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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Purgatory: U.S. Presidential Election 2016
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Golden Key
Shipmate
# 1468
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Posted
Sorry. Misread mr cheesy's post as asking what would happen.
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Blessed Gator, pray for us!
--"Oh bat bladders, do you have to bring common sense into this?" (Dragon, "Jane & the Dragon")
--"Oh, Peace Train, save this country!" (Yusuf/Cat Stevens, "Peace Train")
Posts: 18601 | From: Chilling out in an undisclosed, sincere pumpkin patch. | Registered: Oct 2001
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Komensky
Shipmate
# 8675
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Barnabas62:
Komensky
I think the Beni Johnson support story is pretty old news. The criticisms go back over three months and she took down the Facebook entry following criticism. It was a pretty unwise entry.
I can't find any comments from Beni's husband and Bethel lead pastor Bill. I suppose he may think Beni was "bonkers" to do that but if so he's not likely to say so in public.
I've got a lot of misgivings about Bethel and the story, old or not, certainly adds weight to the "bonkers" reputation.
Why did she take it down? It is so often the case that 'leaders' like that only step down once they are exposed. Moreover, it doesn't seem to be that old, it seems to have been posted in April. Bethel's parade of nonsense and bigotry will have to be for another thread.
K.
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"The English are not very spiritual people, so they invented cricket to give them some idea of eternity." - George Bernard Shaw
Posts: 1784 | From: UK | Registered: Oct 2004
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Barnabas62
Shipmate
# 9110
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Posted
Presumably she took it down because she was disturbed by the responses? Doesn't mean she changed her mind of course. As I said, her pretty silly FB entry tended to confirm my misgivings about Bethel and the way it is led.
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Who is it that you seek? How then shall we live? How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?
Posts: 21397 | From: Norfolk UK | Registered: Feb 2005
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Amanda B. Reckondwythe
Dressed for Church
# 5521
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by mr cheesy:
it would be a massive irony if a second amendment Republican was assassinated.
You'd see gun control legislation passed faster than Donald Trump's hair dryer can blow hot air.
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"I take prayer too seriously to use it as an excuse for avoiding work and responsibility." -- The Revd Martin Luther King Jr.
Posts: 10542 | From: The Great Southwest | Registered: Feb 2004
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
Your optiism is touching, Amanda. They did nothing when George Wallace was shot. I doubt if even the assassination of a siting GOP president would have that effect.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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Crœsos
Shipmate
# 238
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
Your opti[m]ism is touching, Amanda. They did nothing when George Wallace was shot. I doubt if even the assassination of a siting GOP president would have that effect.
By 1972 George Wallace was a political irritant everyone (aside from his hard-core supporters) just wished would go away. It's unsurprising there was no action after the assassination attempt.
In an interview with the BBC American blogger David Brockington pointed out that during his lifetime only five sitting members of the U.S. Congress have been killed or had attempts on their lives.
quote:
I tried to place this [the Jo Cox assassination] in a comparative context with the United States. In my lifetime, only five sitting members of Congress have been shot or killed while serving. Gabrielle Giffords in 2011 and John Stennis in 1973 (a mugging) survived. Those that didn’t include RFK in 1968 (but as I point out in the interview, he was running for president, so it’s a little different), Leo Ryan in 1978 (Jonestown), and Larry McDonald in 1983 (KAL 007).
I have two thoughts on this list. First (again as I point out in the interview) I’m surprised the number is that low given the gun culture in the US. Second, there’s not much commonality tying all five together. The only two that bear any sort of resemblance to what happened here on Thursday are Kennedy and Giffords, and that’s tenuous.
After the JFK assassination the U.S. banned mail-order sales of guns. Of course, it was a different political climate and the fact that Oswald had obtained his rifle via mail order may have helped move things along.
[ 21. June 2016, 16:11: Message edited by: Crœsos ]
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Humani nil a me alienum puto
Posts: 10706 | From: Sardis, Lydia | Registered: May 2001
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Amanda B. Reckondwythe
Dressed for Church
# 5521
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Crœsos:
George Wallace was a political irritant everyone (aside from his hard-core supporters) just wished would go away.
And Donald Trump is . . . . [do I need to finish the sentence?]
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"I take prayer too seriously to use it as an excuse for avoiding work and responsibility." -- The Revd Martin Luther King Jr.
Posts: 10542 | From: The Great Southwest | Registered: Feb 2004
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Crœsos
Shipmate
# 238
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe:
quote:
Originally posted by Crœsos:
George Wallace was a political irritant everyone (aside from his hard-core supporters) just wished would go away.
And Donald Trump is . . . . [do I need to finish the sentence?]
. . . a major-party nominee for President. Whatever else he might be a plurality of the Republican primary electorate believed him to be the best choice out of a field of seventeen contenders.
Wallace was an embarrassment to the Democrats because he was an old-style racist Dixiecrat running for the Democratic nomination in 1972 and an irritant to the Republicans whose Southern Strategy was to appeal to the same racist Southern white voters Wallace was attracting.
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Humani nil a me alienum puto
Posts: 10706 | From: Sardis, Lydia | Registered: May 2001
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Pigwidgeon
Ship's Owl
# 10192
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe:
quote:
Originally posted by mr cheesy:
it would be a massive irony if a second amendment Republican was assassinated.
You'd see gun control legislation passed faster than Donald Trump's hair dryer can blow hot air.
Ronald Reagan wasn't assassinated, but John Hinckley tried to in 1981. I don't remember talk of gun legislation at the time, but it was so long ago I don't remember much of what happened in the aftermath.
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"...that is generally a matter for Pigwidgeon, several other consenting adults, a bottle of cheap Gin and the odd giraffe."
~Tortuf
Posts: 9835 | From: Hogwarts | Registered: Aug 2005
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:
Ronald Reagan wasn't assassinated, but John Hinckley tried to in 1981. I don't remember talk of gun legislation at the time, but it was so long ago I don't remember much of what happened in the aftermath.
It took a while but the Brady Bill was the end result.
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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cliffdweller
Shipmate
# 13338
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:
quote:
Originally posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe:
quote:
Originally posted by mr cheesy:
it would be a massive irony if a second amendment Republican was assassinated.
You'd see gun control legislation passed faster than Donald Trump's hair dryer can blow hot air.
Ronald Reagan wasn't assassinated, but John Hinckley tried to in 1981. I don't remember talk of gun legislation at the time, but it was so long ago I don't remember much of what happened in the aftermath.
Reagan's press secretary, James Brady, was shot and injured in the attempt. This led to Brady pushing for what became the
Brady Bill which mandated background checks. It was a bit of a quagmire for the GOP, with many like Reagan seeming to feel they owed it to Brady to support the bill, but the influence of the NRA still predominated. By the time the bill was finally signed into law by Pres. Clinton there were huge loopholes, such as the one that allowed a guy on the no-fly list to legally buy an AR-15.
(x-posted with mousethief)
[ 21. June 2016, 19:59: Message edited by: cliffdweller ]
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"Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid." -Frederick Buechner
Posts: 11242 | From: a small canyon overlooking the city | Registered: Jan 2008
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
Nothing like being shot by a loonie to make you rethink your devotion to unfettered gun purchases.
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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cliffdweller
Shipmate
# 13338
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
Nothing like being shot by a loonie to make you rethink your devotion to unfettered gun purchases.
For Brady, yes. For the rest of the GOP, including Reagan himself, apparently not. And if being personally shot at doesn't change your perspective, I don't know what will.
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"Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid." -Frederick Buechner
Posts: 11242 | From: a small canyon overlooking the city | Registered: Jan 2008
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by cliffdweller:
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
Nothing like being shot by a loonie to make you rethink your devotion to unfettered gun purchases.
For Brady, yes. For the rest of the GOP, including Reagan himself, apparently not. And if being personally shot at doesn't change your perspective, I don't know what will.
There is an old adage to the effect that a true patriot is someone who gets a parking ticket and rejoices that the nation is running smoothly. I suppose getting shot should make you rejoice that trigger-happy fuckwits can easily buy guns. If that's what you want.
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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cliffdweller
Shipmate
# 13338
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
quote:
Originally posted by cliffdweller:
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
Nothing like being shot by a loonie to make you rethink your devotion to unfettered gun purchases.
For Brady, yes. For the rest of the GOP, including Reagan himself, apparently not. And if being personally shot at doesn't change your perspective, I don't know what will.
There is an old adage to the effect that a true patriot is someone who gets a parking ticket and rejoices that the nation is running smoothly. I suppose getting shot should make you rejoice that trigger-happy fuckwits can easily buy guns. If that's what you want.
Actually, it seems the take-away for the GOP is that being shot at confirms the need for more guns to defend yourself against all the guns out there. And when that results in getting shot at, it confirms the need for even more, even bigger guns. And when that results in getting shot...
...and so on, and so on, and so on...
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"Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid." -Frederick Buechner
Posts: 11242 | From: a small canyon overlooking the city | Registered: Jan 2008
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
And yet Ronald Reagan was surrounded by men with guns. After shots were fired suddenly there were at least ten Secret Service men with guns who just seconds before had been milling in the crowd or looking nondescript. Yet they were unable to keep Reagan from getting shot.
What is more, a man shot the president, and was apprehended and taken into custody. A white man of course. As opposed to a black child waving a plastic gun who was shot on sight. This says something about our nation but I'm not sure what.
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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simontoad
Ship's Amphibian
# 18096
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by cliffdweller:
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
Nothing like being shot by a loonie to make you rethink your devotion to unfettered gun purchases.
For Brady, yes. For the rest of the GOP, including Reagan himself, apparently not. And if being personally shot at doesn't change your perspective, I don't know what will.
Watching lots of American primary school kids being mown down like they were in the middle of a warzone? For shame.
I saw on yesterday's PBS Newshour today that a Republican Senator from Maine has proposed a compromise solution. The folks at PBS seemed pretty keen about it. I'm sure they were clapping under the news desk.
A senator from Texas said "slippery slope" when he meant something about his cold dead hand. He also mentioned 'due process' which made me think that he probably used to be a human rights lawyer before he was struck on the road to Damascus and became an arsehole instead. Still, I'm sure there's some good in there somewhere, and I'm not bitter.
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Human
Posts: 1571 | From: Romsey, Vic, AU | Registered: May 2014
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Golden Key
Shipmate
# 1468
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by simontoad:
A senator from Texas said "slippery slope" when he meant something about his cold dead hand. He also mentioned 'due process' which made me think that he probably used to be a human rights lawyer before he was struck on the road to Damascus and became an arsehole instead. Still, I'm sure there's some good in there somewhere, and I'm not bitter.
Sound like Fred Phelps of Westboro Baptist Church, who was once a civil rights lawyer. He did, however, begin changing, before he died.
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Blessed Gator, pray for us!
--"Oh bat bladders, do you have to bring common sense into this?" (Dragon, "Jane & the Dragon")
--"Oh, Peace Train, save this country!" (Yusuf/Cat Stevens, "Peace Train")
Posts: 18601 | From: Chilling out in an undisclosed, sincere pumpkin patch. | Registered: Oct 2001
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Golden Key
Shipmate
# 1468
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
And yet Ronald Reagan was surrounded by men with guns. After shots were fired suddenly there were at least ten Secret Service men with guns who just seconds before had been milling in the crowd or looking nondescript. Yet they were unable to keep Reagan from getting shot.
What is more, a man shot the president, and was apprehended and taken into custody. A white man of course. As opposed to a black child waving a plastic gun who was shot on sight. This says something about our nation but I'm not sure what.
I wonder if one thing it says is that the Secret Service is much better trained? And its agents can control themselves better in a situation like that? (Though, from various scandals, not so much off duty, some of them.)
Not to negate racism, or other factors.
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Blessed Gator, pray for us!
--"Oh bat bladders, do you have to bring common sense into this?" (Dragon, "Jane & the Dragon")
--"Oh, Peace Train, save this country!" (Yusuf/Cat Stevens, "Peace Train")
Posts: 18601 | From: Chilling out in an undisclosed, sincere pumpkin patch. | Registered: Oct 2001
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cliffdweller
Shipmate
# 13338
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Golden Key:
Sound like Fred Phelps of Westboro Baptist Church, who was once a civil rights lawyer. He did, however, begin changing, before he died.
*tangent* I didn't know that, but found an article online about it. Freaky.
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"Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid." -Frederick Buechner
Posts: 11242 | From: a small canyon overlooking the city | Registered: Jan 2008
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
The training of a secret service agent is not like how they train cops or guards. The role of the agent first and foremost is to take the hit for the president if necessary. They don't crouch, to make themselves smaller targets. They stand up and wide, so that the President is shielded.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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Stetson
Shipmate
# 9597
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Posted
Falwell jr. endorses Trump. Check out the interesting sample of holy scripture, lower right.
[ 22. June 2016, 16:18: Message edited by: Stetson ]
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I have the power...Lucifer is lord!
Posts: 6574 | From: back and forth between bible belts | Registered: Jun 2005
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Crœsos
Shipmate
# 238
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Stetson:
Falwell jr. endorses Trump. Check out the interesting sample of holy scripture, lower right.
Or, as another tweeter put it, "Literally a framed pic on the wall of the candidate and a porn star, as a major evangelical leader endorses him."
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Humani nil a me alienum puto
Posts: 10706 | From: Sardis, Lydia | Registered: May 2001
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Stetson
Shipmate
# 9597
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Crœsos:
quote:
Originally posted by Stetson:
Falwell jr. endorses Trump. Check out the interesting sample of holy scripture, lower right.
Or, as another tweeter put it, "Literally a framed pic on the wall of the candidate and a porn star, as a major evangelical leader endorses him."
Thing is, Playboy is so ubiquitous and so "establishment" in American culture, I remember George Burns appearing in TV specials flanked by Bunnies, and I used to think "Do all the old people watching this know that those girls are going full-frontal in the pages of the magazine?"
So, it was probably only a matter of time before some GOP-allied religious leader had a photo-op with someone who had done a stint on Hefner's payroll. Still, in this instance, that cover kinda encapsulates the aura of debauchery that has long hovered about Trump.
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I have the power...Lucifer is lord!
Posts: 6574 | From: back and forth between bible belts | Registered: Jun 2005
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Crœsos
Shipmate
# 238
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Boogie:
"Honoured" --- really?
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
No, "honored". Fallwell Jr. is an American.
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Humani nil a me alienum puto
Posts: 10706 | From: Sardis, Lydia | Registered: May 2001
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Stetson:
"Do all the old people watching this know that those girls are going full-frontal in the pages of the magazine?"
Perhaps they'd never looked past the articles?
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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Barnabas62
Shipmate
# 9110
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Posted
What a right royal screw-up. Or put another way, just how stupid is Falwell Jr?
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Who is it that you seek? How then shall we live? How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?
Posts: 21397 | From: Norfolk UK | Registered: Feb 2005
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Leorning Cniht
Shipmate
# 17564
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Stetson:
Check out the interesting sample of holy scripture, lower right.
Also, what kind of narcissist has his photo taken in front of a bunch of framed magazine covers of himself?
Wait - that was a silly question, wasn't it...
Posts: 5026 | From: USA | Registered: Feb 2013
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Golden Key
Shipmate
# 1468
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Posted
Will this affect the election?
House Democrats are holding a sit-in about gun control legislation. #NoBillNoBreak. Dem senators have joined. They're spending the night. Someone--Speaker Ryan?--turned off the cameras. But there are pics and streaming videos online. Not streaming now, AFAICT. Probably because they're either sleeping, or roasting marshmallows. ![[Biased]](wink.gif) I'm proud of them.
(Not wanting to get into a gun control discussion. There's a Hell thread for that. Just the political aspects.)
[ 23. June 2016, 05:54: Message edited by: Golden Key ]
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Blessed Gator, pray for us!
--"Oh bat bladders, do you have to bring common sense into this?" (Dragon, "Jane & the Dragon")
--"Oh, Peace Train, save this country!" (Yusuf/Cat Stevens, "Peace Train")
Posts: 18601 | From: Chilling out in an undisclosed, sincere pumpkin patch. | Registered: Oct 2001
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Barnabas62
Shipmate
# 9110
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Posted
I wonder if they are allowed toilet breaks? In any case it's a bit more comfortable than a filibuster.
I think the polls are saying that a majority of US citizens are now in favour of tougher gun legislation so I think the message is more about the House of Representatives and Senate elections. "If you want that, do something about the logjam in Congress" "The real block is NRA money" etc.
Looks like Hillary knew all about it. Husband Bill and President Obama have indicated support. Overall effect on the Presidential election remains to be seen I guess.
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Who is it that you seek? How then shall we live? How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?
Posts: 21397 | From: Norfolk UK | Registered: Feb 2005
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Og: Thread Killer
Ship's token CN Mennonite
# 3200
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Stetson:
Thing is, Playboy is so ubiquitous and so "establishment" in American culture, I remember George Burns appearing in TV specials flanked by Bunnies, and I used to think "Do all the old people watching this know that those girls are going full-frontal in the pages of the magazine?"
....
Of course they knew. Playboy was the safe porn. Wouldn't want kids to be in it but better then Penthouse.
Different world.
Oh, and in case people were wondering who that woman was
she is now in prison
as this article indicates
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I wish I was seeking justice loving mercy and walking humbly but... "Cease to lament for that thou canst not help, And study help for that which thou lament'st."
Posts: 5025 | From: Toronto | Registered: Aug 2002
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cliffdweller
Shipmate
# 13338
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Stetson:
Thing is, Playboy is so ubiquitous and so "establishment" in American culture, I remember George Burns appearing in TV specials flanked by Bunnies, and I used to think "Do all the old people watching this know that those girls are going full-frontal in the pages of the magazine?"
But the thing is, George Burns never posed as "the Christian (or Jewish) comic." Indeed, low-level friskiness was even a part of his schtick (I remember a funny send up by Gracie that hinged on his infidelity). Trump's attempts to posit himself as "the Christian candidate" despite an avalanche of evidence to the contrary continues to be, at best, laughable. So maybe the comparison with Burns works after all.
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"Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid." -Frederick Buechner
Posts: 11242 | From: a small canyon overlooking the city | Registered: Jan 2008
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no prophet's flag is set so...
Proceed to see sea
# 15560
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by cliffdweller:
So maybe the comparison with Burns works after all.
I was wondering if the comparison is better to the pornographer Heffner. If Trump ever poses, could we expect better/worse than [URL=http://www.lbc.co.uk/naked-donald-trump-painting-to-go-on-show- 128251]this[/URL] - NSFW (not safe for work or anywhere in the universe!)
[broke link]
[ 23. June 2016, 15:02: Message edited by: Eutychus ]
Posts: 11498 | From: Treaty 6 territory in the nonexistant Province of Buffalo, Canada ↄ⃝' | Registered: Mar 2010
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Eutychus
From the edge
# 3081
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Posted
hosting/
If anyone wants to contemplate Trump in all his naked glory, they can remove the space I've added in the link above.
As a reminder, Ship practice is for NSFW content, especially visual content, to stay at least two clicks away from our pages. Not least because some people browse the Ship on work computers and don't want to be fired for an accidental click.
If you're in doubt about whether something is NSFW, err on the safe side. Thank you for your cooperation.
/hosting
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Let's remember that we are to build the Kingdom of God, not drive people away - pastor Frank Pomeroy
Posts: 17944 | From: 528491 | Registered: Jul 2002
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Barnabas62:
Looks like Hillary knew all about it. Husband Bill and President Obama have indicated support. Overall effect on the Presidential election remains to be seen I guess.
Certainly the effect in "safe" Republican districts will be nil.
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
Wake up America. Fear has won in Britain, do not let it in the US.
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by lilBuddha:
Wake up America. Fear has won in Britain, do not let it in the US.
Fear won long ago in the US. The current phenomena are just the mop-up action.
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
I'm having trouble cutting and pasting the link on this machine, but over in today's Washington POST opinion page the unhappy Michael Gerson has another cri de coeur, calling out the evangelical community for its corrupt and mindless support of Donald Trump. A voice, crying in the wilderness --he went to Trump's love-fest with religious leaders.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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Crœsos
Shipmate
# 238
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
I'm having trouble cutting and pasting the link on this machine, but over in today's Washington POST opinion page the unhappy Michael Gerson has another cri de coeur, calling out the evangelical community for its corrupt and mindless support of Donald Trump. A voice, crying in the wilderness -- he went to Trump's love-fest with religious leaders.
Is it the one titled Evangelical Christians are selling out faith for politics? Just a few points:
- It takes a lot of gall to write speeches for George W. Bush selling the Iraq War on false pretenses (Gerson is credited with coining the "we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud" line) and then criticize anyone else for "deception, cruelty and appeal[ing] to bigotry".
- - I find it baffling that anyone else is baffled by the appeal of racism to a political movement founded to promote racial segregation.
- - Why would the community that spawned and celebrated Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart have any qualms about Donald Trump's well known philandering?
The problem with Gerson's column isn't his complaint that the American religious right is a venal political movement focused on power to the exclusion of piety, it's his pretense that it was ever anything else. For all these reasons I grant Mr. Gerson the Claude Rains Memorial Gambling Awareness Award.
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Humani nil a me alienum puto
Posts: 10706 | From: Sardis, Lydia | Registered: May 2001
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
Yes, that's the one. Gerson reminds me of Screwtape's description of the condemned in hell, constantly horrified and astonished to find themselves frying on hot griddles.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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GCabot
Shipmate
# 18074
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Crœsos:
The problem with Gerson's column isn't his complaint that the American religious right is a venal political movement focused on power to the exclusion of piety, it's his pretense that it was ever anything else. For all these reasons I grant Mr. Gerson the Claude Rains Memorial Gambling Awareness Award.
There is nothing noteworthy about the movement of some in the Religious Right towards reconciliation with Trump now that he is the presumptive nominee. This movement has been mirrored in most of the constituent parts of the GOP that once opposed Trump—it is not exceptional to the Religious Right (to the extent that the “Religious Right” is even a discernible political movement nowadays), and certainly is not driven by whatever Machiavellian motives some apparently ascribe to the purported leaders thereof.
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The child that is born unto us is more than a prophet; for this is he of whom the Savior saith: "Among them that are born of woman, there hath not risen one greater than John the Baptist."
Posts: 285 | From: The Heav'n Rescued Land | Registered: Apr 2014
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fausto
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# 13737
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Crœsos:
quote:
Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
I'm having trouble cutting and pasting the link on this machine, but over in today's Washington POST opinion page the unhappy Michael Gerson has another cri de coeur, calling out the evangelical community for its corrupt and mindless support of Donald Trump. A voice, crying in the wilderness -- he went to Trump's love-fest with religious leaders.
Is it the one titled Evangelical Christians are selling out faith for politics? Just a few points:
- It takes a lot of gall to write speeches for George W. Bush selling the Iraq War on false pretenses (Gerson is credited with coining the "we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud" line) and then criticize anyone else for "deception, cruelty and appeal[ing] to bigotry".
- - I find it baffling that anyone else is baffled by the appeal of racism to a political movement founded to promote racial segregation.
- - Why would the community that spawned and celebrated Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart have any qualms about Donald Trump's well known philandering?
The problem with Gerson's column isn't his complaint that the American religious right is a venal political movement focused on power to the exclusion of piety, it's his pretense that it was ever anything else. For all these reasons I grant Mr. Gerson the Claude Rains Memorial Gambling Awareness Award.
Well, now that the evangelical pope, James Dobson, has declared that Trump has accepted Christ, the issue is officially moot. Move along, nothing to see here.
Dobson: Trump Recently Accepted Christ
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"Truth did not come into the world naked, but it came in types and images. The world will not receive truth in any other way." Gospel of Philip, Logion 72
Posts: 407 | From: Boston, Mass. | Registered: May 2008
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Barnabas62
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# 9110
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Posted
Well, if I hear the Donald say something like this
quote:
“Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
then I might, just might, be able to take James Dobson seriously. It still wouldn't make the Donald a good candidate for President but it would be a hopeful sign for his future.
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Who is it that you seek? How then shall we live? How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?
Posts: 21397 | From: Norfolk UK | Registered: Feb 2005
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Brenda Clough
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# 18061
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Posted
I would believe -- but only when I see that legion of defrauded victims taking those fourfold checks to the bank and proving that they won't bounce. Ronald Reagan said to trust, but verify -- essentially, don't trust.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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fausto
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# 13737
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Barnabas62:
Well, if I hear the Donald say something like this
quote:
“Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
then I might, just might, be able to take James Dobson seriously. It still wouldn't make the Donald a good candidate for President but it would be a hopeful sign for his future.
As an American who has spent a 30+ year career in commercial real estate finance, hearing apocryphal Donald Trump stories at nearly every industry gathering, always with a consistent portrayal of his essential character, I would say, don't hold your breath. He claims to be a Presbyterian, but the only authentic Presbyterian concept he seems to have fully internalized is total depravity.
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"Truth did not come into the world naked, but it came in types and images. The world will not receive truth in any other way." Gospel of Philip, Logion 72
Posts: 407 | From: Boston, Mass. | Registered: May 2008
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Barnabas62
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# 9110
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Posted
Well, there's a surprise. James Dobson is probably not a wise man. The Donald is probably a mountebank.
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Who is it that you seek? How then shall we live? How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?
Posts: 21397 | From: Norfolk UK | Registered: Feb 2005
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cliffdweller
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# 13338
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Posted
...And that he seems to have misunderstood as an aspirational goal
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"Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid." -Frederick Buechner
Posts: 11242 | From: a small canyon overlooking the city | Registered: Jan 2008
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fausto
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# 13737
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Barnabas62:
Well, there's a surprise. James Dobson is probably not a wise man. The Donald is probably a mountebank.
"Probably"!? Birds of a feather flock together.
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"Truth did not come into the world naked, but it came in types and images. The world will not receive truth in any other way." Gospel of Philip, Logion 72
Posts: 407 | From: Boston, Mass. | Registered: May 2008
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