Trump's timely evangelical appeal
During the election, Donald Trump was by and large an unknown quantity to these folks. And given his history, there was good reason for evangelicals to have reservations in their support. But there was one issue critical enough to drive their support – replacing Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia with another judge of equally stellar conservative credentials.
President Trump addressed this year's annual Values Voters Summit in Washington, DC. He is the first sitting U.S. president to do so. (See related story)
The Values Voters Summit is hosted by the Family Research Council, an organization whose mission is addressing public policy and culture from a Christian point of view. My organization CURE works closely with FRC and I have been a regular speaker at this Summit for years.
Its base is largely evangelical Christians, and this is why President Trump deemed it appropriate to appear.
Eighty-one percent of white evangelicals voted for Trump in 2016, the highest percentage of evangelical support for any Republican in the last four presidential elections.
According to the Pew Research Center, 36 percent of the electorate self-identifies as evangelical Christian, so it's indicative of Trump's strong political instincts that he has gone out to actively engage this important and significant base of support.
It's my sense that Trump's relationship with evangelicals is growing stronger.
During the election, he was by and large an unknown quantity to these folks. And given his history, there was good reason for evangelicals to have reservations in their support.
But there was one issue critical enough to drive their support – replacing Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia with another judge of equally stellar conservative credentials.
VVS and President Trump 2017
Trump, as he reminded the audience in his Values Voters address, has not let them down with his appointment of new Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch to replace Scalia, and a string of equally impressive other conservative lower court appointments.
However, since the election, Trump has taken actions that have expanded, broadened and shored up his relations with this evangelical base.
He began by re-instating the Mexico City policy, first initiated by President Reagan in 1984 and later rescinded by President Obama, which prohibits U.S foreign aid from being used by overseas organizations to perform abortions.
He recently opened the door for employers with religious objections to bail out of the ObamaCare requirement of providing birth-control devices and pills to employees free of charge.
Trump's clear support of Israel – he was also the first sitting American president to visit Israel in the early months of his presidency and to visit the Western Wall in the old city of Jerusalem – appeals to evangelicals. And the recent announcement by the Trump administration that the United States will withdraw from the anti-American, anti-Israel United Nations agency UNESCO.
As the culture war in America rages, Trump understands the political dividends to be gained by clearly supporting traditional Christian values and unabashed American patriotism.
There has not been a time more important in recent history to take on these matters, and President Trump is stepping up.
Most in America's evangelical communities, including substantial numbers of black evangelicals, were appalled when Obama moved to support LGBTQ secularism, even lighting up the White House in rainbow flag colors. Equally appalling to evangelicals was Obama agreeing to be the first sitting American president to address the annual meeting of Planned Parenthood, America's largest abortion provider, concluding his address to these abortionists with "God bless you."
In recent Gallup polling, in response to the question if government "should promote traditional values in our society," 66 percent of Republicans versus 30 percent of Democrats say "yes."
Addressing this conservative Republican base is what Trump took on in his Values Voters speech. He conveyed what our Founding Fathers understood – that a free society needs morality and morality needs religion, a nation under God.
While liberals are tiptoeing around the underlying truths conveyed by Trump at the Values Voters summit, millions of Americans across all ethnic lines are listening to the president's message and are ready to hear more https://www.onenewsnow.com/perspectives/star-parker/2017/10/18/trumps-timely-evangelical-appeal.
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“There hasn't been a time more important in recent history to clearly support traditional Christian values and unabashed American patriotism – and President Trump is stepping up. That's why his relationship with evangelicals is growing stronger.”
And just what do "traditional Christian values" have to do with "American patriotism?" As far as I can tell, Trump's "Christian values" are limited to what he says to evangelicals. Off of cue cards.
Evangelicals are Christians. Trump is promoting issues that they believe in. It’s good that Trump is embracing Christianity relatively late in his life.
If you really believe Trump is embracing Christianity, I have a bridge to sell you.
Judge not, lest ye be judged.
Tell that to christians.
So, you as an atheist feel free to sit in judgement of Trump and his Christian supporters? I’m a Christian and I though being an imperfect person attempts to live up to that advice from Jesus.
Where did I say I was judging anyone? But given that Trump is a public servant and I am a voter, I can judge him to see if his actions or performance as President is worthy of my vote in future elections, if applicable.
I'm not an atheist, I have my own interpretation of spirituality and nothing would allow me to work with a tool of satan to get where I wanted to go. Trump is the very antithesis of morals, character and values. You seem to think the ends justify the means, and I want nothing to do with that, so feel free to believe and live your interpretation of religion, but expect blowback if you try to force them into politics and Americans as a whole.
Who can forget Trump famously being unable to state a single bible verse? The man is a bloviating ignoramus; he couldn't run a lemonade stand properly, let alone a country.
In one sense Trump and evangelicals are a perfect match since both have very poor ethics.
Who appointed you to sit in judgement over Christians and our ethics? We don’t claim to be perfect and know we will make mistakes. A church is not a place for perfect people to congregate but instead is a hospital for spiritually sick people to come together for healing and encouragement.
If you would just live and let live there would be no problem. Don't bring your religion into politics if you don't want Trump to be judged by moral standards. He lies, cheats, is greedy and give zero fucks about evangelicals until he needs your adoration or vote.
And yet he could beat Hillary in the election for the presidency.
He sure did SO. What does that say about the people who voted for him?
That either they liked him a lot and believed in his message or they knew that Hillary was a much worse choice. That Clinton was by far the greater evil.
Gee, that sounds awfully judgemental. Is that living up to Jesus' advice?
Double standards are amusing. Dishonest, but amusing.
Indeed.
The fact remains that Hillary Clinton was a much worse choice to vote for for President than Donald Trump was. Many voted against Clinton. Many voted for Trump. I didn’t vote for either of them. I felt neither was great for the job and living in California where it didn’t matter if Hillary won by 4 million votes or 2 million, I voted for Evan McMullin. Wrote him in.
You call THAT a fact SO?? LOL!
That's not a fact. That's an opinion. You do know the difference between the two, right?
There were no facts of any kind that would justify anyone voting for Hillary for president.
I didn't say anthing about whom voted for who or why. People can vote for whomever they want. I simply said your "facts" were not facts, but rather opinion.