Paul Revere by Cyrus Dallin, North End, Boston

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Monday, January 2, 2017

THE GOLDEN CALF PRESIDENT-ELECT



Those of you who read P.E. know that I've questioned the so-called "Evangelical Christians" who have supported Trump because Trump is everything they detest in a human being -- especially a politician. 

We've all read about how Trump tried to pass himself off as a Bible-reading Christian, and made a fool of himself by talking about one of his favorite passages in "Two Corinthians." He also told an interviewer that he never asks for forgiveness. Despite Trump's serial adultery and bragging about extra-marital affairs and sexually assaulting women, the Evangelicals voted for Trump and continue to support a man who had to pay $25 million to settle a fraud case against him and his fake Trump University, despite knowing about the many reports of Trump stiffing contractors out of money owed them, despite every other repugnant character trait that exposes Trump as a thin-skinned narcissistic bully and liar.


This article from the Daily Banter is relevant and exposes the rancid hypocrisy of the Evangelicals who sullied their faith by supporting Trump. The author, Ben Cohen, is careful to point out the many true Christians who rejected Trump and his sordid character, but Cohen illustrates how easily the Evangelicals who support Trump debased themselves and their religion by pretending Trump is one of them. They've traded their souls and their values for a Golden Calf.



From the Daily Banter:


Evangelical Support For Trump is a Sign of the Rotting Commercialization of Christianity



"This, you will remember, was during one of the most disgusting, divisive and racist campaigns in American political history. "It’s time for us to come together, time for us to come together around this good man," evangelical Christian and Vice President elect Mike Pence told Republicans after comparing his boss to Ronald Reagan. 

“I know that Donald Trump will be a great president of the United States of America because his heart beats with the heart of the American people.” 

 This good man. 

 This uniquely American phenomenon of equating greed, misogyny and racism with moral righteousness appears to be getting more and more pronounced. In retrospect, George W. Bush was a shining example of moral virtue when compared with Donald Trump. 

If modern evangelical Christianity closely associates itself with everything its basic tenets vehemently oppose, then what exactly is it anymore? In truth, American evangelical Christianity can no longer be considered a branch of Christianity. 

While there are no doubt honest and well meaning people within the movement, their overwhelming allegiance to a truly monstrous politician makes a mockery of their spiritual practice. Christians who genuinely follow the teachings of Christ are horrified by Trump and his bigoted political philosophy and want nothing to do with him. Those who support Trump cannot take the teachings of Christ seriously, and therefore cannot be considered Christian. They have put their faith in money, power and fear, and as a result revealed their spiritual movement to be nothing more than a rotting, commercial enterprise that would have Jesus Christ turning in his grave."



TRUMP, THE GOLDEN CALF PRESIDENT-ELECT

18 comments:

Jerry Critter said...

I've always wondered how evangelists can hate Obama so much while embracing Trump. I've yet to hear a biblically based explanation.

Kevin Robbins said...

And it was made by Franklin Graham. And the hooves are so small.

Frank Wilhoit said...

So the fundamentalists traded off, and chose a lower probability of empowerment over a higher probability of disempowerment. This is not per se irrational. The problem is what they intend to do with power, not the (unsurprising) lengths that they are willing to go to to get it.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Jerry, for eight years I've heard many on the religious right question Mr. Obama's Christianity, even to the point where they believe he's a "secret" Muslim. IIRC, a majority of the religious right believe, without a shred of evidence, that Mr. Obama is a Muslim/.

OTOH, here we have Donald J. Trump who doesn't know the most popular of Bible verses and bragged about not seeking forgiveness, and the religious right twist themselves into hypocritical pretzels in justifying their vote for him. (This isn't even including all of Trump's other sordid, cheating, misogynistic behaviors!)

The only explanation I can think of for Trump's popularity with the "godly" people is their Tribalism. Many of them were appalled at Trump's despicable behavior during the campaign, but nevertheless gave him their vote. Those same people now face losing their health care, Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.

Did they think Trump had any guiding principle on those social contracts? Did they really think that a 70-year old man who Tweets vengeful, divisive statements to the American people has any core values?

Wait. I CAN think of a few of his core values: He believe women with small breasts can never be a 10, and that Hillary should be locked up. So there's that.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Yes, Kevin, even the Golden Calf representing Trump is careful in depicting his little hooves.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Frank W.: "So the fundamentalists traded off, and chose a lower probability of empowerment over a higher probability of disempowerment."

I can't think of anything Hillary proposed to "disempower" the fundamentalists. Democrats tend to be inclusive. They're not perfect,but they don't pass state laws making, say, certain minority communities second-class citizens. That's disempowerment that fundamentalists in some states practice under the guise of "religious freedom."

The fundamentals kept all of their rights under Mr. Obama. No churches were closed down (Trump proposes monitoring or closing down mosques), no firearms were confiscated (Trump's team is working on taking away health care for the poor), free speech was not abrogated (Trump talked about loosening the libel laws because, as he said, the media can say anything they want!) It was comical to hear Trump complain that the media lie, when he was found to be the championship liar of the past presidential campaign. Self-awareness is not one of Trump's attributes.

So I really don't know about what the fundamentalists feared would happen if Hillary had been elected.

As for labeling her corrupt, we've seen gross examples of that already in Mr. Trump and is family.

Steven said...

Don't let anyone tell you that Trump's election was some kind of referendum on policy or political philosophy; that he was elected because the democrats couldn't offer a "better" choice. I might be swayed had Stein or Johnson won. But people didn't vote for Trump because of his policies - he had none. He presented none. Lock her up isn't a policy. Make America great again isn't a policy. Hell, build a wall isn't even a policy.

Shaw Kenawe said...

This is strange:

‪Donald Trump’s team begs people to stop making fun of Donald Trump‬

They're begging people to stop making fun of the presidential candidate who made fun of a disabled journalist? Mocked POW John McCain because "he was captured?"

Are his people as un-self-aware as Trump obviously is?

Can't his people tell him to stop sending out his ridiculously puerile tweets, mocking Americans who didn't vote for him?

If Trump behaved like a mature 70-year old man instead of a 7-year old spoiled brat the American people would stop making fun of him. But since that'll never happen, Donnie will just have to get used to what every other president in American history had to deal with.

Put on your big boy pants, Donald, and tough it out. President Obama did.

Infidel753 said...

Frank: It's not necessarily irrational, but their rhetoric about it is dishonest. If evangelicals were saying, "yes, Trump is a disgusting pig, but we think he would safeguard our interests better then Hillary would, so we support him", I could see that as a purely pragmatic decision. Praising him as "a good man" and simply ignoring his numerous transgressions against the Christian taboo system and general standards of decency, crosses the line from pragmatism to blatant hypocrisy, trashing the very values they claim to uphold.

Shaw: I can't think of anything Hillary proposed to "disempower" the fundamentalists.

Except that what they treasure the most is their "right" to discriminate and to enforce their taboos on other people (on abortion, for example). When Democrats prevent them from doing so, they claim that their "religious freedom" is being taken away.

Sal said...

The Obama administration has a scandal rap sheet longer than my arm. Between just the IRS abuses, Benghazi, and the Hillary Clinton scandals, this administration was even more corrupt than Nixon’s...

Anonymous said...



I think it's great that the Trumpanzees are begging Americans not to make fun of their Pussy-Grabber. Hilarious!

Trump is a YUUUUUUUUUUGE target for mockery and insults. He just begs to be the brunt of every joke. It's gonna be a fun 4 years making fun of the Orange Cheeto.

“Donald Trump is the kind of person who goes to the Super Bowl and thinks the people in the huddle are talking about him."

“Donald Trump has come out in favor of shutting down Planned Parenthood. However, experts say, if he really wants Planned Parenthood to go under he should turn it into a Trump property.”–

“He was even forced into the ultimate act of degradation— starring in his own reality show. And soon the top-rated TV show in the nation starred a total asshole torturing people who were stupid enough to work with him.”


There's more! I got a million of 'em! Hahahahahahahahahaha!

Anonymous said...



I forgot this one:

“At this point Trump is the political equivalent of a phone sex operator. He's just whispering whatever dirty little racist fantasies Republicans want to hear.”—Michael Che

Anonymous said...

Anonymous@7:29pm. Too bad you didn't go after Obama like that.. speaking of a lot of material

Ducky's here said...

But they're going to drain the swamp

House Republicans, defying their top leaders, voted Monday to significantly curtail the power of an independent ethics office set up in 2008 in the aftermath of corruption scandals that sent three members of Congress to jail.

The move to weaken the Office of Congressional Ethics was not public until late Monday, when Representative Robert Goodlatte, Republican of Virginia and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, announced that the House Republican Conference had approved the change with no advance public notice or debate.


Clearly it's no longer needed.

Infidel753 said...

And on January 20 the golden calf becomes the bull in the china shop.....

Anon 7:29: Not bad. Unfortunately it's often very difficult to top his actual statements.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Anonymous @9:14: "Anonymous@7:29pm. Too bad you didn't go after Obama like that.. speaking of a lot of material"

Where have you been for the past 8 years? The Goopers have made a career of "going after Obama." But here's some news for you Anon@9:14: America and the world respect President Obama, and they're laughing at Trump. Get ready for much, much more of the same. Trump is a very large target for ridicule, which he so richly deserves.

Shaw Kenawe said...

"Sal:" "The Obama administration has a scandal rap sheet longer than my arm. Between just the IRS abuses, Benghazi, and the Hillary Clinton scandals, this administration was even more corrupt than Nixon’s."

I usually send this sort of lie to the trash bin, but it illustrates how dishonest the rabid right is.

People like "Sal" are the worst sort of human being -- unable to deal with reality and the truth, they continue to spread dirty lies. It's no wonder they fell for and support the biggest liar of all time.

Leo T. Lyon said...

To "Sal-EEE"

When you voted for Trump, you declared you don't have a problem with mocking the handicapped, not paying one's taxes, lying more than any nominee in US history, grabbing women by the pussy and defrauding Americans with a fake university.

Oh, and with racism. You have no problem with that, either. You don't have to like hearing that, but you signed on for it.

So go lie to yourself about Benghazi more so you don't feel bad about it.