The slow death of white Christianity in America

[KD5NRH]

my church is full of young folks, eager and willing to follow the right path.

I've seen a lot that are shopping around for a church that will adjust the path to whatever they want to follow, regardless of clear Scriptural guidance.

[RevDisk]

Trump isn't a Christian as far as I can tell. Does he even self identify as a Christian?

He may not be a believer as some would define it but he is a cultural "Christian" in the mold of being a traditional American, which is also a predominately white culture.

He represents the "conservative" America that has been banished from the big cities but still lives on (on life support) in the heartland.

It's still hilarious that a NYC liberal mostly Democrat represents "conservative America".   

[Ron]

It's still hilarious that a NYC liberal mostly Democrat represents "conservative America".   

Bizarro world.

He is a disrupter, candidate middle finger *expletive deleted*ck you Establishment and Republicans in particular.

Trump has positioned himself as the outsider. The insiders have continually sold out Christians. Not just by selling out and failing to "hold the line" but by actively colluding with the "enemy" and doing the exact opposite of what they promised.

He has never been caught on record showing animosity, hatred or overt plans to undermine Christianity.

Christians in many cases have decided the populist who doesn't hate us is better than the Establishment who barely conceals their disdain.

Unlike most commentaries we read I actually think the Trump phenomenon is healthy.

Laughter does a body good!

[roo_ster]

And in healthy churches, modern American conservative market-liberal values are being passed off as the Christianity of 1st century Palestine.

Like Ron, that is not so healthy.  And you bring up a real and serious problem in too many of the "evangelical"-ish churches.  Not that spergitarian economics is intrinsically evil, but that these churches do not have a proper grasp of the "two kingdoms" doctrine.

It's still hilarious that a NYC liberal mostly Democrat represents "conservative America".   

As I've written before, Trump is a roughly moderate Democrat from decades past.  Tip O'Neil, Scoop Jackson, JFK, and the like had similar beliefs as Trump.  Trump merely likes America & doesn't want it obliterated by immivasion; he thinks that actual Americans are decent folk and gov't should serve the majority of them; and holds moderate, middle of the road views on most everything else.  It is not an ideological philosophy, it is a pro-American inclination.

That makes him literallyhitler, nowadays, in the eyes of the Dems and GOPe. 

[MechAg94]

It's still hilarious that a NYC liberal mostly Democrat represents "conservative America".   

The term conservative seems to have a malleable definition.  IMO, it is a term of convenience that politicians redefine to suit their needs.  I almost cringe when I see people throw it out there as the high ground of politics, but none ever really define what they mean by it. 

[MillCreek]

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/30/us/donald-trump-christians-gay-marriage.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

Appropriate to the discussion of Mr. Trump.

[Balog]

The term conservative seems to have a malleable definition.  IMO, it is a term of convenience that politicians redefine to suit their needs.  I almost cringe when I see people throw it out there as the high ground of politics, but none ever really define what they mean by it. 

Same with liberal. Folks on our side tend to lump everyone from "blue dog, Republican in every way except likes his union" southern democrats to straight up card carrying Communists together under the same rubric.

[RevDisk]

Same with liberal. Folks on our side tend to lump everyone from "blue dog, Republican in every way except likes his union" southern democrats to straight up card carrying Communists together under the same rubric.

Hell, probably half the board thinks I'm liberal and I believe in using napalm, white phosphorous and strategic nuclear weapons against hippy infestations. No, the lack of "or" was not accidental in that statement.

[MechAg94]

To me, conservative meant small govt, low taxes, low regulation, but I noticed a long time ago the authoritarian types use it to mean something completely different. 

I honestly take little notice of liberals who are not authoritarian.  They aren't trying to force their viewpoint on me. 

[Perd Hapley]

This thread has some great examples of the way that American Christianity so often gets pigeon-holed into whatever the commentator most dislikes or fears. The guy who looks down on Reaganite/Tea-Party types says the churches are really just Tea Party gatherings. The Reaganite thinks the churches are all social justice meetings. The deep thinker says the churches are shallow. In the same way, many of the religiously conservative people I church with think 99% of churches are wholly given to worldliness, and just have rock concert church services.

Like many other things, there are good and bad churches, and we sometimes exaggerate the bad, and forget about the good. Worse yet, some of us (notably those who are not Christians, ahem) are ill-equipped to judge the good churches from the bad.

In the end, the job of the Church isn't to play majoritarian politics. She doesn't accomplish her true goal by getting pagans to agree with her about politics, or social virtues. The Church isn't here to make pagans better, but to make them not-pagans.

[grampster]

^^^^^This.

[RocketMan]

Well said, fistful.