On June 21, the writer E. Jean Carroll came forward with a vivid and disturbing claim that Donald Trump raped her in a department store in the 1990s. She is the 22nd woman to allege that Trump committed acts of sexual misconduct. These claims are more extensive and more corroborated than the accusations against Bill Clinton. | |
It’s worth contrasting Trump, who denied Carroll’s claim (as well as his other accusers’), with Clinton because his scandals helped spur the Southern Baptist Convention in 1998 to issue its seminal “Resolution on Moral Character of Public Officials.” That document’s key statement was ominous and unequivocal: “Tolerance of serious wrong by leaders sears the conscience of the culture, spawns unrestrained immorality and lawlessness in the society, and surely results in God’s judgment.” | |
The relentless drumbeat of claims against Trump – combined with the clear moral declarations of the past – have caused millions of Americans to look at their evangelical fellow citizens and ask, simply: Why? Why have you abandoned your previous commitment to political character to embrace Donald Trump? | |
Part of the explanation is undeniably basic partisanship and ambition. White evangelicals are largely Republican, and they’re generally going to vote for Republicans. And proximity to power has always had its attractions for religious charlatans of all stripes. But I’d suggest the real reason for the breadth and depth of evangelical support is deeper and – perversely – even more destructive to its religious witness. | |
That reason is fear. | |
Talk to engaged evangelicals, and fear is all too often a dominant theme of their political life. The church is under siege from a hostile culture. Religious institutions are under legal attack from progressives. The left wants nuns to facilitate access to abortifacients and contraceptives, it wants Christian adoption agencies to compromise their conscience or close, and it even casts into doubt the tax exemptions of religious education institutions if they adhere to traditional Christian sexual ethics. | |
These issues are legally important, and there are reasons for evangelicals to be concerned. But there is no reason for evangelicals to abandon long-held principles to behave like any other political-interest group. | |
Instead, the evangelical church is called to be a source of light in a darkening world. It is not given the luxury of fear-based decision making. Indeed, of all the groups in American life who believe they have the least to fear from American politics, Christians should top the list. The faithful should reject fear. | |
This is made plain to young Christians from the early days of Sunday school. There, many millions of young believers are taught the biblical verse: “For God gave us not a spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control.” | |
But in 2016, something snapped. I saw Christian men and women whom I’ve known and respected for years respond with raw fear at the very idea of a Hillary Clinton presidency. They believed she was going to place the church in mortal danger. The Christian writer Eric Metaxas wrote that if Hillary won, America’s chance to have a “Supreme Court that values the Constitution” will be “gone.” “Not for four years, not for eight,” he said, “but forever.” | |
That wasn’t faith speaking. They were the words of fearful men grasping at fading influence by clinging to a man whose daily life mocks the very values that Christians seek to advance. | |
But why? The American evangelical church isn’t so weak that it needs Trump’s version of secular salvation. The early persecuted church would be stunned at the modern American church’s immense political strength. It has become so strong that it exercises veto power over the political prospects of any Republican nominee. | |
Yet the church is acting as if it needs Trump to protect it. That’s not courageous. It’s repulsive. And so long as this fear continues, expect the church’s witness to degrade further. In seeking protection from its perceived enemies, the church has lost its way. | |
It’s time for evangelicals to exercise their political veto power. America’s conservative people of faith should seek a primary challenger to Trump and send a message to the GOP that it will not compromise any longer. And it should do so from a position of confidence – and faith. | |
— David French | |
From his opinion / editorial: “The Evangelical Republic of Fear“ | |
Appearing in: Time Magazine, dtd: 8 July 2019 | |
Also, found online at: https://time.com/5615617/why-evangelicals-support-trump/ | |
[I make no claim to ownership of this editorial. It belongs to either Time or to the author. I normally only present excerpts from articles / editorials because I am trying to exercise “fair use” while giving full credit to the owner and / or original source. In this (rare) case, the editorial is presented in its entirety because the whole is FAR greater than any of its parts. As always, I encourage readers to visit the original source. I subscribe to the “hard-copy” version of Time. — KMAB] | |
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On This Day In: | |
2018 | Sounds Like Politics, Too |
2017 | Resist More |
Conservatives Are Not The Enemy | |
2016 | Two Weeks To Go… |
2015 | Remembering |
2014 | The Creeping Death Of Civilization |
Orange October (X) – A Blue Morning Turns Into An Orange Evening | |
2013 | License Problem |
2012 | Giants Win Game 2 Of The 2012 World Series 2 To 0!!! |
Adage, n. | |
Questions Women Should Ask Before Voting… | |
2011 | What Are You Looking At? |
Posts Tagged ‘time.com’
Hungry For Trust
Posted in Politics, Quotes, tagged A Balancing Act, A Divided Country, David Muir, Freedom Of The Press, Karl Vick, Politics, Quotes, Time Magazine, time.com, TV News, World News Tonight's David Muir Wants to Earn Your Trust - One Broadcast at a Time on May 21, 2019| Leave a Comment »
“I think that in this era, where people are really hungry for someone that they can trust and a team they can trust, that it’s just something they sense in their gut,” Muir says. “And we go out there and try to earn that trust every single night. And we’re not perfect. One of the great gifts of this job is that you can go out the next night and give it your best shot again. But we never forget that we’re reporting to a divided country.” | |
The challenge, he says, when “half the country is saying give the guy a break and the other half of the country is still saying how on earth could this happen and how much longer will it last,” is to hear both sides without being identified with either. “We do this balancing act every night of trying to signal to an audience we hear you, we’re asking questions for you.” | |
— Karl Vick (quoting David Muir) | |
From his article / interview: “World News Tonight’s David Muir Wants to Earn Your Trust, One Broadcast at a Time“ | |
Appearing in: Time Magazine, dtd: 27 August 2018 | |
Online interview at: http://time.com/5368871/david-muir-world-news-tonight/ | |
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On This Day In: | |
2018 | Mutual Assistance |
2017 | The Toughest Job |
2016 | Congratulations!! |
Better Yet, Read! | |
2015 | Even If It Kills Us Slowly |
2014 | Fun To Play God |
Of Anything | |
2013 | Legal (Almost) |
2012 | Great Scots! |
2011 | The GI Bill – A Simple History Lesson |
Breaking Even | |
Don’t Be Small
Posted in Faith, Faith Family and Friends, Family and Friends, Philosophy, Politics, Quotes, tagged Credo For Relationships, Dr. Leo F. Buscaglia, Hate, Human Instincts, Love, Nancy Gibbs, People, Philosophy, Politics, Quotes, Survival, The Only Way Forward - article, The Only Way to Fight Hate - online article, Time Magazine, time.com, True Strength, William Saroyan on May 9, 2019| Leave a Comment »
Hate, among all our base instincts, is the most distinctly human. In animals, violence and venom are tools of survival; in humans, of supremacy. Small, scared people hate, self-hating people hate, bullied and betrayed people hate, as though hate will make them large and safe and strong. | |
— Nancy Gibbs | |
From her article: “The Only Way Forward“ | |
Appearing in: Time Magazine; (dtd: 12 November 2018) | |
The online version of this article is titled: “The Only Way to Fight Hate“ | |
The article can be found online at: http://time.com/magazine/us/5441415/november-12th-2018-vol-192-no-20-u-s/ | |
I choose to love people, not to judge them. I want to experience them as they are, not as I would want them to be. I want to grow with them, allowing each new moment to tell its own story, rather than perceive it as a product of our past. I want us to search together for fresh alternatives to our incompleteness, to our negativity, to our deception, to our fear and to our despair. I don’t want us to spend our lives thinking about life and change and celebration. Rather, I want us to spend our lives celebrating and living and changing. And I never want to forget what the wonderful author William Saroyan reminded me of many years ago: People is all everything is – all it has ever been, and all it can ever be. People. You and me. Together in love. | |
— Leo Buscaglia’s Credo for Relationships | |
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On This Day In: | |
2018 | Persistence |
2017 | Are You A Loser? |
2016 | Constitution And Conscience |
2015 | Separate, Fearful And Imprisoned |
2014 | Something Worth Making |
2013 | Absolutely |
2012 | Can Do |
2011 | Wise Criticism |
My Fear For America
Posted in Quotes, tagged Dan Stewart, Philip Pullman, Quotes, Time Magazine, time.com on December 23, 2017| Leave a Comment »
In the Middle East, and in isolated pockets of Western Europe, we see people, especially young men, who love the idea of an absolute answer to everything. That cast of mind has not very often acquired political power, but when it does it’s absolutely murderous. | |
— Philip Pullman | |
From the interview / article: “Philip Pullman isn’t done building new worlds“ | |
Written by: Dan Stewart | |
Appearing in: Time Magazine, dtd: 30 October 2017 | |
Online at: http://time.com/4988596/philip-pullman-la-belle-sauvage/ | |
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On This Day In: | |
2016 | Proceeding Still |
2015 | Seeing Rainbows |
I Am A Runner | |
2014 | The Law Of The Perversity Of Nature |
2013 | One Standard Deviation |
2012 | High Anxiety |
2011 | And I’m Taking Me There |
2010 | 1,000 |
When We Know We Are Loved
Posted in Health, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Autism, Children, Depression, Health, Love, Naoki Higashida, Philosophy, Pure Freedom, Quotes, Time Magazine, time.com on December 16, 2017| Leave a Comment »
You’ve said that maturity is “a matter of progressing ever closer to your ideal self.” What is your ideal self? | |
To travel this world without being tied to others. Not in the sense of crossing the sky like a bird. My meaning stems from the fact that people constantly compare themselves to others. They find it difficult to decide the best way to live, I guess, and comparisons help them evaluate their own situation. A person can attain pure freedom only by being set free from being a person. | |
… | |
What would you tell parents who are sad that their child has been diagnosed with autism? | |
I don’t think of my autism as a misfortune. You may be stuck, your suffering may be ongoing, but time flows on. What your child needs right now is to see your smile. Create lots of happy memories together. When we know we are loved, the courage we need to resist depression and sadness wells up from inside us. | |
— Naoki Higashida | |
From an interview appearing in: Time Magazine 7 August 2017 | |
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On This Day In: | |
2016 | Good Acts |
2015 | Will You Be Leaving Soon? |
2014 | Just Long Enough |
2013 | R.I.P. – Tom Laughlin |
Seeking Success? | |
2012 | All Aboard |
2011 | Sail On, Sailor |
I Love America Because…
Posted in Politics, Quotes, tagged American Muslims, Hijab, I Fear President Trump’s ‘Campaign of Terror’ Against American Ideals, Ibtihaj Muhammad, Maplewood New Jersey, Olympic Games, Politics, President Trump, Quotes, The View: A Letter to the President, Time Magazine, time.com on December 12, 2017| Leave a Comment »
Dear President Trump, | |
Representing the United States in the Olympic Games was the greatest honor of my life. I will never forget walking into Opening Ceremonies behind our American flag that I revere surrounded by my teammates. Each drawn from different sports, many of different faiths and various ethnicities. Yet, in that diversity was America itself: united by love for our country. | |
My story is a quintessential small-town-America story. In my hometown, Maplewood, New Jersey, the question was always which sport I would play, not whether I would play one. My point isn’t really about sport, it’s about opportunity — the opportunity to strive for and believe in one’s own destiny. That is what made America’s story so unique from any that preceded it, and mine and every other American’s as well. | |
I love America because of the simultaneous idea that we are both exceptional and flawed — as individuals and a nation — and, that it is our collective responsibility as a people to honor each other’s potential. | |
That is why I am writing you this letter. | |
I am the picture of the American Dream — a public school kid, with loving parents who told me that with hard work and perseverance, I could be whatever I wanted to be. By believing in myself and refusing to take no for an answer, I have broken barriers and shattered stereotypes. I was the first Muslim woman to represent the United States in the Olympic Games wearing hijab. I was blessed to win an Olympic medal alongside my team at the Rio Games. I was a black Muslim woman in a little known sport. And on the world’s biggest stage, I defied labels and showed the world that being Muslim was also being American. | |
And yet, when I listen to you, I feel that the story you tell paints another picture entirely. You seem to see refugees fleeing terror as terror’s root, rather than refugees as terror’s victims. You seem to see our nation’s contributions to refugee resettlement as “bad deals,” rather than as shining examples of what America has always stood for. You seem to see the hijab I wear as a signal of threat and cause for fear. You’ve said, “I think Islam hates us.” That is not only wrong, it provokes fear and hatred, and as we have seen it also provokes violence against Muslims and our places of worship. Surely that was not your intention — I do not want to believe that. Yet I feel that you and your administration see me and people like me not as fellow Americans, but as “others.” Your ban on travelers from Muslim-majority countries and Syrian refugees has implications that are felt far beyond the countries listed. I am referring to implications not only in the courthouse, but in line at Starbucks. Not on the nightly news but in the night terrors of children who wonder if their home and parents, are safe. Is this what you intended when you took your oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States? | |
The climate of fear and hatred fueled and perpetuated by your campaign is gaining momentum through your actions in office. Since your election, I have been “profiled” at the airport, accused of looking “suspicious” and, on the streets of New York, I have been told to “go back to my country.” This isn’t the America that I know and it isn’t the America that the world looks to for inspiration and leadership. | |
There are 3 million American Muslims. They teach our children, treat our sick, fight our wars, and despite your attacks, continue to stand proudly on the front lines of keeping all Americans safe. My faith calls on me to help the less fortunate and speak out against injustice. President Trump, look at the math: we do not have a refugee terrorist problem. It simply doesn’t exist. But, I do fear a not-so-subtle campaign of terror now being waged on our American ideals of justice and equality. | |
The Olympic Movement chose its symbol of interlocking rings of many different colors to demonstrate humanity’s unity. Sport has always been an equalizer and a symbol of peace, even in the ancient Games when wars would cease for the competitions. Indeed, as much pride as I take in being one of America’s firsts, what I most love about my Olympic experience is that my success was born out of my opportunity, freedom and liberty as an American. | |
Overcoming obstacles was my challenge as an athlete. It is now my challenge as a citizen. I once represented you. Now you represent me. I urge you to do so with the humility, thoughtfulness and kindness befitting your sacred office. As an African-American Muslim Woman patriot, my religion commands me to remain hopeful, to believe in our ability to fight bigotry with love and draw our strength from diversity. That is what makes America great. Time and again. | |
Sincerely, | |
Ibtihaj Muhammad | |
From her editorial: “I Fear President Trump’s ‘Campaign of Terror’ Against American Ideals“ | |
Under: “The View: A Letter to the President“ | |
Appearing in: Time Magazine, April 3, 2017 | |
The specific link: http://time.com/4706627/olympic-fencer-ibtihaj-muhammad-donald-trump/ | |
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On This Day In: | |
2016 | As Far From |
2015 | Rocky 7 |
Just Like Politics | |
2014 | Game And Legend |
“Scientific” Pride In Humanity | |
2013 | Real Honor |
Catching Up | |
2012 | Thoughts And Communications |
2011 | But How Does Peter Feel? |
2010 | Name That Regret |