Franklin Graham Speaks Out On Trump and Jesus
I’m thankful the President has made it very clear that this was not at all what he thought the AI-generated image was representing—he thought it was a doctor helping someone, and when he learned of the concerns, he immediately removed the post.
I had received some questions about President
's recent posts, and here are my thoughts: I do not believe President Trump would knowingly depict himself as Jesus Christ—that would certainly be inappropriate. I’m thankful the President has made it very clear that this was not at all what he thought the AI-generated image was representing—he thought it was a doctor helping someone, and when he learned of the concerns, he immediately removed the post. When I looked at the illustration, I didn’t jump to the same conclusion as some. There were no spiritual references—no halo, there were no crosses, no angels.
's recent posts, and here are my thoughts: I do not believe President Trump would knowingly depict himself as Jesus Christ—that would certainly be inappropriate. I’m thankful the President has made it very clear that this was not at all what he thought the AI-generated image was representing—he thought it was a doctor helping someone, and when he learned of the concerns, he immediately removed the post. When I looked at the illustration, I didn’t jump to the same conclusion as some. There were no spiritual references—no halo, there were no crosses, no angels.
It was a flag, soldiers, a nurse, fighter planes, eagles, the Statue of Liberty, and I think this is a lot to do about nothing. There is so much ill-intended speculation. I think his enemies are always foaming at the mouth at any possible opportunity to make him look bad. And the illustration from someone else he reposted on Truth Social yesterday, I must say that I like the fact that this is a picture of Jesus whispering in his ear, or at least His hand on his shoulder, guiding him.
We all need that—we all need to be listening to Jesus. Again, I think there is an attempt to spin this into something that it isn’t. Remember, President Trump didn’t draw this, he didn’t create it, he reposted it on his social media because he thought it was nice—I would have to agree. I’m not a Catholic, I’m an evangelical, but I appreciate how President Trump has defended religious freedom for people of all faiths, including millions of evangelicals and Catholics in the U.S. and around the world.
He is the most pro-Christian, pro-life president in my lifetime, and he doesn’t shy away from it. I would hope that the President and Pope Leo can meet at some point, and that the Pope would have the opportunity to thank the President for his efforts to protect religious liberty for Catholics and people of all faiths.
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He sure doesnt want to be cut off from Trumps christmas card list.
In the picture Trump is seen healing a sick man by touching him, as a holy glow appears around the man's head. Trump is wearing garb associated with the time period Jesus was alive. Trumps left hand is glowing in a way no doctor's does. There is an apparition in the glowing sky that appears designed to be heavenly.
Franklin Graham, an alleged man of God, is full of shit.
That's been proven many times over.
Trump is lying through his teeth. Jesus in the Christian vernacular (and churches worldwide) as the Great Physician :
Jesus The Great Physician
Franklin Graham knows this more than many in the MAGA religious cadre. Unfortunately, Graham is 'sold-out' that Trump is doing more good than harm. . . .
This is Trump being instructed to invoke religious imagery in hopes of sparking (stimulating) the Church in to action this fall . . . the picture blends heavenly Radiance, transcendent 'Troops,' soaring Eagles, screeching Jets, fireworks on the Fourth of July, waving Red-White-Blue, liberty Statue, patriots, and the desperately needy, prayers and praying, a fading multitude to large to count receding in the background, and finally (larger than life) Trump (The fake Physician).
Trump knew precisely what he commissioned or accepted from his supporters. This is a production. Thus it is fiction and a political grift designed for getting mileage from apathetic MAGA religious, and rather bizarre and offensive fiction at that. It should be banned!
He can't actually be this stupid. This is what extreme partisanship and this MAGA cult of personality can do. It creates a cognitive dissonance so extreme, people will accept any excuse, no matter how obviously stupid. Below are more pictures of "doctors"....
If Trump said he was a shoe salesman or beekeeper in the picture Graham would have agreed.
Personally, I find it plausible that Trump could be completely clueless about the iconography behind what he posted. Mostly because I see Trump as largely blind to anything outside his own personal worldview which, unfortunately, seems to revolve around his image of himself. Combine that with his nearly complete lack of understanding of Christianity, it certainly seems plausible to me, anyway.
That said, I find it hard to believe Graham found no spiritual references within the image. Aside from the attire Trump is depicted in, the woman praying should have been something Graham could not dismiss. The fact that this image undeniably presents Trump as some sort of messianic savior seems impossible to deny, as even atheists can recognize it.
The guy goes around calling himself “The Chosen One.” Just this past Palm Sunday, at the White House, his spiritual advisor equated him to Jesus entering Jerusalem as king. He knows what the picture is. It’s why he posted it.
That is a really strange comment. Do you actually believe that persons who may be atheist are not aware of the meaning of religious iconography? Wow.
The average agnostic atheist is typically more informed than the average theist about religions. In many cases the atheist is a former theist who is an atheist because of what they learned over time.
Given that, one wonders why so many religious people have a bizarre (unrealistic) view of Trump:
But of course a devout theist will naturally presume they know more than an agnostic atheist ... after all, they probably believe atheism is a result of poor knowledge when it is more likely the opposite.
I find all that to be true.
When I first discovered this, I was a bit surprised. I did not expect this. But it sure seems as though the majority of at least Christians know very little about the origin and content of their religion. In particular, the Bible.
I am most familiar with Catholics since my family and friends are almost entirely Catholics. Catholics are taught a very nice religion. It is all Jesus-centric, of course, and thus the religion is all about a god of love. The philosophy is, IMO, quite good. It teaches befriending each other, develops (by intent) good moral character, etc. But to do this, it necessarily softens and subsets the Bible. Noah's ark is about all the cute animals being gathered and good being saved from a ravaging evil. It does not dwell on the notion that this loving God just wiped out the entire planet. And of course there is no mention of slavery, killing homosexuals, raping and pillaging with God's blessing, etc.
Religious education is a very strange bird indeed. The cognitive dissonance of learned Catholic priests who have studied the Bible and know that they are hiding the nature and deeds of the OT God must be substantial. But, then again, I have seen how learned theists have found all sorts of ways of explaining away anything bad in the Bible. And they apparently believe their own explanation.
Not too surprising given Trump devotion has shown how the human mind is quite capable of weaving an alternate comforting reality and setting aside an uncomfortable but obvious truth.
Now, I do need to note that there are plenty of theists who do recognize that the Bible is a work by ancient men and thus their writings reflect their own mores and values. Men who thought that slavery was normal ... it was the basis of their economic system after all. So naturally their stories about God will reflect the realities of their time. The key here is to recognize that the Bible cannot be taken as the literal word of a perfect loving god.
Seems to me that Graham has character issues.
Graham does have character issues, largely he is a man suffering from a 'strong delusion' where he accepts what Trump can give the evangelical Church that is has long been pining after since evangelicals saw themselves forced into the 'backwater' and marginalized. Now, Graham is in 'tall cotton' - in the 'big house' - 'sitting pretty' an called upon.
These people, like Graham, like Netanyahu are 'finally' being heard like they wish to be heard by a president willing to act and enact- hell probably even SUGGESTING ideas of his own on their behalf. And so, MAGA has got MAGAs backs! One for all - All for One.
Religious people, especially Christians, are in some ways. . .a 'captured' people. Remember the scripture: "I planted, Apollo watered, and God gave the increase?' (I Corinthian 3:6). Many true believers feel and there is some warrant for this. . . that life for them changed (they testify to it honestly and fully from time to time even). Even I have. I can assure you, to this day, I do not know how the old me - turned into someone that can 'resist' a man's magnetism enough to keep my hands to myself. It has been a seriously long time. . . there is 'power' that I can not explain in that. It is an 'example' of what others state (testimony) to a life-changing event that takes them out of 'the world' and into 'the Kingdom' - while still on this Earth.
It is late so I will 'wrap' this comment up - by just saying.
We are in the grasp of something very, sincerely, dangerous right now. We have evangelicals who are 'fudging' the truth of their believe system (it has occurred before when the "holy" Church thought it the divine right of popes and bishops to align with government to do whatever it takes to command societies.
We are in the thralls of 'jesus freaks' for real this time. Jesus 'freaks' have come to power. They are incredibly dangerous. We do not want to see them at their worse. We can read history to see what they are capable of doing.
And so, Trump sees opportunity to take 'jesus freaks' to the next level. He is consolidating them. . . by signaling he is onboard with as jesus freaks call it 'taking the world for Christ.'
Christ should just sit down at the 'right hand' of God while Trump and his 'followers' put his enemies under his feet!
We may yet rue the day that Trump and his 'followers' gained the 'throne' in the United States. . . two and a half more years to go of this. . . and the creative mind of these 'freaks' that think they are doing God a favor.
One more thing: It is why anyone that does not agree with their stated goals is 'anathema' and demonic. . .it's their propaganda.
I grew up nondenominational Protestant, most nearly resembling Baptist, and this describes a lot of my experience, too, although we did recognize the warlike nature of the OT God. It was just considered to be righteous war.
Noah's Ark was cute animals, two by two. I can name several places that have either playground toys or an amusement park ride based on the Ark, all of them cutesy. No thought to the people and other equally cute animals who were massacred (according to the myth).
The wars of conquest in the Promised Land were framed as God's people taking what was rightfully theirs, right down to the rape of the virgin women of some tribes. Those tribes were evil, said to engage in child sacrifice (why did Jesus need to die, again?), and their destruction of oppression was a good thing, because the Israelites, just a few years removed from worshipping a golden calf because they didn't have the patience to wait for Moses, were morally and religiously superior, somehow. I mean, they kept the faith for almost 40 days. How could one expect more? They obviously deserved supremacy.
And of course, there was a lot of "spiritual war" imagery about the present world. Angels and demons fighting all around us, unseen, for our souls. But God is a loving God, and sometimes the way he fights for us might hurt us. But it's for our own good, to save us from damnation. By Him.
I think for a lot of us, religion just does not pass the smell test.
Everything we learn about God comes from human beings. And, of course, the (human-invented) religions are both self-contradicting and contradict each other so clearly they cannot be correct. Importantly, there is no objective evidence of a sentient entity(ies) as described by the various religions. One can of course take the path of Dr. Francis Collins (the leader of the team that sequenced the human genetic code). Dr. Collins is a Christian whose convincing evidence that the God of the Bible exists is the wonders of nature. I find that to be entirely unconvincing, but this is what did it for him.
While I appreciate the motivation to believe in the wonderful promises of religions (and pushed by the unfathomable consequences of not having faith), I have yet to appreciate how one can be totally convinced that the human-authored, unsubstantiated claims of the grandest possible entity are true.
Human religions are cultural expressions and that explains the contradictions. The contradictions in no way tend to disprove the concept of God.
That is correct. The contradictions disprove the human-authored claims.
I never have suggested (here or elsewhere) that contradictions prove that there is no sentient creator.
They may not disprove, but they absolutely lend no support to it. And since our "knowledge" of God comes from those sources, it is correct to be skeptical of the whole thing.
I don't.
Now we are let in on why Trump does not ask God (if God exist) for forgiveness. . . He thinks he is God's (only) son and commits NO sins!
I do not think Trump believes in any god of any sort. His universe ends at his skin. The only god is himself.
Of course Trump does not believe he has any 'healing power' or 'healing in his 'wings'' to state a sense from a book in the Bible. He is being deceptive. That is, he is 'executing' his power and influence in plain sight of all of us. . . and basically daring us to call him out and stop him. He knows that if he can 'sell' his brand of nonsense to a small amount of new 'converts' that by the time they realize he is full of sh-t and toxic, he will have 'skipped' off with the 'booty' - and their votes will already be in the can for him and is MAGA supported congresspeople! That is all he wants.
Any good salesman can tell you: Say what you need to say to get what you can and do not apologize to the rubes afterwards.
Trump is 'invoking' something in evangelicals that on the 'outs' with him. He is 'calling' them back with powerful imagery they 'trust.' Somebody must have told him the power of 'tampering' with God. . . . My question is did whosoever told him. . . also tell him that believers truly believe and expect that God (if real) should not MOCKED!
I believe this is why the Pope is confronting Trump at the 'threshold' of the Church. It is an 'invitation' to religious faithful to contend for the truth (of their faith) and not this mockery that is trying to 'sell' God as an irreverent propaganda 'piece' off the shelf!
While I do not believe that Trump is completely clueless, it is plausible that he is clueless. Fine distinction and it doesn't really matter except to some who grasp at rationalizations for the mad kings behavior.
Jesus was a Middle Eastern man. Probably brown-skinned. Almost certainly brown eyes. Men rarely wore their hair long in that time and place. Beards were rare.
In other words, "White Jesus" gets everything wrong.
Franklin Graham played 'cute' this time. Let's see if he can get away with being Trump's rube. Trump plays a lot of games. 'Smart' as a fox!
Sycophant!
Why do you prostrate yourself to defend this buffoon? To what end? What good is this psychopath doing for the nation and the planet that would cause to be so obsequious?
"Hey, Dad. Can I have the car keys?"
So, that leaves us with two choices.
1. Trump has absolutely no respect for Christianity, but is extremely willing to exploit some right-wing Christian nationalists for political purposes. This means those particular right-wing Christian nationalists are gullible and voted for somebody who openly laughs at them and has no respect for that which they hold dear.
2. They voted for a moron.
What's their druthers?
You forgot option "C"... "All the above"
He is consistent ... give him that.
He posted, he took it down. His reasoning for it is mere speculation. The "outrage" is interesting.
I have moved on
You spelled poutrage wrong
I do that alot.
The fact that he posted it is the issue. That he backed down to the pressure is irrelevant.
You of course downplay Trump's misdeeds in the ongoing attempt to defend him.
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You downplay Trump's words and deeds.
Think of any other PotUS who would depict himself as the pope or being guided by Jesus. Trump is posting this crap.
The man is mentally unstable, yet you keep trying to defend him as PotUS.
I look at them rationally. You inflate everything he does and says, nothing more than confirmation bias.
That was dumb. Not sure of the thinking behind it
Is that your professional diognosis?
Again, I look at everything rationally, not emotionally, even if some folks have a problem with that. I sure as hell don't change my thinking because it is Trump.
As has the rest of sane America.
Amazing how many liberals suddenly embrace religion and defend Jesus when some one they hate with a passion posts a picture like that.
Not a chance. Trump is playing with fire when he puts himself at odds with deeply held religious beliefs and with arguably the most iconic religious leader today (the Pope). And this Pope is well-liked.
You are yet again (and again and again) downplaying Trump's bad and, of course, blaming 'liberals', 'leftists', ... instead.
Supporting Trump is irrational, irresponsible, and unpatriotic. Trump continues to reinforce the truth of that on a weekly basis.
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I know the hope is that this will make those deeply religious voters and make them vote for the folk that favor abortion but I would not count on it
While I think the way Trump made it personal is wrong and showing assholery, the Pope (that has been fairly quiet about some actual genocide) should expect some pushback when he ventures into the political arena.
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No its not, he is a known megalomaniac, asshole and clown. This is what he does.
So?
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Perfect. You agree that Trump is a megalomaniac, asshole, and clown and still support him as PotUS.
Irrational, irresponsible, and unpatriotic.
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And you agree further. This is good to know.
And you make stuff up. Good to know
Prove it. You said...Well, I cannot get to what you said because it has been flagged.
Before you troll on any further, you might want to consider stating the truth. It is much easier.