{"id":11156,"date":"2016-10-12T03:41:51","date_gmt":"2016-10-12T09:41:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/frankschaeffer\/?p=11156"},"modified":"2016-10-12T04:15:27","modified_gmt":"2016-10-12T10:15:27","slug":"re-trump-are-the-last-actual-evangelical-leaders-mormons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frankschaeffer\/2016\/10\/re-trump-are-the-last-actual-evangelical-leaders-mormons\/","title":{"rendered":"Re-TRUMP: Are The Last (Actual) Evangelical Leaders Mormons?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
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Turns out the last evangelical leaders are Mormons<\/a>. <\/strong>As far as evangelical leaders supporting Trump are concerned, \u201cTrump could have said that he brutally assaulted someone with a baseball bat and smashed the person\u2019s head in, enjoying every minute of it, laughing about it in the retelling, or even that he had killed the person, and it might well be excused by many evangelicals leaders \u2014 just as Trump predicted about his supporters excusing him for shooting someone in the middle of Fifth Ave. As long as he agreed to help them put extremists on the Supreme Court, many evangelical leaders would likely dismiss the statements away as just words, and invoke their mantra that \u2018we\u2019re all sinners.\u2019 That is truly twisted, deeply disturbing, and anything but moral.\u201d\u2026<\/p>\n

So writes <\/a><\/span> Michelangelo Signorile<\/span> <\/a> <\/span> (Queer Voices Editor-at-Large, The Huffington Post) <\/span>in \u201cMany Evangelical Leaders Would Stick With Trump Even If He Were A Cold-Blooded Killer.\u201d He adds:<\/p>\n

Prominent evangelicals, .. seem hell-bent on even supporting a candidate who has bragged of engaging in violence if it suits them. Mike Pence, Trump\u2019s running mate, is an evangelical Christian revered by evangelical leaders, having pushed through extreme anti-abortion laws and having signed a widely-condemned anti-LGBT \u201creligious liberty\u201d law <\/a>in Indiana.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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He dismissed Trump\u2019s comments as \u201clocker room banter\u201d yesterday, agreeing with Trump, and said <\/a>he \u201cencouraged Donald Trump on Friday to apologize for them. He did. He expressed his personal remorse.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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As Signorile points out e<\/span><\/a><\/span>vangelical leaders like Franklin Graham<\/strong> have used the \u201cwe\u2019re all sinners\u201d argument mostly to explain away non-violent action, such as adultery and sexual indiscretions of politicians such as Newt Gingrich, on his third marriage after many infidelities<\/a>. But regarding Tony Perkins\u2019 and Franklin Graham\u2019s rationalizations it should be noted that this isn\u2019t about Trump\u2019s \u201cvalues;\u201d it\u2019s about violent<\/em> actions<\/em>. They are still supporting a violent predator.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Trump said in the tape that he pushes himself onto to women by kissing them \u201clike a magnet,\u201d making unwanted advances<\/em> and grabbing them by their vaginas. The evangelical leaders like to say that Trump \u201capologized.\u201d (Falwell,even said he was \u201ccontrite,\u201d which is laughable.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But Trump hasn\u2019t even admitted to the actions he described in the tape, let alone express remorse for the actions. On his campaign website, in a video and at the second presidential debate on Sunday he apologized tepidly for the words themselves, insultingly insisting they are \u201clocker room banter.\u201d<\/p>\n

When debate moderator Anderson Cooper said his words described \u201csexual assault,\u201d Trump responded, \u201cNo, I didn\u2019t say that at all, I don\u2019t think you understood it at all,\u201d before veering into a discussion of ISIS.<\/p>\n

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Sexual assault? No problem. He\u2019s still \u201cbetter than the wicked Hillary\u2026\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most prominent evangelical leaders are sticking<\/a> by the GOP nominee after the surfacing of the explosive tape<\/a> that has sent his campaign into a spiral.<\/p>\n

Trump has no bigger fan than Liberty University president\u00a0Jerry Falwell Jr.<\/a>\u00a0On Monday, Falwell invited political operative\u00a0Ralph Reed<\/a>, to\u00a0speak to Liberty\u2019s students<\/a><\/p>\n

Reed criticized those tempted to sit out the election or vote for a third party candidate, Said Reed:<\/p>\n

We must confront the choice before us and vote for someone who actually has a chance to become president. We dare not and we cannot surrender our vote during such an important election. Retreating to the stained-glass ghetto from whence we came, refusing to muddy our boots with the mire and muck of politics is not an option for followers of Christ. We are called to put away our \u201cmy way or the highway\u201d pride, forsake cynicism and negativity, and participate fully as citizens, always cheerful, always winsome, always ready to defend our faith.<\/p>\n

Reed argued that<\/strong> \u201con issue after issue on matters involving grave and intrinsic moral evil, there are stark differences between the two major-party nominees for president.\u201d\u00a0 Among the issues he cited was religious freedom, the Hobby Lobby case. Reed told the Liberty students not to be discouraged by the election.<\/p>\n

Reed said evangelical Christians have it in their power to win elections if they would only turn out in greater numbers. Reed recalled that Falwell\u2019s father, Jerry Falwell Sr., described his mission as getting people born again, baptized, and registered to vote.<\/p>\n

Falwell Jr. has said before that Trump reminds him of his father \u2014 I knew Falwell well and young Falwell got that part right!!! His dad was a hate-filled liar \u2014 and in reality the similarity is getting stronger as a\u00a0super-Bannonized Trump<\/a>\u00a0ramps up<\/a>\u00a0his attacks<\/a>\u00a0on Hillary and Bill Clinton and says that if he were in charge she would be in jail.<\/p>\n

After all, it was Jerry Falwell Sr.<\/strong> who in the 1990s\u00a0used his Old Time Gospel Hour to hawk videotapes<\/a>\u00a0that accused Bill Clinton of being involved in drug smuggling and murder! (No kidding).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Jerry Falwell Jr., Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council (FRC), which has been<\/a> labeled as an ant-LGBT hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC); and James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, almost immediately went public defending <\/em>Trump.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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They seem to hold up Trump up as the new savior of America\u2013sexual assault or not. They are embracing rape-culture as OK-With-Jesus\u2026 or as Falwell told<\/a> Rita Cosby on WABC Radio in defending Trump in the aftermath of the tape. \u201cWe\u2019ve all done things we wish we hadn\u2019t. \u201cWe\u2019re never going to have a perfect candidate unless Jesus Christ is on the ballot.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Compare the evangelical \u201cresponse\u201d to Trump<\/strong>\u2013we don\u2019t like him but we hate Hillary!\u2013to the clear eyed response from the so-called Mormons. Contrast Franklin Graham\u2019s ass-kissing of pure evil, with a clear and moral editorial<\/a> in the Deseret News<\/em>, the Utah-based newspaper owned by the Mormon Church<\/a>, which called for Trump to leave the race following the revelation of the tape.<\/p>\n

The editors were clear<\/a> that they weren\u2019t speaking as leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Days Saints and hadn\u2019t consulted them. But it\u2019s a bet they were expressing the same sentiments as the Mormon leaders. Turns out the Mormons are the last actual evangelicals in America.<\/p>\n

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\u2026[T]oday we call on Donald Trump to step down from his pursuit of the American presidency.In democratic elections, ideas have consequences, leadership matters and character counts.<\/p>\n

The idea that women secretly welcome the unbridled and aggressive sexual advances of powerful men has led to the mistreatment, sorrow and subjugation of countless women for far too much of human history.<\/p>\n

The notion that strength emanates from harsh, divisive and unbending rhetorical flourish mistakenly equates leadership with craven intimidation.<\/p>\n

The belief that the party and the platform matter more than the character of the candidate ignores the wisdom of the ages that, \u201cwhen the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.\u201d (Proverbs 29:2)<\/p>\n

\u2026history affirms that leaders\u2019 examples either elevate or demean the lives of those being led. \u2026The most recent revelations of Trump\u2019s lewdness disturb us not only because of his vulgar objectification of women, but also because they poignantly confirm Trump\u2019s inability to self-govern.<\/p>\n

What oozes from this audio is evil. We hear a married man give smooth, smug and self-congratulatory permission to his intense impulses, allowing them to outweigh the most modest sense of decency, fidelity and commitment. And although it speaks volumes about sexual morality, it goes to the heart of all ethical behavior. Trump\u2019s banter belies a willingness to use and discard other human beings at will. That characteristic is the essence of a despot.<\/p>\n

Nor is this an isolated incident. \u2026 The Associated Press \u201cinterviewed more than 20 people \u2014 former crew members, editors and contestants \u2014 who described crass behavior by Trump behind the scenes of the long-running hit show.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the face of these revelations, it is disheartening to see otherwise decent individuals now attempting to defend Trump\u2019s talk, dismissing it as mere \u201clocker room\u201d bravado. \u2026 America\u2019s locker rooms deserve better.<\/p>\n

When Donald Trump\u2019s running mate Indiana Gov. Mike Pence visited Utah and met with members of the Deseret News Editorial Board, he assured us that Mr. Trump was a \u201cgood man\u201d who held \u201cthe ideals and values\u201d of Utahns. Likewise, while visiting the Beehive State, Donald Trump Jr. told us that his father was running because of the \u201cvalues held dear in this community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Considering his conduct and comportment, we do not believe Trump holds the ideals and values of this community or this paper. We are grateful for the courageous decision by many of Utah\u2019s leading Republican politicians to renounce the top of their ticket.<\/p>\n

\u2026As the next few consequential weeks unfold, we trust the American people, as they vote their conscience, will provide a clarion call for sound ideas, true leadership and proven character from our next administration and Congress.Trump cannot answer that call. We ask him to step aside.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cEvangelical\u201d leadership<\/strong> has passed to the much-derided Mormons.<\/p>\n

RIP Evangelical witness. It\u2019s over.<\/p>\n

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P.S. If you want to know a little more about where I\u2019m coming from and my perspective on politics, religion and the intersection of faith and life\u2013 here\u2019s a new movie about me. (It\u2019s below the poster on YouTube) scroll down and watch it for free\u2026<\/p>\n

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WATCH \u201cLet me be FRANK\u201d HERE:<\/h1>\n