A poll showed that 80% of Evangelical Christians who voted in Alabama voted for Roy Moore. This despite his anti-gay, anti-Muslim beliefs. He has commented that homosexuality should be illegal and that Muslims should not be able to serve in the US Congress. He has defied two US Supreme Court rulings which resulted in his removal from the Alabama Supreme Court bench, and has been accused of sexual misconduct with minors.
A Facebook friend of mine shared a post the other day reporting that President Donald Trump told members of the media they were permitted to stay for his prayer session with Cabinet members because “you need it more than I do.”
My comment was:
“What a hypocrite.”
Before I go any further, let me give you some history.
I grew up in the same neighborhood with this person. She will remain anonymous. I only have identified her gender because it will become apparent later as to why this is important.
We went to Catholic schools for twelve years, and judging from her posts, she’s very religious.
I also know that she is an avid Trump supporter. something I can’t quite understand.
Her reply to my comment,
“He’s the best thing that’s happened to this country in a long time! God bless him.”
My reply:
“He’s the worse thing to happen to this country since the Civil War.
He’s a pathological liar, bully and con man.
His tax plan is a slap in the face of fundamental Christian theology to help the needy and the poor. It will only benefit the wealthy. Millions of Americans will loose their health care because of him. And he could care less about the homeless people in this country.
He retweeted three hate-filled, deceitful Islamaphobic videos from Britain First (which is designated a hate group.) If this isn’t bigotry, then what? He then told Theresa May to mind her own business when she complained.
He tacitly approved of white supremacy and neo-nazis saying they were “fine people.” If this
isn’t racism, then what?
He incorrectly characterized that Mexican illegals are criminals and rapists. If this isn’t bigotry, then what?
His Muslim ban is blatant discrimination. If this isn’t bigotry, then what?
He backed a (alleged) pedophile for the US Senate.
At least fourteen women have accused him of sexual harassment or misconduct.
He bragged about being able to “grab ‘em by the pussy.” IS THIS SOMETHING A CHRISTIAN WOULD DO?
His destruction of the EPA through Scott Pruitt has the potential to devastate the environment. It could take decades to counteract his policies.
Tell me how this is good for the country.”
The point of my examples of Trump’s is to show the hypocrisy of a so-called Christian who is having prayers with his cabinet and behaves the contrary to Christian values.
Her reply was to say that she is a born-again Evangelical Christian and that,
“ You need to stop listening to fake news.” And that I’m entitled to my opinions.
“Whoa there, “ I said.
“These are NOT opinions. They are well documented and verifiable FACTS.” I showed her a recent poll that gave Fox the “Fake News Award.”
She, being female, still supported a man who bragged that he can
“grab ‘em by the pussy.”
And of course, the rest is history. HE WAS STILL ELECTED. And now you know why it was important to identify this person’s gender. How can she, given this bragging, justify supporting a man who has shone little if any respect for women.
So this begs the question, “What are the core values of Evangelical Christianity?”
Is it a belief in bigotry, racism, white supremacy, mysogyny, Islamophobia, xenophobia and greed (aka screw the poor). Because Donald Trump seems to exhibit these traits.
I don’t recall anywhere in my twelve years of Catholic schooling that Jesus was any of the above. Instead, I remember love thy neighbor, help the needy and the poor. And then there’s be tolerant.
By the way, I recently read a piece in the Guardian where a lot of Evangelical Christians no longer want to call themselves Evangelical because of the current connotation of that with ultra-conservative, right wing zealots.
Aye, there’s the rub.