Ted Cruz’s big problem: There isn’t really an ‘evangelical vote’ right now

[aikido7]

I haven't heard that in my circle of evangelical friends, and we would be conservatives. I would also disagree with anyone trying to get evangelicals to stay home on voting day.

Many conservative states have passed laws to make voting harder by falsely claiming that "voter fraud" is a problem. Which it is not.

And Paul Weyrich, founder of the Moral Majority and the conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation told an evangelical audience that he wants to withhold voting rights from Americans:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPsl_TuFdes

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It is truly sad that an exclusive focus on Jesus and a moral Christian life is so disruptive and alarming for Theologyonline.

Shame on you, TOL!

The victimization, the anger covering up shame and the immaturity of most folks on this website is truly astonishing to me.

Nevertheless, I will continue to stress the authentic parabolic teachings of Jesus as well as connecting myself and the world to the great moral epic of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament.

 

[TrakeM]

The media seems to portray it that way... reality is different though.

It's impossible to say which way the election will go, but keep in mind that your friends and the people in your town may not be representative of the overall population.

 

[Quetzal]

It's impossible to say which way the election will go, but keep in mind that your friends and the people in your town may not be representative of the overall population.

It is far too early and there are too many horses in the race before we can begin to predict who will win.

 

[TrakeM]

Maybe you evangelicals should rally around Darrell Trigg, the Christian Party Candidate? Here's a sampling of his platform...

He's psychotic and immoral to the point of being down right christian. If he got his way it wouldn't be long before we'd be burning people at the stake while chanting "witch". Thankfully, people as devoid of human decency as him won't win the white house. BTW, millenials are the least religious generation, and getting less religious as they age. Kiss your dream of oppressing and hurting others good bye. This nation is moving towards morality.

 

[TrakeM]

A couple wishing to get married must first attend Christian marriage counseling classes.

Married couples who become pregnant must attend Christian parenting classes.



Requiring some form of counseling/classes doesn't sound like a bad idea. [emoji14]lain:

You know, the muslims feel exactly the same way. They want to enforce their counsel on you as well. Really, the christian party and ISIS are the same.

 

[TrakeM]

:doh:

They can't be doing that based on religious principles.

I think the support for Trump is because he's a bully. There's a rather disturbing amount of support for Putin and and anyone with a lack of basic human decency in christian groups today.

 

[TrakeM]

The evangelical voting bloc is still a reality and I hope it will continue to influence our society. That said, no "bloc" is uniform. Everything affects everything else and Cruz, I am sure, will continue to have his evangelical and fundamentalist supporters.

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It is truly sad that an exclusive focus on Jesus and a moral Christian life is so disruptive and alarming for TheologyOnline.

Shame on TOL for banning voices they don't agree with! The mark of any tyranny is the inability to deal with diversity; it's the dictatorial and the authoritarian types who have to flatten down any challenges to their autocratic impulses.

The victimization, the anger covering up shame and the immaturity of most folks on this website is truly astonishing to me.

Nevertheless, I will continue to stress the authentic parabolic teachings of Jesus as well as connecting myself and the world to the great moral epic of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament.

Trying to flatten the voices of others and banning ideas is basically the cornerstone of old testament law. Just read deuteronomy chapter 13. Also, take a look at the christian political party.

 

[PureX]

I think the support for Trump is because he's a bully. There's a rather disturbing amount of support for Putin and and anyone with a lack of basic human decency in christian groups today.

Yup.

I don't know what is fueling this tendency to admire rude, aggressive, blatantly ignorant behavior, but it's clearly something that American neo-conservatives admire, and that traditional conservatives did not.

 

[Quetzal]

Yup.

I don't know what is fueling this tendency to admire rude, aggressive, blatantly ignorant behavior, but it's clearly something that American neo-conservatives admire, and that traditional conservatives did not.

Let's face it, there are groups of people who celebrate these traits because they have acquired them for themselves. The same people who are supporting Trump are the same people who display the traits he is demonstrating. He is a political figure they can relate to, and a rare figure at that.

 

[PureX]

Let's face it, there are groups of people who celebrate these traits because they have acquired them for themselves. The same people who are supporting Trump are the same people who display the traits he is demonstrating. He is a political figure they can relate to, and a rare figure at that.

Yeah, Trump and Ted Nugent. Maybe Ted should be Donald's running mate.

I still don't get the neo-con admiration for rude and stupid, though. I do get that stupid people don't like smart people because smart people make them look stupid by comparison. (Partly why I think so many stupid people liked "W" - he played the "stupid is smart/smart is stupid" card very well.) But where does the admiration for rudeness and offensiveness come from? I have known plenty of ignorant neo-cons, and they aren't really all THAT stupid, nor are they particularly rude. Yet they do clearly admire both stupid and rude as modes of behavior in others.

It's a mystery.

 

[Quetzal]

Yeah, Trump and Ted Nugent. Maybe Ted should be Donald's running mate.

I still don't get the neo-con admiration for rude and stupid, though. I do get that stupid people don't like smart people because smart people make them look stupid by comparison. (Partly why I think so many stupid people liked "W" - he played the "stupid is smart/smart is stupid" card very well.) But where does the admiration for rudeness and offensiveness come from? I have known plenty of ignorant neo-cons, and they aren't really all THAT stupid, nor are they particularly rude. Yet they do clearly admire both stupid and rude as modes of behavior in others.

It's a mystery.

They don't see it that way. From their perspective, they are "correct" on the issue and do not see their delivery as a problem.

 

[TrakeM]

They don't see it that way. From their perspective, they are "correct" on the issue and do not see their delivery as a problem.

I don't think that entirely explains the love and admiration for Putin. They admire him for hostile takeovers of other countries, assassination, and theft.

 

[PureX]

I don't think that entirely explains the love and admiration for Putin. They admire him for hostile takeovers of other countries, assassination, and theft.

I think they admire him because he's a ruthless authoritarian. He answers to no one, and he does what he wants. I have noticed that neo-cons believe our presidents are far more autocratic than they are. Thanks to Cheney, the Bush presidency was one of the most autocratic in American history, and yet the neo-cons wanted him to be far more so. And now that Obama is president, they have irrational and bizarre fantasies about him declaring martial law, eliminating elections, and becoming some sort of absolute ruler. They seem to have a bit of an obsession with autocracy, power, and authority. They want to rule America, and they like politicians who act like rulers, rather than democratic representatives.

But where is all this coming from??? Traditional American conservatives were never especially interested in autocracy. They mostly just wanted to maintain the status quo, because they were already in power, and already wealthy, and they just wanted to keep things that way. Traditional conservatives in America were anything but radical! While these neo-cons are so radical they're extremists. Even 'passive-aggressive revolutionaries', most of them. And traditional conservatives in America were not especially idealistic, while these neo-cons are hard core ideologues.

Truth is, I think they're a completely different 'social species', that have been wrongly labeled conservatives, and so now wrongly label themselves "conservative". I don't think they're conservative at all.

 

[republicanchick]

Yes; Huckabee and Santorum, and even Carson and Trump, as the piece states - so it's a bit split right now.

"christians" who vote for Trump are not Christians




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[kmoney]

You know, the muslims feel exactly the same way.

I said 'some form' because I didn't mean Christian counseling.

They want to enforce their counsel on you as well. Really, the christian party and ISIS are the same.

Not really.

 

[kmoney]

I think the support for Trump is because he's a bully. There's a rather disturbing amount of support for Putin and and anyone with a lack of basic human decency in christian groups today.

Yup.

I don't know what is fueling this tendency to admire rude, aggressive, blatantly ignorant behavior, but it's clearly something that American neo-conservatives admire, and that traditional conservatives did not.

I don't doubt that's part of his support, but not all of it. I think some of it is that people are just fed up with the current state of gov't and they see Trump as a no-nonsense guy who might get some good things done. A strong emotional element.

 

[kmoney]

"christians" who vote for Trump are not Christians




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Would you vote for him in the general election?

 

[PureX]

I don't doubt that's part of his support, but not all of it. I think some of it is that people are just fed up with the current state of gov't and they see Trump as a no-nonsense guy who might get some good things done. A strong emotional element.

Yes, a kind of collective perversity.

That's called perversion: when we deliberately do the wrong thing because it is the wrong thing, and in spite of the fact that it will likely result in harm, even to us. I think this has been going on in the voting booth in America for quite a long time. People have become so disgusted with the poor choices, that they begin to vote absurdly out of a kind of perverse spite.

 

[journey]

I understand why so many people like Donald Trump. I also am sick of Washington as usual. I'm glad that it's still early, so the other Republican candidates will have an opportunity to be heard. I'm hoping that the Trump fever is a passing thing.

 

[The Barbarian]

I'm hoping that the Trump fever is a passing thing.

Republicans have carefully cultivated a bloc of voters who are resentful and angry over some other people gaining education, wealth and power, who used to have all those things closed to them.

And Trump realized that all he had to do to harvest that block was to be more vulgar than other republicans.