Franklin Graham labels Trump opposition ‘demonic’; Rick Perry labels Trump ‘chosen one’
Peter Wehner: “There is no biblical or theological case to support the claim that critics of Donald Trump are under the spell of Satan. It is invented out of thin air, a shallow, wild, and reckless charge meant to be a conversation stopper” - Christian Post
Seems pretty obvious to me that Graham, Metaxaxas, Perry, et al are the ones under some sort of spell. But Wehner is pretty grossly exaggerating what Graham actually said.
Still, he has some good points.
During the second term of Bill Clinton’s presidency, when the economy was in many respects stronger than it is today, Franklin Graham wasn’t defending Clinton’s moral and ethical transgressions based on the economy growing at 4 percent annually, which might translate into more tithing and church-building projects. He didn’t overlook Clinton’s affair with an intern because we had a budget surplus. Instead Graham wrote this:
The God of the Bible says that what one does in private does matter. Mr. Clinton’s months-long extramarital sexual behavior in the Oval Office now concerns him and the rest of the world, not just his immediate family. If he will lie to or mislead his wife and daughter, those with whom he is most intimate, what will prevent him from doing the same to the American public? … The scandal of Mr. Clinton and Ms. Lewinsky has forced us to examine the morality of public and private behavior with new intellectual and spiritual vigor.
This kind of tribalism is exactly the sort of thing I was arguing against here.
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
There certainly is a spell clouding the minds of a whole lot of Christians! Crazy.
Tyler is a pastor in Olympia, WA and works in State government.
This kind of mentality will easily transfer to the antichrist one day.
Wally Morris
Huntington, IN
I had relatives who were convinced Obama was the Antichrist. I didn’t think he was clever and charismatic enough. Trump certainly isn’t either (!) but with the kind of blind loyalty we’ve been seeing (loyalty is too weak of a word but I’m already wearing out “idolatry”), maybe AC won’t need to be clever and winsome!
Now Pete Buttigieg, on the other hand, might actually be smart and charismatic enough….
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
Buttigieg … now there is an interesting situation/person. Many may vote for him as a reaction against Trump’s personality.
Wally Morris
Huntington, IN
I, too, know people who thought President Obama was the Antichrist, and had a secret plot to refuse to leave the White House and impose Shira law, because he was a secret Muslim agent …
Yes, I’m serious.
These same people now rabidly support President Trump and believe there is a conspiracy to destroy him.
The “evil plot” was too impotent to keep President Obama in an office he already occupied, but is now miraculously so powerful it threatens the political life of the “chosen one,” Donald Trump.
Very strange. These are otherwise perfectly intelligent and rational people. There is a spell, for sure!
Tyler is a pastor in Olympia, WA and works in State government.
I had relatives who were convinced Obama was the Antichrist. I didn’t think he was clever and charismatic enough. Trump certainly isn’t either (!) but with the kind of blind loyalty we’ve been seeing (loyalty is too weak of a word but I’m already wearing out “idolatry”), maybe AC won’t need to be clever and winsome!
Now Pete Buttigieg, on the other hand, might actually be smart and charismatic enough….
Mayor Pete is having a load of trouble connecting to African-Americans. Many were already suspicious of him for his political missteps in South Bend. He fired a black police chief that was trying to address racism within the police force when the Chief lawfully and secretly recorded two racist South Bend, police officers saying a bunch of racist comments towards the black police chief and those who they serve in South Bend. He’s been criticized for his support for gentrifying predominantly black neighborhoods in the name of beautification. And he did a weird photo-ops of him drinking a 40 oz of malt liquor on the street with black hip-hop entertainers, which many in the black community believe is being fake and not true to himself. And he compared himself being gay as able to relate to the struggle of equality for black folks, which many African-Americans resent that he is attaching his sexual preference to the black experience. And the list goes on. When he compared his experience as a gay man to the black experience, my Facebook newsfeed exploded, not only among black conservatives also among many black progressives as well. Most blacks feel he is a fake person towards them and don’t trust him.
[Joel Shaffer]I had relatives who were convinced Obama was the Antichrist. I didn’t think he was clever and charismatic enough. Trump certainly isn’t either (!) but with the kind of blind loyalty we’ve been seeing (loyalty is too weak of a word but I’m already wearing out “idolatry”), maybe AC won’t need to be clever and winsome!
Now Pete Buttigieg, on the other hand, might actually be smart and charismatic enough….
Mayor Pete is having a load of trouble connecting to African-Americans. Many were already suspicious of him for his political missteps in South Bend. He fired a black police chief that was trying to address racism within the police force when the Chief lawfully and secretly recorded two racist South Bend, police officers saying a bunch of racist comments towards the black police chief and those who they serve in South Bend. He’s been criticized for his support for gentrifying predominantly black neighborhoods in the name of beautification. And he did a weird photo-ops of him drinking a 40 oz of malt liquor on the street with black hip-hop entertainers, which many in the black community believe is being fake and not true to himself. And he compared himself being gay as able to relate to the struggle of equality for black folks, which many African-Americans resent that he is attaching his sexual preference to the black experience. And the list goes on. When he compared his experience as a gay man to the black experience, my Facebook newsfeed exploded, not only among black conservatives also among many black progressives as well. Most blacks feel he is a fake person towards them and don’t trust him.
I went round and round with my dad on this one last week. My girlfriend is black and my dad kept telling me that he couldn’t understand how black people don’t support him because he is gay. His argument was that since they too were discriminated against they shouldn’t discriminate against him. I tried for probably way too long to explain that not supporting someone’s sexual choice (I may have said deviancy) is not the same as discriminating against him. My dad is a very intelligent man but he just couldn’t get it. It really showed me how the mainstream media is brainwashing those that watch it non-stop.
I think the echo-chamber of partisan media is a large factor. I don’t watch any news; I consume it in digital print:
- NYT
- WSJ
- BBC
- Al Jazeera
- USA Today
Probably do Times of London subscription this Christmas.
Tyler is a pastor in Olympia, WA and works in State government.
I think that what is happening, what the anti-Trump members of the House are doing, is terrible. If you think that the American experiment, America as it should be, is a Christian good, then you won’t have trouble seeing it as “evil.” That’s not to say that the sides are good(Trump) and evil(Democrats) - that’s not what I am saying. I look at what is happening and wonder if it is a demonic attack on our country. But that’s not to say that I think Trump is perfect or pure or angelic or something. That demons would want to attack our country is plausible - at least more so than an attack specifically against Trump.
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