10 Reasons Jesus Would Never Win The American Evangelical Vote

chandraclaws

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/former...uld-never-win-the-american-evangelical-vote/?

Honestly, I miss the days when being Evangelical meant you were a bearer of “good news.” I miss the days when this term meant you believed in the inspiration of Scripture, and that you believed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ...but these days? These days “Evangelical” is a political term where not even Jesus Christ himself could win their vote.
Benjamin L. Corey
 

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I agree.

Sometimes when I mention that I am a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the word Evangelical gets a response like; oh you are one of those Evangelicals! I then have to explain it’s not what you think. It isn’t political, it is simply about the Good News.
 
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classicalhero

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Not that idiot. Let's discuss his 'reasons"
10. Jesus was famous for giving away free healthcare.
That has nothing to do with the government giving out free health. Absolutely pointless to discuss the miracles of Jesus with government doing healthcare, but that is a theme common with such writings that they are trying to use the government to replace God, as we see in his other "reasons"
9. Rich Evangelicals would see him as a divisive candidate who waged class warfare.
The same goes for Rich non-evangelicals, but the point Jesus was making was about a rich person trusting their riches rather than Christ, but the fact remains that conservatives and that would include most evangelicals out give liberals since they believe charity should be an individual's role, not the government's role.
8. He threatened those who exclude immigrants and do not help the poor
Conflating immigrants with poor is yet another typical leftist claptrap. Nowhere does the Bible say we have to accept immigrants. If you read the Old Testament it talks about sojourners or those already present in the land and that while they are in Israel they are to be treated as they would teat each other, but for them to be able to live in the land they would have to become Jews via various ceremonies, and not just show up and expect to be part of the nation, which is what we are seeing nowadays. The problem is that letting people who don't share your culture will destroy you from within, as we are seeing in Europe right now, with many immigrants refusing to integrate and are causing massive problems with a clash of culture
7. He told people to pay their taxes.
He also told those who collect taxes to be righteous with the taxes. There is a role for government to lay, but what we are saying tha government is too big and should be smaller.
6. Jesus was known for staging public protests at church.
I have no idea what he is going on with this one.
5. He often resorted to name calling when confronting the popular religious leaders of his day.
He would say these things to the liberal leaders, since he did that to those who were liberal with the scriptures. Obviously this guy doesn't understand what he is saying.
4. Jesus would be viewed as anti-death penalty and soft on crime.
Facepalm. This is twisted logic at it's worse. Jesus came not to earth to condemn people but to save them from his sins, but Jesus did willing allow himself to be executed via the death penalty as a payment for our sins. This just shows how poorly this guy thinks.
3. Jesus’ absurd teaching on enemy love would be seen as a threat to national defense.
Yet again conflating personal commands with national. Turning the other cheek is an act of defiance not of submission. Far too often people twist the meaning of Jesus' words out of their context into what they want it to be.
2. Jesus rebuked those who were into concealed carry.
This author misses the point that Jesus didn't need to be defended since he knew he was going to be a sacrifice. Peter's heart was in the wrong place at that time, but this has nothing to do with what the author wants it to be about. More liberal gibberish about taking modern issues into an ancient context, when they aren't related.
1. Instead of “American Exceptionalism” Jesus would spend his campaign talking about a place that is WAY better than America.
What is the point of this? This is pointless since Jesus had nothing to do with America, since it was not founded in his time, but Jesus' life was not about the political but about his goal on earth, which was to fulfil the desires of the Father, which was his payment for our sins. But I love such commentary since it says more about them than it does about Jesus.
 
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Thunder Peel

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That piece was good for a laugh. I just love when liberals use The Bible to talk about how "caring" they are, all while pushing to have it removed from schools, government and businesses. They ignore the passages about homosexuality being a sin, only then to turn around and use verses about Jesus healing the sick (which was done so that they might believe and see that He was the Son of God) as some kind of justification for universal healthcare. Jesus even said that His kingdom was not of this world and He didn't come to establish an earthly kingdom but instead a heavenly one. The author contradicts himself with his final point by emphasizing heaven, while spending the rest of the article arguing for more earthly government. It reeks of someone grasping at straws and doing anything they can to shoot down biblical conservatives.

I'm still waiting for someone to show me the verse where Jesus forcibly took wealth from someone and gave it to someone else...or a verse about how government should run healthcare...or about how we should just allow terrorists and criminals to run free without any kind of push-back. Anyone who has read Revelations knows that when Jesus returns He will destroy the enemies of God in a bloody battle. Funny how they seem to ignore His strength and instead try to paint Him as some kind of weak hippy.

This is the main issue I have with the left: government has taken the place of God. I know far more conservatives who are enthusiastic about Jesus; I know more liberals who are enthusiastic about taxes, regulations and spending.
 
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chandraclaws

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I agree.

Sometimes when I mention that I am a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the word Evangelical gets a response like; oh you are one of those Evangelicals! I then have to explain it’s not what you think. It isn’t political, it is simply about the Good News.
I know what you mean. The term has been hijacked.
 
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expos4ever

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Jesus even said that His kingdom was not of this world and He didn't come to establish an earthly kingdom but instead a heavenly one.
Disagree.

Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" 34"Is that your own idea," Jesus asked, "or did others talk to you about me?" 35"Am I a Jew?" Pilate replied. "It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?" 36Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place."

In verse 36, Jesus seems to be saying "My kingdom has nothing to do with earthly kingdoms, so there is no 'political' dimension to my kingdom".

As it turns out, there is a huge translation issue here. Here is the rendering of verse 36 as per the NET Bible:

Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my servants would be fighting to keep me from being 1 handed over 2 to the Jewish authorities. 3 But as it is, 4 my kingdom is not from here.

The NET version is, my sources indicate, true to the original Greek. The greek word that is rendered “from” (above in the bolded and underlined cases) has the following definition:

“a primary preposition denoting origin (the point whence action or motion proceeds), from, out (of place, time, or cause; literal or figurative; direct or remote)

When the word is used properly, we see that the “not of this world” reading is misleading. The intended meaning is that the Kingdom that has been brought to earth is from Heaven - that is, Heaven is the point of origin for the Kingdom that has been initiated.

Jesus is a King. Jesus' kingdom, while not from this world, is rather clearly for this world.
 
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expos4ever

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I'm still waiting for someone to show me the verse where Jesus forcibly took wealth from someone and gave it to someone else....
I suggest this idea that taxation is "forced giving" is a uniquely American idea. Here in Canada, we are taxed much more than you are and I never hear this kind of argument. I know some Europeans and I think the idea has little currency there, either.
 
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That piece was good for a laugh. I just love when liberals use The Bible to talk about how "caring" they are, all while pushing to have it removed from schools, government and businesses.

I think that most liberals (including me) are horrified at the way the religious right has "redefined Jesus" into someone we wouldn't want to deliver our mail--much less worship!

We wouldn't even be able to keep believing if we didn't realize that they had invented a bizarre caricature of who Jesus really was.

My prayer is that evangelicals continue to read their Bibles. Most evangelicals are kind and generous people individually. If they read their Bibles with open minds and stop listening to their ministers they will eventually learn more about Jesus' true nature.
 
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grandvizier1006

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The thing is, the term "evangelical" is really a crappy political term--at least nowadays. Some surveys asked these questions:

1. Is faith important in your life?
2. Do you feel that you must share your beliefs with non-Christians?
3. Do you think Satan exists?
4. Do you think salvation is by grace?
5. Was Jesus sinless?
6. Is the Bible accurate in all it teaches?
7. Is God all-knowing, all-powerful, etc?
8. Do you believe Christ resurrected?
If you answered yes, then...BAM! You're an evangelical to statisticians. The questions are very broad and most Christians would answer at least one with the affirmative.

But what about church attendance and involvement? What about denomination? What about how much of the Bible you've actually read? What does the Bible being "free of errors" entail? And generally only Reformed Christians would answer with phrases like "saved by grace", even if other denominations feel similarly, like how only evangelicals tend to say they were "born again" even if other Christians can claim a similar experience.

So when people say that "Trump is winning among evangelicals" and it's clear that many Christians don't like Trump, the disconnect is mainly between nominal Christians that are conservative and claim to be faithful but are really just cultural Christians, and practicing Christians. I'm sure they overlap a bit but you get the idea.

Articles like the one given, though, to me, have the opposite problem. People should not assume that an Aramaic-speaking Jew in the Roman Empire in Palestine/Judea would support the politics of either branch in 21st century United States. I think mainly He'd ask many people on both sides, "why are you so concerned with the things of this world?" Politics is pretty worldly when you think about it despite having so many Christians sounding off on it.
 
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Thunder Peel

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I think that most liberals (including me) are horrified at the way the religious right has "redefined Jesus" into someone we wouldn't want to deliver our mail--much less worship!

We wouldn't even be able to keep believing if we didn't realize that they had invented a bizarre caricature of who Jesus really was.

My prayer is that evangelicals continue to read their Bibles. Most evangelicals are kind and generous people individually. If they read their Bibles with open minds and stop listening to their ministers they will eventually learn more about Jesus' true nature.

How do you think Jesus has been redefined? The left claims He was a socialist, yet I see no evidence of that anywhere in scripture. His message of "go and sin no more" seems to get glossed over in favor of a fluffy love message that carries no weight and makes it seem as if Jesus is unconcerned with sin or how we live our lives.

Cherry-picking what you want to believe from the Bible doesn't make it any more true than watching selected scenes from a film and then claiming you've seen the whole thing.
 
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Pwnerer

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Not that idiot. Let's discuss his 'reasons"
10. Jesus was famous for giving away free healthcare.
That has nothing to do with the government giving out free health. Absolutely pointless to discuss the miracles of Jesus with government doing healthcare, but that is a theme common with such writings that they are trying to use the government to replace God, as we see in his other "reasons"
9. Rich Evangelicals would see him as a divisive candidate who waged class warfare.
The same goes for Rich non-evangelicals, but the point Jesus was making was about a rich person trusting their riches rather than Christ, but the fact remains that conservatives and that would include most evangelicals out give liberals since they believe charity should be an individual's role, not the government's role.
8. He threatened those who exclude immigrants and do not help the poor
Conflating immigrants with poor is yet another typical leftist claptrap. Nowhere does the Bible say we have to accept immigrants. If you read the Old Testament it talks about sojourners or those already present in the land and that while they are in Israel they are to be treated as they would teat each other, but for them to be able to live in the land they would have to become Jews via various ceremonies, and not just show up and expect to be part of the nation, which is what we are seeing nowadays. The problem is that letting people who don't share your culture will destroy you from within, as we are seeing in Europe right now, with many immigrants refusing to integrate and are causing massive problems with a clash of culture
7. He told people to pay their taxes.
He also told those who collect taxes to be righteous with the taxes. There is a role for government to lay, but what we are saying tha government is too big and should be smaller.
6. Jesus was known for staging public protests at church.
I have no idea what he is going on with this one.
5. He often resorted to name calling when confronting the popular religious leaders of his day.
He would say these things to the liberal leaders, since he did that to those who were liberal with the scriptures. Obviously this guy doesn't understand what he is saying.
4. Jesus would be viewed as anti-death penalty and soft on crime.
Facepalm. This is twisted logic at it's worse. Jesus came not to earth to condemn people but to save them from his sins, but Jesus did willing allow himself to be executed via the death penalty as a payment for our sins. This just shows how poorly this guy thinks.
3. Jesus’ absurd teaching on enemy love would be seen as a threat to national defense.
Yet again conflating personal commands with national. Turning the other cheek is an act of defiance not of submission. Far too often people twist the meaning of Jesus' words out of their context into what they want it to be.
2. Jesus rebuked those who were into concealed carry.
This author misses the point that Jesus didn't need to be defended since he knew he was going to be a sacrifice. Peter's heart was in the wrong place at that time, but this has nothing to do with what the author wants it to be about. More liberal gibberish about taking modern issues into an ancient context, when they aren't related.
1. Instead of “American Exceptionalism” Jesus would spend his campaign talking about a place that is WAY better than America.
What is the point of this? This is pointless since Jesus had nothing to do with America, since it was not founded in his time, but Jesus' life was not about the political but about his goal on earth, which was to fulfil the desires of the Father, which was his payment for our sins. But I love such commentary since it says more about them than it does about Jesus.

Good job beating those to a pulp. The title of the article should be "Ten Doctrines that Show Why Left Wing Christians are Left Wingers First and Christians Second". Of those bunk assertions made are great examples of what any of the last three Popes called "Socialism wrapped in Christian packaging". An alternative title would be "Ten Ways Leftists Don't Get the Basics of Christian Teaching, Don't Know Church History and are Oblivious to their Own Ignorance"
 
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That piece was good for a laugh. I just love when liberals use The Bible to talk about how "caring" they are, all while pushing to have it removed from schools, government and businesses. They ignore the passages about homosexuality being a sin, only then to turn around and use verses about Jesus healing the sick (which was done so that they might believe and see that He was the Son of God) as some kind of justification for universal healthcare. Jesus even said that His kingdom was not of this world and He didn't come to establish an earthly kingdom but instead a heavenly one. The author contradicts himself with his final point by emphasizing heaven, while spending the rest of the article arguing for more earthly government. It reeks of someone grasping at straws and doing anything they can to shoot down biblical conservatives.
.

I'm so glad our president is concerned about being our "brother's keeper" and "doing undo others"
 
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expos4ever

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While I agree that Jesus' healing actions are not an argument for universal health care, one can easily infer that Jesus would approve of it. Jesus; Kingdom of God teachings are literally saturated with notions of care and concern for the poor and otherwise disenfranchised. And I cannot see how it can be argued that providing healthcare to all is not one means to implement that principle.
 
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Hetta

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I suggest this idea that taxation is "forced giving" is a uniquely American idea. Here in Canada, we are taxed much more than you are and I never hear this kind of argument. I know some Europeans and I think the idea has little currency there, either.
I really wish the whiners were able to opt out of paying taxes because then they can be made to stay off our highways, and stop using our infrastructure.
 
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I just don't think Jesus meant steal from Peter to pay Paul. The visible church has really dropped the ball as far as taking care of each other, so government had to intervene, or government intervened which made it easier for the church to let them?? Either way, misplaced roles :(
 
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