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comment by steve
steve  ·  2193 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Why Evangelicals—Still!—Support Trump

    Why are evangelical Christians not outraged by the existence of Donald Trump?

this is the real question... lest we digress into more conversations about donkey genitals... :)





madmatt112  ·  2193 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Hey steve, this is a really interesting question. My thoughts follow, and I'm really curious to know what yours are!

I think a large part (not the entirety) of why Trump voters voted the way they did, even the Evangelicals (let us be charitable and agree that not all Evangelicals are the same, not even close, but for expediency treat them as a unit here), boils down to two major themes:

1) Hillary Clinton was a garbage candidate from start to finish, and the DNC was abhorrent in its push to crown her as President at the expense of all else. Her and the DNC's messaging (often amplified by sloppy media operations[this is my way of saying Liberal Media Bias without sounding like a moron]) was often insulting to vast swaths of conservative Americans, and helped a) push moderates to the right, and b) get republicans voting in droves.

2) Many Americans hold political views, values, and beliefs that are better represented by the Republican party than the Democratic party. This is simple - they'll hold their nose about Trump and vote for him anyways because they fear worse outcomes from the Democratic option than the Republican option. There is often not a viable third option, and that is part of why D.T. is a thing.

Thoughts?

tacocat  ·  2193 days ago  ·  link  ·  

The Republicans excoriated Bill Clinton for less. And their voters lined up behind them in agreement. You're full of shit

madmatt112  ·  2193 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Hey, I haven't once said that anybody should vote for, support, or oppose any specific political candidate or even party! I'm not arguing for Trump. I was stating the reasons I think many people ended up voting for him even he seems like a morally distasteful or even evil character. How does that make me full of shit? Man, you're being harsh on me today. It's fine to disagree with my ideas, but you've been downright hostile.

tacocat  ·  2193 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I'm sorry. You made zero sense in the first comment. I was confused

madmatt112  ·  2193 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Hey man, thanks for apologizing at least. I appreciate it :)

I didn't expect quite so much response when I posted my first comment, so I'm not surprised it wasn't well articulated. Thanks for your honesty.

steve  ·  2191 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I dunno man... as a pretty religious person... I can say that religion has nothing to do with this.

anecdote: I was a registered republican. I thought that was important. In 2006 I was boo'd off the stage of my local caucus because I suggested we get out of other peoples' wombs and bedrooms, and select delegates who were more concerned about fiscal responsibility and following the constitution. (gay marriage and abortion were _still_ the main talking points for the party... and I was tired of it... we have bigger fish to fry). Needless to say, I'm no longer a registered republican.

Too many republicans are too busy tying their morals and religion to their politics. I get it that your religious values inform who you are and what choices you make... but I am pretty tired of the government (and the people who elect them) trying to legislate morality.

Sure... this article is pretty harsh on "evangelical christians" (a term that I loathe by the way). But it is highlighting the cognitive dissonance that many of us see in a large swath of people who claim to believe in certain things, claim to vote on said beliefs... and then proceed to give a free ride to a dude who basically flies directly in the face of those beliefs: liar, cheater, swindler, adulterer, misogynist, etc... I mean... the dude is an order of magnitude worse on the "morality" scale than Clinton ever was... but religious people look the other way because of..... his..... stance on tax cuts? because of his business savvy? I just don't get it.