’t waste my time addressing anything about the papacy. Who can judge another man’s faith? We can. We all can. We make functional judgments all day, every day. If you are a Christian, you and your daughter decide whether the man she wants to marry is a Christian because of Paul’s command that husband and wife not be unequally yoked. As for the words of Christ, you have heard them before: “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? (Matt 7:16, NASB). So far from being forbidden from making judgments, we are commanded to judge. Otherwise, how would be prevent ourselves from being “unequally yoked” (and please, before you cite Matt 7:1, go do some homework and read a dozen or so commentaries so that you understand what you are talking about, and include in your analysis a consideration of John 7:24)).
Works are not necessary for salvation. But in the order of salvation (ordo salutis), there is still the perseverance of the saints. We won’t be perfect until we are with Him, we will be in constant need of refreshing and repentance, setting our gaze upon the one who perfected our salvation. But we who are Christians are being changed more and more to be like Christ. Works aren’t the cause, but are the evidence of our salvation.
And finally note that I included forgiveness in the list above. I attended seminary. But the things I am saying are basic, child like stuff, the work of children’s Sunday School teachers. If you are a Christian, you know what I’m saying is true. And if Donald Trump is speaking the truth, he is not a Christian, and yes, I can indeed make that judgment.
“I am not sure that I have” ever asked God for forgiveness, telling the 2015 Iowa Family Leadership Summit that “I just go on and try to do a better job from there.
“I don’t think so,” Trump, who is Presbyterian, said in response to the question from pollster and summit host Frank Luntz. Trump was among 10 Republican presidential candidates at the daylong event in Ames, Iowa.
“If I do something wrong, I think I just try to make it right,” Trump said. “I don’t bring God into that picture. I don’t.
Doing a better job of anything doesn’t cut it. Our works are as filthy rags, adding only to our judgment on that last day. Salvation is by grace, through faith, lest any man should boast. Either Trump is telling the truth, in which he has never sought forgiveness and is trying to work his way to heaven and therefore is not a Christian, or he is lying, for what reason I don’t know, and to what benefit I cannot fathom.
And yet the saddest part of all of this is still that the American church is officially dead. I confess that I hadn’t seen this much change in the last two or three decades. Perhaps I wasn’t watching carefully enough. It was stealthy enough that I missed the death entirely.
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On February 22, 2016 at 4:04 am, Delphi said:
Dear Sir,
I will comment using some quotes:
1. “When men stop believing in God, it isn’t that they then believe in nothing: they believe in everything.” – Umberto Eco (RIP)
2. “The basic Laws of Human Stupidity” – Carlo M. Cipolla http://advanced.jhu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/The-Basic-Laws-of-Human-Stupidity.pdf
3. “There is only one true conspiracy: ‘The Conspiracy of Stupids'” – myself
4. Regarding Planet Parenthood, although I am not a US citizen, I try to avoid the companies listed here: http://dailysignal.com/2015/07/21/meet-the-41-companies-that-donate-directly-to-planned-parenthood/
On February 22, 2016 at 10:32 am, Blake said:
Herschel, I believe we’re in the time of the wheat and the tares, with the sickles poised.
On February 22, 2016 at 11:36 am, West Street said:
How can a Christian vote for Trump? Easy, just pull that lever on election day. ANYONE else is a compromise.
People dont get it, the more anti Trump tripe that is posted, the more it makes the case to vote FOR Trump. Again, they lose, we win.
On February 22, 2016 at 11:47 am, Herschel Smith said:
You like magic shows, do you?
On February 22, 2016 at 9:40 pm, StBernardnot said:
So which unnatural born rino should we chose?
On February 22, 2016 at 10:06 pm, Herschel Smith said:
Thanks funny, and too clever by half. I’ve just pointed out again that Trump supports socialized medicine and believes in eugenics. And someone else is the RINO.
Here’s what I think you should do. Vote for whomever you wish.
On February 23, 2016 at 10:55 am, ProudlyUnaffiliated said:
Trump is Obama in whiteface.
On February 26, 2016 at 10:48 am, West Street said:
whatever.. just remember to say Mr President when he wins lol
On February 22, 2016 at 11:59 am, jaimeintexas said:
Conservatism is not dead nor it will be dead because of Trump. It is dead because the GOP keeps nominating people who talk conservative but govern liberal. Trump, in large part is an eff you to the GOP. The other part is that Trump, at least, has raised the banner against bi-partisan importation of foreign culture. Whether Trump really will accomplish anything or follow through, is anyone guess. At this point, a hollow note is preferable to silence against a governmentally aided and abetted invasion.
On February 22, 2016 at 12:06 pm, Herschel Smith said:
Anger doesn’t engage the intellect. Anger bypasses rational thought. It causes people to succumb to crooks, shysters, ne’er-do-wells, thieves and blowhards.
On February 22, 2016 at 1:34 pm, jaimeintexas said:
It always amazes me the assumptions people in the internet make based on no evidence. I am, at best, only slightly leaning Trump. I do not like any of them nor do I like any of the Democrats. They all are either welfare-ists or warmongers and all statists. Republicans and Democrats, the right and left wings of the buzzard (that is vulture for you further up north) called the Federal government.
On February 22, 2016 at 1:49 pm, Herschel Smith said:
Well, you mentioned an eff-you to the GOP. I assumed you were speaking of yourself rather than others. I agree that anger is controlling this election cycle, and anger rarely achieves anything good. We always need to be thinking men.
There are some good men left in Washington, but not many. The voices of the good men are suppressed by the evil-doers.
On February 23, 2016 at 9:15 pm, Heyoka said:
Anger, righteous indignation , is a motivating force… So says the Book. It is the rage we feel in our hearts and the force that Madison described as “manly firmness”…. Trump in saying I don’t put God into this I try to make it right is the manifestation of the consciousness being animated by the spirit of God in the human being to do the right thing. As Jesus said, “Be ye perfect even as I”….
My amends Herschel but again you retreat to the perversion of the Roman theology that makes us all sinners and can never walk with God as many of the prophets did before Jesus. We have all come short, and that is true but for some reason you thinl=k that because we strive to do the right thing and not retreat to what God wants that we are divorced from Him. Quite possibly we are striving to be, as David was, after God’s own heart. Do we need to be always demeaning ourselves or doing the right thing???/
Where is the compassion and the and the long suffering here. I see nothing but being judgmental or prejudicial toward another because we have differing concepts of God. On one hand you prefer the all pervasive appeal to giving all glory to God. On the other you limit God’s hand in all this. Are we not all supposed to rule ourselves and act in accordance with divine instruction??
Oh I forgot, you don’t believe that anyone can act from direction from God unless they follow a man made doctrine. In fact you once quoted me a line that stated that all Revelation was past, just because some group of men said so. Sounds like the Council of Nicaea.
I think that this may escape you as your thought process has been impressed into some mold and anything to the contrary is uncomfortable, but sometimes God challenges our sense of reality because He wants us to grow….
God Bless.
Remember; The enemy of my enemy is my friend….
On February 23, 2016 at 10:18 pm, Herschel Smith said:
Oh dear. “My amends Herschel but again you retreat to the perversion of the Roman
theology that makes us all sinners and can never walk with God as many
of the prophets did before Jesus.”
We are all sinner, so says the holy writ. I am not a papist. In fact, I am reformed, a follower of John Calvin, or more particularly, the Westminster Confession of Faith. Go look at what the WCF says about the pope. No, I won’t do your homework for you, you need to do some reading. To make such a massive mistake in theology (to imply that I’m a papist when I point out the difference between right and wrong) shows a serious lack of study on your part. The pope is an antiChrist. I am not Roman Catholic.
It makes it very difficult to take anything else you say seriously.
On February 22, 2016 at 12:14 pm, Dale Day said:
What do you want? We’ve had 7 years of a first term Senator with a lousy attendance record who gave us all great promises. Cruz and Rubio are Obama clones and professional lawyer/politician types. He may have his shortcomings, but The Donald is the one to beat Shrillary and give us a chance to overcome The Obumbler’s legacy,
On February 22, 2016 at 12:20 pm, Herschel Smith said:
I can see your position that Rubio is an Obama clone. But saying that Cruz is an Obama clone shows a complete lack of grasp of the facts and out-of-control thinking. Why do you think Cruz is so hated in Washington? He single handedly stopped the gang of eight bill, among other things. And can you imagine Obama taking any of these positions?
https://www.conservativereview.com/commentary/2016/02/convention-cruz-speech
Argue with facts, not emotion. Anger bypasses the intellect.
On February 22, 2016 at 5:30 pm, joe said:
I wouldn’t say they were clones but I’m afraid there is a similarity between Obama and Cruz — Goldman Sachs appears to own both of them.
On February 22, 2016 at 5:33 pm, joe said:
…and, FWIW, Rubio owes his entire political career to Jeb Bush…so I would be inclined to call him a Bush clone not an Obama clone.
On February 22, 2016 at 5:46 pm, Herschel Smith said:
Oh, don’t you think “own” is a tad strong, Joe? Either way, only two people can be president now. Trump or Hillary. So my preferences don’t matter.
On February 23, 2016 at 12:28 pm, Steven said:
Cruz’s wife works for Goldman Sachs…..The “too big to fail Bankers ” have their hooks in him. Thats enough for me to reject him as viable.
On February 23, 2016 at 1:44 pm, Herschel Smith said:
Your first statement is certainly correct. The second one about being “owned” you don’t really know, you’re just surmising might be the case. I understand and accept your personal judgment about the criteria for casting your vote. As you should understand and accept mine. I am being consistent with my world view, I assume you are as well.
On February 23, 2016 at 9:40 pm, Heyoka said:
Herschal… your emotional attachment to Cruz is showing. remember the intellect?????
Maybe Trump will give us the pause we need to gather our strength and move forward. We certainly have no use for the friends of the Money Changers…..
On February 23, 2016 at 10:22 pm, Herschel Smith said:
Too clever by half. Someone else is a money changer. And I finished pointing out that Trump believes in abortion, i.e., murder, and eugenics. Trump believes in baby-killing and you presume to discipline me on … what, I don’t really know? That I don’t support Trump, I guess.
I just think you don’t like it when the truth is pointed out. The article isn’t about me, although you tried to make it so. It’s about your socialist friend, Trump.
On February 23, 2016 at 9:37 pm, Heyoka said:
Are you so allured by the dance that your sense of reality is affected. Cruz was a citizen of Canada and only shortly denouncing that allegiance. The whole concept of eligibility is to ensure that only People of character and of allegiance to the United States are to occupy the white house.
Cruz fails in everyway. You appeal to sentiment and emotion which are logical fallacies. Your desire betrays you. You show yourself to be less than reasonable. In fact there seems to be some anger on the surface and surely deeper down.
Don’t let the sun go down on your anger… Anger but sin not…. Even the scriptures recognize the anger we all deal with. Your appeal to the intellect is hollow. The intuition is the key-that which is motivated by the divine. The intellect without intuition is nothing more than the Adversary, or Satan in the original language (common noun in the Hebrew, not a proper noun) Both must agree. This is the Yoke that Jesus spoke of. The symbol of Jesus riding the ass is the intellect and intuition ruling the baser nature. Do you think Jesus was being intellectual while in his visions and dreams. They were altered states that are achieved when the intellect finally realizes that it is not always correct and recognizes that the small still voice is the true master that is not of a rational world assumed to be intellectual in nature.
Do you think that when Jesus braded his whip and drove the Money Changers from the temple with physical violence he was not pissed???? And he never expressed remorse…..
On February 23, 2016 at 10:23 pm, Herschel Smith said:
I know it’s hard when the truth is pointed out, but do try, try ever so hard, to focus on one thing. Trump and his beliefs. Nothing else. That’s what the article is about.
On February 25, 2016 at 12:46 pm, Marge S said:
Cruz did not single handedly stop the gang of eight bill. It passed in the Senate 68 to 32. It died in the House because Eric Cantor was premiered by Dave Brat largely because of Cantor’s support for the immigration bill.
http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2015/12/17/just-how-close-was-the-2014-amnesty-vote-heres-the-back-story/
I suggest you get your facts together. Cuz is not liked because he has a rotten personality and is a snake.
On February 25, 2016 at 1:13 pm, Herschel Smith said:
I should have said “single handedly lead the effort to kill the gang of eight bill.”
You’re what we call a low information voter. I heard Brat, Louie Gohmert, Lee and Cruz all speak just before the S.C. primary. Gohmert was very, very clear on the weekly (and sometimes more often) strategy meetings between him, Brat, Mike Lee and others, all in the office of Ted Cruz who was the first one to go over from the Senate to the House and construct a correlated effort to defeat the bill in the House.
I have my facts straight dear. I don’t usually write them down unless I do. Come back and visit any time, just be respectful.
On February 23, 2016 at 10:56 am, ProudlyUnaffiliated said:
Trump is the New Obama.
On February 22, 2016 at 12:19 pm, t_reese said:
Let me put this simply. Let’s leave religion and religious beliefs out of politics period! And let’s vote to get some of the rotten out of DC. VOTE Trump!
On February 22, 2016 at 12:20 pm, Herschel Smith said:
I can vote however I choose to vote. I don’t have to leave any of my views out of politics. Was that simply enough put for you?
On February 22, 2016 at 1:49 pm, Archer said:
Let’s leave religion and religious beliefs out of politics period!
Simply put, this is not possible. If you try to do this for yourself, you’re only handicapping yourself against others who have no such scruples.
Leftism is a religion. They believed in the government as their deity. Obama was their Messiah; Hillary or Bernie will be another Messiah. Look how quickly they cry “Heretic!!!” and disavow, slander, or even promote violence on anyone who voices a belief contrary to their point of view. They’re no different from ISIS, sans the beheadings.
You can try to keep your religion and religious beliefs out of your politics, but you will NEVER be able to force your political opponents to do the same (this sounds like an echo of a “gun control” debate, doesn’t it?). So why would you not arm yourself with your religious beliefs? (Read Ephesians 6:10-18.)
On February 22, 2016 at 2:15 pm, Herschel Smith said:
Yes, but there’s really even more to it than that. To go a bit deeper, I classify religion as a world view. Everyone has a world view. Combine epistemology, ethics and metaphysics, and you have a world view. Those are the primary branches of philosophy. EVERYONE has a philosophy. Everyone.
So it’s not a question of “why can’t I import my views into the voting booth?” The issue is this: it’s impossible to do anything without views, presuppositions and axioms. Reece has them, you have them, I have them. It’s impossible to make value judgments without them.
If you don’t believe in ethics as defined by the Scriptures, you believe in some other form of ethics, e.g., John Stuart Mill’s utilitarianism, Dewey’s instrumentalism, or whatever. My view of ethics is as good as Reece’s, and I claim it’s better.
You have to start somewhere.
EDIT: If I may suggest, listen to the full debate, Dr. Greg Bahnsen versus Dr. Gordon Stein, “Does God Exist,” U. of California at Irvine, available on YouTube (audio only), for the role of presuppositions.
On February 22, 2016 at 5:38 pm, joe said:
I would add, not as a point of disagreement, but as a point of observation the unfortunate intrusion of cognitive dissonance in the minds of modern men…Christian and non-believers alike.
On February 23, 2016 at 9:51 pm, Heyoka said:
I once attended a class entitle Business Ethics. the professor was so enthralled with his knowledge he forgot to get the class to express the understanding in their own views. He wanted a regurgitation of the dry rhetoric in the material.
I approached the chair of the department and asked if I could substitute a class. He asked me why I thought I did not need a lesson in ethics. I told him that I had been around long enough to know that Jesus notion of do unto others was the essence of all ethical considerations. I went on to tell him that Business and Ethics was a contradiction of terms. He laughed and told me I could do a Comparative Religions Class.
Well there are your appeals to rationalized appeals to popular sentiment, a logical fallacy. Jesus said take upon my yoke for it is easy…. Herein lies the voice of reason…. Keep it simple stupid, KISS! Either you know right from wrong or you are lost and will reject any appeal to reason. If this were not true we could have reasoned ourselves out of stupid long ago.
On February 23, 2016 at 10:57 am, ProudlyUnaffiliated said:
Trump is not a common sense conservative or a libertarian; he is a member of the authoritarian wing of the progressive movement.
On February 22, 2016 at 12:28 pm, Geoffry K said:
Cruz was my choice until Trump jumped in. He says he’ll stop illegal immigration and deport the illegals already here. Should he get elected and not follow through on that, he won’t get a second term.
Personally I think a Trump-Cruz or Cruz-Trump ticket is the way to go.
I’ll vote for whoever the nominee is, because we can’t have another Democrat or a Socialist as President.
Either one will destroy our rights any way they can.
Democrats are Dictator wannabes.
On February 22, 2016 at 12:31 pm, Herschel Smith said:
I understand your position Geoffry. I think Trump will do what he says. I think he will send everyone here illegally back home, let them “touch back,” and come back to the US through the wide open door in the fence. Then they will be legal rather than illegal. And thus Trump will claim that he did exactly what he said he would do. He has told you all along that’s what he intends to do. They can come back, says he, they just have to do it through the door, legally.
On February 22, 2016 at 5:40 pm, joe said:
If he does that, there really is no difference between him and Rubio…
On February 23, 2016 at 10:58 am, JoeyJoJoJRShabadoo said:
Maybe you’re right Herschel, but at least there’s a chance Trump will do what he says. Your boy Cruz wants to increase immigration and the H1B visa program. Bottom line is that without trump bringing it up, immigration would be a minor blip on this campaign season.
On February 23, 2016 at 11:23 am, Herschel Smith said:
That’s Rubio you’re thinking about, not Cruz. Oh, I think there’s more than just a “chance” he’ll do what he says. I think he absolutely will, no doubt about it. Make them “touch back,” then come back through the wide open door to the U.S. so that we can pay for their medical care.
On February 23, 2016 at 11:30 am, JoeyJoJoJRShabadoo said:
Cruz is on record supporting an increase of the H1b visa program. Rubio just wants to give them all amnesty and lie to our faces about it. I would vote for Cruz if it came down to it. I will not vote for Rubio.
On February 23, 2016 at 11:53 am, Herschel Smith said:
Um, not exactly, his planned changes for the H1b program are rather far reaching. None of this matters anyway. Only two people can be president now. Trump or Hillary. Who I support isn’t really the point here. The point is an analysis of Donald Trump, who happens to own the first Casino in NV. that has a strip club. Perhaps Hillary will make hay of that in her “war on women meme” when she runs against Trump, you know, when MSNBC, CBS, ABC, NPR, PBS and Fox News have all of those interviews with pole dancers who feel abused after working for Trump, putting up all those side-by-side pictures of Trump and the dancers, mobsters and other shady folks who work at the places he owns. Along with all the people he has run off their land through eminent domain. Be prepared. It should be an interesting ride. I’ll sit back with a glass of good red wine and watch it all with no dog in the fight. It’ll be entertaining.
On February 23, 2016 at 12:44 pm, JoeyJoJoJRShabadoo said:
no doubt about that. It’s been quite a ride already. Anyway, love your blog, disagree about Trump, but if it’s any consolation I probably agree with the other 99.999% of what you wrote. Cheers!
On February 24, 2016 at 10:04 pm, joe said:
I literally just stumbled across this article concerning Trump’s proposals for immigration reform … looks like he’s borrowed both ideas and people from Jeff Sessions… http://www.amren.com/news/2016/02/trump-adviser-explains-the-donalds-immigration-plan-the-definition-of-compassion/
On February 24, 2016 at 11:12 pm, Herschel Smith said:
I heard Sessions interviewed on Mark Levin’s show. Sessions supported Trump’s plan for obvious reasons (he admitted to Levin that Trump had taken some of his folks), but he also supports Cruz, he just hasn’t gone on record endorsing anyone yet. It’s just plain wrong to paint Cruz as weak on immigration.
On February 22, 2016 at 12:49 pm, Frank_in_Spokane said:
“I’ll vote for whoever the [Republican] nominee is, because we can’t have another Democrat or a Socialist as President.”
Because we all know one thing fer shure: Whoever the Republican nominee is, we know that he will NEVER destroy our rights any way he can.
Perhaps you don’t recall Dubya’s stated willingness to reauthorize the Scary Rifles and Standard Capacity Magazine Ban?
My my, ain’t this GOP Kool Aid sweeeeeeeeet …
On February 22, 2016 at 2:32 pm, Frank_in_Spokane said:
I’ll just leave this here:
A Bright Red Nose for the Clown State
https://dougwils.com/s7-engaging-the-culture/110294.html
On February 22, 2016 at 3:02 pm, Fred said:
There is not a single article that is not willfully ignored. The Federal Register’s resultant set of policy is tyranny. .fed ignores it, the people have never read it, our “leaders” do whatever they want, I swore an oath to uphold the constitution, but face it, it is now void.The more tyrannical a government becomes the more radical its opposition becomes. This will lead to shooting, it always has. We are obligated to throw off these chains. The people are angry, and should be, but like a dog hit with a rolled up newspaper, until the abuse becomes life threatening, they will submit. The people will not fight back until they understand .gov can not save us from .gov.
The “Evangelical Christians” you reference are no more christian than Trump. They don’t know Jesus from the IRS 501c(3) code. The churches are captured and interred creatures of the state. Only submission unto a holy and just God keeps a nation free.
Some are saying “shades of 1930’s Germany” and I can’t disprove them. Welcome to Nationalist Socialism. This ends only one way, war. Will it be civil or international?
On February 22, 2016 at 3:08 pm, Scrapple said:
I like magic shows. Especially the kind that piss off the establishment.
On February 22, 2016 at 3:24 pm, Herschel Smith said:
They’re only pissed off because they think he can’t win. They are wrong.
On February 22, 2016 at 3:29 pm, Scrapple said:
Would you vote for him in the general election?
I want to like Cruz…but I can’t forgive the whole shutdown of the government business. I really believe that because of him…I am now represented by Corey Booker in the Senate.
On February 22, 2016 at 3:55 pm, Herschel Smith said:
Yea, bad senators can get replaced by even worse senators. That’s true. But as for the shutdown of the fedgov, I’m sorry it didn’t go further. I wish he could have stayed and down it longer, and that Lee had done it longer, and Rand Paul had done it with him, and other senators had done it.
Obamacare was a hill to die on. Obamacare funding was a hill to die on. Once it was done it will never be undone. Never. All of the senators pretended their hanging Cruz out to dry was about waiting until they had the presidency. They knew better. Obamacare is with us to stay, even with Trump, since he has made it clear that he favors a single payer health care system. If we had wanted to stop Obamacare, passage of the bill and funding of the bill were the times to do it. He wants competition across state lines, but so what? Socialized medicine is here to stay. We, and our children, and our children’s children will pay for Mexican health care until there is no longer a middle class and we are all slave labor with the Mexicans. I would like to have seen the fedgov shut down until this present moment, all branches, all employees furloughed or pink slipped, damn the consequences.
Then again, I’m in favor of a complete shutdown of the fedgov anyway – all of it. The common defense is the only constitutional function of a federal government.
If it’s between Trump and Hillary, I’ll stay home that day and grill steaks. There isn’t a dime’s worth of difference between them.
On February 23, 2016 at 7:33 am, Scrapple said:
I believe that people who run for public office should be people who work in the real world and then wish to give back and serve their country. Ted Cruz is not that person. He’s a lawyer and a professional politician. I believe he would serve his own interests and career aspirations before he would do what’s right for the US.
The timing of the shutdown was politically short sighted. Steve Lonegan ran against Corey Booker in the Senate Election in NJ and was a good man. He and others expended an exhausting amount of political capital in NJ and he almost won…
It was a miracle that he was ahead in the polls in the days leading up to the election.
He was a self made man who overcame a handicap [he’s legally blind] and started his own business. He wanted to serve his state and his country and give back.
Then along came Ted Cruz and the shutdown.
Thanks for nothing Ted.
On February 22, 2016 at 7:28 pm, Ben said:
So Herschel, if Trump is so bad then which GOP candidate is your choice of being our Savior?
On February 23, 2016 at 10:18 am, Herschel Smith said:
I don’t believe that we should look to a candidate to be our “savior.” I have only one savior.
On February 22, 2016 at 7:46 pm, Ben said:
Trump may not be an extremist Christian which I personally think is good. It is good to have Christianity or Christian beliefs to help guide you through life, not decide for you. Trump represents Americans who consider themselves religious, but don’t allow the religion to dictate their life. I happen to fall into this category. I’ve recently met one of Trumps security personnel provided by the federal government and I asked him his thoughts on Trump since he has met him a few times. His response was that he is the same person in private as he projects himself in public. I will be voting for Trump.
Herschel, you can at least be assured that Trump is not a Muslim like the current occupier in the White House
On February 23, 2016 at 6:36 am, Kerry said:
An “extremist” Christian, what is that? As C.S. Lewis pointed out, (IIRC), Christ is either lying, crazy or telling the truth. If on believes He is the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the extremist position is to deny Him. In return, He will deny one to the Father. In that case, extremist becomes ‘in extremis’, gehenna, the fire that does not go out.
On February 23, 2016 at 7:42 am, Scrapple said:
I think Ben is talking about someone like Glen Beck. The guy sounds like he needs medication.
On February 23, 2016 at 10:23 am, Herschel Smith said:
” It is good to have Christianity or Christian beliefs to help guide you through life, not decide for you. Trump represents Americans who consider themselves religious, but don’t allow the religion to dictate their life.”
I don’t know what you’re talking about. Everyone has a world view, a set of properly basic propositions he believes has positive truth value, a theory of knowledge, and so on. That world view is the basis for his choices, decisions, actions, words, etc. This isn’t a choice someone makes or decides not to make. Everyone has a world view, and that world view decides those things for him. A person may claim to have one world view, and actually have another, but EVERYONE has a world view, even if you are unable fully to explain that world view or where it came from.
So again, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not sure you do either.
On February 23, 2016 at 10:55 am, ProudlyUnaffiliated said:
BullyVulgarMisogynistProgressiveBillionaireAuthoritarianTweetist
CarnivalBarkingPiedPiperRossPerotReduxHelpElectHillary 2016 !!!
On February 23, 2016 at 1:30 pm, Hal Johnfree said:
Mr Smith (The Author) is out of touch with reality here…..and I am a BORN AGAIN CHRISTIAN! He doesn’t understand the undercurrent of the silent majority who have embraced TRUMP as there is no other choice. (HELLO?)
Additionally.
I’m supporting TRUMP since I learned a few “FATAL” things about CRUZ.
On February 23, 2016 at 1:49 pm, Herschel Smith said:
Mr. Smith isn’t out of touch with reality. You are apparently a latecomer to the blog. These issues (e.g., immigration, national sovereignty, second amendment, etc., etc.) occupy most of our time here. Mr. Smith completely and fully explained why Christians went with Trump. They decided to cast votes inconsistent with their world view. Mr. Smith also explained that Mr. Trump’s presentation is a magic show that will disappoint you in the end. By then, though, it will be too late. And you always have a choice. Have fun on election day.
On February 26, 2016 at 9:30 am, Ben said:
We can all preach till the cows come home about which candidate is going to be best for the USA. Unless there is a major disruption, it is fair to say that Donald Trump is going to be the next President of The United States.
On February 23, 2016 at 7:12 pm, Mack said:
Bryan Fischer had this to say on AFR net. Blog is here:
Will Evangelicals Put an Unrepentant Serial Adulterer in the White House?
http://www.afa.net/the-stand/election/2016/02/will-evangelicals-put-an-unrepentant-serial-adulterer-in-the-white-house/
On February 26, 2016 at 5:50 pm, Matthew Wilbanks said:
I love how almost everyone’s response is “if not Trump then who?”. I will tell you who, NO ONE. People seem to think that you must cast a vote, you must chose a candidate, even if they are all evil. I voted for the lesser of two evils exactly one time, and ever since have sworn that I will never do it again. The common saying of “if you don’t vote you don’t get to complain” is the biggest lie ever perpetuated in politics. I would sooner write in “Mickey Mouse” than violate my own morality and vote for the lesser of two evils again. Evil is evil. When you vote for evil you always end up in the same place, the speed with which you get there doesn’t matter.
On September 3, 2016 at 1:39 am, harry said:
Christens that wont vote Trump support Hillery Clinton and are to self righteous and proud. They wouldn’t like King David, you know the things he did? maybe not. you would say why did we leave Egypt?
Clinton are You kidding me. stupid foolish people, the reasons to stop Hillery are endless, strain at a nat swallow the obamanation theology. so so sad. we are not voting for a preacher, if we were you might have a point. Hillery is Lucifers apprentice. and you are helping her.