Ok, so I’m assembling a list of the worst things Donald Trump has said and done, at any point in his long and illustrious career. I’ve got dozens of examples already, but I don’t want to miss any good ones.
If you’d like to help out, please post any you can think of in the comments. These can be vague — “didn’t he once say something along the lines of x?” — to specific, with links to sources, if you’ve got them.
Thanks!
Re: religions
Sorry to be a pedant, but there’s a bit of confusion going on here between Arminian and Armenian; the first refers to the followers of Arminius, the second to the Armenian people, whose version of Christianity has nothing to do with the first.
One thing that helps to explain why Calvinism is the way it is is the fact that John Calvin (who was indeed French, but ended up in Geneva to avoid being killed) was a truly horrible human being, who once denounced a fellow heretic who disagreed with him to the Catholics, so that the latter would take care of him. The incident is detailed in this book, which I highly recommend in its own right, not just for further evidence of how ghastly Calvin was: http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/69069/out-of-the-flames-by-lawrence-goldstone-and-nancy-goldstone/9780767908375/
@’ gosjm
Well, really it’s the same name. Try saying “Allah is not God” in Arabic.
Further to Spinster Weatherwax’s comment on Trump’s Aberdeenshire golf course, a lot of his misbehaviour over it is detailed in the fine documentary You’ve Been Trumped.
EJ (The Other One) – You’re wrong about the Nestorians. They think the “incarnate Christ” was two separate persons (each with their own nature, one human and one divine) – so in a way they’re on the opposite side of Chacedonian Christianity from the Monophysites.
Thanks for the correction, Nick G. I did not know that.
@EJ (TOO) – sorry for being way late to this; I don’t get email notifications on the comment threads so I tend to lose track of stuff when it gets a few days old:
I think in some parts of the church, at least as far as I can keep up with it, ecumenicalism is becoming more favorable. i.e. People want to identify the stuff that is non-negotiable as far as orthodoxy (usually boils down to the Nicene + Apostles’ Creeds), and then recognize when a belief is getting more into the minutia of debatable subjects. If we can agree on the orthodoxy, there’s no need to break fellowship over the other stuff–it might keep us from attending the same congregations on Sunday morning, but people are less willing to anathematize each other over it. It seems to me that there is a greater inclination to cooperate across denominational lines for things like prayer meetings, community service/outreach, etc.
However, the Reformed congregations/teachers I’m familiar with are still pretty enthusiastic about TULIP; they don’t see it as a “true believer” test, but they do think it’s the correct way to understand God’s redemptive work, and they will argue energetically in favor of it. (In my experience, the young men in particular get really amped up over “proving” TULIP)
Plenty of smaller, fringe groups still like to be super exclusionary to other denominations, but the leading voices I track with tend to be more gracious about, “Well, I think brother so-and-so is wrong about this, but we are in unity on the most important things so we’re cool.”
As to your later question, I feel pretty able to answer questions about Arminian (the not-Calvinist) theology, but I’m not aware of a specific Armenian (the people group) church, at least not one with a unified region-specific belief system like Russian Orthodox or Anglicanism, etc. But I haven’t done any specific research there, so I plead ignorance. The only IRL Armenian person I’ve met was a Charismatic, so I’ve got a whopping sample size of one. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Thanks for that, Kootiepatra. That’s really educational, and I feel a lot better having read an infodump from someone who knows more than I do about it. I’m very glad we have you on the site as a commentator, and not just because you’re a lovely person.
Your comment about young men getting amped up about “proving” TULIP is something that I can identify with a younger version of me, sadly.
There is a aying that many mainstream Protestants have started adopting (I think it originates with the Moravians, but not sure).
‘In essentials Unity,
In nonessentials Liberty,
In all things Charity’
The answer to every religious question:
David should write an article about the alt-right’s backlash against Colin Kaepernick, the QB of the San Francisco 49ers who said he won’t pledge to the flag of a country that oppresses people of color.
It’s a breaking story and quite interesting. I’m surprised David Furtelle hasn’t commented on it yet.
As to why it’s on topic: Because Donald Trump is one of those in the backlash. Trump insulted Kaep.
I stand by you, Kaep!
As a fellow alumnus of the University of Nevada in Reno, I also stand by Kaepernick. It’s awesome to finally have something for UNR to be proud of.