Remember this one?
“You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them…And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”
Never gets old.
Former President Barack Obama in 2008 campaigning in San Francisco – explaining to an audience of enlightened Golden Staters why the rest of the country is so backwards in its thinking. It was definitional for me. It was the first time I’d ever heard someone on that large of a stage talk about my faith and “clinging” to it as something inherently negative.
The term “bitter clingers” became an unintended political rallying cry among conservatives. The man who would be president made it clear how he felt about religious people that day. Obama’s own preacher had a (a-hem) unique take when he claimed in his Chicago church “God damned America” for our real or perceived misdeeds of the past.
Later, in his second term – at the National Prayer Breakfast no less – the former president reminded Christians: "And lest we get on our high horse…remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ. In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow all too often was justified in the name of Christ."
Mr. Obama has always said he’s a Christian. I’ll have to take him at his word. I don’t know his heart. But he and his associates sure had a funny way of talking about it. Even raising that observation used to get you accused of slyly suggesting he was a subversive Muslim, or some such thing. We weren’t to question Dear Leader Obama’s love for Christianity.
Today, you’ll hear the left not only question Trump’s faith; they’ll question yours if you voted for him. Exacerbated over the divorces, alleged affairs, strippers, etc. they exclaim, “How can you claim you’re a Christian and vote for a man who behaves the way he does?”
Wait, you want us to make moral judgments on people now I’m confused.
I’d written not long ago about “Mayor Pete” making similar charges on the campaign trail suggesting he’s closer to and more of an authority on what God endorses or doesn’t endorse in our elected leaders. When Trump’s involved the Mayor and the left believe they are God’s spokespeople. Further, they’re so omniscient they know what’s on Trump’s heart concerning God, too. Wow!
Pretty funny coming from a party with a spokesperson like “The View” host Joy Behar who last year mused Vice President Pence must have a “mental illness” if he believes Jesus talks to him.
Back in 2012, Democrats removed any reference to God in their party platform altogether. If that’s news to you, look it up. When average Americans caught wind, Democrats scurried to put Him back in at a rushed convention vote. There’s video of the moment. I encourage you to watch it go down.
Then Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was presiding over the vote to put God back in. He did it by voice vote in the convention hall. It was actually controversial! It was a very close vote if you listen. Villaraigosa, knowing the party was about to commit election suicide – rammed it home exclaiming “the ayes have it!” The arena erupted with jeers and boos.Yep, they were booing written references to God reinserted in their party platform after they’d expressly removed Him.
I’ll give Mayor Pete credit. At least he’s a Democrat who’s embracing God today – no matter how distorted the view. Lately, Democrats and leftists actually like to use religion as a backdrop to advance policy and ideas again. Well, sometimes they like to.
“What would Jesus do” is a favorite refrain for the invasion at our southern border. The Pope is used and quoted regularly by the left as the final authority on our immigration policy. Jesus wouldn’t have a border, you see? He’d instruct us to take in everyone, with no rules or requirement for assimilation. Further, he’d want our government to fork over tax money we don’t have to care for and provide for any warm body that can get to the United States.
Disagree with that, and you’re disagreeing with Jesus, the left says.
Until that is, LGBTQ issues arise. Maybe a baker doesn’t want to make a cake or a particular denomination doesn’t believe Scripture sanctions gay marriage. This you see, is closed minded bigotry and those Christian clingers aren’t interpreting Christ correctly now. The Vatican just this week declared, “choosing one’s gender is in direct contradiction of the model of marriage as being between one man and one woman.”
Uh-oh. The left’s God stock dropped that day.
Man made climate change? The left hops back on the God train because the Pope believes we control the Earth’s temperature. (As an aside, I find the lack of humility from the Pope on this issue stunning.) It’s the Christian thing to do to stop using and enjoying the natural blessings of the Earth because we’re killing it, says the left. Huh? But, the Pope! (sigh)
Another point for God from the left!
But wait! Gun violence erupts. The left shouts, “Spare us your prayers. Prayers won’t save lives! Only our benevolent government can do that! Boo God!”
God and prison reform? Yay! God on abortion? Boo! God on $15 minimum wage? Yay! God on money and in our Pledge of Allegiance? Boo!
The inconsistency is hard to follow. The American left’s favorite political phase these days is “speaking my truth,” regardless of the facts. New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez famously said she wasn’t concerned about facts and figures in arguments, but what is “morally right” in her eyes.
Pro tip for the left: if you’re going to use Christianity as your backdrop and you want to be taken seriously, you might want to spend more time on “His truth” moving forward.