Rachel Held Evans – Donald Trump and a Tale of Two Gospels

Rachel Held Evans

NOTES: It has been some time since I have shared on my blog a post written by Rachel. But this one is a must, as so many evangelicals in the US seem to be fooled by the perverted version of the gospel promoted by the Republican candidate to the American presidency.

And some good news on Rachel. On Feb 29th, President Obama nominated Rachel Held Evans as member of the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Well done, Rachel.

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As it becomes clear Donald Trump’s candidacy for president will be more than a sideshow this year, the probable Republican nominee is making his pitch to Christian voters.

You would think it would be a hard sell given the fact that the real estate mogul and reality star has boasted about his extramarital affairs, profited off casinos and strip clubs, said he doesn’t need to ask God for forgiveness, called for targeting innocent civilians in war, mocked a reporter with a disability, threatened the religious liberty of minority groups in the U.S., and gained wide support among white nationalists for consistently lying about and demeaning blacks, Mexican immigrants, Muslims, and Syrian refugees.

But polls show that despite all of this, Trump remains favored among evangelical voters. After speaking at Liberty University last week, Trump scored an important endorsement from Jerry Falwell Jr., a prominent leader of the Religious Right who, to the applause of thousands, compared Trump to Jesus and Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Obama Sifted Wheat from Chaff as He Called for Religious Freedom in India

(Picture, BBC)

February 04, 2015

U.S. President Barack Obama’s three days of diplomacy in India last week demonstrated not only Washington’s pursuit of strategic interests but also its proactive disassociation from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist agenda.

Obama was in India for Republic Day celebrations on the invitation of Modi, ironically the same man who was banned from U.S. travel for his failure to prevent the killing of more than 2,000 minority Muslims in the western Gujarat state that he ruled in 2002.

Obama accepted the invite, becoming the only U.S. President to have visited India twice in his tenure, for purely strategic reasons.

Taxi – Dear Americans

This would be hillarious, if it was not so sadly true.

I love Taxi. Dan Teodorescu rocks.

Munther Isaac – Dear President Obama. Do not visit the Nativity Church

American President Barak Obama is planning to visit Bethlehem and the Nativity Church as part of his visit to Palestine/Israel. The church of the Nativity, of course, is not the only thing to see in Bethlehem. There are other important things to see. I suggest that as the President enters the town, from Jerusalem I presume, that he takes a look to his right, and he will see the Separation Wall. It is hard to miss. It is that ugly concrete structure that gives you the impression that you are inside a big prison. I am sure the President will notice how the Wall is killing life in Bethlehem, cutting deep into our neighborhoods.

As he continues on his way through the main street, I suggest he pays attention to his right, to the Azza refugee camp. I hope it reminds him of the misery of more than 5 million Palestinian refugees today, who are still waiting in hope for a just resolution to their suffering (see UN resolution 194). 

Vatican Welcomes Obama Gun Control Proposal

Vatican Welcomes Obama Gun Control Proposal.

‘The Vatican praised President Barack Obama’s proposals for curbing gun violence, saying they are a “step in a right direction.”

The Vatican’s chief spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Saturday that 47 religious leaders have appealed to members of the U.S. Congress “to limit firearms that are making society pay an unacceptable price in terms of massacres and senseless deaths.”‘

10 years ago: GW Bush – a clear case of self delusion

In the context of the reelection of President Obama, a colleague of mine reminded me of a message I sent him in May 2003 on the faith of the former American President GW Bush.

I still agree with what I have written about 10 years ago. What do you think?

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Dear friends,

Just a small comment on this. It is a long time now that people who read the Bible and pray every day do not impress me, unless they do the right thing. Otherwise, it is nothing but a sort of ‘Evangelical magic trick’.

If a man who does these things is able, in very clear conscience, to bring the world on the brink of disaster, simply in order to pursue the selfish economic interests on his country and in sheer disregard of the terrible sufferings this can bring to innocent people, than I would prefer a mere pagan in the White House, if he (or she) would do the right thing.

But, don’t worry. God loves you and Bush has a wonderful (military) plan for your life 😦

May God have mercy and protect us from the good intentions of senseless Christians.

Danut

___________________

MAX LUCADO ON PRESIDENT BUSH

Max Lucado is a Christian author who is very popular for his many wonderful books about the Lord. This week, Max was invited (along with several other famous preachers) to have lunch at the White House with President Bush.

Their meeting took place on Thursday and Max shared with us this morning how it had gone. As he ministers sat down to lunch and waited for President Bush to appear, Max said that he was expecting G.W. to walk in the room looking tired, serious, and depressed. When the President came in, Max said he looked totally the opposite of tired: he was energetic, joyful, and very focused on his talk with the ministers.

Max asked President Bush how he could seem so calm and peaceful in the midst of all the tragedy. The president’s reply was, “I’m feeling stronger now than I’ve ever been in my life. And the reason is because every person in America is praying ! for me. “When I stay on my knees, that’s when I have power.”

The ministers then asked the President how he would like them to pray for him, and how their congregations back home should be praying. Mr. Bush asked, first, for clarity of mind so that he could make wise decisions, and then he asked that we pray specifically for his wife and two daughters, as he is very concerned about their safety.

I knew that you would be as encouraged as I was to hear about this meeting. We must thank God that we have a President who loves and fears the Lord. No human leader is perfect, but God is perfect so let’s keep President Bush lifted up in prayer before the Father.

Romney Defeats Netanyahu | Political Correction

Romney Defeats Netanyahu | Political Correction.

This article is really worth reading. Here is the beginning of it.

We have one person to thank for the fact that President Barack Obama successfully let Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu know ‘who’s the boss’ both at the AIPAC conference and at a meeting between the two at the White House on Monday.

Thank you, Mitt Romney.

Imagine if things had worked out the way Netanyahu wanted them to: Romney would have turned out to be an excellent candidate who crushed his opponents with dispatch. He would not only have the Republican nomination sewn up by now, but he would be the frontrunner to win in November (especially if the economy was trending down and not up).

MJ Rosenberg – If Tom Friedman Can Say It, You Can, Too

Here is the first part of this very strong critical article of MJ Rosenberg on the American policy of unlimited and indiscriminate support of the state of Israel.

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One can respond: So what else is new? But that is only if you get your information from some place other than the electronic or print mainstream media. There, due to a decades-long campaign of intimidation, the lobby’s actions are rarely reported.

That is because the organizations that compose the lobby — including the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League — have demonstrated that even mentioning the lobby’s excessive power will lead to being smeared with the label of “anti-Israel” or “anti-Semitic.”

James Baker blasts Obama as ‘shortsighted’ on settlements, on 20th anniversary of Madrid

James Baker blasts Obama as ‘shortsighted’ on settlements, on 20th anniversary of Madrid.

Obama’s lending himself to the manipulation of Netanyahu in terms of accepting the Jewish settlements in Palestine is my greatest disappointment with the current American president. And, unfortunately, with elections coming up, and the overwhelming power of the Jewish lobby in the US, I am afraid things will only get worse.

May God have mercy!

Is it about Obama, or maybe about the Jesus they never knew

No comment!

(Thanks to my son, Daniel, for this.)

Obama’s exemplary response

The Obama government was better prepared for Irene than the Bush government was for Hurricane Katrina six years ago, writes the left-liberal daily Der Standard on the safety measures in New York: “Bush and [the director of the US Federal Emergency Management Agency Michael] Brown had criminally underestimated the havoc Hurricane Katrina would wreak in the overflooded streets of New Orleans. … In stark contrast to Barack Obama, the crisis manager of Hurricane Irene. He doesn’t take anything lightly; not for him the quirky phrases of his Texan predecessor. Katrina raged a lot more violently than Irene. … But Obama’s caring competence and the matter-of-fact approach of [New York Mayor] Michael Bloomberg provide a pleasant contrast to Bush. Perhaps the radical individualists of the Tea Party need to be reminded of a couple of home truths: It’s Uncle Sam, the allegedly so superfluous state, who organises the response to the elements.” (29/08/2011)
(See HERE the full article in German.)

Is Obama Pharaoh?

(Photo: AFP)

SO MUCH depends, in politics, on making the other guy look like the jerk. If you look back to last summer, when the Obama administration initially came out with its stance against further Israeli settlements in the West Bank, you saw a lot of commentary that attempted to make the Americans look like the bad guys. The move was a diplomatic blunder, Israeli apologists said, because the settlements hadn’t been high on the list of priorities of the Palestinian leadership; but with Mr Obama having called for a freeze, the PA could not afford to be less anti-settlement than the Americans. Since such a freeze was politically unacceptable to the right-wing elements in Israel’s coalition government, that led to an impasse. And so most Israelis, and some supporters abroad, laid the blame for the breakdown at the feet of the Obama administration.

International adoptions as proselytism – UPDATE

I have read tonight one of the most distressing things in years. It seems that for some Southern Baptists international adoptions (you have heard of the recent scandal in Haiti) have become the latest form of proselytism. Please read and decide for yourselves:

A Southern Baptist seminary professor says the arrests of a group of Baptists from the United States accused of trying to remove children from earthquake-stricken Haiti without proper documentation could give a black eye to a budding movement of evangelicals who view adoption as a means of spreading the gospel.

Obama’s Call for Civility Amid Prayer Breakfast Controversy

President Obama spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast this morning, with a plea for civility in our political discourse.  Noting how Americans come together in times of danger or tragedy, he spoke specifically about the response to the recent earthquake in Haiti.  Then he went on to note that such a spirit seems lacking when dealing with other long-term issues:

Brian McLaren – Dear President Obama (An Open Letter on Afghanistan)

 

I am a loyal supporter of your presidency. I worked hard in the campaign and have never been as proud of my country as I was when we elected you.

I’m writing to ask you to find another way ahead in Afghanistan. I wrote a similar letter to President Bush when he was preparing for war in Iraq.

I believe now, as you and I both did then, that war is not the answer. Violence breeds violence, and as Dr. King said, you can murder a murderer, but you can’t murder murder. As the apostle Paul said, evil must be overcome with good, which means that violence and hate must be overcome with justice and love, not more of the same.

Kirill si Barack Obama

(Sursa: Patriarhia Ortodoxă Rusă)

Preşedintele american Barack Obama s-a întîlnit la data de 7 iulie, în cursul vizitei sale în Rusia, cu Patriarhul Kirill al Bisericii Ortodoxe Ruse.

“The meeting with Patriarch Kirill is beneficial for Obama“, titrează articolul pe această temă de pe site-ul Departamentului de relaţii externe al Patriarhiei Ruse. Restul articolului, redat mai jos, continuă în aceeaşi notă triumfalistă, mai ales când vorbeşte despre minunata libertate religioasă din Rusia. La fel relatează evenimentul şi fraţii de cruce ai ruşilor, ortodocşii sârbi (vezi AICI).

Paranoia dreptei religioase americane

Am primit ieri un mesaj email, cu titlul “O fotografie ce-ti da fiori!” (e vorba de fotografia de mai jos), al carui continut il redau mai jos, cu indemnul “fratesc” (era sa zic “tovarasesc”) de a-l trimite mai departe, ceea ce si fac, insotit insa de citeva comentarii. Dar mai intii iata mesajul:

Obama vs. Bibi – A Joke from Israel

 

What is the difference between USA and ISRAEL?

In the USA they have Obama, Stevie Wonder, Bob Hope, Johnny Cash.

In ISRAEL we have BIBI, no wonder, no hope, no cash.

Paranoia escatologica – Obama este Anticristul?

Absolut incredibil! No comment!

Obama in Cairo – A New Beginning – UPDATE!

Obama in Cairo

Source: Der Spiegel

Presedintele Obama a tinut astazi, joi 4 iunie 2009, un important discurs la Universitatea din Cairo. El a fost descris ca oferta unui ‘nou inceput’ in relatiile dintre crestini si musulmani. Textul integral al discursului poate fi gasit AICI.

Time Running Out for Palestinian Christians

Fifty-six representatives of various Protestant and Catholic faiths — including several Baptists — wrote a letter June 4 applauding the president for making peace in the Holy Land a top priority, but warning that time is running out for a viable and peaceful two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Obama – catre o lume fara arme nucleare – UPDATE

Într-un discurs susţinut astăzi în faţa unei mulţimi  de mii de oameni în piaţa Castelului de la Praga, Preşedintele Obama a chemat comunitatea mondială la o lume fără arme nucleare. El a adăugat că Statele Unite au “responsabilitatea morală” de a deschide drumul către acest ideal, dar fiind că este singura naţiune care le-a folosit până în prezent.

Obama a avertizat împotriva oricărei naivităţi cu privire la acest subiect şi a subliniat că acest ideal nu va fi atins probabil în timpul vieţii lui. El rămâne însă, oricum, un ţel a cărui realizare se merită a fi urmărită. (Citiţi AICI textul integral al discursului.)

Pamflet – Tara arde si baba se piaptana cu lautari

Dacă ne luăm după măruntele ciorovăieli politice ale coaliţiei aflate la putere la Bucureşti şi după amatorismul naiv cu care este abordată situaţia economică dezastruoasă a ţării noastre, avem impresia că boala de care suferă România este o simplă răceală şi că banala aspirină reprezentată de bugetul propus de guvern în Parlament ne va face bine până cel mult la vară; după care economia, zice-se, va “dudui” din nou, trosnind din toate încheieturile.

Obama at National Prayer Breakfast

Remarks of President Barack Obama
National Prayer Breakfast
Thursday, February 5th, 2009
Washington, DC

Good morning. I want to thank the Co-Chairs of this breakfast, Representatives Heath Shuler and Vernon Ehlers. I’d also like to thank Tony Blair for coming today, as well as our Vice President, Joe Biden, members of my Cabinet, members of Congress, clergy, friends, and dignitaries from across the world.

Rick Warren’s Invocation Prayer at Obama’s Inauguration

Let us pray.

Almighty God, our Father, everything we see and everything we can’t see exists because of you alone. It all comes from you. It all belongs to you. It all exists for your glory.

Martin E Marty – Non-negotiables

Rick Warren şi Barrack Obama

Sightings

1/5/08

Rick Warren va rosti rugaciunea de invocare la inaugurarea lui Obama – update

McCain şi Obama la întâlnirea de la Saddleback

Agenţiile americane de presă anunţă faptul că Rev. Rick Warren, de la biserica Saddleback, din Lake Forest, Ca., a fost invitat să rostească rugăciunea de invocare la ceremonia de inaugurare a Preşedintelui Barack Obama.

Martin E. Marty – Politics and Inerrancy

Sightings 11/24/08

Politics and Inerrancy

by Martin E. Marty

“From a perspective committed to the Bible as the inerrant Word of God,” the biweekly glossy World (November 15/22) asks at almost issue-length what went wrong with the Republicans in the recent elections.  To the editors’ credit, they do not spend much space in a blame game on what went wrong because of Democrats and liberals, but instead in self-examination of Republican faults.  Decades ago wags said that the Episcopal Church was “the Republican Party at prayer,” but in elections in our time it has been said that “inerrant Word of God” factions tended to find Republicans to be inerrant.  No more.  Let’s look at World.

Un Episcop american se roagă pentru convertirea lui Obama

Episcopul Samuel Aquila

În lunile care urmează va fi nevoie de o muncă neobosită din partea catolicilor pentru a apăra dreptul fundamental la viaţă, şi din partea preoţilor pentru a face cunoscută învăţătura Bisericii, a afirmat Episcopul Samuel Aquila de Fargo, SUA, într-un articol scris pentru numărul pe luna noiembrie al ziarului său diecezan, New Earth. El l-a felicitat pe preşedintele ales Barack Obama, şi l-a asigurat de rugăciuni pentru “convertirea inimii şi minţii sale pentru a recunoaşte demnitatea vieţii umane din momentul conceperii până la moartea naturală şi adevărul că nici un guvern nu are dreptul de a legaliza avortul”.

Presedintele Obama – veste proasta pentru noii atei si pentru alti fundamentalisti

Un text de Frank Schaeffer

Preşedinţia lui Obama este o veste extraordinară pentru aproape toată lumea. Este însă o veste rea pentru nişte indivizi cu ideologii ciudate: Dreapta Religioasă şi aşa-numiţii Atei Noi.

În războaiele culturale de tipul ,,totul sau nimic” şi în războaiele propriu-zise de tipul ,,totul sau nimic” dintre aşa-numiţii Atei Noi şi religie, alegerea preşedintelui Obama reintroduce o serie de nuanţe. Capacitatea Preşedintelui ales Obama de a crede în Isus, care este încă sub semnul întrebării, va salva religia americană în general şi creştinismul în mod special de primejdia extremelor.

Nu putem înţelege victoria Preşedintelui ales Obama în nici un alt mod decât ca fiind începutul nu doar al unei schimbări politice monumentale, ci şi al unei revoluţii spirituale.