Re: Trump Comments I just learned that Donald Trump, when he said, Jews who vote for Democrats were disloyal was saying that they were disloyal to themselves, betrayed their inner selves. Of course hours later he clarified that by saying the exact opposite, that they were disloyal to Israel. Right.
I just learned that Donald Trump, when he said, Jews who vote for Democrats were disloyal was saying that they were disloyal to themselves, betrayed their inner selves. Of course hours later he clarified that by saying the exact opposite, that they were disloyal to Israel. Right.
I thought he said they were disloyal to the United States.
Maybe there's just a lot of disloyalty going around.
I just learned that Donald Trump, when he said, Jews who vote for Democrats were disloyal was saying that they were disloyal to themselves, betrayed their inner selves. Of course hours later he clarified that by saying the exact opposite, that they were disloyal to Israel. Right.
I thought he said they were disloyal to the United States.
Maybe there's just a lot of disloyalty going around.
Yes, he said that too, but the real meaning had to be divined.
Re: Trump Comments So.... National Weather Service meteorologists and FEMA officials have briefed Trump several times today about the course of the hurricane, which now looks like it's going to turn and hug the east coast.
So what does Trump tweet out?
Sep 1, 10:51 AM: In addition to Florida - South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama, will most likely be hit (much) harder than anticipated. Looking like one of the largest hurricanes ever. Already category 5. BE CAREFUL! GOD BLESS EVERYONE!
ALABAMA??? Good grief. Get the man a map of the country he's SUPPOSED to be leading.
Re: Trump Comments Good heavens.... Poland was noting the solemn anniversary of the Nazi invasion yesterday.... A reporter asked Trump for comment, and he congratulated Poland on the anniversary - it's a great country!
If Trump were captain of the Titanic:
“There isn't any iceberg. There was an iceberg but it's in a totally different ocean. The iceberg is in this ocean but it will melt very soon. There is an iceberg but we didn't hit the iceberg. We hit the iceberg, but the damage will be repaired very shortly. It’ll be gone, like a miracle. The iceberg is a Chinese iceberg. We have it completely under control. We are taking on water but every passenger who wants a lifeboat can get a lifeboat, and they are beautiful lifeboats. Look, passengers need to ask nicely and show appreciation for the lifeboats if they want them. Remember, Republicans and billionaires first. We don't have any lifeboats, we're not lifeboat distributors. We have lifeboats and they’re supposed to be our lifeboats, not the passenger’s lifeboats. Passengers should have planned for icebergs and brought their own lifeboats. I really don't think passengers from New York need that many lifeboats. There will be plenty of lifeboats because all Mexican and steerage passengers will be thrown overboard. The lifeboats were left on shore by the last captain of this ship. No, you may not stop playing Hail to the Chief. No one should wear life vests. Second class passengers will bail out all first class lifeboats. No one will drown because I prefer low numbers. We’re doing a terrific job. No one has done a job like we have done. I take no responsibility at all. Nobody could have foreseen the iceberg.”
Re: Trump Comments Trump’s Good Friday tweet shows his ignorance about Christianity
By Amy Sullivan
April 12, 2020
Anyone who has ever attended a Good Friday service knows it is not a joyous holiday. The “good” nomenclature dates back centuries to its use as a synonym for “holy” and it is perhaps the most somber and sorrowful day in the Christian calendar, commemorating Jesus’ crucifixion by Roman authorities, the day his followers believed they had lost their teacher and friend forever.
Wishing someone a Happy Good Friday is like saying “Happy Pearl Harbor Day!” or “Happy MLK Assassination Day. That was why, even by his own standards, Donald Trump’s tweet commemorating one of the holiest days of the year for most Christians was jarring. “HAPPY GOOD FRIDAY TO ALL!” read the message, written on the president’s iPhone in his signature all-caps-and-an-exclamation-point style.
For a president who enjoys a high amount of support from white conservative evangelical Christians, Trump has displayed a remarkable unfamiliarity with Christian practice and language, and has shown little desire to learn more about the faith of his most ardent followers.
Trump first raised eyebrows — at least for his discomfort in church — during a 2016 campaign stop at an Iowa church when he reportedly tried to put money in the Communion plate used by many Protestant congregations to hold the wine and the wafer that they consume to remind them of the Last Supper Jesus had with his disciples.
The president is very open about his contempt for the idea of loving one’s enemies, an admonition made famous by Jesus during the Sermon on the Mount and echoed by the keynote speaker at this year’s National Prayer Breakfast. “I don’t know if I agree with you,” complained Trump.
Indeed, Trump has often cited the two most important lessons he took from his mentor Roy Cohn as “Never apologize” and “If someone hits you, hit back 10 times harder.” So, it probably shouldn’t have surprised people when Trump told a campaign audience in 2015 that he wasn’t sure he’d ever asked God for forgiveness. “I’m not sure I have,” he admitted. “I don’t bring God into that picture. I don’t.” And while he normally refuses to name a favorite Bible verse, one of Trump’s most honest moments may have been when he told a Christian Broadcasting Network interviewer that he liked “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.”
Most religious scholars agree that Exodus 21:23-25 doesn’t instruct Jews and Christians to hit back against those who have wronged them, but instead exists to place limits on the extent to which a person or tribe could demand retributive justice. If someone killed your sheep, you were permitted — but not required — to kill one of her sheep, and nothing more.
Moreover, in the Christian tradition, Jesus explicitly singles out and rejects this “eye for an eye” worldview. “You have heard it was said, ‘Eye for eye, tooth for tooth,’” he says in Matthew 5:38-39, “but I tell you do not resist an evil person.” He goes on to endorse turning the other cheek, a highly un-Trumpian action.
Trump’s very illiteracy or impatience with the basics of Christianity lays bare the extent to which his relationship with evangelical leaders is transactional. He likes the visual image of pastors laying hands on him in prayer, so he brings them into the Oval Office to do so for photographers. With most of the country sheltering-in-place by late March, he threw out the suggestion that life could resume by Easter Sunday. “Wouldn’t it be great to have all of the churches full?”
For Christians, one of the lessons of Good Friday — and the vigils of Holy Saturday — is that we must travel through darkness and sit with the grief and stillness before we get to the heart-bursting joy of Easter.
For decades, Republican politicians and conservative religious leaders have been offering a shortcut to morality. They have preached that a good Christian can only vote for Republicans. In support for Trump, white evangelical leaders have offered him a similar deal: appoint the right judges and give us the access we desire, and we’ll give you our stamp of Christian approval.
Re: Trump Comments
