I finally got around to reading Christianity Today editor’s screed against Trump. It’s such a predictable narrative, it’s almost a mad lib.
- Claim the moral high ground.
- Claim to have been the target’s friend.
- Act shocked and hurt at the (often imaginary or unintended) offense by target.
- Sorrowfully conclude that you must do what you’ve been (not so) secretly lusting to do for a very long time.
- Optional, project like an Imax theater.
Trump Should Be Removed from Office
https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/december-web-only/trump-should-be-removed-from-office.html
By Mark Galli, 19 December 2019
I’m not Trump’s fan but I also looked into the Ukraine scandal. It’s legit and I’m pissed beyond words, and if nobody hangs for it then I’ll be okay with removing Trump from office. But until then, he keeps both the bread and the circuses coming; the Pajeet Commu-nazis all promise only circuses.
In our founding documents, Billy Graham explains that Christianity Today will help evangelical Christians interpret the news in a manner that reflects their faith. The impeachment of Donald Trump is a significant event in the story of our republic. It requires comment.
Hmm. Segue:
https://www.christianitytoday.org/who-we-are/our-founder-billy-graham/
In 1956 Billy Graham felt the urgent need for balanced reporting, biblical commentary, and a loving posture on the social, cultural and theological trends, issues, and opportunities facing Christians.
That’s why Billy founded Christianity Today.
Don’t give yourself airs, Mr. Galli. You’re a nominally Christian newzine, a less reputable position than my being a Christian nominal-newzine. See, I can Step One too.
End segue.
Our nonprofit, global media ministry has shaped the minds and hearts of pastors, thought leaders, and culture makers ever since.
Every devout reader of yours twitched at “nonprofit, global media”.
The typical CT approach is to stay above the fray and allow Christians with different political convictions to make their arguments in the public square, to encourage all to pursue justice according to their convictions and treat their political opposition as charitably as possible. We want CT to be a place that welcomes Christians from across the political spectrum, and reminds everyone that politics is not the end and purpose of our being. We take pride in the fact, for instance, that politics does not dominate our homepage.
Step 1: Claim the moral high ground, check.
That said, we do feel it necessary from time to time to make our own opinions on political matters clear—always, as Graham encouraged us, doing so with both conviction and love. We love and pray for our president, as we love and pray for leaders (as well as ordinary citizens) on both sides of the political aisle.
Let’s grant this to the president: The Democrats have had it out for him from day one, and therefore nearly everything they do is under a cloud of partisan suspicion. This has led many to suspect not only motives but facts in these recent impeachment hearings. And, no, Mr. Trump did not have a serious opportunity to offer his side of the story in the House hearings on impeachment.
Step 2: Claim to have been the target’s friend, check.
But the facts in this instance are unambiguous: The president of the United States attempted to use his political power to coerce a foreign leader to harass and discredit one of the president’s political opponents. That is not only a violation of the Constitution; more importantly, it is profoundly immoral.
As sins go, premeditated oath-breaking is far worse than an incident of immorality. Galli is also provably wrong about POTUS ordering the Ukraine to discredit Joe Biden. A casual observer would wonder how a tiny country on the far side of the planet COULD discredit Biden unless he was already doing dirty in their backyard.
Others have pointed that out, of course, but I’ll point out this: Galli doesn’t sound hurt by what Trump did. I’ve been through a few online letdowns myself, such as with Vox Day and Turd Flinging Monkey, documented on this blog. Emotions get raw and show through the writing.
None of this sterile “I join his enemies because he had a moral oopsie”.
The reason many are not shocked about this is that this president has dumbed down the idea of morality in his administration. He has hired and fired a number of people who are now convicted criminals. He himself has admitted to immoral actions in business and his relationship with women, about which he remains proud. His Twitter feed alone—with its habitual string of mischaracterizations, lies, and slanders—is a near perfect example of a human being who is morally lost and confused.
Blah, blah, blah. “He associated with people that he fired when he learned they were criminals!” Oh, please. These accusations are more canned than Spam.
Fine then, call him a bad Christian. I do. But being a good Christian is not a requirement for being a good President. Is America better off at the end of Trump 1.0 than it was at the beginning? Yes.
Trump’s evangelical supporters have pointed to his Supreme Court nominees, his defense of religious liberty, and his stewardship of the economy, among other things, as achievements that justify their support of the president. We believe the impeachment hearings have made it absolutely clear, in a way the Mueller investigation did not…
Did it hurt, little termite? Did it hurt when Mueller came back with nothing but Trump’s black book of hot 10 whores? It looked like it hurt. All you liberals were making permanent sneers and squeaking noises for weeks on CNN.
…that President Trump has abused his authority for personal gain and betrayed his constitutional oath. The impeachment hearings have illuminated the president’s moral deficiencies for all to see. This…
…is exactly the squeaking noises I was just talking about. It DID hurt, dinnit? Hell, I want Trump to stay in office just because you termites hate him so much. The floor show has been SPECTACULAR and yes, I WILL vote for another four years of him twisting your prickly panties.
This damages the institution of the presidency, damages the reputation of our country, and damages both the spirit and the future of our people. None of the president’s positives can balance the moral and political danger we face under a leader of such grossly immoral character.
Step 3, Act shocked and hurt, check.
This concern for the character of our national leader is not new in CT. In 1998, we wrote this:
He references an editorial criticizing Bill Clinton. Interesting thing, however: that old editorial has no byline. Apparently, nobody wanted to take credit for calling out Slick Willie. Galli himself didn’t write it, either, carefully using “we” instead of “I”.
Unfortunately, the words that we applied to Mr. Clinton 20 years ago apply almost perfectly to our current president. Whether Mr. Trump should be removed from office by the Senate or by popular vote next election—that is a matter of prudential judgment. That he should be removed, we believe, is not a matter of partisan loyalties but loyalty to the Creator of the Ten Commandments.
Now who’s breaking the Constitution, Mr. Galli? No religious test for office, remember? Heck, I violate the Ten Commandments at least weekly because Sunday is just another day to me. You don’t touch the pepperoni on my pizza, either!
We have reserved judgment on Mr. Trump for years now. Some have criticized us for our reserve. But when it comes to condemning the behavior of another, patient charity must come first. So we have done our best to give evangelical Trump supporters their due, to try to understand their point of view, to see the prudential nature of so many political decisions they have made regarding Mr. Trump.
Wait, Galli reserved judgment of Trump’s supporters instead of Trump? I must admit, that’s a bit off script. And anti-Christian. Christ would have had him speak up quickly, to prevent deception. Or at turns, to have his own doubts about Trump assured.
To use an old cliché, it’s time to call a spade a spade, to say that no matter how many hands we win in this political poker game, we are playing with a stacked deck of gross immorality and ethical incompetence. And just when we think it’s time to push all our chips to the center of the table, that’s when the whole game will come crashing down. It will crash down on the reputation of evangelical religion and on the world’s understanding of the gospel. And it will come crashing down on a nation of men and women whose welfare is also our concern.
Step 4, Sorrowfully conclude that you must do what you’ve been (not so) secretly lusting to do for a very long time, check… partially. Galli changed focus from attacking Trump to attacking his evangelical readership. That’s a terrible way to keep one’s job and explains much of the resulting furor.
To the many evangelicals who continue to support Mr. Trump in spite of his blackened moral record, we might say this: Remember who you are and whom you serve. Consider how your justification of Mr. Trump influences your witness to your Lord and Savior.
Okay, Mark Galli, you craven bitch of Satan, you’ll get it but you ain’t gonna like it. Calling out evil is Christ’s Step 1.
Consider what an unbelieving world will say if you continue to brush off Mr. Trump’s immoral words and behavior in the cause of political expediency.
Better idea. How about we Christians stop giving a fricking, flying God-damn for the world’s opinion and care exclusively about God’s opinion?
If we don’t reverse course now, will anyone take anything we say about justice and righteousness with any seriousness for decades to come?
Thirty years too late, you false Christian. Because of entryists and cuckolds like you, acting under your watch and leadership, the Church has already lost all credibility. Not most of it. All. You have been that faithless to God.
Can we say with a straight face that abortion is a great evil that cannot be tolerated and, with the same straight face, say that the bent and broken character of our nation’s leader doesn’t really matter in the end?
We’ll never know, because YOU cannot say with a straight face that if abortion is murder then the mother is the murderer and she should be put to death in accordance with God’s will. Trump’s character is solid, if admittedly imperfect: it doesn’t change. We know who he is. Which makes him infinitely more trustworthy to God and men than scum like you who hide your crimes and true beliefs until two holiday weeks before your retirement.
That’s right. Galli announced his resignation in October, effective 3 January 2019, so he threw this j’accuse out the window while driving into the sunset of retirement.
Because it wasn’t Trump he hated in this editorial. Editor Mark Galli hated on his own, evangelical readers for liking Trump, and sneered at them the moment his imminent retirement protected him from retaliation.
Galli, You. Craven. Bitch. Of. Satan. The greatest thrill is getting away with evil.
The Christian post hasn’t been Christian in decades.
Billy graham was a false teacher.
#facts
Because those “Christians” aren’t even Christians. Their god is someone or something else. It could be anywhere from cunts to TV. You see, their opinions are above God’s to these people. They shouldn’t even bother calling themselves Christian since they’ve reduced to nothing but a label. Kind of like the cunt in a previous post of yours Gunner who refuses to submit because she places HER will above God’s.
Yup. It’s the old trying-to-have-it-both-ways nonsense. it’s either murder or it isn’t. If it is then women have murdered about, what is it up to now….40-50 million the last half century or so? That’s around twice as much as Stalin’s murderous rampage. Simply incredible and sad.
This reminds me of something else. Over the years I’ve heard many times how if a man murders a pregnant woman he can be tried for double homicide. So why is it murder if a man does it but not when a woman does it? The explanation is very simple actually. Politics. And to the femi-cunts Woman = Good. Man = Bad. Not good for the survival of your families and nation.
The weirdest part of this is how so many men still aren’t seeing these types of double standards yet. Although there are more these days since it’s become so incredibly obvious now, which is a good thing (for some reason it has to be insanely obvious for most people to get it even a little). The problem is their thinking is still gynocentric, IOW, many of them still believe in the equality myth. They’re going to have to remove the gynocentric glasses if they want to fix the problem. And that’s the key. Fix the problem and don’t just attack the symptoms.