According to this same evangelical group, the reason they voted for him was because of his "religious" views that jived with theirs. To whit, get more conservative judges on the Supreme Court while hacking away at any laws enacted that evangelicals view as anti-family.
Ironically, in the year and a half that the current president has been in office, this same religious group remains staunchly behind their choice. Stating, in effect, that they don't care what he is like, as a person, as long as he continues to support their agenda.
But there's a huge problem with that line of logic.
Back in January, Steve Inskeep, host of NPR's Morning Edition, interviewed Richard Painter, the top ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush, and Norman Eisen, the top ethics lawyer for President Obama. They both agreed that the current president is the most unethical in modern history.
"The most serious, most dangerous problem is that he [Trump] ignores the Constitution," said Painter. Noting that the President has refused to divest the businesses he owns that are borrowing money from foreign governments and foreign government-owned banks doing business with foreign governments.
The current President also has pending lawsuits against him in Maryland and the District of Columbia. One having to do with the Trump Hotel that is located a few blocks from the White House.
"Contempt for ethics is what has led to him [Trump] making loyalty demands, trying to get [former FBI Chief James] Comey to drop the [Russian] investigation and its led to a plethora of unethical conduct across the administration," said Eisen.
Just last week the current president invited A.G. Sulzberger, publisher of the New York Times, to the White House for a meeting. Sulzberger made it clear that he thought the president's "inflammatory language is contributing to a rise in threats against journalists and will lead to violence."
The current president seemed to be proud of coining the phrase "fake news," and remarked he wasn't surprised to hear of the threats, viewing journalists and the main-line news media as "enemies of the people."
The Times coverage of the meeting included a mention of an incident in Kansas City where the current president was speaking to a crowd of veterans. "Stick with us," he told them. "Don't believe the crap you see from these [main line news] people, the fake news."
This is just one example of the current president's purposeful distortion of the truth. The Washington Post has recorded over 3,000 instances of lies/distortions told by the president since he's been in office. PBS recently aired a segment on this same subject. The main point of both reports is that a democracy is founded on a common understanding of the truth and that such regular lying dangerously undercuts that democracy.
Nevertheless, it seems the current president has done a good job of manipulating evangelicals into his corner.
Despite the fact that the current president:
. has had multiple affairs
. is involved in two legal actions concerning two of the more recent affairs
. is the first president in decades who has refused to release his tax returns
. endorses known racists who are running for political office
. said that there are "some very fine people" who are neo-Nazis
. lies on a continual basis (i.e. his knowledge of authorizing a pay-out to one of the women he had an alleged affair with; lying about his motivation for firing James Comey)
. referred to certain African countries as being "sh**hole" countries.
. is considering another, $100 billion, tax cut that would mainly benefit richer, higher-income individuals.
Remember when the current president was bragging on "his people" saying that he could "stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any voters."
As far as evangelicals are concerned, he was telling the truth.
So, if the current president isn't acting particularly Christian, then what are Christian values?
According to the Bible, for starters, they include:
. loving our neighbors (including refugees and immigrants)
. realizing that love is stronger than fear
. standing up for the poor, the widow and orphan
. treating our neighbors as ourselves
. putting others ahead of ourselves (which is the direct opposite of Make America Great Again).
. valuing honesty and integrity (which includes telling the truth).
There's an interesting passage in the Bible, starting in Galatians 5:19, in which Paul describes a few of the "acts of the flesh," which include sexual immorality, idolatry, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition and dissention. All of these have been used in describing the current president.
Then Paul goes on to present the "fruits of the Spirit," which include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Do any of these fruits seem evident in the current occupant of the White House?
It's also enlightening to recall Jesus' Sermon on the Mount (better known as The Beatitudes). During that mountainside chat, Jesus expressed concern for:
. the poor
. those who mourn
. the meek
. those who hunger and thirst for righteousness
. the merciful
. the pure in heart
. the peacemakers
. those suffering persecution for the sake of right living. (Matt. 5:3-10 NKJ)
Can you imagine the current president having the faintest inkling of empathy for any of these groups?
To sum it all up: Jesus once said: "A good tree can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can't produce good fruit... Just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions." (Matt. 7:18-20 NLT).
To end on a positive note: Perhaps we could look to the actions of the current president and then humbly do a values check on our own life, Christian or not.
-------
Artwork credits: top St. Michael and All Angels Primary School; middle Agaiazian national front; bottom Hurst Green Church of England Primary School.
The current president seemed to be proud of coining the phrase "fake news," and remarked he wasn't surprised to hear of the threats, viewing journalists and the main-line news media as "enemies of the people."
The Times coverage of the meeting included a mention of an incident in Kansas City where the current president was speaking to a crowd of veterans. "Stick with us," he told them. "Don't believe the crap you see from these [main line news] people, the fake news."
This is just one example of the current president's purposeful distortion of the truth. The Washington Post has recorded over 3,000 instances of lies/distortions told by the president since he's been in office. PBS recently aired a segment on this same subject. The main point of both reports is that a democracy is founded on a common understanding of the truth and that such regular lying dangerously undercuts that democracy.
Nevertheless, it seems the current president has done a good job of manipulating evangelicals into his corner.
Despite the fact that the current president:
. has had multiple affairs
. is involved in two legal actions concerning two of the more recent affairs
. is the first president in decades who has refused to release his tax returns
. endorses known racists who are running for political office
. said that there are "some very fine people" who are neo-Nazis
. lies on a continual basis (i.e. his knowledge of authorizing a pay-out to one of the women he had an alleged affair with; lying about his motivation for firing James Comey)
. referred to certain African countries as being "sh**hole" countries.
. is considering another, $100 billion, tax cut that would mainly benefit richer, higher-income individuals.
As far as evangelicals are concerned, he was telling the truth.
So, if the current president isn't acting particularly Christian, then what are Christian values?
According to the Bible, for starters, they include:
. loving our neighbors (including refugees and immigrants)
. realizing that love is stronger than fear
. standing up for the poor, the widow and orphan
. treating our neighbors as ourselves
. putting others ahead of ourselves (which is the direct opposite of Make America Great Again).
. valuing honesty and integrity (which includes telling the truth).
There's an interesting passage in the Bible, starting in Galatians 5:19, in which Paul describes a few of the "acts of the flesh," which include sexual immorality, idolatry, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition and dissention. All of these have been used in describing the current president.
Then Paul goes on to present the "fruits of the Spirit," which include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Do any of these fruits seem evident in the current occupant of the White House?
It's also enlightening to recall Jesus' Sermon on the Mount (better known as The Beatitudes). During that mountainside chat, Jesus expressed concern for:
. the poor
. those who mourn
. the meek
. those who hunger and thirst for righteousness
. the merciful
. the pure in heart
. the peacemakers
. those suffering persecution for the sake of right living. (Matt. 5:3-10 NKJ)
Can you imagine the current president having the faintest inkling of empathy for any of these groups?
To sum it all up: Jesus once said: "A good tree can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can't produce good fruit... Just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions." (Matt. 7:18-20 NLT).
To end on a positive note: Perhaps we could look to the actions of the current president and then humbly do a values check on our own life, Christian or not.
-------
Artwork credits: top St. Michael and All Angels Primary School; middle Agaiazian national front; bottom Hurst Green Church of England Primary School.
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