Christianity Today sees boost in new subscriptions after calling for Trump’s removal
…from PressTV, Tehran
Full Text of the Christianity Today article is below
[ Editor’s Note: This story might be a flash in the pan, as it has a narrow front of wanting to remove Trump on moral grounds, which is coming to that party a little late. As with all religions, Christianity has a broad array of human conduct issues, but which is missing here.
Trump took advantage of the narrow front approach by claiming, possibly true, that Christianity Today did this to boost subscriptions, which it did.
But are Christians buying all these new subscriptions, or has a smart psyops group been paid some money to pour in support for the magazine as an opening to embarrass the Billy Graham fake Christians, who cannot find anything wrong that the Deep State has ever done?
Graham, not good at hiding his handlers’ desires, jumped in with the “far left” tag, the “N” word for far right Republicans, and an overt political connection that was not needed for Graham to make a religious dogma objection.
And of course Fake Billy would never come to a three-day Christian symposium where evangelical support for crimes against humanity against the Palestinians was the main course. There would never be lunch and dinner breaks because Graham would be the consistent main course.
Dear Editor Galli, with all the immoral things that Trump and crew have done, why counterattack on such a narrow front? Why did you not mention the raped and abused girls, or his business career littered with the bodies of bankruptcies and small business he has ruined by stiffing them on payment because he knew they could not afford to fight him in court?
The list is long sir, and so far you chose the quickest and easiest path to boosting circulation. You are still in purgatory here at VT until we see more… Jim W. Dean ]
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– First published … December 23, 2019 –
Christianity Today Editor in Chief Mark Galli has said that his leading evangelical Christian publication has seen a surge in new subscriptions since it called for US President Donald Trump’s removal from office.
One day after the House of Representatives voted to impeach the president, Christianity Today published a scathing editorial calling for President Trump’s removal from office.
“A stereotypical response is ‘thank you, thank you, thank you’ with a string of a hundred exclamation points — ‘you’ve said what I’ve been thinking but haven’t been able to articulate, I’m not crazy,‘” Galli told MSNBC on Sunday. “We have lost subscribers, but we’ve had 3 times as many people start to subscribe,” he continued.
The magazine drew backlash last week from prominent evangelical leaders following the article.
“It’s obvious that Christianity Today has moved to the left and is representing the elitist liberal wing of evangelicalism,” said Franklin Graham, CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse.
Trump also lashed out at Christianity Today. In a series of tweets on Friday, Trump went after the publication and said the flagship evangelical magazine was “very far left” and claimed he had done more for evangelicals than other presidents.
“A far left magazine, or very ‘progressive,’ as some would call it, which has been doing poorly and hasn’t been involved with the Billy Graham family for many years, Christianity Today, knows nothing about reading a perfect transcript of a routine phone call and would rather have a Radical Left nonbeliever, who wants to take your religion & your guns, than Donald Trump as your President,” Trump wrote in a pair of tweets.
“No President has done more for the Evangelical community, and it’s not even close,” Trump added.
In an editorial on Thursday, Christianity Today said that Trump is “morally lost and confused” and should be removed from office.
Christianity Today, founded in 1956 by the late Reverend Billy Graham, wrote in an editorial carrying the headline “Trump Should Be Removed from Office” that it could no longer stand on the sidelines following Trump’s impeachment.
“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,” the editorial read.
“That is not only a violation of the Constitution; more importantly, it is profoundly immoral,” it said.
Full Text:
In our founding documents, Billy Graham explains that Christianity Today will help evangelical Christians interpret the news in a manner that reflects their faith. The impeachment of Donald Trump is a significant event in the story of our republic. It requires comment.
The typical CT approach is to stay above the fray and allow Christians with different political convictions to make their arguments in the public square, to encourage all to pursue justice according to their convictions and treat their political opposition as charitably as possible. We want CT to be a place that welcomes Christians from across the political spectrum, and reminds everyone that politics is not the end and purpose of our being. We take pride in the fact, for instance, that politics does not dominate our homepage.
That said, we do feel it necessary from time to time to make our own opinions on political matters clear—always, as Graham encouraged us, doing so with both conviction and love. We love and pray for our president, as we love and pray for leaders (as well as ordinary citizens) on both sides of the political aisle.
Let’s grant this to the president: The Democrats have had it out for him from day one, and therefore nearly everything they do is under a cloud of partisan suspicion. This has led many to suspect not only motives but facts in these recent impeachment hearings. And, no, Mr. Trump did not have a serious opportunity to offer his side of the story in the House hearings on impeachment.
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.
Trump’s evangelical supporters have pointed to his Supreme Court nominees, his defense of religious liberty, and his stewardship of the economy, among other things, as achievements that justify their support of the president. 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. This damages the institution of the presidency, damages the reputation of our country, and damages both the spirit and the future of our people. None of the president’s positives can balance the moral and political danger we face under a leader of such grossly immoral character.
This concern for the character of our national leader is not new in CT. In 1998, we wrote this:
THE PRESIDENT’S FAILURE TO TELL THE TRUTH—EVEN WHEN CORNERED—RIPS AT THE FABRIC OF THE NATION. THIS IS NOT A PRIVATE AFFAIR. FOR ABOVE ALL, SOCIAL INTERCOURSE IS BUILT ON A PRESUMPTION OF TRUST: TRUST THAT THE MILK YOUR GROCER SELLS YOU IS WHOLESOME AND PURE; TRUST THAT THE MONEY YOU PUT IN YOUR BANK CAN BE TAKEN OUT OF THE BANK; TRUST THAT YOUR BABYSITTER, FIREFIGHTERS, CLERGY, AND AMBULANCE DRIVERS WILL ALL DO THEIR BEST. AND WHILE POLITICIANS ARE NOTORIOUS FOR BREAKING CAMPAIGN PROMISES, WHILE IN OFFICE THEY HAVE A FUNDAMENTAL OBLIGATION TO UPHOLD OUR TRUST IN THEM AND TO LIVE BY THE LAW.
And this:
UNSAVORY DEALINGS AND IMMORAL ACTS BY THE PRESIDENT AND THOSE CLOSE TO HIM HAVE RENDERED THIS ADMINISTRATION MORALLY UNABLE TO LEAD.
Unfortunately, the words that we applied to Mr. Clinton 20 years ago apply almost perfectly to our current president. Whether Mr. Trump should be removed from office by the Senate or by popular vote next election—that is a matter of prudential judgment. That he should be removed, we believe, is not a matter of partisan loyalties but loyalty to the Creator of the Ten Commandments.
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?
We have reserved judgment on Mr. Trump for years now. Some have criticized us for our reserve. But when it comes to condemning the behavior of another, patient charity must come first. So we have done our best to give evangelical Trump supporters their due, to try to understand their point of view, to see the prudential nature of so many political decisions they have made regarding Mr. Trump. To use an old cliché, it’s time to call a spade a spade, to say that no matter how many hands we win in this political poker game, we are playing with a stacked deck of gross immorality and ethical incompetence. And just when we think it’s time to push all our chips to the center of the table, that’s when the whole game will come crashing down. It will crash down on the reputation of evangelical religion and on the world’s understanding of the gospel. And it will come crashing down on a nation of men and women whose welfare is also our concern.
Mark Galli is editor in chief of Christianity Today.
Jim W. Dean is VT Editor Emeritus. He was an active editor on VT from 2010-2022. He was involved in operations, development, and writing, plus an active schedule of TV and radio interviews. He now writes and posts periodically for VT.
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Thanks to all for ending the year with one of the most interesting comment boards. See you on the other side. There will be much word to do in 2020, and the stakes very high.
Starting a Christian Church is not difficult. Just steal a Gideon Bible from a motel room, find a vacant retail building to house the business and take on a give em hell Harry attitude. Now you are on the Yellow Brick Road. The most important rule: keep your hands off the flock. Not following that rule sinks many new Christian Church businesses early in the game. Next find individuals who don’t like paying taxes and make them Deacons. Your business is growing more stable by the day. Writing and publishing religious books is a good sideline. Like, ” How I Beat The Devil At Five Card Draw Poker.” . If you need any licenses, charters, diplomas etc., they are all for sale. Best of luck.
Are they really moving to the ‘Left’, or are they showing displeasure with Trump’s constant pandering to the jews. Especially with his recent move to outlaw all criticism of Israel. If he truly believes in what he is doing I suggest he move to Israel. Where immigration is not allowed, and Talmudic law applies, and the murder of Palestinian children is a state sanctioned sport. I have been a Trump supporter, but that is only because the parade of candidates opposing him are atrocious. It must be a ploy of the Deep State Zionists that there isn’t a person with moral values opposing him. It almost seems we are being set up, actually being force fed Trump.
Mr. Dean,
To understand the evangelical one must come to the conclusion that they are sadists as it’s the only explanation to explained their behavior!
By definition such people enjoy the suffering of others as how do I know this? I have observed my evangelical family for decades as this is my conclusion about them.
Prime example? The 27 foot wall around Bethlehem as no evangelical has a problem with that even on Christmas eve!
I have spoken my mind many times to my evangelical friends and family which always would end in conflict with the boomer ‘evangelicals being the worst excuses of human being.
Me? Over 60 and extremely fit as I double dog dare any ‘evangelical to silence me with physical assualt.
What to do with them? Out vote them!
And if that doesn’t work?
Kill them. It’s that serious for America!
We already have something in the lexicon to describe them, “religious extremists”. Everybody knows and understands what that means, like how the Wahhabis in Saudi Arabia came up with the “temporary marriage” concept to “legalize” rape by jihaddis.
I can’t figure this guy out yet. We have seen no background history on him. “They” may put the opposition research goons on him, but then we will get truth and fiction mixed in as that is usually the package. But his pitch of Trump only being a target because of the Ukraine scandal seemed mighty slim, even for an evangelical, if he is.
I think the reason American Buffalo was hunted down near to extinction was that there was no-one to tell not to. Early EuroAmerican were mostly Western Europeans, who had been ruled by iron fist of Crown and the Church. Then the New Continent and freedom, soon realizing that the freedom going too far in good (like hard work and inventions) and bad (like shooting at anything that moves or stands still) and therefore asking back the same C&C Iron fist to rule with maybe some steroids.
I’m from Eastern Europe behind any gods or Emperors back and I can tell about how does the loss of freedom under the law of nature affect. It wasn’t Swedish rule neither was it Czars rule, it was our own democratically elected President Kekkonen, a dictator that set up ultimate central power in this countrys mentality. That caused thousands of suicides among former free log men, fishermen and of course engine drivers.
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