Ask an Atheist: Evangelicals against Trump 

"Evangelical leadership is absolutely responsible for Donald Trump". Don't forget the Catholics.

If God wanted Trump to be president why didn't he give him seven million more votes

The Seven Deadly Sins 1 Lust. 2 Gluttony. 3 Greed. 4 Sloth. 5 Wrath. 6 Envy. 7 Pride. Which is Trump guilty of? ALL 7

Once you abandon the concept of SIN, Christianity bursts into smoke and blows away- not the teachings of Jesus, but cult that functions in his name.

I'm against evangelicals and Trump

Love athiests. They tend to be straightforeward and honest.

It’s refreshing to hear that some in the religious realm still desire decency.

I know evangelicals that if Jesus showed up, they would turn toward Trump. Now, how the hell can that happen?

Another aspect involved here is the act of living by faith is by nature the very act of not using critical thinking skills to determine reality.

I’m so sick of being saturated with the Christian mythology and hypocrisy!!

So great that this guy is working to make the world a better place. I'm glad he broke free from the toxic parts of his religious community and is forming a healthier community. The Week sounds like a great climate change organization. ❤

I don't understand people who say they would never vote for a Democrat. My family voted Democratic, and so did I, but I was anti-abortion when I was young, so I actually campaigned for Reagan. When I realized Reagan had no interest in ending abortion and, seeing the Republican party from the inside, I realized no one else had any interest ending abortion, I went back to voting for Democrats. I would have voted for John McCain over Barack Obama until McCain took on Palin, and then that was untenable.

thanks for your work, robb! im in nc and we need your help!

Thank you, FFRF! ❤

If Donald is a Christian I parted the red sea.

This exceeded my expectations. It really is the key to moving society forward.

WOW! This guy is great! Liberals/Progressives need to listen to him. We need to understand the mindset of conservative Evangelicals if we are to gain any ground. His approach is very practical. Recognizing that 85% are NOT open to change and are a waste of time & resources, he chooses to focus on the small percentage that might actually listen. We can't win 'em all, but we only need a small slice to make a difference.

Fascinating. Thank you all.

The Alabama court has a judge that believes in the "seven mountains doctrine ". How dangerous is that group? I am very nervous about it.

This is my first time on this page and I can not get over the theme song🤣🤣🤣

I’m amazed this guy still has his faith. Mine wasn’t that strong. Feels strange to say, but Christianity needs this guy. Must be the individualist in me.

wow you guys are the only evangelicals that I know of that are not for trump. he increases the speed of the demise of the church and republican party

Really enjoyed this discussion. Can’t understand how any Trump supporting Christian nationalist can square their absolute hatred of socialism, with their worship and devotion to the ultimate socialist the world has ever known! 😮

There is now a defacto independent party and the choice is chaos or stability.

I'm something of a student of history and, let's just say, I think if Donald Trump is reelected, it won't end well...

What about stating that each time some Christians want the Ten Commandants in a state house, we also need copies of the Beatitudes in that space?

Good man, I am not a believer, but I believe in this man. I hope all goes well for him.

I am not so sure that those Americans who identify as evangelicals really know what the term means.

Jerry Falwell Jr. endorsing Trump was confusing, until the pool boy scandal broke out. Then it made perfect sense.

Jesus told us there are sheep and there are goats as there are tares and chaff. He was describing true followers from false ones. Most famously he told the Parable of the Goats and Sheep. Matthew 25:41-45 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ 45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ Pretty harsh, right? Evangelicals and 'conservative christians' more often exalt and bash others with the OT 10 Commandments Jesus died to fulfil on their behalf rather than doing the loving acts He told them to do in the Sermon on the Mount. By their fruit you shall know them. Trump is the living antithesis of Jesus.

Thankxz for talking about this!

Great talk. Thank you.

When and where will you be in Arizona? If you are close enough, I'll try to get there. I am a retired college professor living in Holbrook, who wants separation of church and state, including any form of religious control in our schools.

The separation ensures protection & respect for all to have the right & space to believe differently, as long as they don't infringe on the rights of others.

The evangelical mindset revolves around the ego, which is terrified of answering the question "who am I if I can't force my opinions on others and have authority." The liberal mindset is more individualistic and doesn't need as much influence over others at it's core. If there was another source of power that was just as significant as Christianity at reinforcing the belief that they are 'better' than others and deserve authority, 75% of these 'Christians' would leave the faith at the drop of a hat. I think real faith in God is the ability to let the government do it's thing and living faithfully, painfully, humbly, not forcefully.

A friend told me recently that his brother who's been an evangelical organizer for a long time just resigned. He said the evangelicals don't care how evil trump is anymore.

Approx timeline 34:06. Political Cults...never thought of that concept before. Sounds interesting for self-follow-up research.

Great panel, well thought out speaker. I have Hope

It’s about time they spoke up, I am a Christian and was embarrassed to tell people I was a Christian because I didn’t want any one to think I endorsed Trumps version of Christianity. I believe in the teachings of Jesus and that’s not what he taught when hhe was here. Shame on all of them.

Had a talk with the action fund for my campaign a couple weeks ago. Hoping for a response

{Side bar, if I may} I'd like to oppose the use of the term _"Non-believers"_ a.) We all _'believe'_ in something. b.) It's a rather devisive, and prejudicial, or at least discriminatory term, used _by_ the religious, that tends to be used in a passive-aggressive form. c.) It's a distinction, without merit, or practical meaning. Thank you-

this man is honest truly a christian

The fellow in this video says you have to "Like" evangelicals if you want to appeal to them. How do you like someone who has done to you what they have done to America??? I don't think he has thought all that out clearly to make such a statement. I will never like them after what they've done. Unless they take their own medicine and publicly renounce, repent, and make restitution for what they've done to the country. Then we can have a conversation about possibly liking them. But not before that day. Until then they are an enemy.

The question is always which religion? Which sect? Some areas are largely Muslim, some are Catholic, and as your interviewee says, some sects disapprove of others, like Baptists and Churches of Christ.

I like this guy.

It's funny how the evangelicals support trump, a man who never makes an argument from a faith or biblical stance. He can't quote a single verse or even say if he's an old testament guy or new, you never see him at a church service. He transparently uses their faith as a cudgel. The fact that so many christians talk to and interview him and never question him about his faith is baffling.

Evangelical speakers and prophets echo each others words.

Evangelicals aren’t a monolith and there are so many nuances in how this group that I am a part of vote and what issues are most important. We all know that we are voting for a commander in chief, not a pastor in chief. For me and many of my evangelical friends we find Donald Trump so utterly vile that we could never vote for him. He tries to parade as a Christian (but never repented, his words not mine), he uses Christians and works them onto a fear frenzy about every issue under the sun, many are one issue voters and they will stand with the pro-life candidate till the end of time. So from the never Trumper Christian to the one issue voter Christian, there are many differences. The one issue voter will never change their mind. They are a waste of time to sway away from Trump or other down ballot republicans. I think it would be helpful for campaigns to hire solid Christians like Tim Alberta and a host of others to clarify the messaging in a way that is appealing to the Christian. People need to be educated and reminded of strong Christian leaders like Jimmy Carter who was completely in favor of separation of church and state. The right has twisted what the founding fathers believed. Thomas Jefferson was a humanist, he wasn’t even a Christian. Few people even understand that. The Christian Nationalist movement isn’t even a monolith. Some are fairly knowledgeable of the Bible and history and others are really just fake or cultural Christians but have no understanding of what the Bible has to say in Jesus’ own words about following Christ and living in the world. Most in this group completely twist and cheapen the gospel of Jesus Christ. I’m rambling and not being very concise here but in answer to the question, candidates need to have very wise and humble Biblical scholars to help them on their team to speak to these voters in a Biblically rock solid scriptural argument for separation of church and state. Separation is a brilliant concept! All Christians should want this! We will and do have candidates that are atheists, new agers, cultists, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim and we as Christians should NOT want to live in a theocracy for obvious reasons. Remember when everyone was clutching their pearls when Obama said we aren’t [merely] a Christian nation but blah blah blah…..well he was right. Get over it. It is up to the church and individuals to spread the gospel not the US Government.

One way to persuade is to release a lot of the presumptiveness. Most Evangelicals hold to a separation. "Separation" is with us because of Evangelicals resisting a state church. One big reason there has been "radicalization" is because of several decades of hammering the meaning and identifying of Evangelicals as a racial and political identity.

Evangelical against Trump is a great thing. They are also against each other, against life, against humanity, and against their cult members. Thank you for your show.

love in politics is a great common sense and refreshing idea. thank you.

I get all the propaganda I need by watching the first 10 minutes of the 700 club every morning.

Tell them God separates. We are the light of the world, in the world but not of it. Paul preached the Gospel in the cesspool of Rome not changing the government but heart’s being changed one by one. No politician or law will make one live right. They have a choice that “light presents to them”. The body of Christ is the body of Christ and the govt the government, separate . The gospel preached will change the hearts and no candidate .

Frank Schaeffer, son of Christian philosopher & prolific author, Dr. Francis Schaeffer, tells his insider history of the rise of Christian Nationalism in the Reagan era. Dr. Schaeffer’s writings were influential on me & the group of rag-tag “Jesus People” in my town, esp because of the work he and his wife did starting L’Abri Fellowship in Switzerland, where they opened their home to engage people who had honest philosophical questions and doubts. L’Abri means “shelter,” which is very much what I thought following Jesus would be like…offering shelter to others in need, in particular, being open to grand discussions about life and death. There seemed to be a lack of political subversion tactics, and they didn’t seem to believe in forcing Christianity upon the nonbeliever. Rather, changing the culture started with changing myself and learning how to live Gospel values. In 1980, I was a student in a small Bible College in Oregon, and I distinctly remember the uneasy feeling I had when Reagan was elected, and anti-abortion protests increased. Christians (and churches) then started to be about their God-given duty & right to make the moral rules for everyone else. And now we have this non-questioning acceptance today among the average Christian & church-goer that if you don’t vote Republican, if you’re not in their pro-life camp or anti-LGBTQ; then how can you be a true Christian. That gets into some very spiritually murky territory… Since you then start judging another’s spiritual journey. What a mess. But of course, they can justify that because they are on “a mission for God,” and have a corner on the truth; and I would be considered to have fallen away from the Faith, or God, or Jesus…and deceived. Anyway, Frank Schaeffer can tell the history better than I can, so look for him on social media. I also recall being disappointed that Christians were becoming obsessed with politics in rather ugly ways, and I became disappointed with hearing that Dr. Francis Schaeffer was a part of that. Even Billy Graham didn’t seem to want to mix politics in the churches, but his son, Franklin, has said some pretty hateful things. I appreciate what you all are doing at Vote Common Good and will follow your work. Thank you!

I disagree that there is a cognitive dissonance between Original Sin and loving our neighbors. All have fallen short of the glory of God. The gulf between a normal, law-abiding citizen and a mass murderer from a human perspective is nothing compared to the gulf between that same law-abiding citizen and God. Therefore, if we believe that Christ has paid the price for our sin and bridged the gap between God and ourselves, then we have no reason to think we are superior or better than our neighbors, even those who have not accepted Christ. We have done nothing to raise ourselves out of the gutter, so to speak; it is the grace of God. Therefore, we should love all people as reflections of the image of God. Yes, imperfect images, but, when compared with God, they are no less deserving of grace than I am or any other Christian. As Christians, we should not distain others who are sinful because we ourselves are sinful. Christians should not vote for Trump because supporting Trump is a form of idolatry. His platform is one of Christian Nationalism. Christian Nationalism is not Christianity because it places its trust in politics, in the government, or in Trump rather than in Christ. The idea that God has chosen Trump is fallacious. I John speaks of the danger of anti-christs (people who claim Christianity but do not point to Christ). He speaks clearly that we should be able to distinguish a Christian from a non-Christian by the way that person demonstrates love. Trump does not demonstrate love, but hate and fear. That is not Christian. If he does not pass the test, then he cannot be chosen by God to lead Christianity. Can God use non-Christians or even evil persons? Certainly. But Christians should not actively promote or follow evil persons; they should not put their trust in those evil persons.

The idea of original sin is demonstrated in the selfishness rampant in among humans. So many folks become so enveloped in their work and lives that they will not look objectively at facts in front of them if there is any cognitive dissonance between those parts of their thinking.

The recommended approach is straight up infantilization, full stop. This is the advice given to parents of babies. And with every fiber of my being I do not want to accept the fact that we must infantilize these Trump voters, least of all the adults I have known and whose intellect I have respected my whole life. Am I wrong? What is the difference between coddling infantilization and "appealing to their emotions [because they lack the capacity for rational deliberation]"?

Never ask an atheist what Evangelicals believe. That's not much different from asking Satan what Evangelicals believe.

I'm an Arky . And I deconstructed years ago . As a transwoman , life has become hard here , I despise trump , Huckabee , evangelicals . Those are evil people . I cannot believe whats happening in the USA.

1. Stop demonizing the group you desire to reach. 2. The anomie, divisiveness, depression, disconnection, fear and hopelessness in the culture is not the fault of Evangelicals. The dysfunction in politics is not due to Evangelicals. Ask the m to put down their smart phones and love the children and seniors in their neighborhood. Acknowledge their strength and commitment to doing that. Ask they lead to love their neighborhood school. Ask them to show the nation how to be self-controlled (self-governed) people.

Wow! This guy in the glasses is putting many of the feelings I've had for years into very descriptive words. I used to call myself a Christian, now I'm agnostic. I believe Jesus existed and indeed performed a ministry. I believe in all his principles. But I no longer believe he was the actual offspring of God himself. This paragraph is going tangent to my comment. So, the guy in the glasses made a very good point. Combining the concept of original "sin and eternal damnation to torture, and all humans are instinctively evil", with "love thy neighbor, God loves you, forgiveness, etc", is some kind of paradox. Here's the suspicion for me. This is going to be long, so please follow if you can stand it. Believe it or not, where this leads me is rooted in the war in Ukraine and Russian propaganda. Yeah,, a wierd place to begin with why Christian philosophy is corrupt. It has nothing to do with Ukraine though. Since the establishment of the Soviet Union and more importantly Stalinism, Russia has been the world's master of the propaganda machine. The most effective way propaganda has been used historically is to tell the truth, but articulating a spin on it by omitting certain facts or using choice words, punctuation, Grammer techniques, etc. In other words the tactic is not been to spin lies, but explain the truth in clever ways to manipulate people's feelings about it. In addition to simply omitting certain facts. In a court of law this type of omission is called "withholding exculpatory evidence". OK so that was the Soviet era propaganda machine, and it's also used by western media and western politics. So, where I'm going with this and what it has to do with religious teaching, is that today's propaganda is different. Not sure you can even call it propaganda. The tactic now is to sew utter confusing by stating two or more completely opposing points of information simultaneously, by a source or sources who are considered to be trustworthy. So referencing the famous book 1984, the term for this was "double speak", which lead the followers to "double think". That is believing to opposing concepts simultaneously. The trick to making this work is to destroy critical thinking. In religion this is enforced with the admonishment of "Don't question the Lord". Which in gullible children onset a feeling of guilt for questioning God's word, which the loyal child has yet to realize is actually man's word. My own personal experience in Catholic school as around 7 year old was the teaching of Genisis and Adam and Eve. So, even at 7 yo, kids know that you don't mary or reproduce with your family members. So, being a bright little rascal of a kid I asked the dooming question. "So if we can't mary our sister, then where did the wives of Adam's sons come from." Oops! The nun called me forward and beat the crap out my knuckles with a stick, angrily telling me "We don't question the Lord". She failed to enforce the concept of double-think upon me. Even at a young age I've always been a critical thinker. So what I'm getting at explaining today's media strategy is that the idea is to create an environment where you have no clue who's telling the truth or what media outlet to believe. The truth has become a nebula of confusing double speak, mixed with a overpowering sense (or obligation) to be loyal to a cause and group. In other words you must sacrifice truth and sincerity, for loyalty and tribalism. All of this that we're seeing in today's politics both in Russia and the United States, translates exactly to how the Catholic Church manipulated the world into investing it with so much power and wealth. Remember, Jesus did not write the Bible, nor did any of his deciples. They wrote some letters years after along with a 2nd generation of apostles. Less than a dozen men. It was the Catholic Church that created the Bible some 300 years after Jesus was gone, and morphed a sincere Christian movement into the largest and most lucrative criminal organization in history.

dancancro, I believe Trump is backed by ignorance that crosses all religious lines. It is sad that people think that he is actually a moral individual or maybe they’re just more immoral people on this planet and a lot of them follow some religious belief. So raise our vibration, show courtesy to everyone we meet, Spread love as best we can. Best wishes for a favorable outcome.

You reap what you sow.

He speaks the truth about the christian idea of earths destruction giving them an attitude of rejoicing over the misery they see coming as it means they get to go to heaven early without needing to die. Very selfish.

Do atheists regard Christians as family?

Ironic that so many pastors & clergy find themselves leaving the church when compassion overtakes dogma. Considering gawd is love and all. If god is love, why did Christians support separating children from parents & putting babies in cages? Thats some brain twister to believes in both being pro-life & pro-family, yet anti-immigrant babies. Some of those children to this day have never been reunited with their parents.

There's no such thing as good brain damage, except in certain circiumstances when the brain damage sprouts gills through which it can see.

When i think of false Profits i think of Trump first .

I agree with this idea but still think that the church should just stay the hell out of politics.

I don't know why i watched this, but so glad that i did. I could totally relate and agree with how this came to be. I had followed friends into the 700 club/TBN cult, but the more i watched these leaders, the more i realized how antibiblical they were!! I listened to Hillary, and she sounded more Biblical in her values than evangelicals. That was a true "come to Jesus" reality moment for me. I lost a lot of friends over my comments. My Biblical conscience forced me to change. The cognitive dissonance had been torture until i made that final decision for Christ over my friends and former loyalty to these leaders. I had to. I could not turn my back on Christ. Thank you. Thank you for explaing how to reach others. I am going to listen again and share. Probably my friends won't watch. They already think i am a heretic, but we must try. What else can we do? Can we live with ourselves and God if we don't? We must of course humble ourselves and earnestly pray contending for our blinded friends and country just as Moses did for his goofy people. Our hearts must break for those who are so are truly blinded by false teachers. Love them enough to contend for them.

He'll have everyone against him by November 😂

Don't forget about the 2A voters , gun cult .

You need to ask some Evangelical Lutheran Church in Americal members how they feel about Trump......It won't be pretty.

Christo fascism limits freedoms. The very thing they don't want you to do unto them.

Can these people not see that the Trump and Johnson hypocrites are phariseees.

Or if you want to push politics, pay taxes like the rest of us. P(this is an add on comment to the one under this)

Jesus will never come back--he's afraid he'll get double-crossed.

they confused anointed person with the Antichrist.

In 1/2 a century I have voted maybe twice for state/local level for Rep. However, Dems have Biden and He ain't gonna make. I don't want Harris. NO Don't freak out. I don't want the responsibility of destroying America via Trump. I can't vote Biden this time. A wasted vote is not what I believe. What to do?

Trump is an atheist and not a conservative at all. It’s only about him having power for him

Not a fan of Trump nor evangelicals. But, the imagery in that thumbnail, SMH. I know it is intended to be a cross. We all know what it really looks like.

I don't take my ques from atheists. I am however a Christian that is against Trump. Sick of the stereotyping reguarding Trump. His supporters do not actually represent Christianity.

How do you persuade Evangelicals to vote for candidates who promote the separation of church and state? Here are some ideas... * Assure them that you will protect ALL religions and religious persons from persecution * Lean into the fact that America has a proud tradition of the separation of church and state. This is what the Founding Fathers intended. * Conversely, stoke fear of the unknown should America move away from the separation of church and state. Use logical fallacies if necessary (you are a politician, after all) * Tell them that you believe in the US Constitution and will fight tooth and nail to defend the First Amendment rights of every American * Shift the conversation from religion to the First Amendment and focus on Freedom of Speech, Freedom of the Press and Freedom to peaceably assemble. * Attend and speak at rallies for Freedom of Speech, Freedom of the Press, etc. * Explain that you believe in small Government. Government making laws based on religious beliefs leads to Big Government and higher taxes. * Turn opponents (including religious leaders) who advocate for religion in government into boogeymen who want the government to tell you what to do. Invoke Ronald Reagan's "Get government off our back." * Anonymously spread conspiracy theories online about how the opponents listed in the previous point want to turn America into a theocracy like Iran and Afghanistan. Said opponents want to strip Americans of their First Amendment rights. * Run ads in the mainstream media about how you are the Freedom candidate who will save America from religious oppression and stand up for the First Amendment. Paint yourself as a hero. * If possible, get Tucker Carlson on your side

Atheist for Trump here. Turns out I like peace and prosperity.

So what so devine abou Biden ? Nothing !

The "exceptional candidate" for 2024 is Trump... or rather not-Trump.

The REAL question...How could an Evangelical Christian...support an abomination like Joe Biden or ANY Democrat politician. They are TRULY of the Devil!

What a fool.. Our Father isn't playing church. See : 08. Revelation Shepherds Student.😮

Good work, but it would be nice if the Democrats had better arguments than "don't vote for Trump"

This man Trump don't make sense to me at all!!

The God that the MAGA contingent believes in is the Good Ol Days.

little white faces quoting Reagan.

Evangelicals and Fox News.

Damn you people. IT'S NOT JUST THE EVANGELICALS!!!!

THAT COLLAGE NEEDS TO BE RETURNED TO THE 60'S AND STAY THERE ..

Evangelicals tend to be politically conservative. I don’t think Evangelicals are big Trump enthusiasts, he’s just the only Conservative that has a realistic chance of becoming President.

Cognitive dissonance.

Info To DAY An incident in Asian airspace, 30 February 2024 Unknown flying object seen over Asian metropolis. According to statements from the aviation safety authorities, an approximately 165 cm long object was seen by several people. The object had dark clothing and a striking pink head The object was forced to land and was a grandma with a Star Wars sticker and rose colored hair .between her legs she had a stick and said she was Kat Kerr from the USA and had lost her direction on a routine flight in the sky Heaven,...... which is how she came to East Asia. The local aviation security has now contacted US President Biden with the request that grandma no longer be allowed to fly alone. (age reasons) The USA now wants to choose a fellow pilot and is negotiating with Steve Shultz because he has an aerodynamic, egg-shaped head shape and also has a close relationship with pink grandma. Maybe in the near future she will be picked up by Angel-Air and she won't have to fly herself anymore... let's wait and see...(this Story its thru same the bibel 100 % )

Everything he's describing is Bobby Kennedy. Supporting Kennedy 24 has reunited my extended family. He's not a megaphone. He's not leaning on his laurels. He's LISTENING.

Trump 2028