Thumbing through Psalms, lately, I keep thinking that the psalmist had Trump in mind (Psalm 5, for example).
Micah 6:8 seems something of a buried lede.
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If some of the people who voted Trump last time will stay home now, then i’d say it’s money well spent.
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This segment of evangelicals who are bewildered their fellow Christians don’t give a shit about Christ mirrors the segment of Republicans who are bewildered their fellow Republicans don’t give a shit about conservatism. It’s been about authoritarianism for decades now. If you thought it was about a real values or ideas you fell for it.
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Exactly. Once this “modern-day Cyrus’s” Imperfect vessel” has been drained, these no more utility in him.
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Around where I live, people still try to claim they are registered Republicans because of “fiscal responsibility”. There are so so many things wrong with that idea that I can’t even begin to unpack it for them. The GOP has never been about that, it’s always been a lie that they know WASPs will like.
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I mean… that’s a definition of Christian, but I argue that’s not how it generally gets used. You know those surveys where 70% of people in the US claim to be “Christian”? When you actually go and talk to most people about it, they say things like, “well, my parents are” or “we went to church at Christmas when I was growing up” or “I got married in a church”. They don’t say “Jesus Christ was the son of God who died for our sins”.
By the common usage of the word, it’s just a vague cultural term than tends to mean “people around me that I know and like”.
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Jesus was more involved in the distribution side of the seafood industry.
He also dabbled in winemaking.
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I concur: if the Trumpsters don’t vote, it helps everyone.
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it occurs to me that the real war on christmas turned out to be the republican’s choice to spread coronavirus to every state in the union.
“let’s get on a plane to go give grandma and grandpa a life threatening disease that’s especially dangerous to old folks” said absolutely no one.
worst. gift. ever.
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Oh, yeah. I vaguely remember something about “shrimp and Chardonnay.” 
fisher of men or so it goes i’m told
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As an observant Jew I imagine he’d keep it Kosher. The 21st Century equivalent of the loaves and fishes thing would probably be bagels and lox.
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Then count me in! That’s one of my favorites.
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It is an interesting variety of the no-true-Scotsman fallacy.
No sane person would argue Trump is an evangelical but sanity is not much of a guiding principle among either Trumpists or evangelicals anyway. It also can’t be denied the qualities they deride in Trump are not exactly uncharacteristic for evangelicals, are they? Or are they socialists pacifists now?
A bit like a duck claiming another bird can’t be a duck because that bird has a beak and floats around in a pond a lot…
If they get back to the basics of Christianity they might argue that they are.
32 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.
33 And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.
34 Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold,
35 And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.
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Oh, original christianity was socialist. They lived in communes and held all goods in common ffs!
Modern evangelism has nothing at all to do with original christianity, it is basically retconning apologetics to make western capitalism look christian.
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If you read the later chapters of Acts, that didn’t work out all that well, because of those among them whose faith was less strong. And it certainly wasn’t everyone who lived that way, because you do see accounts in the same book of people putting up parties of a dozen pilgrims at their houses! The practice of living together and holding all things in common survives in the religious communities (both vowed Catholics such as the Benedictines, and less-than-mainstream Protestants such as the Hutterites) even to the present day. It is generally regarded as meritorious, but not everyone has the calling to live that way.
This is not a defense of Western capitalism. All Christians are called to practice charity toward all, and to take no thought for the morrow when doing so. (It is permissible to exercise ordinary prudence - the better to continue the works of mercy in the future.) And we all fall short. but trust in the promise of Matthew 5:7.
Far from all modern evangelicals preach the Prosperity Gospel. In fact, I daresay it’s a minority, but they get all the press. The news always reports on the anomalies. For ordinary Christians to live quiet lives and quietly practice the works of mercy, giving freely of their time, talents, and treasures - that’s not newsworthy. Likewise, it’s not newsworthy when those of other faiths, or of no faith at all, do so. The news presumes, and reports, as if people are universally evil. Which is theologically correct, but grace continues to move among us, and so strongly so that it is the evil that becomes newsworthy.
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