POLITICS Trump pledges fealty to religious freedom, traditional values
Trump pledges fealty to religious freedom, traditional values
WASHINGTON (October 13, 2017) — President Donald Trump assured a high-profile gathering of Christian conservatives on Friday that his administration will defend religious organizations, promising a return to traditional American values.
VVS and President Trump 2017“How times have changed, but you know what, now they are changing back again, just remember that,” Trump told the cheering crowd.
Trump, the first sitting president to address the Values Voter Summit, ticked off the promises he’s fulfilled to evangelical Christians and other conservatives, pledging to turn back the clock in what he described as a nation that has drifted away from its religious roots.
He bemoaned the use of the phrase “Happy Holidays” as a secular seasonal greeting and vowed to return “Merry Christmas” to the national discourse.
He noted, as Christian conservatives often do, that there are four references to the “creator” in the Declaration of Independence, saying that “religious liberty is enshrined” in the nation’s founding documents.
“I pledged that in a Trump administration, our nation’s religious heritage would be cherished, protected and defended like you have never seen before,” Trump said. “Above all else in America, we don’t worship government. We worship God.”
Trump praised his repeal of the Johnson Amendment, which limited political activity or endorsements by religious groups that received tax exemptions, as well as his administration’s effort to expand the rights of employers to deny women insurance coverage for birth control. The White House has also issued sweeping guidance on religious freedom that critics have said could erode civil rights protections for LGBT people.
Trump waded again into the cultural war that has captured his attention in recent weeks, declaring to loud applause that “we respect our great American flag,” a not-too-subtle reference to his repeated denunciations of NFL players who have taken to kneeling during the national anthem.
But Trump also struck several empathetic notes, offering condolences to the victims of Las Vegas mass shooting and pledging support to the people of Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico which have been ravaged by recent hurricanes. His kind words for Puerto Rico stood in stark contrast to his tweets the day before when he declared that federal personnel would not be able to stay “forever” to help the island, which remains largely without power weeks after the storm.
The president also made a call for Congress to enact his agenda, including a tax cut by the end of the year. And he vowed again to undo the Obama health care law, chiding Congress for forgetting “what their pledges were so we’re going a little different route.” The night before the speech, the administration announced it would halt payments to insurers, a move certain to roil insurance markets.
“Our values will endure. Our nation will thrive. Our citizens will flourish. And our freedom will triumph,” Trump said. https://www.onenewsnow.com/ap/politics/trump-pledges-fealty-to-religious-freedom-traditional-values
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How much more free can the Christian religion get in America? It dominates our advertising for a third of the year, it's celebrated in the white house, public schools and court houses. Most cities entirely transform for months during the year in observance of Christian holidays. Is saying "Happy holidays" really an attack on Christian values? Really? My kids aren't being raised as Christians as I was yet they still come home from school with Jack-o-lanterns, candy canes, painted eggs and reindeer projects they did in art class. How can any Christian feel like they are "under attack"? Is it simply because some aren't following suit anymore? That a small 5% have rejected their pompous claim of moral superiority? Is it that civil law is allowing people of all faiths or none to have freedom as well? Is it that civil law isn't enforcing their religious laws like bans on gay marriage or their hardline desire to force their religion into all women's wombs? How much further could America bend over for Christianity that it hasn't already done? Should we all be forced to bend over and grab our ankles? Would that make you happy Christians?
The ultimate goal would be when it achieves control society so it can force it on everyone. FREEDOM!
"Should we all be forced to bend over and grab our ankles?"
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He gives an interesting explanation of the power of religion in the US in the 1820's - and finds the source of it's strength is pretty much it's absolute separation from the state.
We are at a point where many Evangelical Christians want desperately to be in control. To realize their control they have tied themselves to the Trump Administration. I'm pretty sure they will regret it.
If they are in control - God is not.
I've always loved this passage from The Robe Chapter XXI
Excellent quotations!
Agree 100%
Wow, thanks for providing that Trump quote, SO, scary stuff.
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One statement for a fact.....It is Christmas! The birth of Christ..... Now, if you don't want to acknowledge that day....fine. But, leading up to Christmas it is Merry Christmas.
Happy Holidays
Thank you and Merry Christmas!
Oh, I'm so offended now! LOL
No offense meant! Lol
I don't care! I'm too sensitive! So it's your fault! Excuse me while I curl up in a fetal position under my desk letting this slight fester.
Do you think we can both overcome this feeling of despair? I promise to never say Merry Christmas to you if you don't say Happy Holidays to me BEFORE Christmas.
This world is tuff, but we can persevere!!!!!!
Way to spoil the fun with something completely irrelevant and off topic.
Of course. I have beer. And you?
Wait, that's not fair. If I wait until AFTER Christmas to say Happy Holidays, isn't that technically BEFORE the next Christmas? How about I say "Merry X-Mas" instead of merry Christmas? Or I can combine the two seasons greetings and say "Happy Christmas?" The British do that, right?
You go right ahead and do that.
Why do you wish to say "Happy Holidays?" You probably don't substitute this phrase for any other holiday. If you really think multiple holidays are relevant, which holidays are you talking about?
The only time I can see it making sense is if you are trying to cover both New Years and Christmas (if it's still before Christmas) or New Years and Hanukkah before Hanukkah if you won't see the person until after both holidays have passed.
What other holidays occur in the winter?
See previous statement.
It can cover all holidays without assuming an individual celebrates only a specific holiday.
I generally start wishing people "Happy Holidays" before Thanksgiving. So it covers all of the holidays from Thanksgiving to New Year's. Right before Christmas, I'll say "Merry Christmas".
Try this.
Just a few of the holidays celebrated at this time of year.
Wrong, Christmas is not about the birth of Christ. It's not even about god belief at all. It's a pagan ritual that celebrates the winter solstice when the days start getting longer again. The tree, the gifts, the feast, everything. It predates Christianity and has nothing whatsoever to do with it. The Christians merely hijacked the event and called it their own.
While we are on the subject, Christianity itself is not even original. The flood myth, the creation myth, and all the other myths in the bible were stolen from previous faiths. Christianity is a total fraud, even if one believes in the bible stories.
Give it up! We know all of that. Same old, same old!
It is Christmas for us.....the birth of Christ!
Live with it!
Me and my family celebrate Christmas, and for us it is about the birth of Christ. I suppose that for you, it can be about whatever you want it to be.
We love Christmas, but it is not our favorite holiday, that would be Thanksgiving, and at the bottom of the list is MLK day.
Is that your way of sticking your fingers in your ears and yelling LaLaLaLa??
Those are facts, but you'd rather believe the delusions.
Kind of hard to drag out a Christmas Tree in July for the actual birth date huh?
You are funny!
Never mind X-mas or thanksgiving. What about Halloween? Now there's a fun holiday: costumes, candy, parties, ect.. Or what about 4th of July? What other holiday can you blow $#!t up with explosives using independence as an excuse to do so?
Why is that? You are against civil rights?
Does every thread have to turn into the same lame debate about the validity of religious belief?
Jeez, is that what you people did at Newsvine all day and night?
Come on!
I knew someone would pick up on that and run with it! So funny!
Only when the topic is about Christianity.
But Jesus was not born in December, according to the fairy tale.
It seems like that, doesn't it?
I have battled with myself over responding to the never ending Christian bashing, but darn, I can't help myself it seems.
XX never ending seeds about 'persecuted' Christianity are just as bad, or worse.
So what? Was he required to insult MLK? For what purpose was it done? Dog whistle y'all?
Only the ones about religion, John. If an article references a widely held belief that is obviously, utterly nonsensical, isn't it the first and most important point to bring up, that the belief is total lunacy to begin with?
Give it a rest for a minute , will you man? I think they heard you the first hundred times. Or they should have.
Well, we are off a bit. Couldn't have a white Christmas in the summer!
You will overcome this, also!
Yes, but will you? lol
So every single time someone mentions religion, you feel compelled to announce that Christianity is a "total fraud"?
People may see you coming and run in the other direction, at times.
I am having a rough time! lol
Hundred times?? Math's not your strong suit, huh? If you hate the dialogue here so much, why don't you just scram?
Those are your words. If you have been on such forums for any length of time I am sure you have made your case against Christianity much more than just 100 times.
Yes, i do. I don't think we should allow god belief to be normal anymore. We are clinging to the foolish superstitions of our ignorant, prehistoric ancestors, and it's high time we grew up as an intelligent species, faced the reality of our finite existence, and rejected this foolishness.
God belief is divisive, it pits groups of people against each other, fuels wars, and espouses the dangerous idea that death is not the end, an idea the 911 hijackers held fervently.
Lol, you quoted me then didn't respond in any way to the quote!
I just gave you enough rope, thats all.
Wow. Why are you so angry about what some of your fellow posters decide to discuss? Why don't you just leave if you despise what is being discussed so much? I think you need to get some counselling, seriously, I'm not trying to be a smartass either, I really mean it.
Yes it is. Sorry, but it is. If it were about some pagan holiday, we'd be calling it that. The fact that Christians chose to celebrate the birth of Jesus at the same time as some pagan holiday in no way makes the celebration about that pagan holiday.
X-mas was originally the Pagan celebration of the Winter Solstice. Christians co-opted it when they forcibly assimilated Pagan culture and beliefs into Christianity. Same thing with Easter. It might be celebrated as X-mas now, but that doesn't change the fact that it wasn't originally X-Mas.
I am going to ask a question here and I am looking for a serious answer. The question maybe a bit of a derail and i am asking for a bit of leeway here.
Those that seem to be anti-religion (especially anti Christian) continually bring up how many if the holidays we celebrate were at one time pagan holidays and seem to believe that they should remain so even tbough many of those same pagan traditions have long since disappeared. After bashing because we are celebrating in terms of todays traditions instead of those of days long past, they will condemn political figures of the past for perceived norms of 2017 instead of the norms of the times if Washington and Jefferson and Robert E. Lee and others.
Tell me which are we supposed to judge by? Now or the past?
Very well.
I don't know anyone who says the holidays should remain Pagan. Those who bring up Pagan holidays are stating historical fact regarding origins. However, people are still free to observe or celebrate the holiday and/or holiday traditions of their choosing, whether it be Pagan, Christian, ect..
"Traditions" we celebrate today might be different than traditions to be celebrated in the future. Traditions can change. But celebrating tradition is usually an individual choice.
Perhaps we shouldn't judge at all. After all, we are free to celebrate what we want, if we want. Whether that be Christmas (or your holiday of choice) as a religious holiday or as a commercially based holiday, or whatever.
"Perhaps we shouldn't judge at all"
Then tell me why are there those that are condemning Washington and Jefferson. Because they owned slaves? Why all the BS about removing statues and renaming schools that were named for people that did things that were acceptable in times past but not now. Why do some think that places named after people who only have names that may possibly offend someone need to be changed.
That's by far my favorite holiday.
I'm aware of the topic of the seed, my post was about the topic of conversation.
It is a hoot. Get it? [insert your groan for that bad joke here].
Probably because the government shouldn't honor traitors or the icons of white supremacy.
I am not aware of anyone condemning Washington or Jefferson. I hear about those condemning statues of Confederate leaders.
That is an entirely different topic than the one regarding holidays. Now, I gave you a serious and honest answer. If you are not satisfied with that, then I can't help you.
Si you agree with those that want to destroy the Jefferson and Washington monuments because tgey were slave holders. You OK with changing the names of public areas because the person being honired has a name that some don't like not because of anything they did.
Read and, weep oh Christian, for no one knows what day Jesus was born, only the year he was born.
I like both, hopefully no one will coopt the 4th of July.
Look, I don't like Christian bashing any more than I like Pagan bashing but, sometimes ya'all make it too easy.
Christians co-opted pagan traditions for Christmas, right down to the day it's celebrated. They did the same for Easter and All Saint's Day. There's nothing Christian about Christmas trees or Easter eggs or bunnies (fertility symbols, anyone?). So, sure, say Merry Christmas, if you like. I often do, too. But those saying "Happy Solstice" have prior claim, as do those saying "Happy Hanukkah".
That's another thing - regardless of whether one celebrates Christmas, one ought to realize that Christmas isn't the only holiday celebrated during the winter months. Demanding that Christmas be the only one acknowledged is a bit ethnocentric.
Sounds like a repeat from Lenny!
See my comment!
That you know all that? Well, glad we all agree. So, you know your faith is a lie but you believe it anyway, how about that! I think I'm beginning to understand how Trump got elected...
Stop, already! Who said that my faith/religion is a lie?
You did. When I described it as such, you replied that you 'know all that.'
You know, that you were talking about the pagan this and the pagan that. Carry on!
I know, and I have a Christmas tree, and play Christmas music, and all that. I used to bake cookies, but my son isn't into that anymore, and I only baked them because he liked to decorate them.
But I do so with the full awareness that very few of those traditions have anything to do with the birth of Christ, which is unlikely to have occurred in December. So I'm not defensive of other traditions' holidays, and don't get pissed off at salutations that acknowledge them.
I don't insist that "Jesus is the reason for the season", because he isn't.
Axial tilt is
And that's fine. If you know someone celebrates one of those holidays instead of Christmas, by all means you should wish them a Happy Solstice or whatever it is they celebrate.
But what kind of mean spirited dick goes out of his way to avoid saying "Merry Christmas" to someone he knows celebrates Christmas? When you know someone has a erected a tree with lights and ornaments for the purpose of celebrating Christmas, don't be a bitter douchebag and call it a "Holiday Tree."
What's mean spirited about saying "Happy Holidays?" The intention behind it is no different that wishing someone "Merry Christmas."
If I'm wishing a Christian a happy holiday, and Christmas is a holiday, and they take offense to that, I'd say they are going out of their way to find offense, wouldn't you?
Now, if I wished them Happy Hanukkah, that might be going out of my way to offend them. Much like the insistence on Merry Christmas has some Christians going out of their way to offend Jews, yes?
I wouldn't mind someone wishing me a Happy Hanukkah but, I would be highly offended by someone wishing me a Merry Christmas because the Christians stole that holiday from us, the Pagans of Europe.
If someone says Merry Christmas to you, and you respond with Happy Hanukah, how is that in any way offensive... to anyone expect a radical Christian dominionist?
Read the hypothetical again.
You know a person celebrates Christmas.
You intentionally avoid saying Merry Christmas and instead you say Happy Holidays.
And you don't do that with any other holiday. For example, you don't say Happy Holiday on Thanksgiving or Halloween.
You don't see how rude that is?
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OMIGAWD, we're gonna be forced to listen to people saying "Merry Chr......." oooooo, I can't........it burns too much to even write it down. What'er we gawdliss liberals gonna do? OH NOZZZZZZZ!!!
"..it burns too much to even write it down. "
Apparently it does just that seeing your (editorial) reactions to things like Nativity Scenes, religious based Christmas songs, choir recitals at church related venues, private and public prayers by coachs and players at football games and other things.
You do know that during that time being Christian also meant persecution by the the authorities of the time. It has been proposed that one if the reasons for the coopting of pagan holidays is so the Christians could celebrate without fear of discovery.
And here I thought Christians were happy to accept their persecution in pursuit of their faith. And now, you're telling me that's another myth? When Constantine turned from being a persecutor to a believer also marks the turning point in history when christians stopped being persecuted and became the persecutors. In this country, for the most part, they were no longer able to do that but it seems some of them would love to have that ability back.
Which is in fact what the "Values Voters Summit" is really all about.....how Christian extremists can use the state to persecute the people they hate.
Exactly.
More history of Christmas: Puritans (e.g., The Pilgrims who were the first religious settlers in this country) considered it an abomination and forbid it's observation. When they controlled the government in England, it's public observation was forbidden.
The Puritans also treated marriage as a strictly secular legal contract.
Trump didn’t repeal the Johnson Amendment nor can he do so. All he did was issue an executive order on enforcement that some viewed as too vague to be anything other than symbolic. And he backs employers who don’t want to provide insurance coverage for birth control, which may or may not actually amount to eliminating coverage. It looks to me like the most concrete thing upon which his pledge rests is him promising to say “Merry Christmas” again instead of “Happy Holidays” and tweeting that ball players should stand for the anthem (which is beyond his control). All hat and no cattle.
Yes, Donald J. Lying-Scumbag-Sexual-Predator Trump has always been known for his devout christian beliefs and observation.
I don't know what's more upsetting...what the President said or the applause received saying it. Four words come to mind, Jesus wept, Satan smiled.
I'm not sure who that speaks more poorly of....Trump or the hate groups to which he was giving the keynote address.
There isn't the slightest difference between the two.