Will Donald Trump protect religious freedom?

[estradling75]

19 hours ago, Just_A_Guy said:

Maye not even the filibuster, where judicial nominations are concerned.  Reid and the Dems already deployed the "nuclear option" of removing the filibuster for lower-level judge nominations when they held the Senate back in 2013; and they had committed to doing the same thing with SCOTUS nominees if they took the Senate back this year.  Senate Republicans, having held on to their majority, aren't likely to be feeling particularly magnanimous at the moment.

Which just goes to show that before you change anything in government with the intent to help one party over the other... you should really ask yourself would I be ok if this was done unto me...  Because it really does not take that long for things to reverse themselves.

[NightSG]

On 11/15/2016 at 10:53 PM, Zarahemla said:

Something I always find interesting is I believe if Jesus ran for polticial office He'd run as an Independent and not as a Republican or Democrat based on how He views the world.

A government of one incorruptible man with unrestricted power is a bit outside the stated platform of any recognized party as far as I'm aware.

[Vort]

On 11/15/2016 at 10:53 PM, Zarahemla said:

Something I always find interesting is I believe if Jesus ran for polticial office He'd run as an Independent and not as a Republican or Democrat based on how He views the world.

Christ is the King. You don't vote for kings.

 

[anatess2]

On 11/16/2016 at 9:18 AM, Carborendum said:

When you take everything he's said as a whole, he hates us to the point that he just doesn't care to do anything good or bad for us.

While being left alone would be great on many levels, that also means that if we are unjustly persecuted by mobs or by government, he just wouldn't care to do anything about it.

Sigh.

16 months of Trump dominating the public square and people still can't see it - plain as day.  Clearly for all to see.

Trump does not look at people as labels or groups or ideologies.  He looks at people as individuals on their own merit.  Therefore, he does not hate Mormons.  He may hate one Mormon.  He does not hate women.  He may hate one woman.  He does not hate blacks or hispanics or muslims or the media or <insert any group think here>.  He may hate individual members of those groups.

This is why he can look at Romney and not see him as NeverTrumper or Mormon.  He has an agenda - he wants to fix the economy - he has a person, Romney, who is a powerhouse in the economy arena.  So he sees Romney's strengths and weaknesses without identifying him as a NeverTrumper or a Mormon and what that group label entails.

That's why he can look at Bush and not see Republican or Conservative.  He disagrees with him so it doesn't matter that he's Republican  - he will criticize him.  He can look at Jeff Sessions and not see Tea Party or Conservative.  He agrees with him so he likes him.

That's a Trump strength.  He is not loyal to a group nor is he averse to a group.  He is loyal or averse to individual achievements.  He is the complete anti-thesis to demographic politics.  But, it's also a Trump weakness when he tries to talk about groups of people (he sucks as a political communicator) - because, he is speaking individual members of the group like when he uses the word Hispanics, but it comes out as him talking about the group as a whole.

Edited November 18, 2016 by anatess2

[Larry Cotrell]

Sometimes I wonder if it would be better for the church if we didn't have religious freedom. People in America aren't going to church as much. Meanwhile, China is on track to be the most Christian nation in 15 years. Here's the countries with the top ten fastest growing number of Christians (as of 2013)

1. Nepal (about 10% growth)
2. China
3. United Arab Emirates
4. Saudi Arabia (about 9% growth)
5. Qatar (about 8% growth)
6. Oman 
7. Yemen (about 7% growth)
8. Mongolia
9. Cambodia
10. Bahrain (about 6% growth)

All of these countries are hostile to Christians. Christianity grew and thrived under the harsh Roman Empire.

Meanwhile, the church in the US shrunk by 10% between 1990 and 2008; it continues to shrink.

Edited November 18, 2016 by Larry Cotrell

[Guest MormonGator]

37 minutes ago, Larry Cotrell said:

Sometimes I wonder if it would be better for the church if we didn't have religious freedom.

 Just curious, are you endorsing a state run religion? Or a country where you are forced to believe in a certain religion? 

Edited November 18, 2016 by MormonGator

[Larry Cotrell]

1 hour ago, MormonGator said:

 Just curious, are you endorsing a state run religion? Or a country where you are forced to believe in a certain religion? 

No, I'm just saying that I think if the government outlawed religion, and Christians were persecuted, the church in the US would grow again.

[Guest MormonGator]

7 minutes ago, Larry Cotrell said:

No, I'm just saying that I think if the government outlawed religion, and Christians were persecuted, the church in the US would grow again.

Oh. I'd rethink that. 

The Catholic church crumbled after the French revolution and it's never recovered from that. Government tinkering with religion almost always leads to it's destruction. 

Edited November 18, 2016 by MormonGator

[Larry Cotrell]

5 minutes ago, MormonGator said:

I don't see that happening. The Catholic church crumbled after the French revolution and it's never recovered from that. Government tinkering with religion almost always leads to it's destruction. 

It depends on the circumstance, there's examples of both. However, when I look at history, many times when the church has been persecuted, such as under the rule of Nero or Diocletian, it grew and grew. Eventually Rome became Christian, something that never could have been foreseen. Modern day China and the Middle East are also great examples of this.

[Guest MormonGator]

14 minutes ago, Larry Cotrell said:

It depends on the circumstance, there's examples of both. However, when I look at history, many times when the church has been persecuted, such as under the rule of Nero or Diocletian, it grew and grew. Eventually Rome became Christian, something that never could have been foreseen. Modern day China and the Middle East are also great examples of this.

Didn't work very well in Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia either. Government needs to stay out of religion.