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Rank: Advanced Member  Joined: 1/4/2010 Posts: 11,179 Location: on a hill in the hollow
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.I’m a Christian Pastor. Evangelicals Have to Be Defeated in 2022..I’ve been a pastor in the church for over two decades, much of that in predominantly white churches in the American South.
I’ve spent countless hours in church staff meetings and men’s Bible studies and youth pastor conferences.
I’ve stayed connected on social media with thousands of people still there in those churches. I read what they share and post and amplify and I know how they think and what they believe.
I need you to understand something and I say it without any hyperbole: white Evangelicals need to be stopped, now.
If the 2022 midterms elections allow Republicans to gain control of Congress, Conservative Christians will decimate this nation, and LGBTQ people, Muslims, women, people of color, and non-Christians will never have equality under the law again. We will all be at their mercy—and they will no longer have use for mercy.
This is not alarmist, sky-is-falling histrionics, it is the clear and sober forecast from someone who knows these people better than anyone. Over the last decade and a half, as my theology shifted and my beliefs grew more and more progressive, I’ve been a kind of undercover Liberal in an increasingly extremist movement, that while once relegated to minor fringe noisemakers is now at the precipice of Roman Empire-level power. They are less than two years away from having a dominance that they will wield violently and not relinquish.
The difference between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does; the first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility, but the second a feeling of blind arrogance that leads to war.
Sydney J. Harris
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 1/4/2010 Posts: 11,179 Location: on a hill in the hollow
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.I’m Not Saying Conservative Christianity is Anti-Jesus. Jesus is..The steady stream of vitriol I receive from professed Christians who identify as MAGA or QAnon or Republican is completely understandable.
As they fire-off threatening texts, furiously tap out expletive-laden emails, and break into violent, performative histrionics on social media, I genuinely feel for them. They’re often getting some really bad second-hand news from me that blows up the story they’ve spent a long time telling themselves and depend on to validate and to justify them.
They’re coming face to face with the sobering reality that they are antithetical to Jesus.
Worse than that, they aren’t hearing that news from me—they’re hearing it from Jesus.
The world. God loves the world. That includes the planet, the climate around it, the resources within it, the disparate humanity and expansive life upon it. No America First. No “Go back where you came from” nationalistic bluster. No, “Don’t Tread on Me” middle-finger defiance. If you so love the world as God does, you fight for diversity, you welcome immigrants and foreigners, you demand environmental responsibility, you want more people to have voices, not fewer. When America becomes your world—you’re opposing God.
The difference between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does; the first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility, but the second a feeling of blind arrogance that leads to war.
Sydney J. Harris
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 1/4/2010 Posts: 11,179 Location: on a hill in the hollow
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Can't you just feel the love?!.Dem lawmaker shares vile audio of death threats against her family since Trump targeted her.Appearing on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday morning to describe the toxicity in Congress that exploded during Donald Trump's four years as president, Rep. Debbie Dingell (R-MI) shared a recording of a vile death threat against her and her family.
With CNN host Dana Bash warning the audience about what was to follow, her producers play the audio where an unidentified man called the member of Congress a multitude of obscene names before stating, "I hope your family dies in front of you. I pray to God, if you got any children, they die in your face."
"I've been getting those for a couple of years ever since Christmastime, the Christmas, right after [husband] John had died," she recalled.
"John was my late husband and it -- you know, once you're in that Trump hate tunnel, you kind of don't escape it," she continued. "There are a lot of people that are good, wonderful to meet, et cetera, but we average several of those a week and we're used to it. My friends look at me, it's almost like therapy, and say, 'How can you do this?' But you have to -- we've got to be careful not to normalize it, but I'm not going to not do my job. I'm not going to go out and not be with people. I'm not going to go out and not listen to them. I want the American people to think about what's happening in our country, that this kind of hate, this fear is happening in communities across the country."The difference between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does; the first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility, but the second a feeling of blind arrogance that leads to war.
Sydney J. Harris
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 1/4/2010 Posts: 11,179 Location: on a hill in the hollow
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..Bush-Era Official Tears into Donald Trump Jr. For Arguing ‘Teachings of Jesus Have ‘Gotten us Nothing”Peter Wehner, who has served in the administrations of President Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush, and George W. Bush tore into Donald Trump Jr. on Sunday over a recent speech he gave to young conservatives.
Wehner pulled no punches in ridiculing Trump Jr.’s character, which he called riddled with “corruption, ineptitude, and banality.” But, it was Trump Jr.’s recent speech in Phoenix, Arizona at Turning Point USA’s America Fest Conference Wehner took particular issue with.
Wehner wrote in The Atlantic:
Throughout his speech, Don Jr. painted a scenario in which Trump supporters—Americans living in red America—are under relentless attack from a wicked and brutal enemy. He portrayed it as an existential battle between good and evil. One side must prevail; the other must be crushed. This in turn justifies any necessary means to win.
Wehner, a devout Christian and fellow at the Trinity Forum, lambasted Trump Jr. for invoking Christian values in his speech.
“And the former president’s son has a message for the tens of millions of evangelicals who form the energized base of the GOP: the scriptures are essentially a manual for suckers,” Wehner wrote. “The teachings of Jesus have ‘gotten us nothing.’”
Wehner quoted Trump Jr. who said of Christian community values, “We’ve turned the other cheek and I understand sort of the biblical reference, I understand the mentality but it’s gotten us nothing. OK? It’s gotten us nothing while we’ve ceded ground in every major institution.”
Wehner concluded that Trump Jr.’s message is that “the ethic of Jesus has gotten in the way of successfully prosecuting the culture wars against the left.”
The difference between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does; the first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility, but the second a feeling of blind arrogance that leads to war.
Sydney J. Harris
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 1/4/2010 Posts: 11,179 Location: on a hill in the hollow
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“Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge.”~ Charles Darwin ~Unfortunately, this applies to Trumpettes... they're too stupid to realize just how ignorant they are!The difference between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does; the first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility, but the second a feeling of blind arrogance that leads to war.
Sydney J. Harris
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 1/4/2010 Posts: 11,179 Location: on a hill in the hollow
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In 2013, Rand Paul told the truth that has been adopted by the Republican party. All the evangelical Trump supporters ought to be feeling pretty foolish if they wake up to the truth!"That's my advice, misinformation works," Paul said.I will never understand how a devout Christian could ever even consider Trump in any election.
The Holy Bible has warned mankind. Unfortunately, evangelical Trump supporters don't seem to understand the warning!
Trump is known to be a liar and a cheat... he covets his own daughter!
Trump has been married three times and cheated on all of them.
Trump's favorite Bible quote is an eye for an eye because he loves revenge.
He has never attended any church and believes he has no reason to beg for forgiveness from God... Jesus means nothing to Trump.
A liar, a cheat, a repeated adulterer, money is his god and his favorite Bible quote is one Jesus Christ specifically rejected in Matthew 5:38!2 Corinthians 4:4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.The difference between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does; the first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility, but the second a feeling of blind arrogance that leads to war.
Sydney J. Harris
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 1/4/2010 Posts: 11,179 Location: on a hill in the hollow
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.Turmoil erupts after Black pastor tells Southern Baptists they became ‘whores for Trump’.A Southern Baptist minister recently accused his fellow pastors of becoming "whores" for Donald Trump -- which elicited howls of protest from some of them.
Kevin Smith, pastor at Family Church in Palm Beach and former executive director of the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware, spoke the first day at the SBC General Convention, where he accused some ministers of “losing their minds” after Barack Obama was elected president in 2012 and then shamed themselves by supporting Trump, reported Protestia.
"I think some Southern Baptists lost their minds when a Black man was elected president -- not all, but some," Smith said. "I think some Southern Baptists were unloving to Black people beginning in 2012 with the killing of Trayvon Martin."
"I don’t mean agree about politics or policy … I just mean giving a darn that somebody else is hurting who is supposed to be your brother or sister in Christ, and I think some Southern Baptists just bent over and became political whores with this whole Trump stuff," Smith added.
Protestia, an online publication associated with the Fellowship Baptist Church in Montana, blasted Smith for his remarks.The difference between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does; the first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility, but the second a feeling of blind arrogance that leads to war.
Sydney J. Harris
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 1/4/2010 Posts: 11,179 Location: on a hill in the hollow
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.RICK WILSON TELLS LAUREN BOEBERT TO GO TO IRAN IF SHE WANTS A GOVERNMENT RULED BY RELIGION.As Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Co.) continues to advocate for religion taking over government, Lincoln Project member Rick Wilson is telling her to “go to Iran.”
Boebert has frequently spoken to evangelical organizations insisting that religion is supposed to rule over the government and has urged them to take over government, even violently if necessary to get their way.
“The church is supposed to direct the government. The government is not supposed to direct the church,” Boebert said earlier this year while also claiming that the authors of the Constitution intended for religion to govern the country. She has also falsely claimed that the Constitution has “God all over it” even though there are zero references to religious figures nor any to the Bible in the entirety of the document.
The founders were terrified of religion having government power precisely because of how such a system brought nothing but blood and strife across Europe for centuries. That’s why we have separation of church and state.
On Thursday, Rick Wilson took aim at Boebert by telling her that if she wants a government controlled by religious fundamentalists she should move to Iran.
Indeed, Christian nationalism has become a threat to our democracy. If they are not stopped, we could very well have our own version of “morality” police telling Americans what they can or can’t do based solely on a religious text.The difference between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does; the first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility, but the second a feeling of blind arrogance that leads to war.
Sydney J. Harris
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 1/4/2010 Posts: 11,179 Location: on a hill in the hollow
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Influential evangelical Christians have turned against Trump after his 2024 announcement, report saysProminent evangelical Christian figures who previously supported former President Donald Trump have turned on him following his announcement that he's running for president again in 2024, HuffPost reported, citing several interviews in various media outlets.
"At the present moment, our movement is divided," said Mike Evans, who helped mobilize evangelical support for Trump in 2016, in an interview with The Jerusalem Post.
"The average evangelical Christian is a faith-based person. Donald Trump does not personify biblical values. So, although they very much admire his policies, they honestly don't admire the person," Evans continued, per The Jerusalem Post. "He does not have the support of the evangelicals that he did."
In an essay sent to The Washington Post, Evans accused Trump of using evangelical support to propel him to the presidency. "Donald Trump can't save America. He can't even save himself. He used us to win the White House. We had to close our mouths and eyes when he said things that horrified us," Evans wrote. "I cannot do that anymore."
Washington Times columnist Everett Piper, who was a university administrator for evangelical Christian universities, wrote an opinion piece following the midterms that argued Trump is "hurting us, not helping us."
In the article, Piper said: "The take-home of this past week is simple: Donald Trump has to go. If he's our nominee in 2024, we will get destroyed."The difference between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does; the first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility, but the second a feeling of blind arrogance that leads to war.
Sydney J. Harris
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 1/4/2010 Posts: 11,179 Location: on a hill in the hollow
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“Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they're sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise. I know, I've tried to deal with them.”~ Barry Goldwater ~The difference between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does; the first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility, but the second a feeling of blind arrogance that leads to war.
Sydney J. Harris
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 1/4/2010 Posts: 11,179 Location: on a hill in the hollow
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"Who gives a fuck about Christmas stuff and decoration?"~ Melania Trump ~The difference between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does; the first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility, but the second a feeling of blind arrogance that leads to war.
Sydney J. Harris
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 1/4/2010 Posts: 11,179 Location: on a hill in the hollow
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“If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it.”~ Stephen Colbert ~The difference between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does; the first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility, but the second a feeling of blind arrogance that leads to war.
Sydney J. Harris
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 1/4/2010 Posts: 11,179 Location: on a hill in the hollow
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 The difference between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does; the first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility, but the second a feeling of blind arrogance that leads to war.
Sydney J. Harris
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 1/4/2010 Posts: 11,179 Location: on a hill in the hollow
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"The things we do for the Orange Jesus."Excerpt from Liz Cheney's book...The difference between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does; the first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility, but the second a feeling of blind arrogance that leads to war.
Sydney J. Harris
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