USA TODAY Kirsten Powers: Donald Trump, evangelical scam artist Kirsten Powers 3:20 p.m. EDT September 2, 2015 “I play to people’s fantasies,” Donald Trump _wrote_ (https://books.google.com/books?id=Ye6e_VxM00kC&q=“I+play+to+people’s+fantasies,”+#v=snippet&q=“ I%20play%20to%20people’s%20fantasies,”&f=false) in his 1987 memoir, The Art of the Deal. “I call it truthful hyperbole,” he explained. “It’s an innocent form of exaggeration — and a very effective form of promotion.” The Bible calls this kind of behavior “lying.” Why am I bringing up the Bible? Well, it’s The Donald’s favorite book. Or so he says. That claim might be part of that truthful hyperbole that serves as promotion for the reality TV star seeking the presidency of the United States. Trump is a lot of things, but stupid isn’t one of them. He clearly determined that the only way to win the Republican nomination was through an appeal to the conservative evangelical vote. Despite his multiple divorces and remarriages, longtime support for abortion rights (until recently) and prideful self-aggrandizement, Trump has emerged as the favored candidate of evangelical voters. An Aug. 16 _Fox News Poll reported_ (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/08/16/fox-news-poll-shakeup-in-gop-field-after-first-debate-sanders-gains-on- clinton/) that “the top favorites among the white evangelical Christians are Trump (27%), Carson (14%), Cruz (12%), Bush (10%) and Huckabee (9%).” In South Carolina, 33% of evangelical Christians back Trump, according to a recent _Monmouth University survey_ (http://www.monmouth.edu/assets/0/32212254770/32212254991/32212254992/32212254994/32212254995/30064771087/79e36e02-d 83c-4fb8-83c2-4c131bdf0a1a.pdf) . His closest rival was retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 18%. Trump has been praised _by Jerry Falwell Jr._ (http://www.liberty.edu/news/index.cfm?PID=18495&MID=65182) as "one of the greatest visionaries of our time" and lauded _by Franklin Graham_ (http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/franklin-graham-shaking-up-gop/2015/08/10/id/669448/) for “shaking up” the political process. At July’s Family Leadership Summit, _Trump exclaimed_ (http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/18/politics/trump-has-never-sought-forgiveness/) , “People are so shocked when they find ... out I am Protestant. I am Presbyterian. And I go to church and I love God and I love my church.” Yes, that is shocking. After all, the Bible has a few things to say about _humility_ (http://dailyverses.net/humility) , which is not exactly Trump’s strong suit. Not particularly surprising was Trump’s inability to name a favorite verse in his favorite book. The schoolyard bully who last week _publicly mocked_ (http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/252238-trump-rips-clinton-aide-huma-abedin-and-perv-husband-anthony) Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin’s marriage claimed that to talk about a Bible verse would be too “_personal_ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10qbt0LHmvE) .” Twitter erupted with the hashtag #TrumpBible, along with _Trump-style verses_ (http://www.christianpost.com/news/trumpbible-twitter-users-mock-donald-trump-after-he-refuses-to-share-favorite-bible-verse-144056/#PpLs4jxdLqgVeR7H .99) . "Took God 6 days to create the universe. Bad management. I would've done it faster, cheaper & Satan would pay for it,” read one. Another quipped, "Look I like Jesus. Anyone that can feed 5k people with 2 fish is sharp. Big mistake not charging. But I still like him." These are funny because they are so close to the truth. Trump is a dangerous megalomaniac with a distorted sense of reality. When _30,000 people turned out_ (http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/21/politics/donald-trump-rally-mobile-alabama/) to see Trump in Mobile, Ala., he told the crowd, "_Now I know_ (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/22/us/donald-trump-fails-to-fill-alabama-stadium -but-fans-zeal-is-undiminished.html) how the great Billy Graham felt." (_More than 2 million_ (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/2005/06/24/june-24-2005-billy-grahams-new-york-crusade/8839/) people attended Graham’s New York City crusade for 16 weeks in 1957.) When asked at the Family Leadership Summit whether he had ever sought God's forgiveness, _Trump replied,_ (http://www.christiantoday .com/article/donald.trump.says.i.love.god.but.hes.not.sure.if.he.has.asked.for.forgiveness/595 37.htm) "I am not sure I have. I just go on and try to do a better job from there. I don't think so. ... If I do something wrong, I think, I just try and make it right. I don't bring God into that picture. I don't." A Christian who has never sought forgiveness for his sins is like a vegan who has filet mignon for dinner every night. Trump says he attends Marble Collegiate Church in New York, where the late Norman Vincent Peale — author of the self-help book The Power of Positive Thinking — was his pastor. It’s at this church that Trump presumably drinks “_my little wine_ (http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2015/08/13/donald-trump-religion-serfaty-dnt-erin.cnn) ” and has “my little cracker,” as he described taking Communion recently. Peale was a major figure in the fringy and theologically unsound “ _prosperity gospel_ (http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/5-errors-of-the-prosperity-gospel) ” movement. Pastor Paula White, a prosperity gospel huckster, _reportedly will host_ (http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2015/08/26/donald-trump-plans-meeting-with-evangelicals/) a meeting for Trump with Christian leaders. White frequently tells her flock to donate large sums of money to her ministry as a “_seed_ (http://www.christianpost.com/news/pastor-paula-white-claims-july-is-prophetically-designated-for-victory-over-enemies-suggests -229-breakthrough-seed-donation-123114/) ” to ensure God answers their prayers. She’s a scam artist. Just like Trump. Evangelical voters need to wake up. -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
[RC] Kirsten Powers: Donald Trump, evangelical scam artist
BILROJ via Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community Thu, 03 Sep 2015 13:07:54 -0700
