The “flagship magazine” for the evangelical community Christianity Today called for the removal of President Donald Trump from office the day after he was impeached by the House.
Referring to the immorality and lack of character revealed in Trump’s actions, Christianity Today wrote, “Trump Should Be Removed from Office; It’s time to say what we said 20 years ago when a president’s character was revealed for what it was… That he should be removed, we believe, is not a matter of partisan loyalties but loyalty to the Creator of the Ten Commandments.”
After incorrectly claiming that Trump was not allowed to give his side to the House, the author Mark Galli continues, “But the facts in this instance are unambiguous: The president of the United States attempted to use his political power to coerce a foreign leader to harass and discredit one of the president’s political opponents. That is not only a violation of the Constitution; more importantly, it is profoundly immoral.
The reason many are not shocked about this is that this president has dumbed down the idea of morality in his administration. He has hired and fired a number of people who are now convicted criminals. He himself has admitted to immoral actions in business and his relationship with women, about which he remains proud. His Twitter feed alone—with its habitual string of mischaracterizations, lies, and slanders—is a near perfect example of a human being who is morally lost and confused.”
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We believe the impeachment hearings have made it absolutely clear, in a way the Mueller investigation did not, that President Trump has abused his authority for personal gain and betrayed his constitutional oath. The impeachment hearings have illuminated the president’s moral deficiencies for all to see.”
Perhaps most movingly in that the pain of realizing ones hero is a corrupt destroyer of all that one values, Galli makes the case that evangelicals need to reverse course right now or their moral standing will be lost:
To the many evangelicals who continue to support Mr. Trump in spite of his blackened moral record, we might say this: Remember who you are and whom you serve. Consider how your justification of Mr. Trump influences your witness to your Lord and Savior. Consider what an unbelieving world will say if you continue to brush off Mr. Trump’s immoral words and behavior in the cause of political expediency. If we don’t reverse course now, will anyone take anything we say about justice and righteousness with any seriousness for decades to come? Can we say with a straight face that abortion is a great evil that cannot be tolerated and, with the same straight face, say that the bent and broken character of our nation’s leader doesn’t really matter in the end?
Wikipedia notes, the “magazine is an evangelical Christian periodical that was founded in 1956 and is based in Carol Stream, Illinois. The Washington Post calls Christianity Today, “evangelicalism’s flagship magazine”;[2] The New York Times describes it as a “mainstream evangelical magazine”.[3]
Evangelicals and Republicans have been making the case that Democrats better not impeach Trump because the evangelicals will rise up and start a civil war if Democrats hold Trump to the law.
“I have never seen (evangelical Christians) more angry over any issue than this attempt to illegitimately remove this president from office, overturn the 2016 election and negate the votes of millions of evangelicals in the process,” Robert Jeffress, senior pastor and Fox News contributor threatened. “If the Democrats are successful in removing the president from office, I’m afraid it will cause a Civil War-like fracture in this nation from which this country will never heal.â€
Indeed, it was just yesterday that Donald Trump was compared to Jesus by a Republican when Representative Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) compared Trump to Jesus standing trial before Pontius Pilate. “When Jesus was falsely accused of treason, Pontius Pilate gave Jesus the opportunity to face his accusers,” he said.Â
“During that sham trial, Pontius Pilate afforded more rights to Jesus than the Democrats have afforded this president and this process.”
In 1998, the magazine called for President Bill Clinton’s impeachment, writing, “The President’s failure to tell the truth…have rendered this administration morally unable to lead.”
On Thursday the 19th of December, they called for President Donald Trump to be removed from office.
Donald Trump does not have the evangelical vote wrapped up and impeachment has not helped Trump the way Republicans claimed it would. Quite the opposite, impeachment has cracked the cult, even if only just a bit.
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