Trump and Evangelical Ministers

[Dave Roberts]

Does it bother anyone else when Donald Trump tells an out and out lie like "Obama and Hillary Clinton founded ISIS," that he does so to a cheering audience of evangelical ministers? Maybe I take the ways we ministers handle truth, but this seems to be a blight on the name of the one who said, "I am the way and the truth and the light."

[Tim Bonney]

[Neil Heath]

I believe Al Mohler has said that if Christians accept Trump with all his character flaws, we should apologize to Bill Clinton.

[KeithE]

[Sandy]

[Dave Roberts]

It also seems that the more outrageous the claim, the more attention the news media give to it. For them it is only a ratings show, and true journalism does not exist. For ministers to applaud falsehood turns my stomach. I'm no Al Mohler fan, but this time Al has shown a little backbone.

[KeithE]

[Tim Bonney]

[Sandy]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the ... 6259d0d897

[Tim Bonney]

[Dave Roberts]

[Tim Bonney]

Yes, it is a little over the top in tone. It is hard for those of us who like to see the Religious Right out of the Christian and political fore front not to have a little bit of schadenfreude when it actually starts to happen.

[KeithE]

[Sandy]

I wouldn't say it's over the top. I don't think a lot of evangelicals see the correlation between declining attendance in their churches and denominations, and the continued involvement and push into right wing politics. But they're going to. The hypocrisy is pretty visible, and articles like this one are pointing it out. The fact that Al Mohler and Russ Moore are sticking with the character issue and being consistent in their position is not only a good thing, but I think it is also an indication that evangelical support for Trump is probably not anywhere near what it was for Romney. They don't have as much to lose as those whose ministries depend on contributors, like Franklin Graham and Falwell Jr., who have to grub after money, and have ministries that are expensive to operate. They have to avoid offending contributors. The religious right lost a lot of respect and support last time around when they pushed Romney, and a lot of people saw that Christian faith, as it was defined by evangelical leaders, didn't make a difference in the candidate they chose, and the hypocrisy of statements like "we're not electing a pastor in chief, we're electing a commander in chief" became the mantra. I know a lot of people were turned off by that. Now Trump comes along, and he's a sleazebag owner of an assortment of casinos and strip joints, openly admitted to adultery and doesn't see it as a problem, and about the only issues that he's articulated clearly relate to the social side of politics that right wingers have opposed.

I think it's going to change, though. The younger generation, and I mean those under 30, are much more aware of the fact that evangelism has a much deeper connection and relationship to social justice, and ministry than it does to right wing political issues. I've been involved in Christian school education for about 30 years, now, and I don't see much support for Trump among former students in the millennial age group. The spiritual life of the school I currently serve revolves around social justice and ministry, and the way we involve our students in that kind of ministry generates a lot of interest and participation. Right wing politics, not so much.

[Tim Bonney]

What is going to keep changing is that the people that Trump appeals to, older conservative white men, is a shrinking demographic. The GOP totally forgot that the last presidential cycle they promised themselves that they would try to do a better job of appealing to Hispanics. They totally failed to do that with Trump. He scares the heck out of anyone that I know of that is Hispanic/Latino, etc.

If the GOP is going to make it as a viable organization into the next generation the party has to find a way to appeal to a wider demographic. This is not going to remain a majority anglo nation.

[Sandy]

http://www.npr.org/2016/03/06/469371887 ... ium=social