The Supreme Reason Evangelical Voters Are Flocking To Support Trump
Not too long ago, a candidate like Donald Trump wouldn’t have had a prayer of winning over evangelical voters.
A billionaire businessman with a well-known taste for the high life in the fast lane — a brash, aggressive TV showman who spent many of his adult years in the sometimes lurid limelight of New York City, and thrice-married no less — would have gotten the coldest of shoulders from ardent, conservative Christians.
But after two terms of Barack Obama in the White House, Trump’s message resonated in the primaries – and his support is only getting stronger among the faithful as November approaches. It’s a big change in voter sentiment that could make all the difference for the candidate who vows to “Make America Great Again.”
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With Hillary Clinton as the Democrat nominee – and an empty seat on the Supreme Court putting the consequences of the 2016 election in stark relief – Trump now has near-unanimous support among evangelical Christians, including those who once stood firm with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
According to Pew researchers, 94 percent of evangelical Christians backed Trump over Clinton in a June survey, compared to only 44 percent in April.
Of course, in April, there were other Republican candidates in the running. Now, with the field cleared and the choice down solely to Trump versus Clinton — with the ramifications that implies for the next decades of American life — evangelicals are solidly in Trump’s corner.
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Beyond evangelicals, about 90 percent of church-going Republicans now support Trump, compared to only 34 percent in April.
To pretty much nobody’s surprise, Americans who profess to embrace no religious faith are backing Hillary Clinton to almost the same degree the religious are backing Trump. (As the old saying goes, people who believe in nothing will fall for anything.)
Of course, the question is, when crunch time comes, will evangelicals turn out for Trump in sufficient numbers? The group often got blamed, at least in part, for Mitt Romney’s loss in 2012 because it was said that evangelical Christians would not vote for a Mormon, but the actual numbers don’t bear that out.
As Republican strategist and George W. Bush confidant Karl Rove wrote in the Wall Street Journal in 2015:
“…[B]ecause total voter turnout was lower in 2012 than in 2008, there were an estimated 580,000 fewer white evangelical voters, based on David Leip’s Atlas numbers and exit polls. Mr. Romney won 78% of them, compared with Mr. McCain’s 74%. In short, Mr. Romney got around 913,000 more white evangelical votes than did Mr. McCain.”
For evangelical Christians, the difference this year boils down to the future makeup of the Supreme Court.
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If Hillary Clinton wins in November, the brief, maddeningly inconsistent defense of the United States Constitution by the Roberts Court will be eventually smothered in a liberal tide. Clinton will be guaranteed at least one pick to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia.
Other picks are likely among the aging court, particularly a replacement for Ruth Bader Ginsburg – who is a guaranteed liberal (and one who despises Trump to boot.)
For many conservatives, even those who oppose Trump, the fate of the high court is the bottom line, and Trump is reaching out to them.
After Trump spoke at the evangelical Values Voter Summit in Washington earlier this month, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins explained the situation to Politico this way:
“I think we’ve got to be very candid with where we are. Most conservatives were not with Donald Trump in the primary, but now they have a clear choice between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump,” he said.
“And some would say, ‘Well, we’re not certain what Donald Trump will do.’ OK. But we do know what Hillary Clinton will do, and I think that is what is moving people more and more into the Trump column.”
Sen. Cruz, who’d banked unsuccessfully on evangelical support to win the Republican primaries, announced last week that he is voting for Trump. On Monday, he told longtime supporter and radio host Glenn Beck that the Supreme Court was his biggest reason for supporting his one-time bitter rival.
On Friday, Trump released an expanded list of potential Supreme Court nominees, and Cruz said that turned the tide. http://www.westernjournalism.com/thepoint/2016/09/27/supreme-reason-evangelical-voters-flocking-support-trump/
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If I lived in a battleground state where my EC vote mattered, I'd likely vote for Trump almost solely over supreme and other court appointments.
Not that hard to believe that evangelicals fall for this...
A billionaire businessman with a well-known taste for the high life in the fast lane — a brash, aggressive TV showman
...as it so easily resembles what they are already used to...
Lifestyles of The Tele-Evangelist...
INDEX
Paul and Jan Crouch's Earthly Empire... TBN
TBN's Annual Income, Salaries, The Crouch’s Homes, The TBN Building and Private Suites
Joel Osteen
Lakewood Church and Osteen’s 10.5 million Dollar Home
***********
THE INVESTIGATION
Kenneth Copeland
Salaries, 18,280 square foot Parsonage/Housing Allowances, Private Airport for nine aircraft, Travel and Shopping
Creflo Dollar
Rolls-Royces, private jets, million-dollar Atlanta home and $2.5 million Manhattan apartment
Paula (And Randy) White
If one can afford a $2.1 million home on Bayshore Boulevard and a $3.5 million Trump Tower condo in New York, giving away a Bentley as a birthday gift is no big deal.
Benny Hinn
10 million seaside mansion; a private jet, a Mercedes SUV and convertible, and “layovers” between crusades at the cost of $900 - $3,000 per night at locations including Hawaii, Cancun, London, Milan etc.
Joyce Meyer
Ministry Headquarters, Sports Cars and Plane, Meyer's Irrevocable Trust, Family Compound (including aerial view) and Personal Spending
Eddie Long
favors Gucci sunglasses, gold necklaces, diamond bracelets, Rolex watches and Bentleys, and says he is "on a different scale than the little black preacher sitting over there" . I'll say!
*********
“Bishop” Elijah Bernard Jordan
This meglomaniac takes the proverbial cake, considering that the ceiling of one room in his multi million dollar mansion in an exclusive gated community, features a painting of Jordan on a throne – as God – with his three sons hovering around him as angels.
T.D. Jakes
$2.6 million luxurious pink brick, seven-bedroom home with swimming pool in the affluent White Rock Lake area of Dallas...next door to the former mansion of oil tycoon H.L. Hunt.
John Hagee
One of the best paid men on earth
Pat Robertson
has taken the word 'Christian' leader to new lows
Fred Price
commutes by private jet between his two churches
Juanita Bynum
A "more than a million dollar," black-tie wedding, Swarovski Crystal embellished gown, a 7.76-carat diamond ring and a $4.5 million estate.
The Crystal Cathedral
This "Hollywood" church, in the true sense of the word, spent spent between $13 million and $15 million on a lavish production called "Creation", then declared bankruptcy. No kidding!
Rodney Howard-Browne
the "bartender of holy laughter"
James MacDonald
A $1.9 million house puts him in some very interesting company
Mike Murdock
This "Wal-Mart guy" has a $25,000 Rolex adorning his wrist, and takes notes with a $4,500 fountain pen.
Rev. James Eugene Ewing
Oral Roberts
Jim and Tammy Bakker
Robert Tilton
Leaving On a Jet Plane
Other CEO Salaries
What does this have to do with the story here that many evangelical Christians will vote Trump almost entirely over the control of the federal courts?
Some research will show you that you've already lost the battle of the courts. SCOTUS is not the only court that makes far reaching decisions.
Evangelicals crack me up.
What, no response, XX.
I see that you don't want to be enlightened on the courts. To bad, since you may have actually learned something.
Thanks for the thumbs down, another badge of honor...
With most of the states having GOP governors the state level judiciary is being populated with judges ready to move on to the federal level when the next GOP president is elected. The federal courts are cyclical in nature so you can gloat now for a season.
The judgeships are life time appointments, XX....Sorry a big fail on your part again.
And they are appointed over time and vacancies come up all the time. Still cyclical.
What does this have to do with the story here that many evangelical Christians will vote Trump almost entirely over the control of the federal courts?
Your argument hinges on the reasoning evangelicals use to cast their votes to rump; and, I reject that. Don't get me wrong, that is a part of the reasoning used, and it is an accurate description of a part, not the whole. That misrepresents the reason, as a whole. I believe that equal to the desire for control of the courts, is a willingness to be huckstered by a shyster, due to simple engrained behavior through conditioning in evangelical circles. They enjoy being sheep; their departure from their true shepherd has them desperately searching for another, and he promises peaceful, prosperous, protected pastures. The biggest reason they are voting for the rump is because they are looking for the God they ran away from.
I'm not a Trump supporter but I have a hard time believing that evangelical Christians are the ones who look to a man to be the God rather than the real one. The oldest Christian denomination is truly guilty of that, having a man be "God on earth" and allowing their ordained to forgive sin and order the type of penance.
Well, lol, you may have a hard time believing it; yet, even the author of the seeded article uses the term "flocking" when describing rump's evangelical supporters.
A magnanimous spirit is upon me (perhaps it's partly the spirit of Two Hearted Ale as well :~) so I would like to lift you up brother. Allow me, to give testimony, if you would.
If we accept the personhood of Jesus as being equal, even part of God, then we had best take him at his word. It has become more and more evident to me over the years that the persona, life and teachings of Jesus were poignantly pragmatic. Regardless of the political, religious and social dynamics of his day, Jesus' understanding of the importance for human love transcended any and all prior arguments. Jesus himself, in defending his doctrinal positions against the religious/political leaders heckling him while preached, summed up ALL of God's commandments, in describing loving God as reflected in our love for one another. The Golden Rule is quite well the central theme of modern Christian dogma.
One wouldn't know that by looking at Christ's self described bride in modern America. Not because of busted up families, and broken social arrangements, those are symptoms not causes. Jesus said that there is no truer worship practiced than that which exercises care for widows and orphans; Christians have failed that admonition miserably, and it is an important barometer. It speaks to the Church's unwillingness to practice even the most basic of teachings, a fat, gluttonous selfishness, and a propensity to follow leaders that feed into that. There are no excuses. Blame it on terrible political choices, blame it on liberal ideology, blame it on what you want. That doesn't change the fact that the modern church in America has no excuse for the selfish, gluttonous behavior that has eroded them, and left millions hungry and unclothed. It is no one's fault but their own that they have stopped following their God's laws.
Modern evangelicals are very similar to the Hebrew children wondering the dessert looking for the God that they passed by 40 years earlier, learning an important lesson about gratefulness and obedience to the true nature of a loving God instilled in all.
I am reminded of Red Jackets speech to the Missionaries in 1805. It fits well into XX comment which he is describing the Catholic religion.
''Brother, you say there is but one way to worship and serve the Great Spirit; if there is but one religion, why do you white people differ so much about it? Why not all agree, as you can all read the book?''
In a sentence he described the conflict within the various Christian denominations, and their willingness to push their religion onto the Redman. The history of it is not something that the Christians should be proud of.
Here is a copy of the speech if anyone is interested.
The response of the Missionaries once again shows their arrogance.
''Red Jacket’s forceful defense of native religion, below, caused the representative to refuse the Indian’s handshake and announce that no fellowship could exist between the religion of God and the works of the Devil.''
Red Jacket Defends Native American Religion, 1805
by Red Jacket
The Senecas, members of the Iroquois Confederacy, fought on the side of the British in the American Revolution. Red Jacket, also known as Sagoyewatha, was a chief and orator born in eastern New York; he derived his English name from his habit of wearing many red coats provided to him by his British allies. After the hostilities, as the British ceded their territories to the Americans, the Senecas and many other Indian peoples faced enormous pressure on their homelands. Red Jacket was a critical mediator in relations between the new U.S. government and the Senecas; he led a delegation that met with George Washington in 1792, when he received a peace medal that appeared in subsequent portraits of the Indian leader. In 1805 a Boston missionary society requested Red Jacket’s permission to proselytize among the Iroquois settlements in northern New York State. Red Jacket’s forceful defense of native religion, below, caused the representative to refuse the Indian’s handshake and announce that no fellowship could exist between the religion of God and the works of the Devil.
Friend and brother; it was the will of the Great Spirit that we should meet together this day. He orders all things, and he has given us a fine day for our council. He has taken his garment from before the sun, and caused it to shine with brightness upon us; our eyes are opened, that we see clearly; our ears are unstopped, that we have been able to hear distinctly the words that you have spoken; for all these favors we thank the Great Spirit, and him only.
Brother, this council fire was kindled by you; it was at your request that we came together at this time; we have listened with attention to what you have said. You requested us to speak our minds freely; this gives us great joy, for we now consider that we stand upright before you, and can speak what we think; all have heard your voice, and all speak to you as one man; our minds are agreed.
Brother, you say you want an answer to your talk before you leave this place. It is right you should have one, as you are a great distance from home, and we do not wish to detain you; but we will first look back a little, and tell you what our fathers have told us, and what we have heard from the white people.
Brother, listen to what we say. There was a time when our forefathers owned this great island. Their seats extended from the rising to the setting sun. The Great Spirit had made it for the use of Indians. He had created the buffalo, the deer, and other animals for food. He made the bear and the beaver, and their skins served us for clothing. He had scattered them over the country, and taught us how to take them. He had caused the earth to produce corn for bread. All this he had done for his red children because he loved them. If we had any disputes about hunting grounds, they were generally settled without the shedding of much blood. But an evil day came upon us; your forefathers crossed the great waters, and landed on this island. Their numbers were small; they found friends, and not enemies; they told us they had fled from their own country for fear of wicked men, and come here to enjoy their religion. They asked for a small seat; we took pity on them, granted their request, and they sat down amongst us; we gave them corn and meat; they gave us poison in return. The white people had now found our country; tidings were carried back, and more came amongst us; yet we did not fear them, we took them to be friends; they called us brothers; we believed them, and gave them a larger seat. At length, their numbers had greatly increased; they wanted more land; they wanted our country. Our eyes were opened, and our minds became uneasy. Wars took place; Indians were hired to fight against Indians, and many of our people were destroyed. They also brought strong liquor among us; it was strong and powerful, and has slain thousands.
Brother, our seats were once large, and yours were very small; you have now become a great people, and we have scarcely a place left to spread our blankets; you have got our country, but are not satisfied; you want to force your religion upon us.
Brother, continue to listen. You say you are sent to instruct us how to worship the Great Spirit agreeably to his mind, and if we do not take hold of the religion which you white people teach, we shall be unhappy hereafter. You say that you are right, and we are lost; how do we know this to be true? We understand that your religion is written in a book; if it was intended for us as well as you, why has not the Great Spirit given it to us, and not only to us, but why did he not give to our forefathers the knowledge of that book, with the means of understanding it rightly? We only know what you tell us about it. How shall we know when to believe, being so often deceived by the white people?
Brother, you say there is but one way to worship and serve the Great Spirit; if there is but one religion, why do you white people differ so much about it? Why not all agree, as you can all read the book?
Brother, we do not understand these things. We are told that your religion was given to your forefathers, and has been handed down from father to son. We also have a religion which was given to our forefathers, and has been handed down to us their children. We worship that way. It teacheth us to be thankful for all the favors we receive; to love each other, and to be united. We never quarrel about religion.
Brother, the Great Spirit has made us all; but he has made a great difference between his white and red children; he has given us a different complexion, and different customs; to you he has given the arts; to these he has not opened our eyes; we know these things to be true. Since he has made so great a difference between us in other things, why may we not conclude that he has given us a different religion according to our understanding. The Great Spirit does right; he knows what is best for his children; we are satisfied.
Brother, we do not wish to destroy your religion, or take it from you; we only want to enjoy our own.
Brother, you say you have not come to get our land or our money, but to enlighten our minds. I will now tell you that I have been at your meetings, and saw you collecting money from the meeting. I cannot tell what this money was intended for, but suppose it was for your minister; and if we should conform to your way of thinking, perhaps you may want some from us.
Brother, we are told that you have been preaching to the white people in this place. These people are our neighbors; we are acquainted with them; we will wait, a little while and see what effect your preaching has upon them. If we find it does them good, makes them honest and less disposed to cheat Indians, we will then consider again what you have said.
Brother, you have now heard our answer to your talk, and this is all we have to say at present. As we are going to part, we will come and take you by the hand, and hope the Great Spirit will protect you on your journey, and return you safe to your friends.
Source: Daniel Drake, Lives of Celebrated American Indians, Boston, Bradbury, Soden & Co. 1843), 283–87.
Powerful speech and thank you for sharing it Kavika.
Your welcome, Larry.
Atheism is a religion, a belief system. As far as Trump goes, I won't vote for him. As for those who do because of the courts, well they have a choice between Trump who may or may not satisfy them or break their heart or Hillary who is dead certain to appoint no one who has anything in common with their beliefs.
Atheism is a religion like not playing golf is a sport.
Atheism is a belief system.
How is one single concept a "system"?
By your logic, you yourself are burdened with countless belief systems - such as not believing in the tooth fairy, not believing in Santa Claus, not believing in leprechauns, etc etc etc.