Evangelical Support for Trump Eroding?

[Dill]

(10-15-2018, 10:49 AM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: When you say religious, are you talking "I am religious" (on Facebook) as they say something lame, or people that ACTUALLY are religious, go to church every week, participate in church activities?

Because I can't help but think you're equating the "religious" with the actually religious, which is wrong. The real religious are doing food drives for the poor, gathering warm coats when the temperatures drop to hand out to the homeless, building homes, going overseas to help get people vaccines and clean water sources. I know people who went with their church to New Orleans to tear down ruined flooded houses and rebuild new ones after Katrina.

NONE of those things sound anything like "enjoying the concept of the poor suffering". So I think you are either using social media "religious" folk who are only "religious" in words and only when it suits them as your view, or you really just don't know any truly religious people and have formed a very sadly ignorant opinion with your self-admitted bias. (I'm not religious myself, but I have come into contact with a ton of people who are, and have done so much good for those who needed it.)

My term was "the religious right"--meaning people who actively support right wing politics on religious grounds. All of these people claim they are "religious," so I am not going to claim they are not "really" religious if they don't hand out coats to the homeless.  I am just describing political behavior, then evaluating it.

But if you have been following my posts and the links I have quoted, then you know that my interest is in a subset of the religious right, namely white Evangelicals, who generally self identify with the religious right and claim to follow Jesus--and who do give handouts to the homeless while supporting reduction of welfare for poor families and tax cuts for the rich and Trump policies of separating families on the border.

And again, if you follow my links, "what I am using" are statements by Evangelical pastors and theologians who influence the political behavior of millions of Americans.  And it looks like a great many of the people "doing food drives" and what not are also Trump supporters. (Check out Bels' bar graph above, post #93.)

I don't recall admitting my "bias."  That's not a term I use; I don't find it has much descriptive or explanatory value (same reason I don't use the term "extremist"). I just started a thread last week suggesting bias hunters are generally projecting their own bias on everything.

In addition to knowing something of the history of Christianity, including its Greek roots, I should also mention that my father was a Baptist minister and missionary, so I grew up "in the church" as they say, and know something about "truly religious people"--starting with the church women's group who sent me cookies every semester my first year in college, and people who paid their tithes by bringing our family a side of beef or donating medical care (dentists and doctors). I have been to dozens of pot lucks and funerals and helped disabled farmers get their fences mended.
My parents were always taking people in and feeding them. Once they took care of a 16-year old orphan for a year, till he was old enough to join the military.  I am still an "inactive" member of the First Baptist Church in my hometown, still see the old members when I go back for a visit. My sister is, if anything, OVERACTIVE in church programs helping the poor and children. So even though I am not myself a believer, I do know something of people who claim to be "really religious," and that knowledge has little to do with Facebook, which I only check once a month.