I skipped church again today, so I’ll understand if you discount my claim that neither Donald Trump nor his policies are Christian.
But maybe you’ll give some credence to a pretty similar assessment from fifty faculty members of the Princeton Theological Seminary:
We, the undersigned, believe that because God is sovereign over all creation and because all human beings are embraced by God’s all encompassing grace, the god of Donald Trump’s “America first” nationalism is not the God revealed in our scriptures. Regardless of our specific political persuasions we agree that the attitudes fostered by this nationalism are inconsistent with Christian values of welcoming the stranger as if we were welcoming Christ, of seeking to distinguish truth from deception and conceit, and of believing that no institution or government can demand the kind of loyalty that belongs only to God [“In Defense of Christian Faith and a Democratic Future,” letter from members of the Princeton Theological Seminary, 2017.02.24].
Welcome the stranger, tell the truth—I can agree with Christian theologians on those principles.
We also believe that the policies and approach embraced by the Trump administration run counter to democratic values, as executive orders and members of the new administration’s cabinet often seek to demonize Islam, foster white supremacy, compromise the rule of law and intimidate judges, undermine the empowerment of women, ignore the destruction of the environment, promote homophobia, unleash unfounded fears of crime that worsen the “law and order” abuses of police and security forces. We reject the pervasive aim of placing the monetary gain of wealthy classes over the welfare of its citizenry by undermining education, quality employment, and health care. We believe that Christian faith and US democracy are not the same thing; hence, we stand against the notion of a “Christian nation.” But as Christians who are also citizens or residents of the US, we stand against the attitudes and policies that are being fostered in this present political climate [“In Defense…,” 2017.02.24].
We are not a Christian nation, but there are Christians in our nation, and those Christians should see that their President is not following Christian principles.
As we look at the role of the US in promoting war and repression abroad and division among its own peoples at home, however, we confess our own complicity in the sinful entanglements that have created this political and social crisis. Not all of us have taken a firm and vocal enough stance against what Martin Luther King, Jr. called the “giant triplets” of violence in the United States: “racism, extreme materialism, and militarism.” We have often embraced academic elitism that overlooks the needs of the unemployed or the value of jobs that do not require higher education. We recognize a legacy of failure that marks past presidential administrations, and so harbor no nostalgia for the politics of the past. But we do not believe that Trump is a remedy for that legacy of failure. In Trump’s values and policies we see no public witness consistent with the Gospel or with the values of those who are believers in Jesus Christ and members of Christ’s church [“In Defense…,” 2017.02.24].
Racism, extreme materialism, and militarism—absolutely un-Christian sentiments, yet absolutely Trumpist drives. I publicly espouse Christian values more regularly and reliably than Donald Trump does.
We not only reject Trump’s values and policies, we also renew our commitment to a future where both the church and the academy will foster attitudes and actions so that human beings and the whole of creation can thrive. We join our hearts, our minds, our voices, and our actions with those of religious believers–Christians, Jews, Muslims, and people of all faiths, as well as with secular people of good conscience, to resist the present destructive politics in our country and to seek reversal of their destructive consequences here and around the world [“In Defense…,” 2017.02.24].
Christians recognize the world does not belong to them or to anyone exclusively. Christians recognize that we all survive on this earth by treating each other with respect and working together to solve our common problems.
The President of the United States does not have to be Christian to recognize those practical moral principles. But the current President of the United States is not acting Christian. So say fifty theologians—i.e., people who spend a lot of time studying and teaching Christianity—and one secular humanist out here in Trump country.
50 Theologians: Trump Not Ruling by Christian Principles
No skit, Sherlock! Look around America at red states and show me one wingnut that governs like the kristian they profess to be.
Trump when Interview in 1997 said his Vietnam was trying not to get a std disease from the women by not wearing protection.He compared that to a soldier who served his country.Yes this guy has very little values.If you voted for the lady you were hood winnked, Like slick do nothing governor.
Shame on you Mr. H, for skipping being in the audience to cheer your young wife on this morning. Her bosses will boo you, boo you they will, at the next hotdish supper.
Excellent post, Cory.
A government based on lies, fake news and hate is in no way a Christian nation.
This country is running counter to what most Americans grew up with, where to be a Christian meant was to have a sense of integrity and decency.
Oh lord, so here we got an atheist tellin us what Christians should think, but he knows he ain’t credible, so he points to 50 theologians who believe what he don’t believe, to tell us what Christians should believe. A farce wrapped in a farce is still just a farce.
Oh lord, so here we got an atheist tellin us what Christians should think,
About time someone did.
Iowa is so white it is turning red. Except Des Moines, and the seedier parts of Sioux Center.
Come on happy, no one, especially Cory, is telling you what to think. He tells you what he thinks and what other people think and he explains his reasoning in a rational and understandable manner. Then you either accept his arguments, counter his arguments, or struggle like a fish out of water because his arguments are too difficult to rebut and are not consistent with your world view. The choice of which viewpoint to accept is yours, but Cory puts out amazing energy trying to get people to think about issues by informing them of the factual background to be considered.
Happy seems to be so secure in his beliefs that Cory can tell what to think.
The Cory Power is great.
Mark Lewis Taylor, one of the theologians from Princeton who signed this letter, takes a poke at neoliberalism as well:
“The statement “harbors no nostalgia for the politics of the past.” Such a statement as this could have been and should have been formulated earlier during the previous administrations of Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. It is not an affirmation of the neoliberal regimes of the past.”
And
“Surely it will not be adequate to return to the very neoliberal modes of governance [Obama, Bush and the Clintons] that have greased the skids for Trump’s emergence. The struggle will be long, but this statement below is one beginning.”
Not certain I’d call Bush a “neoliberal” but even so, still a slap at 24 years of US policy (foreign/domestic), 16 of which are most certainly “progressive”. Woh!
Thanks, Roger and Bear, for your support!
Thank you, Don, for proving your usual tactic: unable to defend the President or refute the main thesis of the post, you go for some eggheaded distraction. I’m not biting.
Thank you, Hap, for sticking with us. But notice: I acknowledge my arguable lack of standing to teach Christian principles and appeal to experts in the field who contend the President’s policies do not conform to Christian teachings.
I don’t have to drive a Chevy to be able to discern a Chevy from a Ford. But if we’re looking at engines and I’m not an engine expert, I can turn to a mechanic. A mechanic can tell me, “Here are the features that distinguish a Chevy engine. That wreck over there lacks those features. That wreck over there can’t be a Chevy.” I can learn from that list of features and recognize that my Beetle’s engine more closely resembles a Chevy than does that wreck parked in the White House.
Good engine analogy Cory.
I’m reminded of President Obama’s oft repeated caution about turning the car keys over to republicans because they will surely run that Chevy or Ford into the ditch. Well, they have done it now and the question now is how we’ll be able to tow the nation out of that ditch.
Not that I’m any authority but I’ll disagree with part of your closing, Cory. There certainly are some sects of Christianity who believe the world does belong to them and to them exclusively. These Christians don’t recognize that we all survive on this earth by treating each other with respect and working together to solve our common problems. These Christian sects believe that if you don’t agree with their interpretation of the Bible that you will burn in Hell, in severe suffering for eternity. We all know who they are.
I’m not sure the words of Donald Trump or the words of these faculty members accurately reflect Christ’s teachings.
I applaud Cory and the 50 theologians. Unfortunately Donald “McScrooge” Drumpf is in the White House. What are theologians doing the turn this sad situation around? The cliche “actions speak louder than words” is true.
Kurt, you may be partially correct; however, as usual, I reject the suggestion of a false equivalency. Even if the words of Trump and the Princeton theologians deviate from Christ’s teachings, it is fair to say that Trump’s deviate much further. The theologians have dedicated their careers to interpreting and teaching Christ’s teachings. Their error rate is likely to be low. The theologians’ claim that “Trump’s values and policies” offer “no public witness consistent with the Gospel or with the values of those who are believers in Jesus Christ and members of Christ’s church” is pretty solid. The theologians say more about the teachings of Christ in this one-page letter than Trump has said since Inauguration.
Plus, let’s not dismiss the theologians so casually. They clearly list actions and statements that violate Christian teaching. From my knowledge of Christianity (which I again acknowledge is that of an observer, not a believer, but which I will contend is more robust than Trump’s), I have difficulty identifying any part of the theologians’ text that I could conclude run counter to Christian teaching. I invite examples.
Amanda Marcotte makes a point in one of her articles that seems relevant to this discussion:
Drumpf lies like a dog. Malia Litmann laid out 100 Drumpf lies-not kristian at all- and then he told this one today at Governor’s meeting in Bogus White House. Trump explained that when he was in high school they won wars with major tank battles.
1) we did not win Viet Nam
2) we didn’t fight tank battles to not win it
Adding to Bearcreekbat’s observation is one of the Ten Pretty Good Rules:
“Never wrestle with a pig; you both get dirty and the pig likes it.”
https://acd-ext.gsfc.nasa.gov/People/Newman/ten_rules.html
I’d written:
Cory writes:
They seem to be suggesting that from a Christian perspective there’s absolutely nothing good in Trump’s values or policies. That suggestion strikes me as misleading.
I’m not trying to dismiss them.
There are several examples I could offer, but my foremost criticism of the text regards what’s missing.
In the second chapter of First Timothy, the Bible instructs Christians to pray for “kings and all who are in authority.” The U.S. intelligence community’s flagrant violations of the Fourth Amendment under George W. Bush and Barack Obama—including countless billions of unconstitutional warrantless seizures of our financial and internet data—have been profoundly disappointing to many traditional pro-liberty Christians, but we nevertheless continued giving each other frequent reminders to pray for those presidents throughout their terms in office.
It would be nice if professing Christians with more authoritarian leanings could bring themselves to do the same for Trump.
Kurt, the theologians aren’t assessing whether there is anything good in Trump’s policies. They are arguing that “In Trump’s values and policies we see no public witness consistent with the Gospel or with the values of those who are believers in Jesus Christ and members of Christ’s church.” In that regard, they are correct: nothing Trump says or does seems to reflect the values or policies we would expect from a person speaking from a deep grounding in Christian faith. Nothing he says or does seems to say, “Here are the just and humane policies to which Christian faith logically leads us.”
Asserting a false equivalency between Trump and X lays the grounds for dismissing a critique of Trump by X. It is an all too common practice in this strange period and must be checked at every turn.
Nothing in this letter says the theologians repudiate the call to pray for our leaders.
I’d written:
Cory writes:
To me that argument seems to be suggesting that from a Christian perspective there’s absolutely nothing good in Trump’s values or policies.
We apparently disagree. I’d say Trump does some things that seem to reflect such values.
I’d written:
Cory writes:
It seems to me that an equivalency between Trump and X would only lay the groundwork for dismissing statements by X if one were arguing for the dismissal of statements by Trump. I’m not trying to dismiss statements either by Trump or by the faculty members, and in any case I haven’t asserted an equivalency between them.
I’d never meant to suggest that anything in it did. My view is that the words of the faculty members fail to accurately reflect Christ’s teachings because they fail to issue such a call.